Population Facts and Figures

41 3 The Rotokas: Demographic Information

3.1 Population Facts and Figures

In all government records and maps, the name Rotokas is used to designate the area, the people, and their language. The name was originated by coastal people to the north, who traded with the mountain people to obtain paint for their canoes, cosmetics, etc. Because the Rotokas people made the paint by super-heating red mud from hot springs, the coastals called them “paint cookers.” The equivalent in the language of the mountain people themselves was rotokas. It was not until the early 1980’s that we were told about an earlier name that the Rotokas people used as their own: Asigoao. Today this name is rarely heard. There is no evidence of it being incorporated in present- day government documents or records. Some older men would like to see the name Rotokas replaced by Asigoao , however. The earliest census figures for the Rotokas area available at the time of writing this report are from the government census taken in 1963. No effort was made to go back further, although the information would not be difficult to obtain from government offices on Bougainville. It will be remembered from the text that in the past, the colonial government encouraged the population living in scattered hamlets to group together in larger village units, in order to facilitate administration. Following both Independence and increased cocoa plantings, there was a significant shift of population back to the more isolated hamlets. These often included the extended family only. Although the first set of population figures reflects the period of time when the population was located in larger villages, the last set of figures, unfortunately, is only very general. The fact that the people preferred living in hamlets is not reflected in the figures in the following chart: Comparison of census figures by village and year VillageDialect 1963 1965 1981 TogaraoRotokas 216 247 388 RuruvuRotokas 129 136 214 SisiviRotokas 190 222 367 IbuRotokas 104 122 194 MapiaroRotokas 132 165 299 SirioripaiaRotokas 194 198 238 BeteriopaiaRotokas 131 137 NA PipipaiaPipipaia 264 284 NA KakaropaiaPipipaia 190 217 NA BulistoroPipipaia 149 156 205 PokoiaAita 217 189 NA NupatoroAita 164 173 NA TsubiaiAita 120 127 NA OsiwaipaAita 146 178 NA In 1981, the total population of the North Solomons Province was 97,291. The population of the area represented by the Tearaka-Aita Community Government was 3,116, and that of the Rotokas-Ewara Community Government was 3,006. By comparison, the population in 1963 of roughly the same areas combined was 3,520. Complete census figures were gathered at the government office in Wakunai at the time two Rotokas men and I visited most of the Rotokas area villages 1966. Those figures are listed in Appendix A. A sample from Togarao village is shown in the following chart: 42 Togarao Village—Annual census figures taken August 26, 1965 –1 yr 1–5 6–10 11–15 16–45 46–55+ children adults M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F 2 5 15 14 8 8 6 15 33 43 8 7 58 64 64 61 Deaths: one between eleven and fifteen years of age, one between forty-six and fifty-five+ years of age Births: three males, ten females Migrations: two in, three out Average size of family: 2.90 persons Although the above population figures indicate a relatively large village, this may not have been the case. A government officer, who did malaria research in the area shortly after the census, collected different figures. His count of blood slides taken supposedly of the entire village, showed only eighty-seven adults present in Togarao. At that time, many of the men worked on the coast and returned to the higher villages only at the weekends or for special occasions. Some were working at the copper mine site several hours away during the exploration and construction period.

3.2 Village Sites