Lauru Ethnobotany

In 1995 while working as a field assistant for Dr. Scott Zona of Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Miami, we were led by then BSIP herbarium curator, Myknee Sirikolo, on a trip through the Western Solomon Islands. To be more accurate, Will McClatchey was led on one trip and then Dr. Zona was taken on a different trip since travel plans became jumbled. During this trip, Myknee, who is from the island of Lauru (a.k.a. Choiseul) made many introductions and encouraged future research in the western part of Solomon Islands. As part of this trip, selected populations of Metroxylon and communities using it were visited in Lauru, other parts of Western Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal, and the results contributed to later dissertation analyses.

In 1998 when research was initiated as a faculty member at University of Hawai`i, it was decided to take up Myknee on his offer and to examine Lauru as a place for field sites for ethnobotanical research and a place to address questions about evolution of human relationships with plants. A trip was made with Myknee to Lauru in which a large number of communities were visited and approached with the idea of conducting long-term research in their area. One community was particularly receptive in the public meetings, Susuka, on the north side of Lauru. (We later learned that this was not a unanimous feeling but we were still warmly welcomed to conduct research.)

In 1999 research permits were acquired from the National Government and permission was granted by the provincial government and local leaders from and in Susuka. A mixed team of Solomon Island students from University of South Pacific, Honiara and University of Hawai`i was taken to Susuka and work was initiated. While conducting work we were approached by individuals who showed us copies of logging contracts that were being proposed on other parts of Lauru and we were asked to provide comments. The contracts were analyzed and some additional information was collected from the people asking the question. Information in the contract was interpreted, such as calculations of payments and how these would be dispersed. Once the people understood what they were actually being offered for their resources and how the rewards were to be dispersed, they became quite angry. We should not have become involved within this conflict although we have no regret over sharing factual information with the people. The leaders of some of the communities are clearly corrupt and delivered their poison on the benefits that they saw the people of Susuka receiving from our project. Our field research period was cut a month short when the provincial government withdrew their permission on the basis of a technical dispute they were having with the federal government that had nothing to do with our research. We relocated to Guadalcanal where we were based in the federal government offices of the national herbarium and completed the research working with people from Susuka living there.

In 2000 research was again initiated after resolving the permitting problems. However, before we could effectively develop the next step in the project a political coup occurred that effectively shut down the government and crippled the structure of the nation to this day. Because a number of other projects were pressing elsewhere at the same time, it was decided to not return to Solomon Islands until the government stabilized.

The people with whom we worked in Lauru and Gudalcanal are all generous. They are kind souls who suffer from one of the worst forms of government on earth: A colonial usury democracy that has little relationship to traditional power structures and realities of daily subsistence lifestyles. People are expected to go through a formal education process, but it is abundantly clear that while children are in school they are missing out on the REAL education which is learning how to earn a living in a subsistence economy because there is not any place for them to use the education that they receive. We have met hundreds of people who are "educated" in a global/UN sense, but have little or no education in a local/Solomon Island sense. This is a tragedy and it is our fault because the world at large judges nations such as this by their literacy rates and other measures that have nothing to do with national happiness and ability to sustainably thrive.

Publications

McClatchey, W. & P. Lincoln. 2007. Editors of A Babatana-English Dictionary. Mostly based upon the life work of sister Lucy Money of Sasamuqa. Honolulu, Hawai`i.

Money, L. 2007. Babatana Grammar. Honolulu, Hawai`i.

McClatchey, W, Harley I. Manner & Craig R. Elevitch. 2006. Metroxylon amicarium, M. paulcoxii, M. sagu, M. salomonense, M. vitiense, and M. warburgii (sago palms). Pp 491-512 in Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands: their culture, environment, and use. Edited by C.R. Elevitch. Permanent Agricultural Resources, Holualoa, Hawai‘i.

McClatchey, W., M. Sirikolo, L. Kalveke & C. Pitanapi. 2006. Ethnobotany of Canarium (Burseraceae) among the Babatana of Lauru (Choiseul), Solomon Islands. Economic Botany 60(3):212-226.

McClatchey, W. M.Q. Sirikolo, H. Boe, E. Biliki, & F. Votboc. 2005. A Proposal for PABITRA Study Area on Lauru Island, Western Solomon Islands. Pacific Science 59:213-240.

McClatchey, W, Harley Manner & Craig R. Elevitch. 2003. Metroxylon amicarium, M. paulcoxii, M. sagu, M. salomonense, M. vitiense, and M. warburgii (sago palms). Pp 1-23 in Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry. November 2004. www.traditionaltree.org Permanent Agricultural Resources, Honolulu, Hawai‘i.

McClatchey, W., R. Thaman & S. Juvik. 2004. Ethnobiodiversity Surveys of Human/Ecosystem Relationships. Pp. 159-196 in Biodiversity Assessment of Tropical Island Ecosystems. Edited by Dieter Mueller Dombois, Kim Bridges, and Curt Daehler, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.

McClatchey, W. 2002. Biogeographical Observation of Metroxylon Section Coelococcus. Pp. 119-126 in New Frontiers of Sago Palm Studies Proceedings of the International Symposium on SAGO (SAGO 2001) A New Bridge Linking South and North, Frontiers in Science Series No. 37 Edited by K. Kainuma, M. Okazaki, Y. Toyoda, & John E. Cecil. Universal Academy Press, Inc. Tokyo.

McClatchey W., J. Mozena, M. Sirikolo, J. Stevens, M. Wysong, & P. Lincoln. 2000. Editors of Ririo - English Dictionary with Babatana equivalents, ethnobiological terminologies, and scientific names by Harry Truman Boe, Edison Biliki, Edwin Kaboke, Martin Love, Ester Nalatüti, Isaiah Poloso, Monica Qilazuka, Jonathan Takubala, & Frederick Vot’boc. University of New South Wales, Sydney.

McClatchey, W. & J. Stevens. 2000. How a Seacology Project is Born: Tales from the Solomon Islands. Seacology Fall 2000.

McClatchey, W., M. Q. Sirikolo, H. Boe, M. Biliki, E. Biliki & F. Votboc. 1999. A Proposed Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect (PABITRA) Terrestrial Research Site on Lauru in the Western Solomon Islands. Web published on the PABITRA web site, University of Hawaii, Department of Botany.

McClatchey, W. 1996. A revision of the genus Metroxylon section Coelococcus (Arecaceae). Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.