Culture of Nauru

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The displacement of the conventional Culture of Nauru by contemporary western influences is very clearly visible on the island. Only little remains preserved from the old customs. The traditions of arts and crafts are lost nearly completely.

Contents 1 Arts and crafts 2 Language and education 3 Sport 3.1 Weightlifting

[edit] Arts and crafts

The inhabitants of Nauru wear the usual tropical clothes: short trousers and light shirts. Fishing still follows a traditional method: the island anglers wait in small light boats for fish to arrive. The custom of fishing has been preserved by trained Fregattvoegeln.

Radio Nauru has collected numerous recordings of local people's music. But even old Nauruans can rarely understand the contents of these songs.

Whilst the traditional culture rapidly gives way to the contemporary, as elsewhere in Micronesia, music and dance still rank among the most popular art forms. Rhythmic singing and traditional reigen are performed particularly at celebrations and at Craftsmen make articles of clothing and fans of Kokosfasern and the sheets of the screw tree and use geometrical samples, which resemble those of the Indonesian culture. Also the wood of the kokospalme is used for the production of arts and crafts.

[edit] Language and education

The language of Nauru, Nauri, is a mixture of those of the neighbouring islands. English is understood and spoken widely.

Education is compulsory from 6 to 16, the only school being the Kayser college in the north of the island. For secondary and university education, Nauruans' children must go abroad, usually to Australia.

The official national holiday is the independence day on 31 January, but Angam Day is considered as an additional national holiday.

[edit] Sport

The national sport of Nauru is Australian rules football. A 12-team senior league operates in the country, see Australian rules football in Nauru and it is a popular spectator sport. Nauru has competed internationally in Australian rules football at the Arafura Games, Australian Football International Cup and Barassi International Youth Tournament. The national team, the "Chiefs", ranked 8th in the International Cup in 2002 and gold medal at the Arafura Games.

Nauruans also participate in soccer and softball. A Nauru national soccer team exists, however the federation is not yet recognised by the OFC or FIFA.

Tennis, sailing as well as swimming and golf are also practised on the island. There are some sports pitches in Nauru. The only stadium is in Yaren, but it is obsolete and fails to meet international standards. A larger and more modern sports stadium is being built in Meneng, however lack of money has caused the project to stall. The current stadia are:

• Linkbelt Oval in Aiwo
• National Stadium in Yaren
• Menen Stadium in Meneng
• Denig Stadium in Denigomodu
• Aida Oval

A traditional 'sport' is catching birds when they return from foraging at sea to the island towards sunset. The men then stand on the beach ready to throw their lasso. The Nauruan lasso is supple rope with a weight at the end. When a bird comes over they throw their lasso up, it hits and or drapes itself over the bird, which then falls down and is seized for food.

[edit] Weightlifting

One sport in which Nauru does excel is weightlifting. The sensational gold medal of Nauru's Marcus Stephen in the 1990 Commonwealth Games initiated the establishment of the Nauruan Olympic Committee. Weightlifter Reanna Solomon also won several medals in the Commonwealth Games.

In 1998 the International Weightlifting Union decided to hold the World Championships 2001 in Nauru. It was described as "the greatest day in the history of our people". Nauru had pushed the German competitor Riesa during the combat tuning in Lahti particularly toward its financial power from the field. Prizes of 6,500 DM per gold medal would be offered for the first time. However financial difficulties led to the games being called off and moved to Guam.

v • d • e Topics in Nauru
History	Nauruan Tribal War
Geography	Districts | Cities | Canals
Politics	Constitution | Political parties | Parliament | Elections
Economy	Transport | Communications | Demographics | Companies | Nauru Phosphate Corporation
Culture	Indigenous religion | Languages: Nauruan, Creole, Gilbertese | Sport | Music | Cuisine
Other	Holidays | Operation Weasel | Phosphate rock island