Island in Tafea Province of Vanuatu
Tanna
(sometimes misspelled
Tana
) is an
island
in southern
Vanuatu
.
Tanna is the most populous island of
Tafea Province
, and the third most populous in the whole country (after
Efate
and
Espiritu Santo
). It is home to
five indigenous languages
, which also rank among the most vibrant in the whole archipelago, ranging from 3500 to 11500 speakers.
Tanna is the most internationally renowned island of Vanuatu, and has been featured in numerous documentaries or TV shows around the world. This is partly due to
Mount Yasur
, an active volcano and a major touristic attraction. It is also famous for its vibrant
Melanesian culture
, through dances and festivals. The island has also attracted the attention of many anthropologists for its
cargo cults
.
Name
[
edit
]
The name
Tanna
, first cited by
James Cook
, is derived from the word
tana
in the
Kwamera language
, meaning "earth".
[1]
Etymologically,
Tanna
goes back to
Proto-Oceanic
*
tanoq
, from
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
*
taneq
, with the same meaning.
[2]
Geography
[
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]
Tanna is 40 kilometres (25 miles) long and 19 kilometres (12 miles) wide, with a total area of 550 square kilometres (212 square miles). Its highest point is the 1,084-metre (3,556-foot) summit of
Mount Tukosmera
in the south of the island.
Siwi Lake was located in the east, northeast of the peak, close to the coast until mid-April 2000 when following unusually heavy rain, the lake burst down the valley into
Sulphur Bay
, destroying the village with no loss of life.
Mount Yasur
is an accessible active
volcano
which is located on the southeast coast.
History
[
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]
Tanna was first settled about 400 BC by
Melanesians
from the surrounding islands. The glowing light of Mount Yasur attracted
James Cook
, the first European to visit the island, in August 1774, where he landed in an inlet on the southeastern tip of the island that he named Port Resolution after his ship
HMS
Resolution
.
In the 19th century, traders and missionaries (chiefly
Presbyterian
) arrived. The Tannese stuck to their traditions more strongly than other islands; there remain fewer Christians in comparison with the other islands of Vanuatu. Whaling vessels were some of the first regular visitors to the island in the 19th century. The first on record was the
Rose
in February 1804. The last known such visit was by the
Sea Ranger
in September 1871.
[3]
Tanna was not a principal site of
World War II
, but about 1,000 people from Tanna were recruited to work on the American military base on
Efate
. Exposure to
First World
living standards may have led to the development of
cargo cults
. Many have died out, but the
John Frum
cult remains strong on Tanna today, especially at Sulphur Bay in the southeast and Green Point in the southwest of the Island. The documentary
Waiting for John
(2015) by Jessica Sherry provides a history and overview of the current scene regarding these beliefs.
[4]
A secessionist movement began in the 1970s, and the Nation of Tanna was proclaimed on 24 March 1974. While the British were more open to allowing its holdings in Vanuatu to achieve independence, it was opposed by the French colonists and finally suppressed by the
Anglo-French Condominium
authorities on 29 June 1974. In 1980, there was another attempt to secede, declaring the Tafea Nation on 1 January 1980, its name coming from the initials of the five islands that were to be part of the nation (Tanna,
Aniwa
,
Futuna
,
Erromango
and
Aneityum
). British forces intervened on 26 May 1980, allowing the island to become part of the newly independent nation of Vanuatu on 30 July 1980.
Tanna and nearby Erromango were devastated by
Cyclone Pam
in March 2015, with reports of an unknown number of deaths, complete destruction of the island’s infrastructure and permanent shelters, and no drinking water.
[5]
Following this, an
El Nino
-spurred drought further impacted on the people of Tanna.
[6]
Culture and economy
[
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]
Population
[
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]
It is the most populous island in
Tafea Province
, and one of the most populous islands in the country with a population of about 29,000 in 2009,
[7]
which grew to 30,770 in 2015.
[8]
Isangel
, the provincial administrative capital, is on the west coast near the island's largest town of
Lenakel
. Tanna is populated almost entirely by Melanesians, and they follow a more traditional lifestyle than many other islands. Some of the higher altitude villages are known as
kastom
villages, where modern inventions are restricted, the inhabitants wear
penis sheaths
(
Bislama
:
nambas
) and grass skirts, and the children do not go to public school. According to anthropologist
Joel Bonnemaison
, author of "The Tree and the Canoe: history and ethnography of Tanna," their resistance to change derives from their traditional worldview and how they "perceive, internalise, and account for the dual concepts of space and time."
[9]
Cargo cults
[
edit
]
The island is the centre of the
John Frum
religious movement,
[10]
which attracts tourist interest as a
cargo cult
. The first John appeared at night as a spirit at a place called Green Point beach and told the people to return to their traditional way of life, or kastom. From that time kastom on Tanna has been seen as an alternative to the modernity encouraged by many missionary denominations.
Yaohnanen
is the centre of the
Prince Philip movement
, which reveres
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
, the late husband of Queen
Elizabeth II
. The cult is examined by British writer
Matthew Baylis
in his 2013 book
Man Belong Mrs Queen: Adventures with the Philip Worshippers
.
[11]
Five men from the cargo cult were brought to the United Kingdom as part of the
Channel 4
reality show
Meet the Natives
in 2007. Part of their itinerary included an off-screen meeting with the prince.
