Histri Blong Yumi Vol. 01 by Vanuatu Online

Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu an educational resource

Volume One Sara Lightner and Anna Naupa, Co-authors A Vanuatu Cultural Centre Production First Published in 2005

Vanuatu Cultural Centre PO Box 184, Port Vila Vanuatu Phone: (678) 22129 Fax: (678) 26590 Email: vks@vanuatu.com.vu

USP Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu: an educational resource Sara Lightner and Anna Naupa, Co-authors. – [Port Vila: Vanuatu Cultural Centre, 2005.] 3 v.; 26.25 cm.

ISBN 982-9032-06-X (v. 1) 1. Vanuatu – History—Study and teaching I. Lightner, Sara II. Naupa, Anna III. Title. DU760.H478 2005 995.95 Copyright © 2005 Vanuatu National Cultural Council Design Copyright © 2005 Nick Howlett (nihow@nambawan.net) Set in 10/12 Scala and Scala Sans Printed by Watson Ferguson & Company, Brisbane, Australia Printing funded by the New Zealand High Commission’s Small Project Scheme

volume one Contents

Preface

Introduction to Volume One

1. Our Islands’ Beginnings Introduction

Origin Stories

Stories Through Art

A Closer Look – Vui Uli

A Land Born From the Sea

22 23

A Closer Look – Submarine Volcanoes

A Closer Look – The Eruption of Kuwae

A Closer Look – Mount Yasur through the eyes of James Cook

The Time Factor

Our Neighbours

Plant Colonisation of Vanuatu’s First Islands

Contemporary Geography Issues

A Closer Look – Midst Volcanic Fires

A Closer Look – The Resettlement of Maat Village, S.E. Ambrym

A Closer Look – The Damage of Cyclone Uma

A Closer Look – Natural Disasters and Food Preservation

A Closer Look – Disaster Plans and School Mapping

2. The Peopling of Our Islands

Population Movement Across the Asia Pacific Region

Collecting Evidence

A Closer Look – Archaeology: Digging Up the Past

A Closer Look – What do Linguists do?

Human Migration from Asia to the Bismarck Archipelago

A Closer Look – God Blong Ol Lapita

A Closer Look – A History of Languages in the Pacific

What is Island Melanesia?

The Lapita Movement into Remote Oceania

A Closer Look – The Teouma Discovery

A Closer Look – The Origins of People

Arriving on the Shores of Vanuatu: A Narrative History

A Closer Look – The Rock Art of Vanuatu

A Closer Look – Lapita Pottery

Lapita Pottery in Vanuatu

A Closer Look – The Cultural Heritage Training Program

A Closer Look – Pottery Today

A Diversification of Cultures A Closer Look – Ceramic Sequences of Vanuatu

Influences from the East: The Creation of Polynesian Outliers A Closer Look – Polynesian Themes in Our Custom Stories

The Legacy of Lapita

86 87 90 91 93

3. Features of Traditional Society

Islands of Diversity

Culture: A Web of Relationships

Architectural Styles

Arrows

Bark Cloth

Birth Rituals

102

Burial Practices

103

Cannibalism

105

Canoes

105

Circumcision

107

Dancing Rattles

108

Ear Piercing and Ear Ornaments

109

Family Totems

110

Food Prohibition

110

Games â&#x20AC;&#x201C; String Figures

111

Hunting Techniques

112

Kava

113

Leaf Chewing

114

Magic Stones

115

Marriage

116

Mats and their Designs

116

Musical Instruments

118

3. Features of Traditional Society cont ….

Naming

119

Nimangki: A System of Grade-taking in the Northern Islands

120

Palolo Worms

122

Pigs

123

Respect

123

Sand Drawing

124

Sculpture

126

Signs and Symbols

127

Skull Binding

127

Spider’s Web Cloth

128

Tattooing

129

Titles

130

Traditional Medicine

130

Traditional Forms of ‘Money’

