J erusalem and M alaita: The Visions and Prophecies of G eorge U mai of W est K wara'ae, M alaita, S olomon I slands

In this paper I examine the visions and teachings of G eorge U mai (c.1938–1998), an A nglican lay leader of W est K wara'ae, M alaita, S olomon I slands. In his prophecies, U mai traced M alaitans, S olomon Islanders, and many other O ceanic peoples to his ancestors who he claimed fled from J erusalem to M alaita in CE 62. According to U mai, they brought the A rk of the C ovenant from the J erusalem T emple to K wara'ae, M alaita where they buried it. I examine U mai's vision of the A rk of the C ovenant and its apocalyptic and theocratic significance for M alaita and the world. In U mai's visions, teachings, and practice, M alaitan, J ewish, and C hristian genealogy, apocalypse, and theocracy came together in a distinctive ethno‐theology that paralleled similar and prefigured later religious movements in M alaita but was too idiosyncratic to sustain.