[12]
In
An Idiot Abroad
, Series 2, Episode 1,
Karl Pilkington
visited Tanna and discussed the Prince Philip Movement and met those who visited
Windsor Castle
.
Christian missionary
John Gibson Paton
served in Tanna in the mid 19th century.
Cannibalism
was practiced before Christianity swept the island. In the biography of Paton, the horror of the pagan practice of abusing and murdering disobedient wives is detailed.
[13]
Languages
[
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]
There are five main languages spoken on Tanna: the southern language of
Kwamera
and the
Southwestern
language adjacent to the slopes of Tokosmera, of which there are many dialects spoken by very small groupings, constitute two of the languages. The remaining majority of Tanna islanders speak four dialects, being
North Tanna
in the northwest,
Lenakel
in the west-central area near Lenakel, and the middle bush dialect in the central plateau of the island, which is very close to Lenakel
Whitesands
in the northeast near
Whitesands
.
The five languages of Tanna feature among the most populous among all the
indigenous languages of Vanuatu
:
[14]
These are grouped into the
Tanna languages
family, which is a subgroup of the
South Vanuatu languages
, a branch of the
Oceanic languages
. Many people on Tanna also speak
Bislama
, which is one of Vanuatu's three official languages (together with English and French).
Economy
[
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]
The island is one of the most fertile in Vanuatu and produces
kava
,
coffee
,
coconut
,
copra
, and other fruits and vegetables. Recently, tourism has become more important, as tourists are attracted to the volcano and traditional culture.
[15]
To help preserve the integrity of culture as a tourism asset, only local people are permitted to act as guides. There are various types of accommodation on the island.
Cultural references
[
edit
]
In 2009 the
Travel Channel
aired
Meet the Natives: USA
, which brought five men from another group from Tanna to the
United States
.
[16]
Their tribe reveres Tom Navy, an American World War II sailor who generations ago had taught the inhabitants to live in peace. The Tanna ambassadors were taken across, visiting five states, and eventually meeting former
United States Secretary of State
Colin Powell
and verifying with him that the spirit of peace taught by Tom Navy lives on in then US President,
Barack Obama
. While visiting with a family on
Fort Stewart
, US Army
Major-General
Tony Cucolo
conferred a
World War II Victory Medal
and an
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
upon the chief in representation of the contribution the people of Tanna in World War II.
Tanna
, a film depicting the true story of a couple who decided to marry for love, rather than obey their parents' wishes, is set on the island,
[17]
[15]
and was nominated for the
Best Foreign Language Film
at the
89th Academy Awards
.
[18]
Transportation
[
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]
The island is served by
Whitegrass Airport
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Biography of John Gibson Paton
at Christian Biography Resources
- ^
*Lynch, John. 2001.
The linguistic history of southern Vanuatu
. (
Pacific Linguistics
, 509.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
- ^
Langdon, Robert (1984)
Where the whalers went: An index to the Pacific ports and islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century
, Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, p.191.
ISBN
086784471X
- ^
Waiting for John Documentary
. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- ^
Robertson, Joshua (15 March 2015).
"Cyclone Pam: aid agencies report widespread devastation in Vanuatu"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
4 November
2016
.
- ^
"Tanna struggles through devastating drought as El Nino continues"
.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
. 3 November 2015
. Retrieved
4 November
2016
.
- ^
2009 Census Summary release final
Archived
2013-12-21 at the
Wayback Machine
- Government of Vanuatu
- ^
https://reliefweb.int/attachments/3438e21c-4a8f-3d53-8c64-13a34f107892/2015-03_VNSO_COPY_Vanuatu_provincial_and_island_population_estimates-18March2015.pdf
- ^
Lissant Bolton.
Tree and the Canoe: History and ethnogeography of Tanna
,
The Oceania
, Dec 1996
- ^
Lord, Christopher. Photography: Jon Tonks (28 November 2021).
"
'There was a prophecy I would come': the western men who think they are South Pacific kings"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
28 November
2021
.
- ^
Baylis, Matthew (2013).
Man Belong Mrs Queen Adventures with the Philip Worshippers
. Old Street.
ISBN
978-1-908699-64-0
.
- ^
[1]
,
The Independent
, 6 October 2007
- ^
"John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides : An autobiography"
. 19 February 1889.
- ^
Francois, Alexandre
; Franjieh, Michael; Lacrampe, Sebastien; Schnell, Stefan (2015),
"The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu"
(PDF)
, in Francois, Alexandre; Lacrampe, Sebastien; Franjieh, Michael; Schnell, Stefan (eds.),
The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity
, Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia, Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access, pp. 1?21
.
- ^
a
b
Lindstrom, Lamont (5 November 2015).
"Award-winning film Tanna sets Romeo and Juliet in the south Pacific"
. Retrieved
4 November
2016
.
- ^
Meet the Natives: USA
Archived
2009-11-22 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Travel Channel
, Accessed 24 December 2009
- ^
Luke Buckmaster.
"Tanna review ? volcanic South Pacific love story shot entirely in Vanuatu"
.
the Guardian
. Retrieved
30 January
2017
.
- ^
Samuelson, Kate (24 January 2017).
"Here Are the 2017 Oscar Nominations"
.
Time
. Retrieved
30 January
2017
.
Filmography
[
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]
God is American
, feature documentary (2007, 52 min), by Richard Martin-Jordan, on
John Frum
's cult at Tanna.
External links
[
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]