Wantok (part one)…

“Wantok to rule them all, wantok to find them,
wantok to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”

Old J.R.R must have spent a bit of time in the Solomons to come up with that little gem, but in this case it will take more than one furry little hobbit to come along and wipe the all pervasive wantok system out of existence. From the moment you arrive it is impossible to ignore the constant references to this mysterious concept, and to be honest, after just a few months living here I am far from grasping the complex subtleties and full implications of how it shapes one’s world and human interactions.

Now I’m sure there have been extensive books written all about the wantok system, and that copious (Scandanavian?) anthropologists have filled libraries of journals dissecting its meaning and role from every possible perspective. I won’t aim to compete with these experts for accuracy or completeness, but instead simply offer a few observations I’ve noticed relating to how the notion of wantok affects the lives of friends and colleagues in the Solomons.

The word wantok is Pijin for ‘one talk’ – and traditionally your wantok was simply those who spoke your language, i.e. your tribal group and immediate family. These days, at least in Honiara where people from all over the Solomons (and even the world) live side by side, your wantok is a slightly more flexible concept. Wantok customs of behaviour, for example, often extend to close friends regardless of where they’re from. Similarly, I’m often told that not only good old Brits, but also Aussies and sometimes any white-skinned folk whatsoever are ‘wantok blo iu’. None of this is particularly unusual. Visit any multicultural city in the world and you find whole neighbourhoods dominated by a particular nationality and culture. In fact, given the huge ethnic diversity in the Solomon Islands, society here is incredibly integrated and tolerant. What is unique, though, is the role that wantok rules and customs play in shaping human interactions, in particular related to property…

... sorry, gotta run...to be continued

In other news:

• Peter’s back: I’m slightly concerned by the number of people who’ve told me how much I actually do resemble Crouching Peter. Jeez, I was only joking guys, but then all the fellahs in the photo do happen to be under 4ft 6” so I don’t blame you. Anyway, my back is now better and I’ve recently made a return to green pastures with the Bokolo bulls.
• Vegetable planting has commenced, and I am now waiting with bated breath to see whether tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, aubergine, lettuce and broccoli will thrive or wilt under the Solomon sun. Germination was a cinch, and transplantation not hard either, though a little back-breaking. Unfortunately, the night after all the labour Mbokona experienced an almighty storm, and for a couple of hours in the middle of the night I lay on my back listening to the rain pounding on the roof and picturing what it was doing to my little green babies. Three days later and we’re still getting spectacular downpours. Each morning, expecting the worst, I inspect the damage. Incredibly, the little blighters are hanging on in there. They look pretty frail and sad, to be sure, but they’re hanging on. I may be setting up stall in Honiara Central Market yet.