- History of Vanuatu
The history off Vanuatu begins obscurely. The commonly held theory of
Vanuatu 'sprehistory from archaeological evidence supports that peoples speaking Austronesianlanguage s first came to the islands some 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. [ [http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fadt_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/png/report/index.htm "A Pacific engaged: Australias (sic) relations with Papua New Guinea and the island states of the southwest Pacific"] , Australian Senate, August 12, 2003, p.288]Pottery fragments have been found dating back to 1300 B.C. [Ron Adams, [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-53977 "History (from Vanuatu)"] , "Encyclopædia Britannica ", 2006] What little is known of the pre-European contact history of Vanuatu has been gleaned from oral histories and legends. One important early king wasRoy Mata , who united several tribes, and was buried in a large mound with several retainers.Europeans
The first island in the Vanuatu group discovered by Spaniards was
Espiritu Santo when, in 1606, the Portuguese explorer,Pedro Fernández de Quirós , spied what he thought was a southerncontinent . Europeans did not return until 1768, whenLouis Antoine de Bougainville rediscovered the islands. In 1774,Captain Cook named the islands theNew Hebrides , a name that lasted until independence. In 1825, traderPeter Dillon 's discovery ofsandalwood on theisland ofErromango began a rush that ended in1830 after a clash between immigrantPolynesia n workers and indigenousMelanesia ns. During the 1860s, planters inAustralia ,Fiji ,New Caledonia , and the Samoan Islands, in need of labourers, encouraged a long-term indentured labour trade called "blackbirding ." At the height of the blackbirding, more than one-half the adult male population of several of the Islands worked abroad.It was at this time that missionaries, both
Roman Catholic andProtestant , arrived on the islands. Settlers also came, looking for land on which to establishcotton plantation s. When international cotton prices collapsed, they switched tocoffee ,cocoa ,banana s, and, most successfully,coconut s. Initially, British subjects fromAustralia made up the majority, but the establishment of theCaledonian Company of the New Hebrides in 1882 soon tipped the balance in favour of French subjects. By the turn of the century, the French outnumbered the British two to one.Franceville
The municipality of Franceville (present-day
Port Vila ) onEfate was established during this period. In 1878 Britain andFrance declared all of the New Hebrides to beneutral territory , but the lack of a functional government led to rising discontent among British and French colonists. The French were especially inconvenienced because French law recognized marriages only when contracted under a civil authority (the nearest being inNew Caledonia ), whereas British law recognized marriages conducted by local clergy. OnAugust 9 ,1889 , Franceville declared itself independent under the leadership ofmayor /president Ferdinand Chevillard and with its own red, white and blue flag with five stars. [Bourdiol, Julien (1908), Condition internationale des Nouvelles-Hebrides, p 107] [Simpson, Colin (1955). "Islands of Men: A Six-part Book about Life in Melanesia", p 133.] This community became the firstself-governing nation to practiceuniversal suffrage without distinction of sex or race. Although the district's population at the time consisted of about 500 natives and fewer than 50 whites, only the latter were permitted to hold office. One of its elected presidents was a U.S. citizen by birth,R. D. Polk . ["Wee, Small Republics: A Few Examples of Popular Government," "Hawaiian Gazette", Nov 1, 1895, p1]Condominium
The jumbling of French and British interests in the islands brought petitions for one or another of the two powers to annex the territory. The Convention of
16 October 1887 established a joint naval commission for the sole purpose of protecting French and British citizens, but claimed no jurisdiction over internal native affairs.In 1906, however,
France and theUnited Kingdom agreed to administer the islands jointly. Called the British-French Condominium, it was a unique form of government, with separate governmental systems that came together only in a joint court. The condominium's authority was extended in the Anglo-French Protocol of 1914, although this was not formally ratified until 1922. Melanesians were barred from acquiring thecitizenship of either power and were officially stateless; to travel abroad they needed anidentity document signed by "both" the British and French resident commissioners.Many called the condominium the "Pandemonium" because of the duplication of laws, police forces, prisons, currencies, education and health systems.
