Contents • • • • • • • • • • • • • I Kiribati Society in General To understand the context in which aircraft pieces on Nikumaroro were harvested and used, and in which the 1940 discovery of bones occurred, it is necessary to understand something about the colonial village on southern Ritiati and northern Noriti -- its organization, its residents, and how those residents lived and used the land. This in turn requires a little understanding of traditional Tunguru () social organization and how it evolved in the 20th century. The most pertinent discussion of these topics is by Kenneth Knudson, who studied the community on Manra (Sydney Island) around the time of its relocation to the Solomons. Knudson discusses traditional social organization in southern (the southern Gilberts), 20th century organizational changes, and the organization of Manra society as influenced by Harry Maude, Gerald Gallagher, and the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme (PISS). The following is based largely on Knudson's work. Traditional Social and Residential Organization Traditionally, each I Kiribati village was organized around a large community meeting house called maneaba.

Without a maneaba a village really was not a village. Knudson says: 'Each of the villages of the southern Gilberts may be said to have had its inception when its maneaba, or community meeting house, was erected. The maneaba was a communally-owned building situated on communally-owned land. As such it was a neutral site where village residents came together to discuss matters which affected the entire population and where community-wide entertainment and ritual took place.' The community itself was made up of residential groups known as kainga, and this name was also assigned to the land on which the group lived. Kaingas were basic organizational units in traditional I Kiribati society, and each was understood to be descended from a common ancestral spirit-being or anti. A residential kin group without such an anti was referred to as kawa, and was subsidiary to a related kainga Each kainga had an assigned seating area in the maneaba, called te boti or te inaki (commonly, boti).

These seating areas, and the rights and responsibilities ascribed to them, were extremely important in the life of the community. In a meeting regarding village business, the male elder ( unimane) of the kainga occupying one boti had the right to call the meeting, that of a second to speak first and offer an opinion, and that of a third to reply to the second. After general discussion, the unimane of the third boti summarized and that of the second (called Uea -- king or high chief of the maneaba) rendered a binding decision. A similar sequence of responsibilities and rights applied to meetings held to organize and conduct ritual, ceremonial, and festive activities. Although the kainga with its boti was in many ways the basic element of community organization, there were other kinds of social groups as well. Knudson summarizes: 'To sum up, the pre-contact social organization of the southern Gilberts was composed of the following groups.

Te mwenga: a household group which had as its core a nuclear or extended family but might also include relatives of any degree as permanent or temporary members. Te kainga: a residence unit consisting of a number of mwenga and subsidiary buildings standing within a circumscribed area. The membership of a kainga consisted of a core of persons descended from a common ancestor plus their spouses and adopted persons. A variant of the kainga, te kawa, was identical except that it had no sacred or religious connotations, and in this respect was subsidiary to an associated kainga. Te boti: a political unit consisting of the members of a kainga with its associated kawa, if any.