Malaita - Posible Identity to be Identified, as the Land of Ophir

Written by: 𝙈𝙖𝙭𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙎𝙖𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖

The origins of Malaita according to the written history of Melanesia, I believe, does not fully capture the real origins of Malaita, as Malaitans, living in Melanesia passed down to us, orally by tradition. I believe that Malaitans are a direct descendant of a tribe in Israel and I fully believe that the land of Ophir as we know it in the bible, is actually the land of Ofi, located on Malaita Province.

I have made it my personal ambition to uncover the truth of validating this assertion and belief and from my discoveries I am also pursuaded to hold the view, that the land of Ofi, is indeed the land of Ophir as referred to in the bible, in support of the many oral traditional beliefs that have passed down from thirty generations ago of my ancestrial line in Malaita.

I hold fast to the the view that indeed we Malaitans are the sole bearer of the land of Ophir as referred to in the bible and indeed it is as it is located now in Kwaio, locally known as the land of Ofi and I will use my own discoveries to relate how this is possible.

Interestingly according to folklaw original tribal sources, passed down from our generations thirty years ago, it appears, we Malaitans, have been wrongly labelled (not by ourselves but by Europeans) as Melanesians, when we should have been known or called as the 'Negroes' of the Pacific or the 'Hebrews' of the Pacific.

Now I am not an academic or an anthropologist to be able to culturally express my arguement, using anthropological terms, but I have discovered that according to Oral historical records, original Malaitans migration to Melanesia, came along with our Fijian brothers migrations to Fiji through PNG. During that period of time, the Fijians were known for their ability to name boats and give people names, to those who have arrived on the boats. It is asserted that the Fijians great founding father, was a descendant of one of Jacobs sons in the bible, namely known as Naptalie.

This finding, has personally driven me to dig deep further into discovering the truth about our origins and to question whether there is a high probable chance, that the land of Ofi, on Malaita is indeed the long lost land of Ophir as referenced to in the bible and given that we came along with the Fijians, I was driven to prove the assumption, if indeed there was a connection somehow to our origins from Israel as Malaitans.

What you are about to read is based on five year's of my own personal research, searching for the truth about the origins of Malaita and more specifically the location of the land of 'Ophir' in the bible, verifying local traditional oral history with documented records. I know what I am about to say and share here is highly controversial and will most definitetely challenge the historiacal origins of who we are as a people or where we came from but I am also keen to share and get peoples reflection on this as a matter of opinion and to acertain whether or not to enhance the discussion further.

By way of Oral tradition, the West Kwaio land, bordering with East Kwaio, is indeed, believed to be the land of Ophir as referred to by the bible and this assumption was also a belief shared by many of our Malaitan grandfathers and ancestors who were either a participant or a direct descendant of the tribes of the land of Ofi, believed to be descendants of a Hebrew Israelite, since time past, passed down from one generaration to the next by way of oral tradition.

In between my work times and commitement, my search has led me to search out certain USA archives and New Zealand and Canberra museums and many other archives online. Unfortunately I have found no written documented history to suggest that we indeed, hold the location of discovering the land of Ophir, on Malaita.

Regardless of this I chose to persist. I did not give up. During my search I had work commitments but I decided to take breaks in between my searches, driven to discover the truth for myself. Personally I knew that if I were to discover the truth behind the assertions of the land of Ofi, as the location of Solomons gold mine to the temple of Jerusalem during his time, I knew that I needed to have an open mind. What I am about to tell you will blow your mind and I am not sure you are ready to hear this.

There have been many versions of Malaita's oral history, especially with where we have originated from and there have been different versions as well, on the different landing sites and who really were our first founding fathers. My search has led me to discover the origins of our migration and they seems to point back to Africa and to the Holy lands. Allow me indulge.

The Israel genealogy from Adam to Jesus was 62 generations. Our Malaita genealogy was about 32 generations. The difference between these two segments of generations is the fact that according to that specific timeline, people live longer years during their time.

These are the three sons of Noah and from these three sons of the Earth, the earth was believed to be repopulated after the flood. In the Bible, the three sons of Noah are Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They are mentioned in the Book of Genesis, specifically in Genesis 6:10, where it states that Noah had three sons. After the flood, these sons were then considered to be the ancestors of the various nations of the earth according to the bible.

