View source for Ontong Java Atoll

{{Short description|Group of islands in Solomon Islands}}
{{Redirect-distinguish-for|Ontong Java|Untung Jawa (Amsterdam Island){{!}}Untung Jawa|the undersea plateau|Ontong Java Plateau}}
{{Infobox islands
|name =Ontong Java
|image_name =Ontong java.PNG
|image_caption = [[NASA]] picture of Ontong Java Atoll
|native_name = ''Luangiua''
|native_name_link =
|location =Pacific Ocean
|coordinates={{Coord|5|16|S|159|21|E|dim:50000_region:SB|display=inline,title}}
|archipelago = Group of three atolls
|total_islands = 122
|major_islands =Luaniua and Pelau
|area_km2 =1500
|highest_mount =
|elevation_m =13
| country          = {{SLB}}
| country_admin_divisions_title     = [[Provinces of Solomon Islands|Province]]
| country_admin_divisions           = {{flag|Malaita}}
|country_largest_city =Luaniua
|country_largest_city_population =1386
|population =2085
|population_as_of =2006<ref>{{cite journal  |title=Managing Ontong Java: Social institutions for production and governance of atoll resources in Solomon Islands |last1=Bayliss-Smith |first1=Tim |last2=Gough |first2=Katherine |last3=Christensen |first3=Andreas Egelund |last4=Kristensen |first4=Soren pilgaard |journal=Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography |volume=31 |issue=1 |year=2010 |pages=55–69 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9493.2010.00385.x}}</ref>
|ethnic_groups =Polynesian 100%
|pushpin_map = Solomon Islands#Pacific Ocean
|pushpin_mark=Cercle rouge 100%.svg
|pushpin_mark_width =20
}}

'''Ontong Java Atoll''' or '''Luangiua''' (formerly '''Lord Howe Atoll''', not to be confused with [[Lord Howe Island]]) <ref>Ernst Sarfert and Hans Damm. ''Luangiua und Nukumanu. Ergebnisse der Südsee Expedition, 1908-1910.'' [[Hamburg]] 1931</ref> is an [[atoll]] in the [[Solomon Islands]], and one of the largest atolls on earth.

It is inhabited by a [[Polynesian outlier|Polynesian community]] of about {{formatnum:2400}} people, who speak the [[Ontong Java language]].

==Description==
Geographically, Ontong Java belongs to a scattered group of three atolls which includes nearby [[Nukumanu Islands|Nukumanu Atoll]] and the wholly submerged [[Roncador Reef]] located {{convert|75|km|abbr=off}} to the south.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110527152213/http://www.fellow-traveler.org/pdf/Atolls%20and%20Offshore%20Islands%20NG%20+%20Solomons.pdf Remote Atolls and Offshore Islands of PNG and the Solomons]</ref>

Administratively Ontong Java belongs to [[Solomon Islands]]. As an outlying part of [[Malaita Province]], it forms the northernmost tract of land of this state, over {{convert|250|km|abbr=on}} north of [[Santa Isabel Island]].
The closest land, however, is Nukumanu Atoll, which lies only {{convert|38|km|abbr=on}} due north of Ontong Java's northern tip and, though historically closely related to Ontong Java, is now under the administration of [[Papua New Guinea]].

Ontong Java is roughly boot-shaped. The entire size of the atoll is {{convert|1400|km2|abbr=on}}, but there are only {{convert|12|km2|abbr=on}} of land, spread out over 122 small islands. The islands are mostly low-lying coral formations, the highest elevation being {{convert|13|m|abbr=on}}.

Approximately 2000 people live on the atoll. There are two main villages where the population is concentrated with 1,386 on the island of Luaniua in the eastern end and 689 on Pelau in the northeast.

==History==
[[File:Ontong java 1934.jpg|thumb|left|Nautical Chart of Ontong Java Atoll, 1934]]
The islands were first inhabited by [[Polynesians]] approximately 2000 years ago. The main cultural and commercial exchanges took place with the inhabitants of neighboring Nukumanu Atoll, with whom Ontong Java people share many cultural affinities.<ref>Sarfert, Ernst, and Hans Damm. "Luangiua und Nukumanu." Ergebnisse der Südsee Expedition, 1908-1910. Hamburg 1931. Vol I</ref>

It is likely that the first European sighting was by the Spanish expedition of [[Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira|Álvaro de Mendaña]] on 1 February 1568. It was charted by them as ''Bajos de la Candelaria'' (shoals of Our Lady of [[Presentation of Jesus at the Temple|Candlemas]] in Spanish).<ref>Sharp, Andrew ''The discovery of the Pacific Islands'' Oxford, 1960, pp.43,44.</ref><ref>Brand, Donald D. ''The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations'' The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.133.</ref> The following verifiable sighting by Europeans was by [[Abel Tasman]] in 1643 who named it Ontong Java; however, it was not until 1791 that Europeans set foot on the islands, when [[John Hunter (Royal Navy officer)|Capt. John Hunter]] (later Governor of New South Wales) named it Lord Howe Atoll. In 1893 the islands were annexed by Germany and ceded to Great Britain in 1899.