131

Traditional Trade Networks

132

War and Fighting

135

Woman Exchange

136

Women’s Pig-killing Ritual

137

Women’s Tooth Removal

138

Yams

139

4. An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Introduction

143

The Beginnings

145

A Closer Look – The Origins of Our Food

147

A Closer Look – Depicting Breadfruit and Yams

150

The Beginnings of Agriculture in Our Islands

151

A Closer Look – Systems of Irrigation

152

A Closer Look – Man Mo Garen Blong Hem

154

A Closer Look – The Cultural Significance of Pigs

156

Land Tenure Systems A Closer Look – Customary Rights to Reefs and Landings

158 159

Woman and Agriculture

161

Outside Influences on Agriculture

165

A Technological Revolution

165

Plantations and Cash-cropping: New Types of Land Use

166

Changing Land Tenure

169

Contemporary Issues in Agriculture

170

A Closer Look – Systems of Agricultural Exchange

171

Land Issues

173

Appendix Pottery Identification Charts

Bibliography

175

177

Acknowledgements the development of vanuatu’s first national history curriculum would not have been possible without the significant financial support of NZAID throughout the entire two-year period of the Project. They funded all the costs of the Project, including the salary of the local researcher in the Project’s second year. Also indispensable was the support of the United States Peace Corps in allocating a volunteer who managed the Project. The support of the Department of Education must also be acknowledged, in particular that of John Niroa, Director of Secondary Education, and Kalmele Matai, Director of the Curriculum Development Centre. The National Education Commission’s endorsement of the Project has also been essential in furthering the Project’s aims. The Vanuatu Cultural Centre deserves special recognition for taking the initiative to develop and host the Project and for providing access to its extensive archives. Thank you to Director Ralph Regenvanu. Writing a national history for a multicultural country is a difficult task. It was therefore important to have a Project Advisory Committee to guide the historical research and writing. Without the Committee’s advice and colourful anecdotes, Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu would not be as you see it before you. A very big thank you goes to the members of the Project Advisory Committee: Anne Naupa, Barry Weightman, Charley Rory, Charlie Pierce, David Luders, Enneth Samuel, John Lynch, John Niroa, Kalmele Matai, Margaret Toukone, Ralph Regenvanu and Roslyn Arthur. Noteworthy assistance regarding particular historical topics came from the following academics: Chris Ballard, Christophe Sand, Clive Moore, Daniel Gay, Dorothy Shineberg (who sadly passed away in August 2004), Frédéric Angleviel, Gregory Rawlings, Howard Van Trease, John Lynch, Kirk Huffman, Lissant Bolton, Matthew Spriggs, Max Quanchi, Mick Morgan, Stephen Zagala and Stuart Bedford. In addition, Peter Murgatroyd and the University of the South Pacific library staff and Eileen Boe of the National Library provided assistance in the retrieval of historical information that is used in the curriculum. Contributions of custom stories also came from the Vanuatu Cultural Centre’s Oral Arts Project. The advice and morale-boosts from the staff of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre deserves special mention. Their friendliness and shared interest in Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu, as well as their extensive knowledge of Vanuatu’s cultures, contributed to the Project’s attempt to fairly represent the different cultures in the curriculum. The Vanuatu Cultural Centre Fieldworkers must also be acknowledged for their contributions. All those who were interviewed and have been quoted in the text: thank you for your time and willingness to storian. During the final editing and proofreading of the curriculum, the Friends of the Vanuatu Museum, in particular Alistair Hill, painstakingly corrected grammar and punctuation. Thank you! A final bigfala thank you goes to Nick Howlett, the graphic designer, for transforming the history curriculum from a basic text layout into a student-friendly design with interesting graphics. His advice and design expertise have produced the pages that you see before you. There are many other people who have indirectly contributed to the development of the national history curriculum through discussion and support. Tankyu tumas long yufala evriwan!

