sv evi

Next we sailed to Kioa Island, a new place for both of us. On the way, we say Manta Rays just in front of the bow, in a shallow spot over the reef. We saw 4 of them, big & black with white mouths. Riki was like a little kid, he was so excited. He kept hooting & hollering. I’d never seen Mantas before.

On Kioa, the people are from Tuvalu. I’m not sure why they came, but they came in 1947. They are very proud of their culture, and they are Polynesian (not Melanesian like the Fijians). Their language is similar to Samoan. They don’t have a chief, but rather an elected official, a chairman, who serves a four year term. The village was very organized, with the men all working for the village building a seawall for the whole week.

We were lucky enough to witness a meke, or traditional music & dance, because some tourists from a dive resort were coming. We got to sit with the locals. They had a big rectangular drum (perhaps 3 feet by 6 feet) with 6 men drumming on it simultaneously. Then about 40 people singing, women & men, sitting around the drummers on the floor. There were 8 dancers, mostly women, in a semicircle at the edge of the singers. It was so beautiful and powerful.

We chatted with some women who are from Qamea (our friend Dan Lulu’s nieces), but they married men from Kioa, so now they live in Kioa. That’s how it works here; the women go to the husbands’ villages to live.