Overseas visitors could choose between British law, that was considered stricter but with more humane prisons, or French law and French prisons, which were somewhat uncomfortable but with better food.
In their book, "Vanuatu" by Jocelyn Harewood and Michelle Bennett, is this memorable passage referring to the 1920s: "Drunken plantation owners used to gamble... using the `years of labour' of their Melanesian workers as currency. Islanders used to be lined up against the wall, at the mercy of their employers' dice. Long after America's
Wild West was tamed, Vila was the scene of the occasional gunfight and public guillotining."Independence
Challenges to this form of government began in the early 1940s. The arrival of Americans with their informal demeanour and relative wealth during
World War II was instrumental in the rise of nationalism in the islands. The belief in a mythicalmessianic figure namedJohn Frum was the basis for an indigenouscargo cult (a movement attempting to obtain industrial goods through magic) promising Melanesian deliverance. Today, John Frum is both a religion and a political party with two members in Parliament.Perhaps the final political impetus towards independence was the central issue of land ownership which arose during the 1960s. The ancient customs of the "Ni-Vanuatu" meant that land was held in trust for future generations by the current custodians; Europeans viewed it more as a commodity and owned about 30% of the land area. This European-held land had been mostly cleared for
coconut production, but when they began clearing more land for coconut production, protests began in both Santo and Malekula led by Jimmy Stevens and his "kastom" movement called "Nagriamel".In the 1960s France opposed Britain's desire to de-colonize the
New Hebrides south of theSolomon Islands fearing that the independence sentiment would be contagious in their mineral-rich colonial possessions in French New Caledonia.cite book |last=Fischer |first=Steven |authorlink=Steven Roger Fischer |title=A History of the Pacific Islands |origyear=2002 |publisher=Palgrave |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS |isbn=0-333-94975-7 |pages=pp. 249-250 |chapter=Reinventing Pacific Islands |quote= ]The first political party was established in the early 1970s and originally was called the
New Hebrides National Party . One of the founders wasWalter Lini , an Anglican Priest, who later becamePrime Minister . Renamed theVanua'aku Party in 1974, the party pushed for independence. A Representative Assembly was created in 1975 but dissolved in 1977 after demands for the elimination of government-appointees and immediate independence. In 1979 foreign owners were dispossessed and received compensation from their own governments and a date set for full independence.France was unhappy. A couple of significant rebellions occurred on Tanna and Espiritu Santo and paperwork revealed the direct culpability of France in its desire to see Espiritu Santo become a separate French colony.
On
31 July 1980 , theRepublic of Vanuatu was created."Whereupon French officials - not British - tore out telephones, air-conditioners and all equipment and furnishings from administrative offices so as to burden the new public service and its budget. Vanuatu was alone in Pacific Islands ("sic") in attaining independence at the perceived cost of defeating a more powerful, and openly antagonistic, adversary. Had it not been for Britain, independence would still have been a dream today in Vanuatu.".cite book |last=Fischer |first=Steven |authorlink=Steven Roger Fischer |title=A History of the Pacific Islands |origyear=2002 |publisher=Palgrave |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS |isbn=0-333-94975-7 |pages=pp. 249-250 |chapter=Reinventing Pacific Islands |quote=Whereupon French officials - not British - tore out telephones, air-conditioners and all equipment and furnishings from administrative offices so as to burden the new public service and its budget. Vanuatu was alone in Pacific Islands ("sic"} in attaining independence at the perceived cost of defeating a more powerful, and openly antagonistic, adversary. Had it not been fro Britain, independence would still have been a dream today in Vanuatu. ]
Since independence, only "kastom" owners and the government can own land; foreigners and other islanders who are not "kastom" owners can lease land only for the productive life of a coconut palm - 75 years.
ee also
*
History of present-day nations and states External links
* [http://www.vanuatutourism.com/vanuatu.htm Vanuatu] " [http://www.vanuatutourism.com/history6.htm Colonial History] "
References
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