Stories From Kiribati

[This story took place several decades back and at the time when there was only one main hospital ever built for all the inhabited islands of Kiribati. This hospital was at Abaokoro village on the island of North Tarawa. All patients with serious cases from the rest of the islands had to be admitted to this hospital for treatment]

An elderly man from the island of Arorae, the last island in the south, was admitted to Abaokoro hospital for treatment. Accompanying him all the way fro...

The headband we are talking about in this article is called ‘Te Itoi’. ‘Itoi’ is a Kiribati word meaning ‘star’. As you see in the picture, this headband assembles the shape of a star - so we guess that’s how the item first got its name. Calling it a garland (apart from headband) is acceptable since the item is meant to be put on a person's head.

The making of this headband is simple and requires little time. The green (or white) leaves of ...

Bakoa (shark) was indeed a wicked king who wanted to rule the entire ocean all by himself. To attain this savage desire, Bakoa began his brutal killings to all the other kings of the sea. He succeeded that in the end, he became one and the only king of the whole sea empire.

Bakoa had a son named Teimone. But the son had to die since the father still wanted nobody to become king after him. On the set day, Bakoa asked his son to go and hunt for dad's favourite food. Teimone did what ...

An old man named Toantemabine, once lived at Baretoa village on the island of Abemama. He was known to possess a rare skill of ‘binekua’. With this skill, a person could call or make the whales swim all the way from the bottom of the ocean to the shore. At the shore, they would be killed; their meat cut up then cooked by the villagers for food.

There came an occasion, when the people of Baretoa experienced an intense food craving for the meat of the whale. Thus, everyon...

Tetai is the name of the garland made primarily for use in traditional dancing. It’s so exceptional in its shape, structure, purpose and of course location on the dancer. It stands out clearly and can be easily identified from the rest of the dance costumes. It’s also hardly left out from the dancer during a formal traditional performance. And if it happens to fall down from the dancer’s head due to vigorous dance movements, it is a practice that someone from the dance group...

40th NATIONAL DAY

Celebration Program

12th July 2019

“Uarokoara nakon te Tabomoa ae Teimatoa”.

“Empowerment towards Sustaining Prosperity”

The sea disaster MV Butiraoi and its passengers had gone through is one of the worst ocean accidents to have happened in the waters of Kiribati. It indeed had taken the lives of 81 citizens that included olds and children. MV Butiraoi is a 17.5 meters long wooden ferry and prior to the disaster, it had been one of the vessels used for marine transportation within the islands of Kiribati.

The accident occurred on the 18th January, 2018, while the ferry was returning to Tarawa from N...

There are several different types of baskets that IKiribati can weave from the coconut leaves including bwaabwa, kabiaua, abein, bengabenga and more. This is so since baskets are indeed useful and handy domestic items which we can easily make from plenty of coconut trees growing around us. These baskets differ in their shapes, structures, uses and durability. Further, some are easy to make while others require advanced weavers to make them. Each basket is woven differently therefore if someon...

The word ‘bwaabwa’ is the name of a particular type of basket that is woven only from the green leaves of the coconut tree. The basket is rectangular in shape and has a long straight opening at the top. It looks attractive when newly produced since the raw material being used is the living green leaf cut right off the coconut tree. It then gradually loses its smooth greenish colour over time until the basket becomes dry brown. It is also light to carry and place it around the hous...