Natamata

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Natamata is a Vanuatu concept about the social and spiritual harmony of traditional communities in north-eastern Vanuatu. It has no exact Western equivalent. It is often described as harmony or peace, but harmony is a closer fit because it also covers unwritten customs that keep people living well together. The responsibility for natamata rests with customary chiefs. If someone breaks a rule, natamata is said to be broken and must be restored, usually by paying fines to the chief and to the person wronged. The idea appears in personal and place names, such as Saratamata on Ambae, which roughly means "Field of Harmony."