Talk:History of Solomon Islands

Ragusans in Solomons

The presence of explorers and traders from the Republic of Ragusa needs to cite references. I did a quick Google looking for some verfication:

http://www.croatians.com/DISCOVERY-VICEROY-BUNE.htm - says that Vice Bune was a Ragusan in Spanish employ who was at one point Viceroy of Mexico.

http://www.goacom.org/goanow/99/apr/history.html - seems to verify the presence of Ragusan traders in Goa.

http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/pdfs/iranian_origin_croats.pdf - mentions Vice Bune and Ragusans in Melanesia, but the document deals with what I would call "fringe history" (ie. the Old Iranian origin of the Croatian people), so that discounts that, at least in my mind, as independent verification.

Failure to appear on Google doesn't prove anything, but it does nothing to allay my suspicions. Please provide citations, preferably from published material (books, articles). Citing old records and the like isn't quite good enough if you can't show where these have been published.--Iacobus 23:41, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Vice Bune

The reference to this figure should probably be deleted until independent documentary evidence of his activities can be found. The only reference to Bune's being in the Pacific is other WP sites. See extensive discussion at {http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disputatio:Vincentius_Bune]--Nickm57 (talk) 23:07, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

There is extensive discussion regarding Vice Bune (a real merchant from Dubrovnik who served the Spanish crown, but about whom verifiable details are very limited) at . Apparently main WP deleted an entry about him some time ago, deciding he was a non-existant person. The few remaining references to him on google are generally based on the old WP entry.

Note: I notice all the WP entries relating to Vice Bune and alleged Ragusian exploration of/trade with the Pacific appear from two anonymous IP addresses on 28 and 29 October 2006. --Nickm57 (talk) 23:34, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Use of the word "Natives" offensive?

Original "Natives"?

I understand that this is somewhat accepted in American usage, but in British circles (a few billion people) calling a human a "native" can be perceived as extremely patronising, even insulting, as if they were a species of plant.

I would suggest that a better term than Original Natives might be Original Settlement, Original Inhabitants, or Original Discovery.

I also have issues with use of the word "rediscovered", suggesting as it does in a section on "European exploration" that the islands were discovered by a European. Suggest that "sighted" be used instead, as in the first sentence. Thoughts?

The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law Volume 11 - Page 208

2004 - Snippet view - More editions

... distinction between the Western Area and up-country parallels a distinction between creoles and 'natives' - 'natives' being the disparaging term for the ... As Fyfe (1962: 455) says in a discussion of this divide within the British colonialcontext, 'Few creoles felt sympathy for the "aborigines, the "natives," words normally used in a slighting, patronizing sense (though to Europeans creoles were "natives"). Avaiki (talk) 22:13, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Avaiki (talk • contribs) 22:09, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

I changed the header to "earlierst inhabitants", which strikes me as a phrase with less cultural baggage.

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"the" in article title

On 14 June 2014 this article was moved from History of the Solomon Islands to History of Solomon Islands as an "uncontroversial" move that was not challenged. However, several other moves that dropped the "the" from "the Solomon Islands" around that time were reverted. So, for consistency with the vast bulk of article and category names pertaining to the Solomon Islands country, I have moved this one back too. A related move discussion is at Talk:Monarchy of the Solomon Islands#Requested move 30 December 2015. Examples of other similar move reverts - https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Judiciary_of_the_Solomon_Islands&diff=622978396&oldid=612384877, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Politics_of_the_Solomon_Islands&diff=613166056&oldid=612386964 Nurg (talk) 01:59, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

History

Written history of solomon islands 202.1.186.21 (talk) 21:56, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Your point being? Ex nihil ^(talk) 10:24, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Cannibalism

Absolutely fascinating, how an entire article about the Solomon Islands is possible, without even mentioning the rampant cannibalism, typical for all of Melanesia btw, that prevented any mentionable increase of the population over centuries, with perpetual wars between the different tribes, and which is well documented, e.g. by the former German administration. That’s why Wikipedia will never be accepted as a reliable source. 83.135.57.60 (talk) 12:20, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

