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8°24′S 162°54′E / 8.400°S 162.900°E / -8.400; 162.900

Sikaiana

Stewart Islands
NASA picture of Sikaiana Atoll
Sikaiana
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Archipelago	Solomon Islands
Area	2 km (0.77 sq mi)
Administration
Solomon Islands
Province	Malaita
Demographics
Population	249 (2009)

Sikaiana (formerly called the Stewart Islands) is a small atoll 212 kilometres (132 miles) NE of Malaita in Solomon Islands in the south Pacific Ocean. It is almost 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) in length and its lagoon, known as Te Moana, is totally enclosed by the coral reef. Its total land surface is only 2 square kilometres (0.77 square miles). There is no safe anchorage close to this atoll, which makes it often inaccessible to outsiders.

Geography

Sikaiana is a remote tropical coral atoll located at latitude and longitude 8°25′0″S 162°52′0″E, over 200 kilometres (125 miles) from any other islands. The main island at Sikaiana atoll, located at the easternmost corner, is called Sikaiana. The three small islands in the west of the atoll are Tehaolei (north), Matuiloto (west), and Matuavi (south). There are also two artificial islands on the reef, Te Palena and Hakatai'atata.

History

Administratively, Sikaiana is governed as an outlying region of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Sikaiana's population is approximately 300 people of Polynesian descent—not of the Melanesian descent prevalent in the main Solomon Islands. It is considered by anthropologists to be a Polynesian outlier.

A 1998 GAO report stated:

Some residents of the Stewart Islands in the Solomon Islands group ... claim that they are native Hawaiians and U.S. citizens.... They base their claim on the assertion that the Stewart Islands were ceded to King Kamehameha IV and accepted by him as part of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1856 and, thus, were part of the Republic of Hawaii (which was declared in 1893) when it was annexed to the United States by law in 1898. The 1898 law identifies the islands being annexed only as the “Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies.” However, the annexation was based on the report of the Hawaiian Commission which did not include the Stewart Islands among the islands it identified as part of the Republic of Hawaii. Report of the Hawaiian Commission, S. Doc. No. 16, 55th Cong., at 4 (3d Sess. 1898). In 1996, some Stewart Islands residents applied to register to vote in a plebiscite limited to Native Hawaiians. Their requests for ballots, however, were rejected by the Hawaiian Sovereignty Election Council.

In 1893, the United Kingdom established the British Solomon Islands Protectorate over most of what is now Solomon Islands excluding Sikaiana. This was done to further British colonial interests in the region and to regulate the practice of ‘blackbirding’, the labour recruitment of Solomon Islanders to work on labour plantations in the then-colony of Queensland, later the state of Queensland. On 21 June 1897 this protectorate was extended to include Sikaiana, Rennell, and Bellona Islands.

Sikaiana is part of the Anglican Church of Melanesia Diocese of Southern Malaita and Sikaiana, and the majority of its inhabitants are Anglicans.

See also

• Sikaiana language

Notes and references

Notes

1. GAO/OGC-98-5 : U.S. INSULAR AREAS; Application of the U.S. Constitution (PDF) (Report). United States General Accounting Office. November 1997. p. 39 (note 2).
2. "Sikaiana : A Contemporary Polynesian Society". Expedition. 26 (4). University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
3. National Archives Doc ref. DO 118/94 Description: BRITISH SOLOMON ISLANDS PROTECTORATE (STEWART ATOLL) Proclamation declaring a protectorate over Stewart Atoll Sikaiana

References

• Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Sikaiana, 1932 Anglican liturgical document in Sikaiana.
• Oceandots at the Wayback Machine (archived December 23, 2010)

External links

• Sikaiana
• Anglican History

v t e Islands of Solomon Islands by province
Central	Nggela Islands Gavutu Tanambogo Tulagi Russell Islands Aeaun Mbanika Pavuvu Savo
Choiseul	Choiseul Cyprian Bridge Island Nuatambu Rob Roy Taro Wagina
Guadalcanal	Guadalcanal Korasahalu Marau Sound Marapa Nughu Tavanipupu Vulelua
Isabel	Arnarvon Furona Island Kerehikapa Mahige Maleivona Ramos San Jorge Santa Isabel Sikopo
Makira-Ulawa	Ali'ite Makira Malaulalo Malaupaina Pio Olu Malau Owaraha Owariki Ugi Ulawa
Malaita	Alite Anuta Paina Langa Langa Lagoon Laulasi Lau Lagoon Adagege Funaafou Sulufou Maana'omba Malaita Maramasike Mbasakana Ndai Ontong Java Roncador Reef Sikaiana Faore Matuavi Tehaolei
Rennell and Bellona	Bellona Indispensable Reefs North Reef Rennell
Temotu	Anuta Duff Islands Bass Islands Tahua Taumako Fatutaka Reef Islands Fenualoa Lomlom Makalom Matema Nalongo and Nupani Ngalo Ngandeli Ngatendo Ngawa Nibanga Nendi Nibanga Temau Nifiloli Nukapu Patteson Shoal Pigeon Pileni Santa Cruz Islands Banie Malo Nendö Teanu Temotu Noi Tinakula Utupua Vanikoro Tikopia
Western	Mborokua New Georgia Islands Akara Arundel Ghizo Ghoi Kennedy Kiambe Kingguru Kolombangara Liapari Logha Lola Lumbari Marovo Matikuri Mbava Mbulo Mondomondo Nakaza Naru New Georgia Nggatokae Nusatupe Olasana Ranongga Rendova Simbo Telina Tetepare Uepi Vangunu Vella Lavella Vonavona Shortland Islands Balalae Faisi Fauro Magusaiai Masamasa Ovau Pirumeri Shortland Treasury Islands Mono Stirling

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