From Taovia to Trustee: Urbanisation, Land Disputes and Social Differentiation in Kakabona

Kakabona comprises a series of hamlets clustered along the Tandai Highway as it runs along the coastline to the west of Honiara (Figure 1). These hamlets are densely populated and built in the narrow strip of flat land that lies between the beach and the hills that rise sharply from the ocean. The area is populated by around 1,500 people, most of whom belong to social groups with lineage narratives that connect them to a variety of places across north-west Guadalcanal. The population also includes substantial numbers of people who originate from other provinces and have married people from Guadalcanal. The majority of the population and all the churches are Roman Catholic.