Adopted names, adopted children
Bonnie’s family includes loops of the same two names over and over again: a father named Takimal, who names his son Taunmal, who names his son Takimal, and so on. This is because each family in the Karim tribe owns a small pool of names.
The names are inherited from generation to generation.
Naming can be a complicated process: when the missionaries arrive every few months, they give all of the new babies Christian names. Then the family sits down to debate what the child’s local name should be. When disagreements arise, the
elder decides on the name.
Adoption is very common in the community, and it is conducted outside of the legal system and without documentation. Bonnie adopted his son Raphael in 1976, before he married his wife Joane, and his daughter Persilla Makai after his marriage.