Rejecting and Remembering ancestors: a Christian centenary in the Solomon Islands

Abstract

Conversion narratives all around Oceania focus on heroic ancestors who transformed their own societies. These local heroes are often both the missionary and a local chief who welcomed him ashore. Yet, these narratives require anti-heroes as well as heroes, the warriors or priests who resisted the gospel message. This paper focuses on a 2016 celebration of 100 years of Christianity in the Kubokota region of Ranongga Island in the Western Solomon Islands. Kubokota’s conversion story centres on the return of a young local man named Paleo who had left years earlier for the Methodist mission headquarters. Senior men opposed his return, but a chiefly woman named Takavoja welcomed this “lost son” home and supported his work. Over weeks of preparation for the centenary celebration, people of Kubokota struggled to overcome the divisions of ordinary life and embody the spirit of Christian cooperation. They also struggled to remember their own ancestors. The task was most complex for descendants of a man remembered for opposing the missionaries and mocking Christian ritual. I argue that some of the representational struggles of the centenary celebration arose because colonial violence has been forgotten.