Wagina Island

Wagina Island is a small island in the country of Solomon Islands. The easiest way to reach Wagina is by plane to Kaghau Airport, Choiseul Province, from Honiara. From Kagau, it takes about 45 – 60 minutes by outboard motor canoe to Wagina.

Population

There are three villages in Wagina: Kukutin, Arariki and Nikumaroro. The inhabitants of this island are ethnic I-Kiribati, who were relocated to the British [Solomon Islands Protectorate] from the islands of Orona and Nikumaroro in the 1950s. This was subsequent to them having been settled on these previously uninhabited islands in the Phoenix Islands from various islands in the Gilberts archipelago in the 1930s. The original resettlement in the 1930s was on alleged grounds of overcrowding, particularly on drought-prone islands in the southern Gilberts. The second resettlement was on alleged grounds of the islands in the Phoenix group having harsh living conditions and also being prone to drought, although remoteness and costs falling on the colonial administration also played parts.