Te Rongo Laoi ia taranga faka Tikopia — Tikopia New Testament (Solomon Islands)
Overview
Te Rongo Laoi ia taranga faka Tikopia ("The Good News in the Tikopia language") is the complete New Testament (27 books) in Tikopia, published by Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. in 2025 and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 4388). Tikopia is a Polynesian outlier language — one of roughly two dozen Polynesian-family languages located outside the main Polynesian Triangle (Hawaii-New Zealand-Easter Island), scattered across Melanesia and Micronesia as isolated linguistic enclaves. Tikopia Island itself is one of the most remote and self-contained human communities in the Pacific: a tiny volcanic island (~5 km²) in the Santa Cruz group of the Solomon Islands, accessible only by occasional inter-island vessel or aircraft, with a strictly controlled population (~1,200–1,500) that has historically managed its resources through deliberate population regulation. The 2025 NT completion is a milestone for this exceptional community.
Language and People
Tikopia (ISO 639-3: tkp; autonym: Tikopia) is an Austronesian language: Austronesian → Malayo-Polynesian → Oceanic → Polynesian → Western Polynesian (Ellicean / Samoic-Outlier) → Polynesian outlier cluster. As a Polynesian outlier, Tikopia shares its grammatical and lexical roots with Samoan, Tongan, and other Western Polynesian languages, despite being geographically surrounded by Melanesian languages. The Tikopia language shows strong retention of Proto-Polynesian vocabulary and grammar with relatively little influence from surrounding Melanesian languages — a result of the island's social isolation.
Tikopia Island:
- Temotu Province, Solomon Islands — one of the most remote islands in the Pacific, approximately 200 km north of Vanuatu, in the eastern Santa Cruz Island group
- Tiny volcanic island (~5 km²) with a freshwater crater lake and no natural harbor, accessible only by sea or small aircraft
- Population strictly regulated historically; approximately 1,200–1,500 people
Cultural Context
Tikopia is one of the most extensively documented small-scale societies in anthropology, primarily through the long-term fieldwork of Raymond Firth beginning in 1928–1929, resulting in the landmark We, the Tikopia (1936) and many subsequent volumes. Firth documented a society that had maintained a relatively stable population for centuries through deliberate regulation (contraception, abortion, and historically periodic infanticide) in response to the island's limited carrying capacity. Tikopia had traditionally practiced its own indigenous religion (ariki chief-priest system with four clans and four associated deities); Christianity arrived in the early 20th century and by the mid-20th century the entire population had converted, with most now Anglican (Church of Melanesia) or Marist Catholic. The 2025 Wycliffe New Testament provides Tikopian Christians with scripture in their heart language for the first time.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. (wycliffe.org), the world's largest Bible translation organization, founded 1942. The 2025 NT completion represents the culmination of a translation project conducted with the Tikopia community.