Cultural Rupture and Indigeneity: The Challenge of (Re)visioning "Place" in the Pacific

Abstract

What does it mean to be “indigenous”? Is indigeneity a matter of physical “space”? Or is it a cognitive-cultural “place”? Or both? How do Islanders negotiate indigeneity in a time of transnational and interisland migration and cultural conflict? I examine these and related issues through the lens of recent events in the Solomon Islands, including the historical pattern of interisland migration, the recent ethnic cleansing cultural rupture, and the resulting dialogue about identity and indigeneity among Solomon Islanders living abroad and at home via the internet.