Solomon Islands Proverbs (7)

Traditional proverbs of Solomon Islands in en and English — each with its meaning and source.

“I know I am going to die, but before I die I want to tell you: the Japanese are landing at Aola.”

Spoken after Vouza escaped Japanese torture and crawled through the jungle to warn US Marines of an imminent attack during the 1942 Guadalcanal campaign, refusing to let his wounds stop him from delivering the warning.

Sir Jacob Vouza

Source: Walter Lord, Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons (Viking Press, 1977); widely documented in accounts of the 1942 Guadalcanal campaign

“Friends to all, enemies to none.”

The Solomon Islands Government's stated foreign policy stance, describing a sovereign right to engage multiple international partners without exclusive alignment.

Manasseh Sogavare

Source: Solomon Islands Government foreign policy statements, widely reported by international press including Reuters and BBC coverage of the 2022 Solomon Islands-China security agreement

“We are all in the same canoe.”

A shared-fate saying emphasizing unity and cooperation, invoked across the Pacific Islands region, especially in discussions of climate change and regional solidarity.

Traditional Solomon Islands Wisdom

Source: Traditional Pacific Islander saying, shared regional oral heritage, frequently cited in Pacific Islands Forum climate-diplomacy statements and Pacific studies literature

“Solomon Islands is a nation conceived but never born.”

Three-time prime minister Solomon Mamaloni's blunt verdict on the country's unfinished nation-building process and its long-running, unresolved unity-versus-federalism debate since independence.

Solomon Mamaloni

Source: Widely cited in Solomon Islands political commentary, including Solomon Star News, "A nation conceived not yet born, what are we doing? PM", and referenced in a 2020 independence-anniversary speech by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare

“Better I die 100 times than Marine friends die.”

Vouza's own explanation, given after the war, of why he endured Japanese bayoneting and torture and refused to betray the positions of the US Marines rather than give up under interrogation.

Sir Jacob Vouza

Source: "The ordeal of Jacob Vouza" (ww2today.com); "A 50-year-old Pacific Islander survived a bayoneting by chewing through his ropes at Guadalcanal" (wearethemighty.com); both drawing on eyewitness Guadalcanal campaign accounts

Staka fis long si.

“There are plenty of fish in the sea.”

A consolation phrase used to comfort someone whose romantic partner has left them, meaning many other partners exist and they will find someone new.

Traditional Solomon Islands Wisdom

Source: Documented by linguist Christine Jourdan (Concordia University, author of "A Dictionary of the Pidgin of the Solomon Islands") in a discussion of the scarcity of Melanesian proverbs, Mihalic mailing list archive, February 2001 (mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/mihalic/2001-February/000098.html)

Ane i Malau.

“When 'Olu Malau can be seen, it is a sign of clear weather.”

A traditional weather-forecasting saying from the Sa'a people of Malaita: when the landmark 'Olu Malau is visible on the horizon, fair, clear weather is coming.

Traditional Solomon Islands Wisdom

Source: Walter G. Ivens, "Dictionary and Grammar of the Language of Sa'a and Ulawa, Solomon Islands" (1918), full text on archive.org — entry explicitly labeled "proverb of clear weather"