Mekeo - Settlements

Villages are typically rectangular in layout and cleared of all vegetation except coconut palms, betel palms, and breadfruit trees. Domestic dwellings are raised on stilts and roofed with palm thatch or corrugated iron. Interior rooms include a kitchen and sleeping room(s). Most casual socializing occurs outside, on an attached platform or veranda. Houses are aligned in rows along both sides of the open central thoroughfare that runs the length of the village. Architecturally impressive clan clubhouses face one another from opposite ends. The houses of clan chiefs and sorcerers are specially decorated and constructed of more durable materials than those of ordinary villagers. Bachelors' dormitories are erected to the rear of the other buildings. Each village also has a church and cemetery erected nearby. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for some enterprising Mekeos to operate small Commercial village trade stores.