Te Rii ni Banaba: Backbone of Banaba

Te Rii ni Banaba: Backbone of Banaba (Second Edition)
Raobeia Ken Sigrah & Stacey M. King

Te Rii ni Banaba — Backbone of Banaba is the first history of Banaba, once known as Ocean Island, written from the Banaban perspective. For generations the island's story was told only by Europeans tied to the colonial administration or the phosphate industry, distorting the record of a people and their past. This landmark work reclaims that story, drawing on the knowledge of Banaban elders and clan members who lived the events it describes.

Through genealogies, myths, legends, customs, sports, music, dance, totems and magic rituals — including the long-guarded secrets of the mysterious te Aka clan — the book reveals the uniqueness of Banaban identity and the successive waves of migration and invasion that shaped it. It follows the arrival of the I-Matang (Europeans): beachcombers, blackbirders, whalers and missionaries, and then the miners who came in 1900 after the discovery of phosphate. That discovery marked a turning point, beginning a heartbreaking trail of exploitation, environmental devastation and loss.

The book records the atrocities suffered under Japanese occupation during World War II and the forced exile of the Banaban people from their homeland — first scattered during the Pacific War, then relocated to Rabi, Fiji, in 1945. The names of those killed on Banaba during the war, and of the survivors who arrived on Rabi, are preserved here so that future generations can trace their genealogies and land rights.

At its heart lies the Banaban struggle to hold on to culture and identity against the pressures of Fijian, I-Kiribati and Western influence — the authors' fear that, in time, future generations may no longer know themselves as Banaban. This second edition adds new photographs, the discovery of the missing link of the Toakira, the search for Teimanaia's skull, the identification of landowners from the first agreements of 1900, insights into the famous 1975 Banaban Court Case, and details of villages lost to mining.

Both a work of traditional knowledge and rigorous historical research, Te Rii ni Banaba is the authors' commitment to saving the remaining evidence of the old Banaba. It is essential reading for Banabans, and for anyone drawn to the story of migration, environment, human rights and the fate of an indigenous people in the modern world.

Praise for Te Rii ni Banaba
Honoured in the 27th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards, whose judge praised it as beautifully researched and produced, telling its story through visuals and text with an emotional depth that sets it apart from a conventional textbook — the work of authors with genuine ties to Banaba rather than outside observers.

Raobeia Ken Sigrah is an indigenous Banaba clan spokesman and historian. 
 
Stacey King is an Australian with four generations of her family involved in the mining  of Banaba.
 
Together they formed a personal and collaborative partnership to seek justice and the rehabilitation of the Banaban homeland. They believe their lives are intertwined, bringing them together to right the wrongs of the past.