TUTUVATU

Tarcisius Kabutaulaka Labeana Village, Longu-Avuavu, Tasimauri, Guadalcanal Photo: Joseph Foukona This  Tok Stori  focuses on something that we engage with daily. It defines our existence. But it is something we often take for granted, or dismiss as irrelevant. It is histories – the embodied interpretations of what happened in the past. Our individual and collective histories, as well as that of the living and non-living environments around us is intrinsically intertwined with our present and futures. In fact, it defines and provides the foundation for current and future endeavors. Sometimes, our pasts can also be haunting because something terrible had happened. But even if that was the case, we can hopefully learn from that experience to inform our futures. Because we often use the English term ‘history,’ it implies that it is an academic discipline with organized theories, syllabus, etc. that is taught in schools and universities. Consequently, many of us grow up

Tarcisius Kabutaulaka Avuavu Secondary School, Tasimauri, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Photo: Julian Maka'a  My last Tok Stori  focused on  the  relationship between stories, land, economic development   and land disputes.  Today, we continue that conversation by focusing on land recording, registration and economic development. There is a push by the  current  government, supported by individuals, development partners and corporate entities, to record and register customary land.  It is driven by the perception that customary land tenure impedes economic development, and land recording and registration will reduce land disputes and engender development. But, will land recording and registration reduce disputes and enhance economic development? The simple answer is, ‘yes’ and ‘no’.  Land recording and registration does not always reduce land-related disputes or engender economic development. The process of registration can create conflicts as groups compete to legi

Tarcisius Kabutaulaka In Solomon Islands, as in other Pacific Islands places, there are close relationships between stories, land, economic development and land disputes.  These are complicated issues. This piece does not offer prescriptions, but hopefully it raises issues for us to think about. Here, I propose that what is at the center of land disputes is not land  per ser . Rather, the disputes are over competing stories about relationships between people and landscapes; stories about genealogies, migrations, settlements, tabu sites, etc., which are used by groups (tribes/clans) to claim particular parcels of land.  These stories are “written” or “told” onto landscapes. I will come back to this theme later.  As you know, land is central to economic development. But in Solomon Islands, it is also at the center of many disputes that have either delayed or halted economic development projects.  Only this week, the Tandai landowners filed a case challenging the acquisit