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People in the southern Vanuatu islands of Aneityum and Tanna use plants as communication devices, a function which we call 'message plants'. Certain species of plants are held, worn, or placed in specific locations with the intention of delivering messages with varied semantic content. In the cultural context of southern Vanuatu, message plants serve as an important parallel channel of communication, alongside spoken languages, and in some cases are considered more appropriate or effective means of conveying a message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific peoples maintain strong traditional ties to their local environments. One noteworthy example of these is the use of "ecological calendars," in which natural cycles are observed as guides in time-reckoning. In southern Vanuatu, what we here call "calendar plants" represent the majority of signals used in these systems. We recorded 111 distinct scientific species of calendar plants, which correspond to 159 folk species drawn from eight linguistically and culturally distinct communities in the area (on Aneityum, Futuna, and Tanna, the three southernmost islands of Tafea, the southernmost province of Vanuatu). These plants are indicators for various temporal events, including when to harvest certain sea creatures, the best time to plant various crops, and when to conduct garden rituals. By describing, comparing, and contrasting calendar plants among these different cultures, we suggest that these systems are fine-tuned to particular ecological, cultural, and personal contexts. Rather than being rigid, formalized calendars, ecological calendars are flexible frameworks for a particular kind of time-reckoning. This quality allows them to be adaptable to changes to the local climate or biota. There is evidence that knowledge of traditional calendars is eroding. Because of their role in supporting resilience among diverse populations (e.g., in maintaining productive gardens and anticipating cyclones), it is critical that they are recorded, and revitalized, before Indigenous knowledge systems are lost across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous knowledge systems that uniquely encode environmental knowledge are vanishing globally in tandem with environmental changes and globalization. In this paper we explore knowledge and uses of the palolo polychaete worms (Palola spp.) in time-reckoning, as documented in the anthropological literature on Polynesia and Melanesia. We then introduce preliminary findings from three contemporary cultures, the Raga-, Vureas-, and Netwar-speaking peoples of Vanuatu. Use of the palolo worm as an element in traditional time-reckoning is well-attested in both historical and contemporary literature, and our original research reinforces the notion that it is still a crucial part of ni-Vanuatu ecological calendars. Within the cultures discussed, the annual appearance of the palolo worm is an important temporal event within very complex systems that incorporate plants, animals, agriculture, celestial bodies, the ocean, and human health for the purposes of organizing human activities. These systems, and the place of the palolo worm within them, must be given proper attention in ongoing efforts towards environmental conservation and the documentation and revitalization of traditional knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted extensive fieldwork in the Tafea Province of Vanuatu from 2014 to 2021 as part of a long-term floristic study of plants and fungi as well as analyses of changes in forest structure and plant diversity in response to the category 5 cyclone Pam. As part of this work, we documented the vernacular names and/or uses of 10 species of lycophytes and 88 species of ferns. Vernacular plant names were documented in the languages endemic to the islands of Aneityum, Futuna, and Tanna, including Anejom, ∼ Futuna-Aniwa, Kwamara, Nafe, Naka, Netwar, Nahuai, and Whitesands. The uses reported by indigenous, Ni-Vanuatu, experts included: body decoration, cultural/spiritual, ornamental, clothing, food/food preparation, handicrafts, medicine, and fiber/construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on original ethnographic and ethnobotanical research, we share how in the cosmology of Tanna, an island in Vanuatu's southernmost province of Tafea, the Sun is viewed as a living, interactive being. Our initial interviews explored knowledge and beliefs concerning individual plant species, then subsequent follow-up interviews further explored topics that emerged therefrom. The results of these interviews are a series of oral narratives of the mytho-historical past involving the Sun, and the description of contemporary practices which are influenced by the Sun. In traditional narratives, the Sun is both a creative and destructive force which is sometimes viewed as an active, personified character, and in other circumstances appears as an instrument created and utilized by greater powers. People from Tanna recount-and we adopt as a hypothesis-that the Sun's physical manifestation and role in the world has changed since the earliest days of its mythological creation, and that it remains an active player in Tanna's biocultural landscape within practices including time-reckoning, agriculture, and architecture. Through its relationships with humans and non-humans alike, the Sun ultimately shapes the cultural practices and even the landscape of Tanna. The nature of these relationships is changing as linguistic and cultural practices shift alongside people's relationship with the land, but the Sun remains a critical factor in lives and livelihoods of Tanna today., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Balick et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)