Subject: ngwane ramo warrior chief

Culture: Solomon Islander

Setting: slave raiding, tribal warfare, Solomon Islands mid 19th-early 20thc

Event Photos

* Varilaku 2011 p9 (Ron Radford, "Foreword" p8-11)

"The word varilaku describes the mixture of cool bravado and aggression found in the confidence of a warrior, fully adorned and decorated, embarking on a war-like or head-hunting expedition. Warriors needed these personal qualities in abundance, and magic was used as an aid. Looking their very best -- with hair done and wearing elaborate ornaments -- boosted their confidence and helped build the perception that they were indeed striking, strong and capable warriors. One nineteenth-century observer described them as 'hostile dandies'."

* Meyer 1995 vII p385-387

"The male world revolves around fishing, hunting, religious and ceremonial life and incessant warfare, including head-hunting. [...]

"Chiefdom is both hereditary and based on personal achievement, wealth, superior fighting skills, political abilities and close ties to the world of the spirits. [...] Magic is also employed, in particular in matters of war, love, gardening, fishing and revenge. A unique form of spirit or ancestral ghost is the tindalo, which inhabits both things and places, and which is invoked for the protection of the crops, to calm the seas and to increase the catch. Some tindalo are related to war, others to hunting, while others again can be very helpful in love."

Primary Sources

* Varilaku 2011 p

Secondary Sources

Field Notes