Nauruans
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|
Total population | |
---|---|
c. 15,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Nauru | c. 11,000 |
Australia | c. 800 |
New Zealand | 135[1] |
Languages | |
Nauruan (native), English, Nauru Pidgin | |
Religion | |
Christianity, Shamanism, Animism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians |
Nauruans are a nation and an ethnic group indigenous to the Pacific island country of Nauru. They are most likely a blend of Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian ancestry.[2]
The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined. It was probably seafaring or shipwrecked
The Nauruans have two elements of their population: the native Micronesians and the Polynesians who had immigrated long before. Through these two extremes, diverse traditions came to exist.
In about 1920, influenza spread through Nauru, which took a heavy toll on the Nauruans. In 1925, the first cases of diabetes were diagnosed by doctors. Today, depending on age, every second to third Nauruan is diabetic – a higher rate than any other country in the world.
Tribes
The Nauruans were historically divided into 12 tribes, each with its own chief and a distinct style of clothing, with children inheriting the tribe from their mother's side.
Each of the 12 tribes is associated with certain concepts:[3]
- Eamwit - snake/eel, sly, slippery, good at lying and copier of styles
- Eamwitmwit - cricket/insect, vain beauty, tidiness, shrill noise and manner
- Eaoru - destroyer, harms plans, jealousy
- Eamwidara - dragonfly
- Iruwa- stranger, foreigner, a person from other countries, intelligence, beauty, masculinity
- Eano-straightforward, mad, eager
- Iwi (extinct) - lice
- Irutsi (extinct) - cannibalism
- Deiboe - small black fish, moody, cheater, behavior can change any time
- Ranibok - object washed ashore
- Emea - user of rake, slave, healthy, beautiful hair, cheater in friendship
- Emangum - player, actor
Society
Nauruans were classified into three social classes: temonibes (senior members of senior clans), amenengames (middle class) and the itsios (serf class).[4] While temonibes and amenengames were determined at birth, itsio were usually allocated by being prisoners of war, and were often treated as goods. There was a separate class of castaways that were treated as pets, but they were never as low as the itsios.
See also
- Nauruan language
- Nauruan nationality law, for the distinction between indigenous Nauruans and Nauruan citizens
References
- ^ "2018 Census ethnic group summaries | Stats NZ".
- ^ Report of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Administration of the Territory of Nauru. 1950. p. 8. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ "Tribes of Nauru". naurugov.nr. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
- JSTOR 40327587. Retrieved 2021-12-18.