Nauruans are a nation and an ethnic group indigenous to the Pacific island country of

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in ...

. They are most likely a blend of Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian ancestry. The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined. It was probably seafaring or shipwrecked

Polynesians Polynesians form an ethnolinguistic group of closely related people who are native to Polynesia (islands in the Polynesian Triangle), an expansive region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sou ...

Melanesians Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in a wide area from Indonesia's New Guinea to as far East as the islands of Vanuatu and Fiji. Most speak either one of the many languages of the Austronesian language fam ...

, who established themselves there because there was not already an indigenous population present, whereas the

Micronesians The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. Ethn ...

were already crossed with the Melanesians in this area. The Nauruans have two elements of their population: the native Micronesians and the Polynesians who had immigrated long before. The Micronesians are represented through coarse, dark hair; the Polynesians are lighter brown and have smoother black hair. Through these two extremes, diverse traditions came to exist. In about 1920,

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

spread through Nauru, which took a heavy toll on the Nauruans. In 1925, the first cases of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

were diagnosed by doctors. Today, depending on age, every second to third Nauruan is diabetic – a higher rate than any other country in the world.

Tribes

The nauruans were historically divided into 12 tribes, and when a child is born he or she will inherit their tribe from their mother's side. Clothes for each tribe were all different which helped to identify each individual. Here are the names of the 12 tribes and each of their historically associated concepts: # Eamwit - snake/eel, sly, slippery, good at lying and copier of styles. # Eamwitmwit - cricket/insect, vain beautiful, tidiness, with a shrill noise and manner alike. # Eaoru - destroyer, harms plans, jealous type. # Eamwidara - dragonfly. # Iruwa- stranger, foreigner, a person from other countries, intelligent, beautiful, masculine. # Eano-straightforward, mad, eager. # Iwi - lice (extinct). # Irutsi - cannibalism (extinct). # Deiboe - small black fish, moody, cheater, behavior can change any time. # Ranibok - object washed ashore. # Emea - user of rake, slave, healthy, beautiful hair, cheat in friendship. # Emangum - player, actor

Society

Nauruans were classified into three social classes: temonibes (senior members of senior clans), amenengames (middle class) and the itsios (serf class). While temonibes and amenengames were determined at birth, itsio were usually allocated by being prisoners of war, and were often treated as goods. There was a separate class of castaways that were treated as pets, but they were never as low as the itsios.

References

Ethnic groups in Nauru Indigenous peoples of Micronesia {{oceania-ethno-group-stub

Tribes

Society

See also

References