Traditional Land Tenure

There is a custom story in Vanuatu that tells the tale of the origins of the first ni-Vanuatu. Vanuatu lies along the Pacific ring of fire, and so many active volcanoes are to be found in the country. On the island of Tanna there is one particularly active volcano, Yasur. It is said that during a particularly eruptive event the volcano spewed out a man. This man was impressed by his new world of land and sea, but eventually he became bored with being on his own and wanted to return to the volcano, but when he reached the crater the volcano threw him a woman, and from these first two humans many more humans came to populate the islands.

There is another custom story from my home island of Erromango that traces the origins of the first people to growing out of the ground like trees. What both custom stories illustrate is a ‘rootedness’ in land for the people of Vanuatu. We are of the land and therefore cannot deny our land-based heritage. Humans were on the islands to be stewards of the land, and to work with it in harmony. Many of Vanuatu’s indigenous religions can be called animistic, as there is a belief in the spirituality of all living things. Many stories from Erromango tell the tale of animals and particularly plants carrying out their own activities when humans are not looking. Many parts of the natural environment are considered sacred, and home to ancestral spirits, and so are left alone in terms of exploitation. The land is our livelihood and home to our ancestors, therefore we can never lose our connection to the land. This ethic is engrained in all ni-Vanuatu, despite our diversity of cultures and languages (there are approximately 113 languages in Vanuatu, plus English, French and Bislama, the three official languages). It is no wonder then that with land alienation comes conflict. There are many stories to be told about land disputes.

Traditionally, land boundaries were marked by certain trees or stones or rivers, where such knowledge was passed down through oral tradition. In the old days, boundaries between different clan lands were often more delineated than those within clans, although in general they were flexible boundaries. Today, with the modern, Western concept of private land ownership there seem to be more land disputes as people try to claim more land for themselves as more land equals more money to be made from the land. Land increasingly tends to be viewed as a commodity rather than our true heritage. On many islands this is raising issues of disputes within clans as well, because the traditional land ownership operated under a communal clan ownership, with the head of the clan as the overseer. With foreign logging companies and plantations wanting to invest in land, the head of a clan often makes decisions without consensus with the rest of the clan, pocketing the money himself, which naturally results in conflict within the clan. Many chiefs look towards the ‘quick buck,’ allured by the immediate monetary gain, without looking to the future and the environmental degradation that many of these foreign companies leave behind. On the one hand the money helps pays for clan members’ school fees, hospital care or to start small businesses, on the other hand not all clan members benefit from this nor are the future generations considered.

| Back |