Utupua

{{Short description|Island in Solomon Islands}} thumb|upright=1.35 [[File:Utupua STS51F.png|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Utupua from space. Courtesy NASA]] thumb|upright=1.35|1968 map of Utupua Island thumb|upright=1.35|First map of ''Tapoua'' (1876) '''Utupua''' is an island in the Santa Cruz Islands, located 66 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group, between Vanikoro and Santa Cruz proper (Nendö). This island belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of Solomon Islands.

==Geography== Utupua is a high u-shaped island surrounded by a coral reef. Its land surface is {{convert|69.0|km2|1|abbr=off}} and its highest point {{convert|380|m|ft|0|abbr=off}}.

Utupua has a population of 848 inhabitants (1999 census) scattered in small villages. The main villages on the island are Avita, Malombo, Tanimbili, Apakho, and Nembao.

Utupua has a forested path that leads to viewpoints overlooking the coral reef that encloses the island.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Utupua Is, Solomons - GO Cruising |url=http://gocruising.cruisefactory.net/ports/view/2760/utupua+is-+solomons |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=gocruising.cruisefactory.net}}</ref>

==History== First sighting by Europeans was in September 1595 by the second Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña. More precisely it was sighted by Lorenzo Barreto while in command of one of the smaller vessels on a local voyage round the then called Santa Cruz, which is today's Nendö island.<ref>Sharp, Andrew ''The discovery of the Pacific Islands'' Oxford, 1960, pp.52-55.</ref><ref>Brand, Donald D. ''The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations'' The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.136.</ref>

==Society== ===Social practices=== According to some observers,<ref>{{cite AV media |title=I visited the island that capitalism never reached (no money used here) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LECIM_mYXZY |access-date=2024-06-19 |via=YouTube |last=Korns |first=Luke}}</ref> the society of Utupua functions without cash: islanders share their property instead of using a barter or money system.

In fact, Utupua islanders used to have a system of traditional money, in the form of ''feather money'' made with feathers of ''Myzomela cardinalis'' birds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Feather money |website=Museum of the National Bank of Belgium|url=https://museum.nbb.be/en/resources/feather-money |access-date=2024-06-19}}</ref> That ceremonial money was mostly used for payment of the bride price.<ref name="tevau">{{Cite journal| volume = 20| issue = 1| pages = 74–92| last = Bonshek| first = Elizabeth| title = A personal narrative of particular things: <i>Tevau</i> (feather money) from Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands| journal = The Australian Journal of Anthropology| access-date = 2024-06-19| date = 2009 | doi = 10.1111/j.1757-6547.2009.00004.x| url = https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1757-6547.2009.00004.x| url-access = subscription}}</ref> Since the 1980s, it has been replaced by cash.<ref name="tevau" />

===Languages=== Three Oceanic languages are spoken on Utupua:<ref>Lynch, Ross, & Crowley (2002), p.885.</ref>

*Amba, or ''Nembao'' *Asumboa, or ''Asubuo'' *Tanimbili, or ''Tanibili''

Each language is associated with a distinct community, on different points of the island.

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== *{{cite book | author1= John Lynch | author-link = John Lynch (linguist) | author2= Malcolm Ross | author2-link= Malcolm Ross (linguist) |author3= Terry Crowley |author3-link= Terry Crowley (linguist) | year = 2002 | title = The Oceanic languages | location = Richmond, Surrey | publisher = Curzon | isbn = 9780700711284 | oclc = 48929366 }}

{{Coord|11|20|S|166|30|E|display=title|region:SB_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki}}

Category:Islands of the Solomon Islands