Requested move 11 June 2025

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. (closed by non-admin page mover) — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (Goodbye!) 15:54, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

---

• History of Solomon Islands → History of the Solomon IslandsHistory of the Solomon Islands
• Monarchy of Solomon Islands → Monarchy of the Solomon IslandsMonarchy of the Solomon Islands
• Governor-General of Solomon Islands → Governor-General of the Solomon IslandsGovernor-General of the Solomon Islands
• Prime Minister of Solomon Islands → Prime Minister of the Solomon IslandsPrime Minister of the Solomon Islands
• Deputy Prime Minister of Solomon Islands → Deputy Prime Minister of the Solomon IslandsDeputy Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands
• 8th Parliament of Solomon Islands → 8th Parliament of the Solomon Islands8th Parliament of the Solomon Islands
• 9th Parliament of Solomon Islands → 9th Parliament of the Solomon Islands9th Parliament of the Solomon Islands
• Time in Solomon Islands → Time in the Solomon IslandsTime in the Solomon Islands
• Economy of Solomon Islands → Economy of the Solomon IslandsEconomy of the Solomon Islands
• Aquaculture in Solomon Islands → Aquaculture in the Solomon IslandsAquaculture in the Solomon Islands
• Coral reefs of Solomon Islands → Coral reefs of the Solomon IslandsCoral reefs of the Solomon Islands
• Outline of Solomon Islands → Outline of the Solomon IslandsOutline of the Solomon Islands
• List of constituencies of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands → List of constituencies of the National Parliament of the Solomon IslandsList of constituencies of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands
• List of airports in Solomon Islands → List of airports in the Solomon IslandsList of airports in the Solomon Islands
• List of newspapers in Solomon Islands → List of newspapers in the Solomon IslandsList of newspapers in the Solomon Islands
• List of cathedrals in Solomon Islands → List of cathedrals in the Solomon IslandsList of cathedrals in the Solomon Islands
• List of museums in Solomon Islands → List of museums in the Solomon IslandsList of museums in the Solomon Islands
• List of World Heritage Sites in Solomon Islands → List of World Heritage Sites in the Solomon IslandsList of World Heritage Sites in the Solomon Islands
• List of birds of Solomon Islands → List of birds of the Solomon IslandsList of birds of the Solomon Islands
• Postage stamps and postal history of Solomon Islands → Postage stamps and postal history of the Solomon IslandsPostage stamps and postal history of the Solomon Islands
• Keep List of ecoregions in the Solomon Islands
  • List of corals of the Solomon Islands

– Although "the" is not part of the official name of the country since 1978, usage including "the" still predominates, e.g. Ngram of (the) Solomon Islands, Ngram in (the) Solomon Islands. All categories use "the" since this CFD in 2005. Requested moves to drop "the" have been rejected including Geography in 2014 and Monarchy in 2015. Nevertheless some pages have been moved with rationales such as "This is history is restricted to the nation state of Solomon Islands. The history of the wider archipelago is dealt with elsewhere, including under the Solomon Islands (archipelago), which covers a different geographical area" (History, 2018). See also Talk:Governor-General of Solomon Islands where Ex nihil presented a more detailed rationale and proposed keeping "the" only for topics before 1978. I don't mind which way this goes, but it seems preferable to me to adopt a consistent naming convention for all articles and categories about the country. – Fayenatic London 09:30, 11 June 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. TarnishedPath^talk 06:20, 22 July 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. TarnishedPath^talk 15:29, 29 July 2025 (UTC)

• Note: Central Bank of Solomon Islands will not be moved, as it is an official name. Likewise Order of Solomon Islands and its Cross and Star honours. – Fayenatic London 09:50, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

• STRONG OPPOSE According to the UNGEGN World Geographical Names compiled by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, these ten countries with "plural names" do not have the definite article "the" forming a part of their names: Barbados, Belarus, Cyprus, Honduras, Laos, Maldives, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, and Solomon Islands.

By contrast, these four countries with "singular names" do have the definite article "The/the" forming a part of their names: the Congo*, The Gambia, the Niger, and the Sudan.

