Nendö [neⁿdɵ] is the largest of the Santa Cruz Islands, located in the Temotu province of Solomon Islands. The island is also known as Santa Cruz, Nendo, Ndeni, Nitendi or Ndende. The name Santa Cruz was given to the island in 1595 by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña, who started a colony there. Historically, the island has also been called New Guernsey [1] [2] and Lord Egmont's Island, after John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, First Lord of the Admiralty. [1]
Located at 10°25′12″S165°30′00″E / 10.42000°S 165.50000°E , Nendö is 40 km (25 mi.) long and 22 km (14 mi.) wide. Its land area is 505.5 km² (195 sq. mi.). The highest point on the island is 549 m (1,801 ft.) above sea level.
The two small islands of Malo and Nibanga (also called Tömotu Neo and Tömotu Noi), lie about 1 kilometre (0.5 nmi; 0.6 mi) distant: Malo to the northwest, Nibanga to the southeast.
Lata, located in the northwestern part of the island, is its chief town and the provincial capital.
Luova Airport, at Graciosa Bay, serves Nendö.
Nendö, along with neighbouring Malo, has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports a population of the endemic Santa Cruz shrikebills, also known as the Nendo shrikebill. Potential threats to the site come from logging and cyclones. [3]
Due to the island's location along the Ring of Fire, earthquakes are frequent; some of them are large.
Attempting to return to the Solomon Islands archipelago, which he had discovered in 1568, Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña in his second trip of 1595, discovered Nendö Island on 8 September 1595, which they named Santa Cruz. Mendaña landed at what they named Graciosa Bay (still its name today), and a settlement was commenced. Relations with local islanders and their chief Malope started well, with food provided and assistance in constructing buildings. However, morale amongst the Spanish was low and sickness (almost certainly malaria) was rife. At that point some soldiers deliberately murdered villagers in order to provoke hostilities and so force the abandonment of the colony, and seditious petitions were signed. Mendaña took action, and at his behest Maestre de Campo Pedro Merino Manrique, leader of the malcontents, was cut down in his presence, and on the same day the Spaniards' best friend, Malope, was murdered by some of Manrique's gang. [4]
Wracked by internal divisions and an increasing death toll, the settlement began to fall apart. Mendaña himself died on 18 October 1595, leaving his wife Isabel Barreto as heir and governor, her brother Lorenzo Barreto as captain-general. On 30 October, the decision was made to abandon the settlement. When the three ships departed on 18 November 1595, forty-seven people had died in the space of one month, and the first European colony in the South Seas was ended. [5]
In August 1767, Philip Carteret in HMS Swallow encountered the island, which he named "Lord Egmont's island" or "Egmont island", recognising it as the Santa Cruz of the Spanish. Carteret sent the ship's Master with fifteen men in the cutter to explore, whilst another ten men in the longboat collected water. After an initially friendly encounter, the Master gave the inhabitants "just cause of offence" leading to a violent exchange of arrows and muskets, and the deaths of several British and many natives. Two days later, after minor repairs, Carteret sent men to collect more water, and the ensuing confrontation led to him firing the ship's guns on the inhabitants, who had attacked the voyagers in retaliation or in an attempt to drive them away. Sailing westward along the north coast of the island, he observed several villages; reaching "Trevanion's lagoon" they found "both the main and the island appeared to be one continued town, and the inhabitants were innumerable". Hogs, poultry, coconuts, bananas, and other vegetables were reported among the local produce. Due to hostilities, Carteret was unable to trade for much-needed food, and with widespread illness among his crew, had not the strength to take supplies by force from the organised and well-armed defenders. [6]
Nendö's population is somewhat over 5000. Most indigenous Nendö people are speakers of Natügu, but there are also about 200 speakers of the related Nanggu language (both members of the Reefs – Santa Cruz languages family). Speakers of other Temotu province languages are also present, for example the other Reefs – Santa Cruz language Äiwoo and the Polynesian outlier language Vaeakau-Taumako.
