Banaban heritage prominent in Nauru’s leadership

Four current Nauru government ministers are direct descendants of Banaban families, President David Adeang revealed during Rabi Island's 80th anniversary celebrations this week.

The President disclosed that Nauru's parliamentary leadership includes several officials with Banaban ancestry through blood and marriage ties dating back generations.

"Amongst those in Nauru that you can call family in our Parliament and in our government include the Speaker of Parliament, the Honourable Marcus Stephen," President Adeang said at Nuku in Tabwewa Village.

He named three other government ministers with Banaban connections: Education Minister Asterio Appi, Ronphos Minister Delvin Thoma, and Deputy Minister Maverick Eoe, whose sister attended the celebrations.

President Adeang shared his own family history, explaining his great-great grandmother travelled by canoe from Banaba to Nauru generations ago.

Suva Banaban Cultural Dance Group at Nuku, Tabwewa village on Rabi Island.

Photo: Government of the Republic of Nauru

The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Pathfinders during the 80th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of the Banabans on Rabi Island.

Photo: Government of the Republic of Nauru

The Banaban Community of Auckland, New Zealand during the 80th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of the Banabans on Rabi Island.

Photo: Government of the Republic of Nauru

Banaban elders during the 80th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of the Banabans on Rabi Island.

Photo: Government of the Republic of Nauru

"On the part of Nauru that she landed she was welcomed and accepted by the then head chief of that part of Nauru,” he said.

The President revealed that even the ship Triona, which transported Banabans from Banaba to Rabi in 1945, was a Nauruan vessel provided after independence.

"That was the ship that transported the Banabans from Banaba to Rabi," he said, pointing to a banner at the celebrations.

The family bonds were strengthened during World War II when more than 700 Banabans were taken to Nauru in 1943, where Nauruan families shared homes and food despite their own struggles.

"These are not symbolic ties, they are real and they are living family connections," President Adeang said.

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