* The UN uses "the Congo" for the Republic of the Congo. For its bigger neighbour, the UN uses its full name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

These rules have been consistently followed by the United Nations and all UN agencies within the United Nations System, as well as the International Organization for Standardization and its publications.

Sources:

• https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/geonames
• https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search/code

2001:8003:9078:2401:3C9B:94E1:43A0:980A (talk) 13:58, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

Strongly oppose. The need for consistency across Wikipedia is laudable but consistency is not a desirable goal here as the names refer to different things; the differences are actually useful information to refer to different historical periods, different geographical areas or events. Previous discussion on this is ignored. The time too short to respond properly. There are numerous other pages that make a useful distinction between the post-independence Solomon Islands, the colonial The Solomon Islands and the geographical The Solomon Islands archipelago, far more than those listed here, all of which will be affected and useful information lost. The British Solomon Islands Protectorate has been known as Solomon Islands since independence in 1978. Note in particular that:

• • Google search counts, including Ngram, are not useful in making a determination without analysing every hit for its context, the historical period referred to, what the user is referring to, whether it is the archipelago or the geographical or ecological area, etc. It is inevitable that Ngram has more hits for The Solomon Islands given the time period in which that was in use, the WW II campaign alone, and references to the archipelago, but that is no indication of current popular usage when referring to the country.
  • Changing this across hundreds of SI pages, not just the ones under discussion here, will create a gigantic headache for Wiki editors as it deletes legitimate references to the relevant name. Currently, Wikipedia makes a reliable and almost comprehensive distinction between The Solomon Islands and Solomon Islands for good reasons depending on whether pre- or post-independence, whether referring to the WW II campaign against Japan. Destroying all of that is going to give a lot of Wiki editors huge headaches trying to sort it all out and presents a big project requiring discussion as to how to tackle it.
  • The main article for Solomon Islands explains the naming convention and is going to be difficult to rewrite.
  • The Solomon Islands Constitution states that the name of the country is Solomon Islands without the definite article.
  • The national anthem uses Solomon Islands throughout without the definite article
  • The Solomon Islands official government website refers to Solomon Islands.
  • King Charles III is officially King of Solomon Islands, not King of the Solomon Islands and his Governor General is likewise the Governor General of Solomon Islands.
  • The official UN name for the country is, correctly, Solomon Islands, this aligns with its formal international designation and how the nation identifies itself in diplomatic contexts; more details in the UN's official naming conventions.
  • The CIA World Factbook refers to the country correctly as Solomon Islands, without a definite article.
  • All diplomatic missions to the country are missions to Solomon Islands, following the UN convention, including the USA's mission.
  • The Solomon Islands and Solomon Islands refer to different geographical areas, The Solomon Islands including parts of Papua New Guinea for example.
  • Given the almost universal official usage of the name Solomon Islands, Wikipedia stands to undermine its credibility if it decides to diverge from that on its own. Our job as an encyclopedia is to try to make sure that our readers understand the right name for the right time for documented reasons.

  Ex nihil ^(talk) 12:29, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

• Strong oppose per User:Ex nihil. Peter Ormond 💬 12:58, 11 June 2025 (UTC)
• Support. I'm sorry, but intuitive, natural and common English useage is to use the definite article, whatever the "official" name of the country may be. Even our article on the country supports its common useage. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:24, 11 June 2025 (UTC)
• Strong suppport. It's overwhelmingly "the Solomon Islands" in common usage. O.N.R. ^(talk) 02:00, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

  Oppose all being moved in bulk. Support articles dealing exclusively or predominantly in events since 1978 not having the. Any reference to the post 1978 state should not use the. The is appropriate before 1978 and in text within articles. So Economics of Solomon Islands but History of the Solomon Islands. Where appropriate in talk an explanation template should be added if consensus to this view evolves. The common usage argument could I suppose be solved by labelling each article not using 'the' as being written in Solomon Island's English. ChaseKiwi (talk) 04:38, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

