ABSTRACT
The ‘Ere’ere people, ever fiercely independent and resistant to all things European, were the last to keep up a more or less complete programme of traditional ritual activity in East Kwara’ae. For most Kwara’ae the ideal of self-determination under spiritual authority was now inspired by Christianity, and particularly by the South Sea Evangelical Mission (SSEM) ideology which had supported Masing Rul. The goal of the Remnant Church is ‘spiritual freedom’ under a church independent of the state, unlike existing churches. In East Kwara’ae the movement was led by Elijah Sareto’ona of Tolinga, a prominent member of the SSEM and one of Fa’abasua’s converts in Russell Islands, whose village at Abuna’ai in Latea became the local Jehovah’s Witness headquarters. The Kwasibu meetings in particular helped Kwara’ae activists to develop a model of traditional political organisation based on the pre-Christian ritual and political system but adapted to act as a pressure group within the developing state political system.
