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Development had already taken place on the island
prior to the arrival of the Banabans on the
15 December 1945.
There were countless numbers of cows roaming
around on the island, and the Melanesian
Labourers working for Lever Brothers Limited
lived on the two coconut plantations called
Vunisinu and Suetolu at the time, each having
a coconut drier. Some of them lived in the
area where the Banaban first landed. After a
number of years these Melanesian Laboureres
returned to their respective islands in the
South Pacific. Rabi together with all village
names like Vunisinu and Suetolu as well as
many others have remained in Fijian.
A church building for the Labourers of Lever
Brothers Limited, most of whom were
Methodists, was built at Vunisinu Village
which is now called Buakonikai. IT was looked
after by a catechist who also worked for the
company as a shopkeeper. It was the only
church for the whole of Rabi at that time;
however, church attendance was not compulsory
because the company did not enforce such rules
as one might have expected. The church
building, a bure (a Fijian traditional house),
was then used by the Banabans who came to
settle at Buakonikai in the late 1940s.
It is also interesting to know that the
Banabans’ migration to Rabi had been
pre-determined by Britain and the BPC. When
the Banabans arrived on the BPC vessel, “Triona”,
they saw that tents of tarpaulin were being
prepared for them. Each family had the freedom
to choose which tent to use as long as they
lived together in the same camp for security
purposes.
However, on the arrival of the people on Rabi
island, there were only two denominations the
London Missionary Society which was the
majority church and the Roman Catholic
Church. There were three LMS pastors int eh
first landing but no Catholic pastor. The LMS
pastors were Bonobati, Toromon Aand Tekiau.
Bonobati was pastor in Uma, Toromon at
Buakonikai and Tekiau in Tabwewa village. The
pastor Tabiang village was among those who
suffered from Leprosy and was killed by the
Japanese soldiers. There was no church
building; therefore, one of the larger
tarpaulins was used for the purpose of church
services and meetings. Later on, two church
buildings were built from local materials such
as timber and coconut leaves to replace that
tarpaulin. The church meetings consisted
mainly of the church elders and their pastors.
During one of the meetings, Rotan and some of
the elders suggested that a church building
should be established to commemorate the first
landing of the Banabans on their new island.
This was agreed to by the members of the
meeting who unanimously chose the hill which
rises immediately in the background of their
settlement camp, facing the sea. Work on it
started the day after this particular meeting,
but slackened when people began to disperse to
their own villages.
Elders from each family were chosen to become
taan babaire (decision-makers) for the
people with regards to the establishment of
village locations, government, schools and
hospitals on Rabi. The Elders’ meetings
normally became sessions where members would
find time to yarn and recall most of their
fishing expeditions and other significant
incidences back on Banab, their unforgettable
homeland. These elders included: Kabanti,
Tekoruru, Tabuariki, Teremita, Keangibo,
Rotan, Mataio, Taki, Tokinteiti, Akeriba, Amon,
Tebuke, Rewi, Iete, Aron, Urebano, Nakaitu,
Nakura, Tanaera, Airu, Korauea, Tekenimatang,
Tenamo, ANeri, Kaiaba, Ietera. Eight of these
elders were chosen as a separate body of
government known as the Rabi Island Council,
working closely with the Banaban Advisor, Mr
Kennedy. They were Kabanti, Tabuariki, Rotan,
Akeriba, Keangibo, Amon, Rewi and Aron.
The following list is the names of
rorobuaka (warriors or strong men) who
assisted the office of Advisers with the
development of the community: Beniamina,
Tetebano, Kaiekieki, Aneri, Teangoa, Rui,
Ioteba, Tebiraki, Kabuta, Natua, Kareaiti,
Moutu, Taakai, Karuoteiti, Ikamawa, Iotua,
Kautuntake, Kawate, Naikara, Kariatabwewa,
Teai, Tio, Tekai, Fred Corrie. The men
assisted the Council in distributing and
meeting wht community’s needs in terms of
housing and beddings, eating utensils and food
supplies which were to last for three months
from the day of arrival till 31` March, 1946.
Housing and bedding supplies consisted of
tents, mosquito nets and blankets, and eating
utensils included pots, plates, kettles,
spoons, knives and coconut scrapers. These
were not enough to distribute to the people.
Food which was available consisted of rice,
flour, sugar, biscuits, corned beef, and
tinned fish. Food was distributed once a week
but it was rationed on the basis of per
individual per day. That is for each day each
adult received 1 pound of rice, 1 pound of
flour, 1 pound of sugar, biscuits, 1 tinned
corned beef and 1 tinned fish. Children
received half the ration.
About six months to a year later a major
decision was made by the Rabi Island Council
to disperse the people from the camp site. It
was also decided that the names of the four
villages of Nuku, Wiinuku, Siosio and
Aontengea (formerly known as Vunisinu) in Rabi
were to be changed and renamed after the four
main villages on Banaba, namely, Tabwewa, Uma,
Tabiang and Buakonikai respectively. It was
due to this change that the people were
encouraged to move to their respective
villages where they felt that their sense of
place and belonging was now somewhat secured.
The four villages were each controlled by
their own elders and councillors. In the late
1940s to 1950s the LMS churches in each of
these villages had their own pastors and
catechists with its head quarters back in
Kiribati. While the churches functioned
individually in each village, quarterly
meetings were often held whereby
representatives from each church attended. It
was in these important meetings where matters
of importance, experiences and problems with
regard to the welfare of the churches were
discussed. From these meetings reports were
compiled and sent to the Kiribati
headquarters.
More
on History of the Churches on Rabi Island,
Fiji
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