La'aka is a powerful ancestress and one of the most widely propitiated of spirits among the eastern Kwaio on Malaita,

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 ...

. She is seen as both a protective figure who exemplifies maternal virtues and the productive powers of women and as a warrior whose deeds rivalled those of the ancient Kwaio strongmen who, as ancestral spirits ( adalo), are propitiated and confer power to the living. She is one of the great ancestors of about twelve to twenty generations ago, which do not represent the starting point of the deepest genealogies, but represent those believed to have founded the modern Kwaio way of life. In 1939 a priest above Uru named Noto'i received messages from La'aka that she had visited

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and spoken with the American King, and announced that American warships would come and kill all British colonial officials. On the basis of these pronouncements, many Kwaio built houses to accommodate the American visitors. Messages from La'aka were spoken in tongues, then translated by Noto'i. British officers arrested Noto'i and his followers, and when the Americans did not appear, many believers became disillusioned, though the movement continued underground for several years. By 1942, the British had in fact scattered in the face of the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese invasion, and the Americans came later in the

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...

. Malaita was in general not involved in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but many Kwaio volunteered for the Solomon Island Labour Corps positions assisting the Americans on

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

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 t ...

. They found Americans generous and suspicious of colonial motives in a way the British had not been, and their experience with the Americans led to the anti-colonial movement

Maasina Ruru Maasina Ruru was an emancipation movement for self-government and self-determination in the British Solomon Islands during and after World War II, 1945–1950, credited with creating the movement towards independence for the Solomon Islands. The ...

.Roger M. Keesing and Peter Corris. Lightning Meets the West Wind: The Malaita Massacre. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1980, 198–199.

Notes

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References

* Roger M. Keesing. ''Kwaio Religion''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982. Melanesian mythology Religion in the Solomon Islands Kwaio people