Interestingly the zondervans compact Bible dictionary described Ham as the youngest son of Noah, born ninety six years before the flood and one of eight persons to live through the flood. He became the progenitors of the dark races, not the negroes but the Egyptian, Lybians and Canaanites. (Gen 10:6-20)

Herodotus, the unbiased Greek Historian has recorded that the original inhabitants of North Africa were the children of Ham but back in those days, North Africa was called Egypt and the land of Cush (which is now known as Ethiopia) were sited to have also been black in colour like the Egyptians.

Bearing in mind that Egypt is north Africa, the Greek historian, Herodotus, alluded that there were four nation's in Africa, during that time, who were direct descendants born from the children of Ham. They were the Ethiopians and Lybians, the Phoenicians and Egyptians, including the Ethipians.

Shem is Noah's second born son. Shem was born 98 years before the flood and he became the progenitors of the shemitic race. During that same period, the shemitic race were called Negroes. Negroes were not africans, they came from the shemitic race and were initially known as negroes. Shem became the great grandfather of Isaac who then became the father of Jacob and Esau (twins). Out from the Shematic negroes line, Jacob became father of the 12 tribes of Israel and Esau became the father of the what is now known as the whiten race of people.

When modern scientific archeology began in the Pacific soon after WWll . A prevailing and deeply entranced view popularized by J.S.C Dumont d Urville in 1832 held that the Polynesian and Melanesian are distinct from one another because of their separate origins. The older of the population strata the Melanesians, were alluded to have came from PNG and spread East to Fiji and New Caledonia. The Polynesian were seen as relatively recent arrivals from South East Asia who largely bypassed Western Melanesia and spread to the 3 points of the Polynesia triangle.

The Europeans officially claimed that we were forebears of the Polynesian people which means that we the Melanesia people are fathers of the Polynesian people which doesn't make sense at all. Main stream media helps us with these lies by continuing to push this Polynesian narrative on us Solomon Islanders more so as to overshadow Malaita's original history passed down from generations to generations through our oral history.

The name Melanesian was first used by Jules Dumont in 1832 to denote an ethnic and geographical grouping of islands whose inhabitants were distinct from those of Polynesia and Micronesia. In the 19th Century Robert Codrington, a British missionary defined Melanesia a region of dark skinned people that included Vanuatu, Solomon islands, New Caledonia and Fiji. Two other anthropologists named Paul Silitoe and Chowning went on to then include the island of PNG.

Now based on the oral history that I have encountered with the elders, it has been asserted that we migrated from Africa thousands of years ago and but over the course the generations to present time, that particular oral history was ignored and was not widely believed in the scientific world. The Scientifice world, rather, came up with their own theories, that we the Melanesia people came from Taiwan. They have joined together the origins of the Polynesian people and Melanesia people to suggest that our origins were from Taiwan, even though by way of Oral tradition, these narratives do not seem to line up and are alluded to two different people altogether. The Polynesian history can be traced back to Taiwan. They came to the Pacific 1600 years after we already settled in the Pacific.

Obviously our skin colour of black and tan brown are evidences of the people of Africa, the biggest migration wave of the black people into the world and the Pacific. It was argued by oral tradition, that we had three arrivals following our founding fathers initial landing on Malaita. This could possibly well be his tory of our own oral history, pointing all the way back to Africa and the middle east.

Historically, in 722 BC ancient Israel is recorded to have been deported from the kingdom of Israel after it was conquered by the Neo Assyrian empire. Ten lost tribes were exiled from their own land to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29, 17:22-23) The ten tribes we're then taken as slaves for about 20 years and were exiled. This was allowed by the Most High God himself since He was angry at them because of their idolatry (Deutronomy 29:26) For they went and served other god's whom they knew not and whom he had not given unto them.

According to the records of 2 Esdras (Apocrypha) 13:40 Those ten tribes, were also taken as prisoners, out of their own land, in the time of Osea the king, whom salmanssar the king of Assyria led away captive, he carried them away over water and came away onto another land. They eventually decided that they would leave the multitude of the heathen and go forth into another country where mankind never dwelt on before. A land that was inhabited.

