On the remote island of Santa Catalina, one of 900 islands that comprise the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, a traditional spear fighting festival takes place every May/June. Aligned with the new year in the local, traditional calendar, the timing of the ceremonial spear fighting means that locals are able to settle disagreements and meet the coming year with conflicts resolved. The spear fighting festival (known locally as Wogasia), brings the men of the island’s two tribes together at dawn and at dusk, bodies caked in mud and sharpened sticks in hand. Battles are arranged obliquely and metaphorically; one combatant might hint to another that his turtle will be at the beach by tomorrow’s dawn. In that way, the other party will know that they will be facing each other in the spear fight the next day.
admin
Publication Date