Sa'a

Also known as: Sa'a, Ulawa, Uki Ni Masi

Sa'a-speakers of Maramasike (Small Malaita), Ulawa, Uki Ni Masi and the Three Sisters Islands.

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Traditional Culture(1871-1896)Expand All +
Belief +

Supernatural Beings

Nature Spirits Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 178-207
Nature god(s) Absent (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 178-207
Ancestral spirits Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 187
Deified ancestor(s) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 179-181
God(s) Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 199-207

Supernatural Punishment

Supernatural punishment for impiety Present (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 185

Afterlife and Creation

One's actions while living can affect the nature of one's afterlife One factor in determining one's afterlife (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 182
The actions of others after one has died can affect the nature of one's afterlife One factor in determining one's afterlife (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 179
Culture hero(es) Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 178-207

General Features

Forces of nature are controlled by or imbued with the supernatural Present (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 200
Practice +

General Supernatural Practices

Headhunting Absent (Source)
Ivens (1972)
Costly sacrifices and offerings Present (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 241
Size of largest ritual social group Larger than a household, no larger than the local community (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 28-29, 242-245
Political and religious differentiation No overlap (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 109-129, 160-177, 242-245

Rites

Genital cutting Absent from culture (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 82-86
Tooth pulling Absent from culture (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 82-86
Tattooing Present in the culture as a rite or feature of a rite (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 83
Scarification Present in culture, but not as a rite or feature of a rite (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 82-86
Piercing Present in the culture as a rite or feature of a rite (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 82
Social Environment +
Population 6,000 (Source)
Ethnologue (Map of Solomon Islands) (2014)
Ivens (1911)
Ivens (1913)
Daft Logic Area Calculator (2014)
Population of largest political community 100-999 (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 22-54, 25, 109-129
Importance of Patrilateral descent High (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 55-70
Importance of Matrilateral descent Medium (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 55-70
Marital residence Patrilocal or virilocal - with husband's kin (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 71-108
Polygamy Limited polygyny (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 127

Conflict

Conflict between communities of the culture Occasional, at least every generation (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 294-304
Conflict with other cultures Occasional, at least every generation (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 24-25, 294-304, 309-310
Conflict within communities Moderate (Source)
Ivens (1972), pp. 12-13, 294-304
Physical Environment +

Features of Island with Largest Culture Population

Latitude -9.6 (Source)
Ethnologue (Map of Solomon Islands) (2014)
Longitude 161.5 (Source)
Ethnologue (Map of Solomon Islands) (2014)
Island Size (km²) 481.0 (Source)
Clark & Bedford (2008), pp. 64
Maximum elevation (meters) 518.0 (Source)
Clark & Bedford (2008), pp. 64
External Links
References
Clark, G.R. & Bedford, S. (2008). Friction Zones in Lapita Colonisation. In G.R. Clark, G.R, S. O'Connor & B.F. Leach, Islands of Inquiry: Colonisation, Seafaring and the Archaeology of Maritime Landscapes (pp 59-73). Canberra, Australia: ANU Press.

Daft Logic Area Calculator. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm.

Ethnologue (Map of Solomon Islands). (2014). Map of Solomon Islands. Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com/map/SB.

Ivens, W. G. (1911). Grammar of the language of Sa'a, Malaita, Solomon Islands. Anthropos, 755-773.

Ivens, W. G. (1913). Grammar of the language of Ulawa, Solomon Islands. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 22(1 (85), 28-35.

Ivens, W.G. (1972). Melanesians of the south-east Solomon Islands. New York, NY: Benjamin Blom Inc (Originally published 1927).