The Israelite tribes realized that they were exiled and have decided to keep their statues, which they never kept in their own lands, in an effort to keep their traditions alive. Their journey brought them entering into the (river) Euphrates by the narrow passage of the river. For the most high God had shown them signs of still being present with them despite being exiled by holding the flood still, untill they passed over.

There was a jewish (black Hebrew) merchant and traveler of the 9th century AD called Eldad Ha Dani, who recorded in his manuscripts the statement "that the professed to be citizens of an independent Jewish state in Eastern Africa was called Ethiopia."

Eldad Ha Dani, reported that the lands of Eastern Africa, we're inhabited by people who were descendants from the tribe of Dan, Adher, Gad and Naptali. Eldad Ha Dain have been reported to have caused a great stir every where he went, especially amongst Ashkenazi Jews (European Jews) because of his accounts of the ten lost tribes.

Eldad Ha Dani himself, was from the tribe of Dan and their history was also passed down orally through the generations but what was different about his story is that it was assured to the people that it was credible. The head of the Jewish (GAON) proved his story to be credible.

Eldad the Danite said that the people of these tribes fled from the kingdom of Israel after the Assyrians had subdued it. The tribe of Dan then left Israel before the nine remaining tribes became prisoners of war to the Assyrians. When the tribes of Dan finally reached Ethiopia they found it to be fertile with numerous vineyard and gardens. They settled there and made a covenant with the children of CUSH (Non Israellites who inhabited the land of Cush were known as Ethiopians) that they should pay tribute to Israel. Thus the Danites dwelled in Ethiopia for many years, multiplying and increasing greatly.

They were then followed by three other tribes of Israel, namely the tribes of Naphtali, tribe of Gad and tribe of Asher (descendants of the sons of Jacob of Israel) who had crossed the Sahara desert and encamped until they arrived to the territory of Danite. Hams sons according to Genesis 10:6 were Cush (Ethiopia), Mizraim (Egyptians) Phut and Canaan"

In their wondering the four tribes of Dan, Naphtali, Asher and Gad slew many cushites (Ethiopia) in a territory extending a perid of four days journey in each direction. These four tribes, since then dwelt in the ancient Havilah, where there was Gold. They trusted in the Lord, who helped them against the other Ethiopian kingdoms during wars and they were recorded by Eldad, as a group of tribes who would put their hands on the neck of their enemies and succeed every where they turned.

Our ancestors then set sailed from East of Africa. The land of Cush present day Ethiopia. They sailed in large canoes. The canoes were called Drua or Vaka Tepu by the Fijiams and are known as sacred canoes. The canoes were the largest and finest sea going vessel ever designed.

The canoe inspired fear and awe and so often held the balance as one of the most elaborated and beautiful artifacts of Oceania. These canoes were a product of considerable group effort and human sacrifice. Double hulled and with gigantic proportions, the canoes were a masterpiece of design and craftsmanship, requiring total community involvement in it's construction and human sacrifice in it's launching.

19th century accounts based on acheological finds have recorded that the canoes speed out at sea, would be in excess of 20 knots and still remains highly maneuverable and it was capable of carrying an upward of one hundred and fifty warriors and took approximately seven years to built and would vary in length, from 100 feet to 118 feet and with a mast height of 60 to 70 feet.

Up went the huge sails, down went the great steering oars, splashing into the sea, they were able to shoot out like racehorses. Owing to the great rate at which they were going and the vessel, the vessel would cut through ways instead of mounting over them. How do we know how to navigate the seas before any one else? The tribes of Asher and Napthali resided by the Mediterranean Seas in biblical times so they were sea people who had the knowledge of the moon, stars and the seas.

Why did the tribes leave Africa? They were exiled from Israel by the Assyrians that took them as captives because of our ancestors disobedience to God and Africa was not their land and therefore, ancestors of the four tribes saught land where no one has ever been before, leading to their journey and migration to the Melanesian lands.

