Chief Nathan

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The life and times of Chief Nathan

An Australian expatriate revisits his first over seas post and finds a story waiting to be told

Maekera is based on the life of hered itary chief Nathan Kera and spans many decades of changes in his country,' the Solomon Islands. His tribal lands cover approximately 750 square miles of lagoon and forest in the Roviana Lagoon area of Western Province.

His tribal people, the Saikile, believe they have supernatural origins and his hereditary chieftainship of the 1800 Saikile people is also believed to have its origin there. Before he was born in 1909, a tribal elder prophesied the child would be a boy and the next chief of the Saikile people.

Initially Kera was trained in the tradi tional beliefs and customs of his peo ple. At this time missionaries from the Methodist Church were active in the Roviana Lagoon area because they believed if they could convert these “wild head-hunters” then the rest of their work of conversion would be eas ier.

After attending the village primary school, young Nathan was sent to the Methodist Mission headquarters for fur ther study. There he came to the notice of renowned missionary Reverend John F. Goldie who recognised Nathan’s nat ural intelligence and leadership ability.

Nathan worked in Goldie’s household and travelled with him during his visits around the islands.

Later Goldie chose Nathan to accom pany him to the annual mission confer ence in New Zealand. It was intended that Nathan should assist with mission work then be left at the Wesley College in Auckland to further his education.

Some of the most memorable moments of Nathan Kera’s life occurred at this time. He travelled on a steamer to New Zealand via Brisbane and

Sydney, saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge in a partially completed state and upon reaching New Zealand, trav elled extensively with Goldie.

Wherever he went, he aroused great interest, being as strange to New Zealanders as they were to him. He also took a joy-flight in a biplane probably the first Solomon Islander to do so.

Kera was one of the first Solomon Islanders to be educated outside his country, resulting in a successful career as a leader and teacher.

Nathan married Agnes Wheatley, the daughter of another well-known English trader (her grandfather was another Roviana chief).

The Pacific War saw Nathan and his family narrowly escape the advancing Japanese, who particularly sought him out because of his European education and clothing. He gathered together some 30 of his people and cared for them in a jungle camp out of reach of the Japanese. They rescued an American airman who had crashed in their lagoon.

Following the war, Nathan resumed his teaching into the 19605. He did not assume the chieftainship of his people until 1952 when his uncle, the chief, died. One of the deathbed instructions from his uncle was for Nathan to “take care of the butubutu (the people)”. The wide and varied experiences in Nathan’s life contributed to his overall preparation for the leadership of his

people.

The most recent years of Nathan’s life have been devoted to “caring for the butubutu ”, especially through the growth of the cash economy as it replaces the old system of barter and

through control of logging on their lands.

Part of Nathan Kera’s modern leader ship style has resulted in his forming a series of advisory committees and a constitution for his tribal area. This remarkable constitution records verbal traditions and rules in modern form and provides guidance for all aspects of tribal living, including behaviour, beliefs, use of the environment and its conservation for the future. H