8 July 2019
National Identity and Pride in the Solomon Islands
The biggest Pacific Games in history are underway in Samoa with more than 5000 athletes and team officials in attendance, inclusive of 300 athletes and officials from the Solomon Islands.
The Solomon Islands government has committed millions to support the team, and has acknowledged that it is a huge amount, but one that is important in building the country’s pride and national identity.
The Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoiat, at the opening ceremony of the games, said sport and physical activity are fundamental human rights and the performance of Pacific athletes in sports such as boxing, weightlifting, netball and rugby continues to make an impact on a global scale.
"Where excellence is enabled the role of sport in showcasing national identity and shaping Pacific regionalism is powerful and cannot be understated."
One wishes the Solomon Islands athletes good luck in their events and it is hoped their participation in the Pacific Games will indeed inspire national pride as Solomon Islanders and the spirit engendered will add to pride in ones country when they return home.
What do we understand as national identity? I suppose a simple answer could be the love and devotion to one’s country, and the reinforcement of the alliance all its citizens share and have the same values.
I once read that the only thing that can permanently change a country’s image is a change in the way a country sees itself, because a nation brand is national identity made tangible and “no place on earth can hope to make others respect and admire it unless it first admires and respects itself.”
It is very much my hope that the competitive spirit and sportsmanship demonstrated by the Solomon Islands athletes in Samoa will earn respect, not only for themselves as a team, but also for the Solomon Islands.
There is a theory that the construction of a national identity derives, in part, from a negotiation between a nation’s national consciousness, or the image its citizens have of their country. In a country like the Solomon Islands with its numerous islands, many languages and vast distances separated by the Ocean it is often difficult to judge how its citizens see each other in terms of a common national identity.
From an article I once read styled, ‘Every Culture.’ I found the following commentary interesting.
“In the Solomon Islands, national culture developed from the convergence of a number of factors. One of the most important is the high level of tolerance and comity developed between different churches in the last century. Unlike the government, church missions have done a lot for the people. They have provided schools, clinics, church buildings, and overall good will. The churches have enabled different cultures to assimilate such teachings as the social gospel of sharing and caring.
“Another factor that congeals national culture is the sharing of a lingua franca, the "Solomon Islands pidgin English." Although pidgin English is not a compulsory subject in schools, it is the social glue that cements relationships particularly in a country with multiple languages.
“Concomitant with the above is the concept of wantokism.Wantokism is a rallying philosophy that brings together, in common cause, people who are related, those who speak similar languages, those from the same area or island, and even the country as a whole. Its social malleability means that it can be applied in more than one situation especially when one is new to a place or unfamiliar to a group of people. It is a concept in which mutual hospitality is shared among and between different individuals and groups. The concept also traverses national boundaries. It is shared particularly among the three main Melanesian nations, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea.
“The development of a national culture was also influenced by the battles Solomon Islanders experienced during World War II. Although the "war was not our war," the fact that many Solomon Islanders had common experiences, including putting their lives at risk to save their country from the enemy (the Japanese), helped unite them into one people.
“The ethnic groups of the Solomon Islands reflect the natural division of the islands. A Guadalcanal person would readily identify with others from Guadalcanal. This would equally apply to a Malaita person who would easily relate to another Malaita person. But within the islands, ethnic associations follow the different languages. Having more than seventy languages in the Solomon Islands means, then, that there are more than seventy ethnic groups as well.”
The Government is facing huge challenges in terms of development, health services, unemployment and job creation, educational needs, poverty alleviation, climate change mitigation, to mention but a few of the challenges, and national unity, pride in the nation and national building vital to the future success and prosperity of the Solomon Islands.
Let, therefore, the spirit of the Pacific Games, the teamship, comradeship and prowess on the field transcend into growing national pride and identity at home.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