Did the four tribes of Napthali, Dan, Gad and Asher travel together? Yes it would make sense that they all travelled together given that there are some remnants of Black Hebrews who are still in Africa and have until today, identified themselves to be black Hebrews. Case in point, the Ashanti tribe and the Igbo tribes who still follow their original religion.

Moreover, keeping in mind that the whole Eastern part of Africa is called Ethiopia. The ancestors of the four tribal descendants of the sons of Jacob left Ethiopia and sailed east following the Indian ocean. The first islands they came to was Madagascar and it was here that they left a group of people who are today known as the Sakalavala people, also known as the indigenous black people of Madagascar. They then approached few islands in the Indian ocean and also left some of their black people with them, commonly known as the indigineous Negritos people.

They then sailed South East where they came to a small Islands of Philippines called Luzon and Palawan and Mindanao and again, left remnants of their black people there and then migrated. All these islands have Negro population who are indigenous to those lands.

They then sailed into the South Pacific and inhabited all the islands now known as the Melanesia islands. They left people in all these islands, and their journey ended with the Melanesians and that is where we are today.

Our identity up to this day, have all been shrouded by DNA sequencing theories and other western narratives that had attempts to alter our very understanding and acknowledgement of the very thing that could never be disputed, our oral history, our traditional practices and the significant amount of evidence that we ourselves know that our land possesses but is yet to unveil. It was as if God himself, was trying to cover up the land from the outside worlds discovery.

The ancestors then developed a system of navigation without writing and have successfully explored the Pacific ocean, way before Europeans begun ocean explorations into the Pacific. To put this into persepective, they discovered habitable islands with an ocean greater than the size of North and South America combined, which can be regarded as a true Neolithic feat, rank forever as one of Man's greatest achievement of all times.

The laws of Moses, the Torah may not have been on Malaita there, but Malaitans have always practiced it, with terminologies as (Abua) holiness and godly standards in morality and values, observed hrough generations past up until today. Malaitans religious and cultural practices are deeply rooted with the practices of the Torah in the way our ancestors were organized and structured and there are evidences recovered of Hebrew inscriptions left ontop of one of Malaitas mountains itself. All these accounts are not unsabstantiated. To this day, they are still there.

The staff and rod of our Hebrew ancestor that has led him to Malaita is also presently on Malaita and has now grown into a sacred tree. A one of its kind and one of its own, kept hidden, also on a community on Malaita with zero sites on Malaita, will you ever see this tree planted or replicated or grown as two seperate trees independently of each other either on Malaita. If one grew into a tree the other has to die.

To this present day the rod holds promises of blessing and favor from God and the evidences of Gods blessing, have been clearly seen to have manifested itself strongly upon the community it is kept at, over the past decade and is still showing a lot of favor to that community, present day.

It's seemed that our initial ancestors knew the Holy God of Israel, long before Christianity and missionaries came to evangelise us. This is clearly shown in our order of rituals & pagan worship and choices of words as per Linguistics. Even our own vernacular languages found in nearly all parts of Malaita, passed down generations and generations of time, through our different ethnic heritages, have language terms that make references to the God of Israel, the God of Heaven and the God of the seas and yet to most of us, seem to be in denial about these concepts, coined and used by our very own ancestors passed down through their time and generation up to our present day.

For instance in Kwaraae, the words to describe God in sacrificial worship is summed up, (ibalu I salo), this term refers to the God of the heavens, (Ibalu I holis lan), refers to the God of the holy Land and (ibalu I aeasi), refers to the God of the faraway seas.

If Christianity came after and our Malaitan people have already had knowledge about this God referenced and passed down 30 generations before the Christians came, then which God are our ancestors referring to here? Clearly, this is the God of Israel.

We even kept male circumcision as a practice until missionaries came and converted us into Christianity. Women who had their time of the month would also be put aside from the community to a certain date and had to be purified before they even entered our communities again. Accidental coincidences? I dont think so. There are many more practices similar to that of the Israellites in our own structured living quarters and way of life waaaaaaay before Christianity reached our shores and yet we are still oblivious to who we really are. Where we really originated from and who truly were our ancestors.