In 1966–67 Gerd Koch, a German anthropologist, carried out field studies on the culture of Nendö and other Santa Cruz Islands. In 1971 Koch published Die Materielle Kultur der Santa Cruz-Inseln. [7] Koch brought back to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin the last still complete Tepukei (ocean-going outrigger canoe) from the Santa Cruz Islands. [8]
The Canary Islands, also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in Macaronesia in the Atlantic Ocean. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres west of Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canary Islands are part of Spanish Africa. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and are the most populous special territory of the European Union.
The history of the Pacific Islands covers the history of the islands in the Pacific Ocean.
1595 (MDXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1595th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 595th year of the 2nd millennium, the 95th year of the 16th century, and the 6th year of the 1590s decade. As of the start of 1595, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
The Vanuatu rain forests are tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion which includes the islands of Vanuatu, as well as the Santa Cruz Islands group of the neighboring Solomon Islands. It is part of the Australasian realm, which includes neighboring New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, as well as Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand.
The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands. They lie approximately 250 miles to the southeast of the Solomon Islands archipelago. The Santa Cruz Islands lie just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu, and are considered part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion.
Material culture is the aspect of culture manifested by the physical objects and architecture of a society. The term is primarily used in archaeology and anthropology, but is also of interest to sociology, geography and history. The field considers artifacts in relation to their specific cultural and historic contexts, communities and belief systems. It includes the usage, consumption, creation and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms and rituals that the objects create or take part in.
Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira was a Spanish navigator, explorer, and cartographer, best known for two of the earliest recorded expeditions across the Pacific Ocean in 1567 and 1595. His voyages led to the discovery of the Marquesas, Cook Islands, and Solomons among other archipelagos. Born in Congosto, in El Bierzo Region (León), he was the nephew of Lope García de Castro, viceroy of Peru.
The Reef Islands are a loose collection of 16 islands in the northwestern part of the Solomon Islands province of Temotu. These islands have historically also been known by the names of Swallow Islands and Matema Islands.
A tepukei, tepuke or TePuke is a Polynesian boat type, characterized by its elaborate decking, its submerged hulls and symmetrical "crab claw" sail slender foil or radically extended tips claw sail. Tepukei boats are produced primarily by the Polynesian-speaking inhabitants of Taumako, and have been occasionally borrowed by other Polynesian and Melanesian societies.
The culture of the Solomon Islands reflects the extent of the differentiation and diversity among the groups living within the Solomon Islands archipelago, which lies within Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, with the peoples distinguished by island, language, topography, and geography. The cultural area includes the nation state of Solomon Islands and the Bougainville Island, which is a part of Papua New Guinea.
Temotu is the easternmost province of Solomon Islands. The province was formerly known as Santa Cruz Islands Province. It consists, essentially, of two chains of islands which run parallel to each other from the northwest to the southeast. Its area is 895 square kilometres.
Tinakula is a conical stratovolcano which forms an island north of Nendo in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. It lies at the north end of the Santa Cruz Islands. It is about 3.5 kilometres wide and rises 851 metres above sea level, rising three to four kilometres from the sea floor. The volcano was first recorded in eruption in 1595 when Álvaro de Mendaña sailed past it.
The Archdiocese of Honiara is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Solomon Islands. It is the successor of the apostolic prefecture of the British Solomon Islands, which was erected in 1897. The ecclesiastical province of Honiara was created in 1978, the first such creation of Pope John Paul II, and contains two suffragan sees: Gizo and Auki (1982).
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 the Solomon Islands.
Vanikoro is an island in the Santa Cruz group, located 118 kilometres to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It is part of the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tuvalu:
Malo is an island in the Solomon Islands; it is located in Temotu Province. The large neighbouring island is Nendö.
Isabel Barreto de Castro, was a Spanish sailor and traveler, the first known woman to hold the office of admiral in the history of navigation. She was purportedly the granddaughter of Francisco Barreto, governor of Portuguese India. Isabel Barreto married Alvaro de Mendaña, Spanish navigator, patron of several expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, and European discoverer of the Solomon Islands and the Marquesas Islands.
Gerd Koch was a German cultural anthropologist best known for his studies on the material culture of Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Santa Cruz Islands in the Pacific. He was associated with the Ethnological Museum of Berlin. His field work was directed to researching and recording the use of artefacts in their indigenous context, to begin to understand these societies.
Solomon Islands–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Solomon Islands does not have an embassy resident in Spain but maintains an honorary consulate in Madrid.