History of West Xylophone

As with many small nations, our history has been a dramatic interplay between triumph and failure, beauty and ugliness, colonialism and self-rule, nationalistic pride and the influence of foreign culture. Today the small island nation of West Xylophone has emerged from decades of problems to a point of rising prosperity for it's diverse and peaceful citizens.

Centuries ago, the island was settled by fishermen from the neighboring Droomkitt archipelago. These original inhabitants built small villages near sources of fresh water and enjoyed the rich fishing offered by the many bays and coves that are found on the coast of West Xylophone.

Later, the island was conquered by the more aggressive Barimba tribe, who remain the majority ethnic group today. They brought with them technology to work the iron and copper found in the caves and stream beds of the island. The metalwork was used to improve their ships and provide trade with other islands.

When Europeans first arrived in 1714, they found the large Barimban commercial town roughly where Capital City is still today. The Europeans were unable to overcome the communication barrier with a people they'd never met before and incorrectly concluded the island was named "Xylophone". In fact the old Barimban word for "the rude gesture of pointing at something with one finger" is "Zarofonke". The Barimban who first met the Europeans was evidently asking them why they were being so rude as to point at everything. The European was probably asking, "What do you call all this?" Years later "West" was added to Xylophone by the British East India Company because, "It sounds more colonial."

After then end of the British colonial rule in 1956, the Peoples Barimban Party (PBP) came to power. Their first act was to change the name of the country to Marimba, meaning, "Land of the Barimba". The PBP instituted a command economy and began a piecemeal campaign of repression against all non-Barimba ethnic groups. This was a sad time for the ethnic Droomkitter, Indian, Chinese, and African, and poor European minorities on West Xylophone who found access to government jobs, land and higher education almost completely blocked. Exports of fruit and spices came to a virtual stand-still. And with that, much of the economy reverted to subsistence level fishing and farming.

However, in the early 1970s, the President of the PBP and leader of the country, Motuku Alexander, underwent a dramatic change of heart. Some attribute it to covert actions by the United States, others say he found religion. Alexander himself was rather cryptic. When asked about it, he would invariably reply with a quote from either Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Bob Marley or Sir Seretse Khama, Botswana's first president and then dismiss the topic. He began political changes that lead to a democratic and pluralistic government. He orchestrated land and property reforms to benefit minorities. Corrupt government officials were fired, fined or jailed, in many cases all three. Alexander even used his own money to finance an aggressive affirmative action program to get qualified minority citizens through higher education. (The fact that he used his own money was more an acknowledgment that he had taken more than his fair share as president than a gesture of largess or philanthropy).

In 1976 a new constitution was put in place. This constitution among other things created an office of President as head of state while leaving actual government functions in the hands of a Prime Minister. The constitution also official changed the name of the country from the ethnically charged "Marimba" back to the neutral, if comically inaccurate, "West Xylophone". Motuku Alexander was then elected to the now ceremonial position of President. He used this office to personally lobby international development agencies for projects to benefit the people of West Xylophone. The economy picked up dramatically in this New West Xylophone period. Exports increased, notably of the locally developed variety of mango and the high quality fish caught in the deeper waters east of the island. Those two items were routinely bought up by high end resorts on neighboring islands.

Now elder statesman Motuku Alexander passed away in 1982, only 13 months before the final completion of the main development projects he championed: electricity and clean water for every home on the island.

"These things [schools, electricity and water] are not for the rich, they are not for the city dwellers, they are not for one ethic group only. No citizen of our beautiful island should feel comfortable in his bright, clean, modern home while while another lives in darkness, filth or ignorance." -- Motuku Alexander

Today West Xylophone is a thriving and diverse society proud of where it's come. On the twentieth anniversary of the new constitution, the country unveiled a new flag and established Lamp Day as a national holiday honoring the universal distribution of electricity, solidarity and the unity of the people. The new flag took the old flag of a palm tree on a blue and green field and added a heart symbol and a light bulb representing the unity of the people of West Xylophone and their love for their fellow man and the prosperity and education of all.

We welcome your visit to our island home.