Although our sacrificial worship has shifted from Godly worhip to more culturally inspired ideas, the rules or (taki) practices of our holy practices, were still kept and observed, up until pressent day. Unfortunately, as our ancestors died out and new generations took over from their predecessors, we deviated in our practices of holiness and begun worshipping all kinds of spirits for power and strength, in which the Europeans called Animism, the belief that nonhuman entities, such as people, animals, plants possess a spiritual essence, but it was only because through our generational advancement captured in our oral history, we lost focus from God and replaced it with animism instead.

According to Gods standards, we deviated from God and that placed a curse upon us. We resorted to tribal wars amongst ourselves and with other provinces. We even ended up losing our way so much so to the point that, we even committed cannibalism to a large extent and all these led to more curses and battles and fights and losses captured and recorded orally. (Read Deutronomy 28: 1 - 68, on the judgement of God upon those of His people when they deviated from observing Gods ways)

No other theories would make more sense then the ones we have historically continued to deny. It was as if God hid our true identity for a reason and He hid the land of Ophir from us and barred us from entering it (which is the land of Ofi on Malaita) because we were disobedient. Unrighteous in our own conducts and ways (like the generations after our forefathers) and we forgot to acknowledge God and so God decided not, to open up our lands.

Fiji is believed to have descendents of the Naptali blood line in them. PNG and Vanuatu, are believed to have the bloodline of the tribe of Asher in certain parts among them, New Caledonia is believed to have decendents of Dans bloodline in certain parts of them and Solomon Islands, specifically Malaita, is believed to be descendents of the tribe of Gad with Gads bloodline (a son of jacob himself) coursing through our veins, generations upon generations past.

Now according to the book of Genesis 49, concerning the blessings from Jacob upon his sons, it is recorded in Genesis that Dan will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king. Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns and Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.

Now more specifically about Gad (or more generally the Tribe of Gad), Moses made this statement captured in Dueteronomy 33:20-21 about Gad when he (Moses) said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain! Gad lives there like a lion, tearing at arm or head. He (Gad) chose the best land for himself; the leader’s portion was kept for him. When the heads of the people assembled, he carried out the Lord’s righteous will, and his judgments concerning Israel.” It is not surprising that character of Malaitans are very agressive and strong with a heart of a lion when cornered and faced with challenges, we never feared our opposition. The character of our founding father, Gad, the son of Jacob himself is so similar in nature to that which was described by Moses that I am convinced, Malaitans could well be directly related to as part of a long lost descendant generational bloodline of the tribe of Gad.

Now skeptics will laugh at my understanding and bold revelation of this but only just recently the Gogodala cannibal tribe in PNG had 6% Jewish blood in them. What does that say about Malaitans, when scientific narratives will say that Melanesia did came from PNG.

This could also possibly be a plan by God Himself to use European Edomites, to hide our true identity from us, so that we ourselves would refrain from opening up the land of Ophir along with other secrets held up in our land, (the land of the Garden of Eden, with the tree of life, found only in Malaita, guarded by God Himself), to the outside world. A far fetched theory but it is not unsubstantiated at all by oral tradition and historical hebrew inscriptions found all over Malaita.

A quote from Dr. Joy Degruy, an American Author, researcher and speaker known for her work on the psychological effects of racism and the impact of historical trauma on African Americans,
once said, that if you peel the layers of "Black History" everyone else history becomes naked, meaning the lies of their History is exposed. That is why it is important to understand our true history apart from those who wrote our history and rewrite it ourselves. European Edomites will carry on trying to bury our History, it is our duty to rewrite our history and keep our indgineous knowledge alive.

Regardless of how we have been painted to have originated from initially, there are those, who have also written books and made statements from their own findings and deductions to conclude that indeed the land of Ophir is on Malaita.

In his book "The Land of Ophir and Experiment Civilisation", Ian Hogbin explores various theories regarding the location of Ophir, a region mentioned in the Bible, often associated with wealth and precious resources. Hogbin specifically posits that Malaita, an island in the Solomon Islands, could be identified with the biblical Ophir.

