Solkope is a small and densely wooded island off the southern coast of
Rotuma
Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as " ...
in the
Fiji Islands
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, at the edge of the fringing coral reef. It is separated from the main island of Rotuma by a channel that is between 50 and 200 m wide, and lies immediately southeast of the village of Kalvaka in the district of
Noatau. It 765 m long east–west, and up to 515 m wide, and rises to a height of 128 m. Its area is 0.3 km
2. From the sea, it cannot be recognised as a separate island.
Secessionist movement
In 2000 Solkope was the subject of a land ownership dispute, as a consequence of an attempted secession of Rotuma from Fiji which was jointly orchestrated by the Molmahao Clan of
Noatau district, and unrecognized micronation
Dominion of Melchizedek
The Dominion of Melchizedek (DoM) is a micronation known for facilitating large scale banking fraud in many parts of the world during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Origin and status
The Dominion of Melchizedek was unilaterally declared in 1990 by ...
. According to documents tendered in court pertaining to the case, the native landowner of Solkope Island, Hiagi Apao and Melchizedek's "Head of House of Elders", Tzemach "Ben" David Netzer Korem, concluded a "99 year sovereign master lease agreement", under which control of Solkope was ceded to the "government" of Melchizedek.
As of June 2008 the DOM website still lists the island as one of its territories, although Korem is banned from entering Fiji, and there is no Melchizedek presence of any sort on the island.
Mythology
Anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
Gordon MacGregor recorded a Rotuman myth concerning Solkope when he visited Rotuma in 1932.
The legend, as told to MacGregor by islander Tuirotuma, concerns a rock on the sea-facing side of Solkope. This rock is the tupua Leptafeke (a tupua is the spirit of a prominent person who now resides in a rock, star, or planet). The Rotuman legend tells that this rock once resided on the island of Haua off the coast of Oinafa. During a great fish drive on Oinafa, Leptafeke's share of the catch was given away. The rock became angry and began to shift itself around Rotuma to get away from Haua. Eventually coming to Solkope, the tupua decided to settle on the sea-facing side of the island so as to hide from Oinafa.
See also
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Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plane ...
References
Rotuma Group
Uninhabited islands of Fiji
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