Spirit Land of North Tarawa

I went to Buariki last year but am just getting around to writing about it. This is a small village near  the top of North Tarawa. It is special as it is the home of many ancestral spirits and some believe that this is where Nareau the Creator, a spider god, created Tarawa first and then the rest of the world.  

Buariki is also the place of the legend of King Kewe, a king deeply admired by his people and loved by birds.

I was lucky that some local friends decided to accompany me as I do not have a boat, which was essential for this particular adventure. Our captain, a former seaman, drove across the lagoon over the waves so fast that we arrived at our destination in a little over an hour. It was bumpy and at times I thought that I just might end up over board but we all arrived safe and sound.  And what a beautiful place Buariki is--no wonder the spirits made it their first home.  The sand is so white and smooth without coral, lava formations and no trash.

I jumped out of the boat and swam to shore where I was greeted by a group of children who saw our boat approaching. They seemed friendly enough but I decided to keep an eye on the boy with the knife.

 

 

  

My friend Kimere arrived a little later and taking the advice of her father dug her feet into the sand upon arrival and then circled a nearby coconut tree counterclockwise to
ensure we would be safe and lucky in this foreign land. After our luck was secured, we walked into the village to find out where the spirit shrines were.

 

1st shrine



2nd shrine

The first people we met told us that we must visit the shrines in the company of the official guide. Things were definitely more organized than I imagined and as it turns out the guide is the father of the
boy with the knife so he led the way.

Once the guide had changed into his
official uniform, we started off on our
tour of the shrines and other famous places.



I have to admit that I do not remember the names of the spirits entombed in the conch shell shrines. Maybe Kimere knows though. She was listening so intently to the very talkative guide who wanted to make sure we visited the shrines correctly. This is because the spirits once tormented him during the night for not doing so and  his mother had had to rescue him.










 

 

Where the bones  are

We visited so many places and it was so hot but the guide was relentless on doing a thorough job. He took us to the highest point in North Tarawa were the beautiful spirit from Samoa is enshrined, then to the spot where the cannibal woman threw the bones of her victims.

Highest Point and Shrine

 

And at last we reached the spot where the would be murderer of King Kewe was avenged. 

For those of you who do not know the story, Nei Aromaeao a witch from Nabanaba island came to Buariki to capture King Kewe and make him her husband. She pretended to be a log on the beach and one night when King Kewe couldn’t sleep he lay down on that log to rest. He quickly fell into a deep sleep and the log drifted back to Nabanaba. The king was lost. His people looked everywhere for him and even called upon magicians for help, which prove useless as their only response was “buramatoa” which means 'hard to tell'. In the end, they gave up searching.

Then his beloved birds began searching for him. They looked everywhere and finally they came to Nabanaba where they saw their king. By joining together to form a mass, they were able to scoop up Kewe and fly him home. Nei Aromaeao would not be scorned and she came back to get her man. However when she arrived in her form as a log on the beach, the village men fell their axes and knives upon her turning the sand of beach forever red. There is still a slight twinge of red to the beach but admittedly it is hard to see in the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you who do not know the story, Nei Aromaeao a witch from Nabanaba island came to Buariki to capture King Kewe and make him her husband. She pretended to be a log on the beach and one night when King Kewe couldn’t sleep he lay down on that log to rest. He quickly fell into a deep sleep and the log drifted back to Nabanaba. The king was lost. His people looked everywhere for him and even called upon magicians for help, which prove useless as their only response was “buramatoa” which means 'hard to tell'. In the end, they gave up searching. Then the birds began searching. They looked everywhere and finally they came to Nabanaba where they saw their king. By joining together to form a mass, they were able to scoop up Kewe and fly him home. Nei Aromaeao would not be scorned and she came back to get her man. However when she arrived in her form as a log on the beach, the village men fell their axes and knives upon her turning the sand of beach forever red.