  ChaseKiwi (talk) I opposed the bulk change, but I would support your proposal, many pages could drop the 'the' including History of the Solomon Islands. However, this is in fact close to the current situation. Doing otherwise will require changes to hundreds of pages. Ex nihil ^(talk) 11:28, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

  Labelling articles as Solomon Islands English may be a good idea. History of Solomon Islands is not a good example for selectively adding "the" because it is explicitly written about the nation, as are List of birds of Solomon Islands and List of corals of the Solomon Islands. Other biota pages such as Coral reefs of Solomon Islands and List of butterflies of the Solomon Islands cover Bougainville; perhaps those could be moved separately to e.g. "Corals of the Solomon Islands archipelago", like the existing List of mammals of the Solomon Islands archipelago. The 1978 cut-off, if applied, would be more relevant to category names e.g. within Category:Years of the 20th century in the Solomon Islands and Category:Establishments in the Solomon Islands by year. – Fayenatic London 12:36, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

• See also another renaming proposal at Talk:Solomon Islands (archipelago) covering the ecoregion article Solomon Archipelago. – Fayenatic London 12:36, 12 June 2025 (UTC)
• Strong support. WP:THE has nothing to do with running text or the middle of titles, but rather with the start of articles. I would not support The Solomon Islands as the country's main article's title or something like The Solomon Islands and Fiji's diplomatic relationship, but I do for everything where "the" won't be the first word. Red Slash 05:14, 18 June 2025 (UTC)
• Support per nom, Necrothesp, and Old Naval Rooftops. This is natural and well-attested usage. BD2412 T 00:55, 4 July 2025 (UTC)
• Support as we follow common-sense grammatical usage, not idiosyncratic official names. I would never say, "I went to Netherlandsedit: Maldives last week" even though "the" isn't part of the country's official name. Thus, the Solomon Islands. 🐔 Chicdat  ^{Bawk to me!} 10:43, 11 July 2025 (UTC)

  Well, "the" is actually a part of the Netherlands' official name. Its official name is the "Kingdom of the Netherlands", not the "Kingdom of Netherlands". Unlike Maldives (Republic of Maldives), Seychelles (Republic of Seychelles), and Solomon Islands, these three countries have deliberately chosen to omit the definite article "the" from their country names. 2001:8003:9060:601:D83C:D39:3E37:D16D (talk) 12:59, 12 July 2025 (UTC)

  Point taken, comment edited. 🐔 Chicdat  ^{Bawk to me!} 22:17, 12 July 2025 (UTC)

Note: WikiProject Solomon Islands and WikiProject Melanesia have been notified of this discussion. TarnishedPath^talk 09:07, 12 July 2025 (UTC)

• OPPOSE per User:Ex nihil. 203.188.136.47 (talk) 03:01, 16 July 2025 (UTC)
• Support. No-one is saying that the country ought to be called "the Solomon Islands", it's just that adding the "the" makes reading it ten times more natural. The opposers barely address this. Cremastra (talk) 06:11, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

  Does the Hague sound natural to you? How about The Gambia? The country is called "Solomon Islands", it has deliberately dropped the definite article "the" to distinguish itself from "the Solomon Islands", a larger island group which consists of the sovereign country and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (currently a part of Papua New Guinea). 2001:8003:9060:601:49B5:9FB:94BE:DF96 (talk) 12:08, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

• Rename per Cremastra. * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 16:31, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
• Oppose – "I personally think it sounds better" is not a policy-based reason for a title change. As others have already pointed out, conversely "Republic of the Congo" sounds odd without context as well, but nobody would seriously propose erroneously renaming the article to Republic of Congo because it sounds more "natural". Yue🌙 20:21, 24 July 2025 (UTC)
• Weak oppose, the Ngrams is a bit too close for my liking, as it can't distinguish use with "the" to be for the country or the archipelago. While I assume all use without "the" is exclusively for the country, so there is the chance for "the" for the country being much lower. Therefore keep the current "the" for the archipelago and no "the" for the country until more definitive evidence is found. DankJae 21:10, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Oppose Per Yue. 2406:3400:614:CCC0:8821:7D4A:69D5:4CA (talk) 02:02, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.