PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

By Geoffrey White

HONOLULU (Pacific Islands Report, Feb. 8) –Last week the Solomon Islands saw the passing of one if its great leaders, Sir Dudley Tuti, Paramount Chief and former Bishop of Santa Isabel. Many people will remember and honor his memory for decades to come. As an occasional visitor to the island and someone who has written about its culture and history, I would like to offer a few thoughts out of respect for someone who was not only a visionary leader but also a close friend.

1975, the first year I lived in Santa Isabel as an anthropology student, was also the year that Bishop Dudley Tuti was installed as Paramount Chief. In an elaborate public ceremony in Sepi village attended by about three thousand people Tuti was anointed Paramount Chief. In one stroke, the people of Isabel revived an earlier form of leadership to move the island into a new era of nation building. In doing so, they set a pattern for political activity for years to come. Once I discovered the historical significance of this event, I made it a focus for my studies, ultimately putting a photo of the newly installed paramount chief on the cover of my book about Santa Isabel, Identity Through History (1991).

To trace Sir Dudley’s personal career is also to describe the twentieth century history of Santa Isabel as a whole. Just as the island was increasingly caught up in expanding circuits of trade, religious change and nation building, Tuti himself followed a course that took him overseas for education and then back home to work toward independence and post-independence development. As someone educated in customary practices but also steeped in western knowledge, especially church training, he came to represent the combined forces of tradition and modernization that have been transforming life in Santa Isabel for well over a century.

Like most in his generation, Dudley Tuti spent his childhood in a traditional rural environment. Born Dudley Satovaki Tututina on September 19, 1919, he did not have any formal schooling until he was twelve years old. Raised by his aunt, he grew up learning the ways of his society by participating in everyday life, including gardening and fishing among the reefs and lagoons of the Kia area of western Isabel.

Then in 1931 he was chosen to accompany the Anglican priest Richard Fallowes for schooling at the Maravovo school. That would be the beginning of an exceptional education, leading ultimately to the Te-aute school at Hawkes Bay New Zealand (1942-44) and, after a spell of teaching at Pawa, two years of study at St. John’s College in Auckland (1952-54).

Graduating from St. John’s Dudley Tuti was ordained priest in the Anglican Melanesian Mission on St. Andrew’s Day November 30, 1954. After two years as Headmaster at the Vureas School in Vanuatu, he returned home to be priest for the Kia area and Rural Dean for the entire island. (There he married his Naomi Tate with whom he would eventually have eight children.)

As a newly ordained priest working on an island where nearly the entire population adhered to the Church of Melanesia, Dudley Tuti followed in the footsteps of the first generation of priests who were among the most powerful and influential leaders involved in transforming the social, religious, and political life of the island. As Rural Dean during the 1950s, Tuti’s responsibilities extended across the entire island. He took these responsibilities seriously—so much so that he would travel around the island by canoe visiting every village at least once a year. In this way, Dudley Tuti laid the foundation for his reputation as an island-wide leader in touch with the problems and concerns of people across the island.

On November 30, 1963, Dudley Tuti and Leonard Alufurai became the first Melanesian priests to be consecrated as Assistant Bishops of Melanesia. As with so many things in his life Dudley Tuti’s consecration as Bishop was another "first" that marked a transition in his career as well as a new chapter in Isabel history. For the next decade he would immerse himself in strengthening the church and its role in all aspects of village life—economic, spiritual, and political. In so doing Bishop Dudley Tuti became the most influential leader in Santa Isabel as well as an emerging national figure. He was made Knight of the British Empire in 1988.

When I first arrived in Santa Isabel in early 1975, there was a great deal of talk and excitement about pending political changes. 1975 was the year of self-government in Solomon Islands, with full independence just three years away. As the country made plans for the transition, many communities began to look within to ask how post-colonial development might be better informed by indigenous ways. In Santa Isabel, as in other areas, discussions began about the need to revive the position of paramount chief, a position that originated in the early missionary era and had long represented a distinctive melding of church and custom.

When Dudley Tuti retired as Bishop in 1982 he devoted himself to strengthening traditional leadership and searching for ways to utilize cultural values in guiding future development. He regarded local chiefs as an untapped resource and worked to find meaningful connections between them and the workings of government. Out of these efforts emerged the Isabel Council of Chiefs (ICC)—a body that received official recognition in 1984 when Isabel Province passed a resolution acknowledging its role in local governance.

The ICC has continued to evolve under Dudley Tuti’s leadership, right up to the present. The most recent development is the emergence of a unique form of cooperation between the chiefs, church and provincial government termed the "Tripod." Even though it is still a long way from becoming a firm political reality, the Tripod is a living testimony to the ability the Paramount Chief to weave together long-running strands in Isabel history.

Throughout his life Dudley Tuti pursued a vision for his community. Whether introducing Credit Unions, attempting to direct logging interests, or searching for solutions to the problem of land disputes, he never ceased his efforts to create a better society. Even when this might embroil him in local controversies, as in debates about logging in the 1990s, he remained a trusted person respected by nearly all in Santa Isabel. Not surprisingly, then, during the crisis period of the "tension," Sir Dudley played an important role guiding Isabel through a dangerous period and helping to maintain the island’s commitment to peace and nonviolence.

In addition to his many contributions to Santa Isabel and Solomon Islands, Dudley Tuti leaves a personal legacy—an example of someone who cared deeply for his community and despite his status always seemed accessible to those who sought his counsel. His house in Jejevo was a kind of crossroads, a stopping point for ordinary villagers and international figures alike who could be assured of a warm welcome marked by his good humor and distinctive laugh. It is that person who will be especially missed.

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