item details
Overview
This t-shirt references the people and history of Banaba, a small raised atoll located west of Kiribati in Micronesia of the Pacific. In the early twentieth century, Banaba was found to consist of high-grade phosphate which prompted the foreign based Pacific Islands Phosphate Company (PIPC) to establish a mining settlement on the island. Mineral extraction of a huge proportion was undertaken to the extent that together with the invasion and displacement by Japanese forces in World War II, the Banaban people were relocated to Rabi Island of the Fijian island group in 1945.
The name Banaba can be translated to mean rocky or stony and is in reference to the geography of Banaba. It also inspires the print on the t-shirt that is an aerial view of Banaba referred to as 'the rock of Micronesia'.
Significance
Phosphate mining commenced on Banaba in 1900 shortly after Albert Ellis, an employee of PIPC arrived to negotiate an agreement with the local population. While the agreement itself was questionable due to barriers like language and authority; infastructure and mining activity developed almost immediately after arrival.
As mining proceeded and the first decade passed, the effects on the island became visibly apparent to the local population as they witnessed its transformation into inhabitable wasteland of of towering limestone pinnacles left behind by mining. Banabans voiced concerns over the influx of migrant workers, the depletion of food-producing trees and the physical changes of their home landscapes, but mining continued.
By the time mining had ceased in 1979, only 150 acres of the islands original 1500 acres remained untouched by miners. In the 21st century, the Banaban population is spread mainly across Rabi Island in Fiji or remain in the ruins of a deserted, industrialised Banaba. There are also small numbers of Banabans in New Zealand and Australia.
The t-shirt is serves as a reminder of this history and the continuing struggle of Banabans today in the rehabilitation of their land. The chemical equation that features on this t-shirt is a composition of what is often known as 'super phosphate', a highly sought fertiliser in the agriculture industry.
Internationally, large deposits of phosphate were discovered in Morrocco and Tunisia in the late 1800s and were expected to cater to American and European farms for the next 100 years. The discovery of phosphate on Banaba amongst other locations in the Pacific was to prove lucrative for farming operations in New Zealand and Australia.
While blessed with such a rich resource, the Banaban people have ultimately paid a high price as they suffered much at the hands of foreign powers which ultimately led to the loss of most of their homeland.
Acquisition History
This t-shirt was made for an event commemorating the relocation of Banabans to Rabi. It was organised by the Banaban community in Wellington, New Zealand in December 2012.
References
Edwards, J. (2013). Phosphate and Forced Relocation: An Assessment of the Resettlement of the Banabans to Northern Fiji in 1945. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 41(5), 783-803.
King, S., & Sigrah, K. R. (2004). Legacy of a miner's daughter and assessment of the social changes of the Banabans after phosphate mining on Banaba. Changing Islands-Changing Worlds. Islands of the World VIII International Conference, Taiwan [Online]. Available: http://www. olioweb. me. uk/banaba/documents/ISISA2004Paper-Stacey. pdf.
Teaiwa, K. M. (2014). Consuming Ocean Island: stories of people and phosphate from Banaba. Indiana University Press.
Williams, M., & Macdonald, B. (1985). The Phosphateers. A history of the British Phosphate Commissioners and the Christmas Island Phosphate Commission. Melbourne University Press