The displacement of the traditional

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

by contemporary western influences is evident on the island. Little remains from the old customs. The traditions of arts and crafts are nearly lost.

Arts and crafts

The inhabitants of Nauru wear the usual tropical clothes: short trousers and light shirts. Fishing still follows a traditional method: the island anglers wait in small light boats for fish to arrive. The custom of fishing by trained

frigatebird Frigatebirds are a Family (biology), family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, ''Fregata''. All have predominantly black plumage, l ...

s has been preserved. Nauruan folk songs existed as of 1970, while ''Oh Bwio Eben Bwio'' is a noticeable folk song. Whilst the traditional culture rapidly gives way to the contemporary, as elsewhere in Micronesia, music and dance still rank among the most popular art forms. Rhythmic singing and traditional ''reigen'' are performed particularly at celebrations. At least, a historical form of a Nauruan dance called ''fish dance'' in English was record in a form of photographs. Known contemporary dances are the frigate bird dance and the dogoropa. Craftsmen make articles of clothing and fans of ''Kokosfasern'' and the sheets of the screw tree and use geometrical samples, which resemble those of the Indonesian culture. Also the wood of the ''kokospalme'' is used for the production of arts and crafts.

Language and education

The language of Nauru, Dorerin Naoero, is a Micronesian language. English is understood and spoken widely. Education is compulsory from 4 to 16, in all the schools on the island. The

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

has a centre in Nauru located in the Aiwo District and offers pre-school teacher education, nutrition and disability studies and will offer the Community Workers Certificate. The campus offers Audio and video conferencing facilities, library and computer laboratory as well as internet and email access via USPNet are available for students. For secondary and university education, most Nauruans' children must go abroad. During its prosperous years these children were sent to Australia but now were sent to Fiji. The official national holiday is the independence day on 31 January, but Angam Day, 26 October, is considered as an additional national holiday. The Nauruan words of the national anthem were written by

Margaret Hendrie Margaret Hendrie (née Griffith, 1935–1990) was a writer from the Oceanian nation of Nauru. Hendrie wrote the Nauruan language lyrics for "Nauru Bwiema", the country's national anthem. In preparation for the country's independence ceremonies c ...

and adopted in 1968 upon the

Republic of Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

's independence.

Sport

The most popular in Nauru is

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

. A 12-team senior league operates in the country, see Australian rules football in Nauru and it is a popular spectator sport. Nauru has competed internationally in Australian rules football at the Arafura Games,

Australian Football International Cup The Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup or simply the IC) was an triennial international tournament in Australian rules football. It was the biggest international tournament in the sport that is open t ...

and Barassi International Youth Tournament. The

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, the "Chiefs", ranked 8th in the International Cup in 2002 and

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the Arafura Games. Australian Football 2008 International Cup

Nauru's national basketball team made the headlines internationally at the

1969 Pacific Games The 3rd South Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 1969 (), held on 13–23 August 1969 in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, was the third edition of the South Pacific Games. A total of 1,150 athletes participated in the games. Participating ...

when it beat the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, which have almost 60 times of Nauru's population, and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, which has almost 100 times of Nauru's population. Nauruans also play

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

, and swimming.

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

is accessible in Menen Hotel. There are only a few sport grounds in Nauru. The only stadium is in Yaren, but it is obsolete and fails to meet international standards. A larger and more modern sports stadium is being built in Meneng, however lack of money has caused the project to stall. The current stadia are: * Aida Oval * Denig Stadium in Denigomodu * Linkbelt Oval in Aiwo * Menen Stadium in Meneng * National Stadium in Yaren A traditional 'sport' is catching birds ( Black Noddy) when they return from foraging at sea to the island towards sunset. The men then stand on the beach ready to throw their lasso. The Nauruan

lasso A lasso or lazo ( or ), also called reata or la reata in Mexico, and in the United States riata or lariat (from Mexican Spanish lasso for roping cattle), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when ...

is supple rope with a weight at the end. When a bird comes over they throw their lasso up, it hits and or drapes itself over the bird, which then falls down and is seized and are roosted as pets. Eakabarere is a traditional form of Nauruan wrestling.

Weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

Arts and crafts

Language and education

Sport

Radio

Notes

References

See also