Culture of Tika Vanu

When discussing culture in Tika Vanu, it is necessary to distinguish between, on the one hand, the inhabitants of the smaller islands and the coastal and near-coastal areas of the two main islands, and, on the other, the inhabitants of the inland forests of the two largest islands.

Coastal and outer islands culture

Christianity

Religion and kastom (traditional Melanesian culture) are central elements of the ni-Tika Vanu way of life. Religion is pervasive, as there is no separation of Church and State, and the country is often described as a theocracy. The Catholic Church plays a significant role in government: it holds a third of the seats in Parliament by right, and the President must be a practising Catholic. Religious laws are implemented by the courts; blasphemy is a legal offence, as are swearing, drunkenness and "indecent clothing".

Christianity plays an important part in every day life. It is heavily present in schools, and most organisations and associations have close links with the Church. Prayers structure the days of the ni-Tika Vanu people, and Sunday is, by law, a day of rest and prayer during which many activities are prohibited. Most ni-Tika Vanu do not cook on Sundays, but prepare their meals the previous day. Major cultural events, such as dances and theatre plays, are organised by the Church, as are family ceremonies such as baptism or mariage, which are celebrated with feasts, partying and prayer.

Kastom

Kastom is experienced mainly in terms of family structure and the endurence of a subsistence economy in most parts of the country. While a market economy is gaining increasing importance in the larger towns, rural areas hold firm to traditional economic practices, which are seen as essential to the preserving of an authentic ni-Tika Vanu way of life. Catholicism, despite being a foreign import, is also perceived as "traditional", and hence a part of kastom.

Ni-Tika Vanu in rural areas and small towns live for the most part in extended families, in which children and women are expected to obey men, especially male elders. Gender roles are enforced by tradition, and women are perceived as generally inferior. Women have the right to vote, and are legally protected from domestic abuse, but may not stand for Parliament nor for the presidency. Education is open to all but segregated by gender, and it is commonly thought (and accepted) that boys receive a better education, preparing them for their dominant role in society and as future husbands, fathers and male elders.

The ni-Tika Vanu people's relation to material goods is ambivalent. While many, especially in rural areas, perceive it as a dangerous foreign influence, others consider that imported goods may be a new symbol of status and wealth in accordance with kastom, replacing traditional systems of wealth such as pigs, mats and the sharing of bountiful agricultural produce.

Multiculturalism

Although Tika Vanu is over 99% Melanesian, it may be seen as multicultural in at least two ways. First, over 220 distinct (albeit closely related) Indigenous languages are spoken in the country, mostly by smallish communities with their own traditional practices. Second, a small number of non-Melanesians live in Tika Vanu, mainly in the largest towns, and retain some aspects and practices of their original culture; there is even a tiny Chinatown in the capital, Kewa.

Controversy

While most ni-Tika Vanu are deeply religious and respectful of the traditional order, some voices do speak up in protest. They are often stifled by the Church-run system of censorship. The Church and government have full authority to censor books, plays, films and other media produced or distributed in the country, on "moral" grounds, and only authorised websites are accessible from computers in Tika Vanu. The Church runs the national .tvr top-level domain, and any website registered under this domain is subject to censorship.

The most prominent voices of dissent are those of Christian Ruhasia, head of the ni-Tika Vanu Communist Party (nTVCP), and Jessica Theodora Tomda, a young poet and social critic. The nTVCP has not been outlawed, but has been subjected to severe censorship, and Ruhasia has been jailed several times for "immoral", "blasphemous" and even "treasonous" speeches or pamphlets. Tomda has refused that her poems be processed by censors, and hence her work is not published or legally available in the country; she has, in addition, been forbidden from making speeches "to any group of more than five people". Both Ruhasia and Tomda have called for greater women's rights, the seperation of Church and State, freedom of religion, and democracy. Ruhasia has, in addition, called for the severing of ties with Tika Vanu's close ally West Ariddia, which is pushing the country towards a fuller implementation of a market economy; he has spoken up in favour of "kastom, a traditional lifestyle adapted to meet the equalitarian imperatives of our century". Neither Ruhasia not Tomda, however, have had much influence on ni-Tika Vanu society.

Inland culture

In the inland forests of the two largest islands - Vaa Enu and Ehota - live tens of thousands of ni-Tika Vanu who have eshewed virtually all contact with the outside world. They live, technologically-speaking, at a stone age level, and practice traditional subsistence economy, as well as Indigenous religions. They are divided into dozens of cultural and linguistic communities. A small number have accepted the presence of missionaries from the coast, but most are uninterested. Some communities do trade with those living on the coast, acquiring fish, shellfish and other ocean foodstuffs in exchange for meat, agricultural products or artwork, the latter being quite valuable in the market economy of the towns. Occasionally, they also accept the presence of anthropologists, but are generally wary of outsiders. Many of these communities have never been encountered by the outside world.

Culturally, they adhere to hierarchical family and society structures similar to those found throughout the country. Individuals, families and communities also derive prestige from the ownership and gifting of pigs, and the gifting of bountiful agricultural produce to neighbouring families or communities, as is the case elsewhere in Tika Vanu.

The national government in Kewa has agreed to leave the inland peoples to themselves, and has decided that they are exempt from the laws which apply to the rest of the country.