Areare is the name of a people from the south of the island of

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

, which is part of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

. Their language is the ꞌAreꞌare language, which is part of the Austronesian language family. In 1999 there were an estimated speakers, up from about 8-9,000 in the 1970s.Zemp, Hugo. Liner notes to ''Solomon Islands: ꞌAreꞌare Panpipe Ensembles.'' Le Chant du Monde LDX 274961.62, 1994. p. 58. Prior to colonisation and subsequent independence, the ꞌAreꞌare occupied a much larger geographical area encompassing parts of

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...

and

Makira The island of Makira (also known as San Cristobal and San Cristóbal) is the largest island of Makira-Ulawa Province in the Solomon Islands. It is third most populous island after Malaita and Guadalcanal, with a population of 55,126 as of 202 ...

, as well as

. This included the northern part of Makira known as Arosi and the eastern part of Guadalcanal known today as

Marau Sound Marau Sound is a sound in the Solomon Islands; it is located at the eastern end of Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacifi ...

. In the past they lived in hamlets in the mountainous hinterland, or on the banks of lagoons in the southwest or the Mara Masika Strait (separating Malaita and South Malaita islands), but during colonization many coastal villages were established. Traditionally, they practiced

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no s ...

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afric ...

, yams, and

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato ('' Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young ...

es, as well as raising

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus ''Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

s and fishing. During colonization they were encouraged to export

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

and raise

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

on a small scale. The southern and northern zones differ in their political organization, with the south led by hereditary chieftains, while the north follows the self-made big man structure common in Melanesia. Both the hereditary and non-hereditary leaders are known as ''aaraha''. The traditional religion was

ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune o ...

, but during colonization,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

made big inroads, and by the mid-1970s at least half of the population was converted.Zemp, 59 Bible portions were first translated in 1957. About half belong to the South Seas Evangelical Church, and half to either the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

or Anglican Church of the Province of Melanesia. The former do not permit traditional music which is seen as related to the ancestral spirits, deemed "devils." The ꞌAreꞌare known for their complex panpipe music, which was studied by ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp.

References

External links

* from Documentary Educational Resources (DER) Ethnic groups in the Solomon Islands Society of the Solomon Islands Indigenous peoples of Melanesia {{Solomons-stub