Hogbin's arguments typically draw on anthropological and archaeological evidence, as well as local oral traditions and historical accounts that suggest Malaita might have been a significant trading hub in ancient times. He highlights the richness of natural resources found on the island and its historical connections to trade networks in the Pacific region. There have even been eye witness accounts, of a deep sea surface in what looked like a mined cave shaft openning up on the mountain terrains ontop of the land of Ofi, filled with the sea, with old mining cartwheels left by King Solomons men, who mined precious stones and gold for the temple, but inaccessible to ordinary people and locals as the area is totally off and very sacred.

Dr. Frazer, Anthropologist (NZ) , with conclusions to his own findings, said that the origin of Solomon Islands is in Israel.
Norman Deck, 1953, he said, that the people of the Solomon Islands are part of the chosen people.
Mr. Grant, an old missionary and a man of God, who visited Waisusu in 1953, said during a bible class at Onepusu, you are part of the chosen people.
An evangelist and preacher, John Tanner, in 1989 said at Honiara SSEC church, you are the Royal Priesthood and the Holy nation spoken of in the bible. David Harry 1980, said the wave is here. it is time that you return it. A random female visitor from the United States, also led by God to the Solomon Islands in 1996, said the wave is here and I pray I dont die, until I see the things that God is talking about, fullfilled in the Solomon Islands.

Even Bill Subrisky, who visited the Solomon Islands in 1991 have even reported to P.E.A Ministry, when he asked God to tell him what message he should tell the people of Solomon Islands, God said to him, tell the people of Solomon Islands that they are My people and that there is an oil well on the north shore of the land so big that it is beyond any wildest dreams of any Solomon Islander to even comprehend. (Malaita is located on the North shore of the Solomons).

Kenneth Copeland, Jessy Duplantis and Jerry Seville, visited the Solomon Islands in 2018 and also said that God told them to tell Solomon Islands that Solomon Islands is His people and the wealth of Solomon Islands also beyond their wildest dreams.

All four men have also stated that the only way God will release these minerals is through Righteousness exhalting a nation, meaning corruption must stop and the proceeds from these must go towards building Gods Kingdom, His temple in Israel and must advance Gods message in the end times.

With my knowledge and own research compiled with what I have discovered and from the testimony of those who have visited our country and did their own deductions, I have come to conclude that Malaita is the land where the land of Ophir is located on and I have no reasonable doubt to believe that we Malaitans are direct descendants from the line of Gad. That we hold the key to this nations turn around, if we submit ourselves to God, practice righteousness and honour God with our wealth, He will pour out His blessing on our land and country like nothing we have ever seen before.

I would like to conclude by reminding us a all of Deuteronomy 32: 7-13. In verse 7 it says,

"Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. (v8), When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. (v9) For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. (v10). In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, (v11). like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. (v12)
The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him (v13). He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag."

I am convinced beyond any shadow of doubt that the land of ophire is on Malaita. Soon the glory of God will emerge as Polynesians would say pronouncing the word Malaita, 'MARAATA' meaning the shinning beauty of Gods glory hang over Malaita and this revelation will be revealed. It is no surprise that we are also now having a reconciliation between our tribes of Ofi, when the new temple of King Solomon is rumoured in Israel to be back on the agenda for the Israelites again in Jerusalem.

I would like to thank God for these revelations and for understanding them. My only desire now is to ask God to keep me alive to see the fulfilment of Gods promises to Malaita with my own eyes, like Simeon, when he saw the baby our lord in the temple and anointed him. We must all repent and turn from our wicked ways and strive to become righteous, then and only then will God exhault Malaita and set Malaita on high with His glory, goodness and riches and open up the land of Ofi and the land of Malaita to the rich wealth He has entrusted upon us with.

My name is Maxwell Saelea, I am a Malaitan, Retired police Chief Superintendent L13 and currently a community builder on Malaita and Honiara. I do not wish to impose these revelations upon you, what you choose to do with this information is yours to do so with, as you please but I have decided to share my thoughts on the matter, slightly with a pinch of salt, knowing full well I may be ridculed for it but I hope you will find it in your time to do your own research and come up with your own conclusions about our proposed history.

Tagio Tumas. 🤝