Today the atoll's inhabitants make a subsistence living by means of coconut and taro (root) cultivation, as well as fishing. Until a ban in 2005, the primary source of income was [[beche de mer]] and [[trochus]] shells, which were shipped to [[Hong Kong]]. The inhabitants are also involved in [[copra]] production. It also has a prolific number of sea birds, including the [[black-naped tern]], which uses Ontong Java Atoll as a breeding site.

==Anthropology and linguistics==
{{see also|Ontong Java language}}
[[File:LARGE GENERAL CEMETERY, LUA NIUA, ONTONG JAVA.jpg|thumb|Large general cemetery, Luaniua, Ontong Java. Picture by [[George Brown (missionary)]] (1835 – 1917).]]
Ontong Java is a [[Polynesian outlier]]. The inhabitants retain a [[Polynesians|Polynesian]] character despite their location in the Melanesian Archipelago of Solomon Islands. In former times both men and women wore elaborate [[tattoos]] all over their bodies.<ref>[http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/oceania/index.html Tattoo history of Western Oceania] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713184712/http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/oceania/index.html |date=2011-07-13 }}</ref> Two dialects of one language are spoken in this atoll, Luangiua and Pelau. This language belongs to the [[Polynesian languages|Polynesian stock]].<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/ojv Ethnologue - Ontong Java Language]</ref>

Ontong Java was visited by English missionary [[George Brown (missionary)|George Brown]] in mid 19th century. Brown described the population as Polynesian<ref>George Brown, ''Melanesians and Polynesians'', p. 414, {{ISBN|978-1-152-66889-8}}</ref> and referred to the place as '''Lua Niua'''. He recorded the existence of a two-class system in Ontong Java and, based on it, inferred that it was probable that [[exogamous]] classes formerly existed in [[Samoa]] as well.<ref>''Introduction to the History of Religions - Handbooks on the History of Religions,'' Volume IV, Crawford Howell Toy</ref>

The first detailed research on Ontong Java's inhabitants, however, was conducted by German ethnographers [[Ernst Sarfert]] and [[Hans Damm]], during a German scientific expedition of the Southern Seas that took place in 1908–1910. This expedition visited both Ontong Java and neighboring Nukumanu Atoll, where they also carried out their research. Their work, "Luangiua und Nukumanu" was published in 1931. Sarfert and Damm claimed that both names of the atoll, Lord Howe and Ontong Java, were incorrect and called this atoll '''Luangiua''' in their works.

[[Jack London]] first called this atoll "Oolong".<ref>Gary Riedl & Thomas R. Tietze (editors), ''Jack London's Tales of Cannibals and Headhunters: Nine South Seas Stories by America's Master of Adventure'' {{ISBN|978-0-8263-3791-7}}</ref> Later he would write in one of his novels: 
{{blockquote|''Nobody ever comes to Lord Howe, or Ontong-Java as it is sometimes called. [[Thomas Cook & Son]] do not sell tickets to it, and tourists do not dream of its existence. Not even a white missionary has landed on its shore. Its five thousand natives are as peaceable as they are primitive. Yet they were not always peaceable. The [[Sailing Directions]] speak of them as hostile and treacherous. But the men who compile the Sailing Directions have never heard of the change that was worked in the hearts of the inhabitants, who, not many years ago, cut off a big [[Barque|bark]] and killed all hands with the exception of the second mate. The survivor carried the news to his brothers. The captains of three trading [[schooner]]s returned with him to Lord Howe. They sailed their vessels right into the lagoon and proceeded to preach the [[white people|white man]]'s gospel that only white men shall kill white men and that the lesser breeds must keep hands off. The schooners sailed up and down the lagoon, harrying and destroying. There was no escape from the narrow sand-circle, no bush to which to flee. The men were shot down at sight, and there was no avoiding being sighted. The villages were burned, the canoes smashed, the chickens and pigs killed, and the precious cocoanut trees chopped down. For a month this continued, when the schooner sailed away; but the fear of the white man had been seared into the souls of the islanders and never again were they rash enough to harm one.''<ref>Jack London, ''Mauki''.</ref>}}

Ontong Java was later visited by [[Sydney University]] anthropologist [[Ian Hogbin|Herbert Ian Hogbin]] in 1927.<ref>Hogbin, H. Ian. "Transition Rites at Ontong Java." Oceania 1: 399-425. 1930</ref> Hogbin's study of Ontong Java was published in 1934.

In religious terms, Ontong Java is part of the [[Anglican Church of Melanesia]] [[Diocese of Malaita]].

==See also==
*[[Ontong Java Plateau]]
*[[Ontong Java Flying Fox]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Hogbin, H. Ian. "The Social Organization of Ontong Java." London 1931
* Hogbin, H. Ian. "Transition Rites at Ontong Java." Oceania 1: 399–425. 1930
* Sarfert, Ernst, and Hans Damm. "Luangiua und Nukumanu." Ergebnisse der Südsee Expedition, 1908–1910. Hamburg 1931

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ontong Java}}
* [http://www.ontongjava.com Ontong Java (2020) Documentary]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080120044849/http://solomonislands.com.sb/ontongjava.html Ontong Java]
*[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1911.13.1.02a00150/abstract ''Melanesians and Polynesians. Their Life-Histories described and compared''. By George Brown, D.D American Anthropologist]

{{Islands of the Solomon Islands}}
{{Polynesia}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Polynesian outliers]]
[[Category:Atolls of the Solomon Islands]]