The Authors' Story behind Te Rii ni Banaba - Backbone of Banaba

The first thought that comes to mind when you meet this unusual couple… is how did they ever end up together?

Stacey King appears as your average blond Australian businesswoman who has learned the hard way what it is like to compete in Australia’s tough male-dominated business world, while Raobeia (Ken) Sigrah, with his dark coffee-coloured skin, strong chiselled face, and sinewy body, has a habit of greeting total strangers with such warmth and his infectious smile that he immediately takes people off guard. To see them together, they are obviously in love, a team, but how on earth did they ever meet?

This is the question they are asked often and one that still brings a smile to their faces. Their reaction is almost identical as they turn to each other and say, ‘Who’s going to tell them our story – ‘You or me?’ A story that opens a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of a world so different to modern civilization, one filled with the stories of an ancient people, their fight for justice and the crucial role this couple, from two very different lands and cultures, have in this amazing saga. Their epic story and journey is a remarkable tale of a forgotten Pacific people known today as the Banabans and their indigenous tribal origins of the mysterious te Aka people, which for centuries has been safely guarded in a veil of secrecy.

Their book - Te Rii ni Banaba: backbone of Banaba, is the reason they came together nearly one hundred years later.

Now the story of te Aka has finally been exposed and made public in this couple’s amazing quest to save not only Ken's people but his small island homeland – Banaba, situated in the middle of the Pacific. Banaba Island was once known as the richest island on earth and has now been left forgotten and environmentally devastated by the three powerful and wealthy nations of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Their story is indeed comparable to the David and Goliath struggle in biblical times, and the spiritual power and nature of events that seem to be unfolding are all part of their destinies that have brought them and their families together a century later.

This tale is about their incredible journey and their quest to return ancient bones and relics of Ken's te Aka ancestors that they uncovered in the vaults of an Australian University and return them back to their rightful resting place back on Banaba. At the same time, they have continued their search to find the missing ancestral skull of Te Aka's tribal leader, which was stolen and sold off to a museum collection in the 1930s. The Banabans believe that only after the skull is returned will the peace and prosperity of the people flourish.

The reason the te Aka people were able to maintain a veil of secrecy for centuries is because of the fear and superstitions surrounding their powers of sorcery. In the past, even mentioning the name ‘te Aka’ by those outside the tribe would bring about an instant curse. To talk about the te Aka people and their sacred village on Banaba, people used the word – te Aonoanne, meaning ‘that place’. As other Pacific tribes invaded over the centuries, the te Aka held the high ground on the island and isolated themselves holding onto their ancient rites and powers of sun-worshipping. But in 1900, everything was to change when the white dust of the sacred land beneath their feet was found to be the richest deposits of phosphate ever discovered.

Ironically it was Ken’s te Aka great-great-grandfather, that would be one of the unsuspecting Banaban elders to place his mark on complicated legal documents to mine their beloved homeland for the next 999 years. While Stacey’s Australian great-great-grandfather and his family would arrive to oversee the mining operations, that eighty years later would see the virtual destruction of not only an island but lead to the exile of its people.

The Banaban elders believe it is more than fate that brought this couple together nearly a century later, with the forces and spiritual powers of both their ancestors combining to right the wrongs of the past. Their quest to return the spirits of the te Aka ancestors back to the soil of their beloved homeland is the catalyst for this amazing story … just like this unusual couple – one from a modern competitive western society which is more at odds with the environment and the other from a primitive civilization who is completely at one and attuned with the land and very nature itself.

Yet, against all odds and the diversity of two very different people and the worlds they come from, is the belief that together they can make a difference and save a race of people and their beloved homeland in an ever-changing world.

Te Rii ni Banaba - backbone of Banaba.

OTHER TITLES BY THE AUTHORS

Raobeia Ken Sigrah and Stacey M. King

BANABAN VISION PUBLICATIONS

Non-Fiction Chapter in a book

• The Banaba-Ocean Island chronicles private collections, indigenous record-keeping, fact, and fiction. Chapter 17, Hunting the collectors. Cambridge Scholars, UK.

Non-Fiction Book

• Te Rii ni Banaba: backbone of Banaba. First Edition: IPS, Suva, Fiji. 2001 Second Edition: Banaban Vision Publications 2019.
• Legacy of a Miner's Daughter: the impact on the Banabans after phosphate mining: Banaban Vision Publications 2023
• Australia Banaba Relations: the price of shaping a nation: Banaban Vision Publications 2023

Ebooks: Blend of history, biography and fictional reconstruction

Fiction Book / Ebook

• Nakaa’s Awakening (Book 1. Land of Matang 4 book series) based on Stacey's family and their first arrival on Banaba (Ocean Island) in 1902. Published Banaban Vision Publications, Gold Coast, Australia 2020.

Articles and Presentations

• Australia-Banaba Relations; the price of shaping a nation is now a call for recognition.
• Banaba-Ocean Island Chronicles: Private collections and indigenous record-keeping proving fact from fiction
• Cultural Identity of Banabans
• Legacy of a Miners Daughter and Assessment of the Social Changes of the Banabans after Phosphate Mining on Banaba
• Essentially Being Banaban in Today's World: The role of Banaban Law, Te Rii Ni Banaba"(Backbone of Banaba) in a Changing World

Banaban Social Media sites by authors

• Abara Banaba – Come Meet the Banabans: http://www.banaban.com
• Banaban Voice Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/banabanvoice/
• Banaban Voice Blog: http://banabanvoice.ning.com/
• Banaban Vision: http://banabanvision.ning.com/

Connect with Us:

• Raobeia Ken Sigrah – Authors Page: http://www.raobeiakensigrah.com
• Stacey M. King – Authors Page: http://www.staceymking.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook group: Te Rii Ni Banaba