Native name: Owaraha | |
|---|---|
 Landsat picture of the island. | |
  Santa Ana | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 10°49′42″S162°27′49″E / 10.82833°S 162.46361°E |
| Archipelago | Solomon Islands |
| Area | 15.7 km2 (6.1 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 143 m (469 ft) |
| Highest point | Farina |
| Administration | |
Solomon Islands | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 1547 (2009) |
Owaraha or Owa Raha (also known as Santa Ana) is an island in Makira-Ulawa Province, Solomon Islands.
This relatively small coral island is 5.6 km long and 4.5 km wide. It is located at the eastern end of Makira (San Cristobal), separated from it by a 7.5 km wide strait, and just north of smaller Owariki (Santa Catalina). The sound between Owaraha and Owariki is only 2.5 km wide. The island has two main villages Gupuna (or Ghupuna) and Nafinotoga. The inhabitants of Owaraha speak the Owa language and share the same culture with the people in Owariki and in the eastern end of Makira Island. The Pagewa and Aiga Tatari clans of Owaraha and other nearby islands claim descent from the refugees from Teonimanu which was washed away.
First recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña on 4 July 1568. More precisely the sighting and also landing in Owahara was due to a local voyage done by a small boat, in the accounts the brigantine Santiago, commanded by Francisco Muñoz Rico and having Hernán Gallego as pilot. They charted it as Santa Ana. [1] [2]
Owaraha was visited by Austrian anthropologist and photographer Hugo Bernatzik in 1932. Bernatzik carefully documented daily life among the island people and published an ethnography a few years later. He also took some of the best and earliest photographs of the islanders, reflecting a culture that he deemed was dying in contact with the modern world. [3]
During his sojourn in Owaraha Bernatzik met Heinrich Küper, a German adventurer who lived in Gupuna village. Küper was married to a respectable local woman, Kafagamurirongo, and was the only white who ever reached the arafa (high person) status within a Melanesian community. Küper's grandchildren still live in Owaraha. [4]
Solomon Islands is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, that lies east of Papua New Guinea.
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside counties, before cutting through the northern Santa Ana Mountains via Santa Ana Canyon and flowing southwest through urban Orange County to drain into the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ana River is 96 miles (154 km) long, and its drainage basin is 2,650 square miles (6,900 km2) in size.
The island of Makira is the largest island of Makira-Ulawa Province in the Solomon Islands. It is third most populous of the Solomon Islands after Malaita and Guadalcanal, with a population of 55,126 as of 2020. The island is located east of Guadalcanal and south of Malaita. The largest and capital city is Kirakira.
Makira-Ulawa Province is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands.
Choiseul Island, native name Lauru, is the largest island of the Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, at 7.08°S 157°E. The administrative headquarters of Choiseul Province is situated in the town of Taro, on Taro Island.
The Owa language is one of the languages of Solomon Islands. It is part of the same dialect continuum as Kahua, and shares the various alternate names of that dialect.
Ulawa Island is an island in Solomon Islands. It is located near Malaita Island and belongs to Makira Ulawa Province. The island has an area of 65.92 square kilometres.
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. This island belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands.
The Solomon Archipelago is a terrestrial ecoregion and marine ecoregion in the Pacific Ocean. It includes the tropical ocean waters surrounding most of the Solomon Islands archipelago, and includes Bougainville Island and Buka Island of Papua New Guinea and their surrounding waters.
Ali'ite is an island in the Solomon Islands; it is the northern one of the Olu Malau Islands located in Makira-Ulawa Province. It has an area of 2.91 km2.
Malaulalo is an uninhabited island in the Solomon Islands; it is the central one of the Olu Malau Islands located in Makira-Ulawa Province. It has an area of 3.34 km2.
Malaupaina is an island in the Solomon Islands; it is the southern one of the Olu Malau Islands located in Makira-Ulawa Province. It has an area of 6.37 km2.
Owariki or Owa rigi is an island in Solomon Islands; it is located in Makira-Ulawa Province.
Ugi Island, also Uki Island, is an island in Solomon Islands; it is located in Makira-Ulawa Province and lies 11 km north of Makira Island.
Hugo Adolf Bernatzik was an Austrian anthropologist and photographer. Bernatzik was the founder of the concept of alternative anthropology.
Heinrich Küper was a German adventurer who lived in the Solomon Islands.
Mailu Island is a small, 1.8 km long, island in Central Province, Papua New Guinea. It lies 250 km ESE from Port Moresby.
Doreen Kuper is an entrepreneur and cultural mediator from the Solomon Islands. She is a former Honorary Consul of Solomon Islands to New Zealand and a former Chair of the Festival of Pacific Arts.
The Solomons rufous fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae that is endemic to the Solomon Islands. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Australian rufous fantail.
Media related to Owaraha at Wikimedia Commons| Authority control databases: National |
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