Sara Lightner and Anna Naupa National History Curriculum Project - January 2005

Preface

Ralph Regenvanu, Director, Vanuatu National Cultural Council & Vanuatu Cultural Centre

it is my very great pleasure to be able to write the introduction to Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu, which comes in three volumes plus a teacher’s guide. This book was produced to provide the Department of Education with a comprehensive history of Vanuatu that can be used as a resource and a basis upon which a core curriculum subject on the history of our country might be developed. As such, it is written in the form of a textbook—aimed at secondary school level—and can immediately be used by students in the classroom. The accompanying teacher’s guide facilitates its use. However, we hope that the book can be used much more widely as a general resource by anyone interested in learning about our history. The Cultural Centre took the initiative to have this book written in response to a general concern that our children were not being taught enough about the history of Vanuatu in the nation’s schools today. If our education system is to produce citizens able to contribute to the appropriate and sustainable development of this country, it must empower them with self-confidence: a belief in themselves and their capacity to deal with whatever life may bring. Perhaps the most important prerequisite for being self confident is to have a good sense of identity, an understanding of who you are, something which only results from a good knowledge of one’s history and culture. Also, by understanding how and why our society is like it is, we become better able to contribute to making positive changes to improve it. That is the reason why a good knowledge of our history is essential for all ni-Vanuatu and why our history should be taught to all children attending school in the country. The Vanuatu National History Curriculum Project was supported by the Department of Education and funded over two years by the New Zealand High Commission in Port Vila. Sara Lightner, a United States Peace Corps volunteer, managed the project and local researcher Anna Naupa joined the project in its second year. The Cultural Centre extends its gratitude to the New Zealand Government, the United States Peace Corps, the Department of Education and in particular to Sara and Anna for their contributions to the writing of this book. The production of this book contributes to the Department of Education’s “Rethinking Vanuatu education” initiative, now underway. Its publication is timely, as it will be available as a reference and a resource for the Department’s review of the national curriculum, which is planned to begin in 2007. The great amount of work undertaken to produce this book demonstrates the high hopes held by the Cultural Centre, and by many others in the country, that the Government will make the history of Vanuatu a core subject in the new national curriculum.

Introduction

Volume One of Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu: an Educational Resource examines the volcanic beginnings of our islands (‘Our Islands’ Beginnings’) and traces the movement of people into our archipelago (‘The Peopling of Our Islands’). The traditions and customs of our ancestors are examined in ‘Features of Traditional Society’. The relationship with the land is explored in ‘An Agricultural History of Our Islands’. Oral histories, as well as written documentation of events, are used throughout the units to provide the student with a variety of perspectives about the past. There is continuous emphasis on linking past events with contemporary life in Vanuatu. If you would like to find out more about our heritage, you can read the two remaining Volumes of Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu: an Educational Resource.

Volume Two of this history curriculum investigates the period of increased interaction between Europeans, from the first European explorers until the establishment of plantations. To find out more about this time in history you can read the units in Volume Two: 1.

European Exploration of Our Islands: 1606 to 1809

The Sandalwood Trade: 1829 to 1865

The Labour Trade: Labour Recruiting and Blackbirding

A Century of Population Decrease in Our Islands: 1820s to 1920s

The Beginnings of Christianity in Our Islands

Planters and Plantations: A Century of European Settlement in Our Islands - 1860s to 1960s

Volume Three of this history curriculum explores the colonial period and the transition from a colony to an independent nation. It then examines recent developments in the young nation of Vanuatu. To find out more about this time in history you can read the units in Volume Three: 1.

Condominium Beginnings and Colonial Rule: 1887 to 1980

Cargo Cults and Social Movements in the 1930s and 1940s

World War II in the New Hebrides: 1942 to 1945

The Growth of Port Vila and Santo Town: the late 1800s to the 1970s

The Road to Independence: the 1970s to 1980

The Young Nation: 30 July 1980 to the present

unit one

Our Islands’ Beginnings

Introduction Plate tectonics, subduction zones, the ring of fire; these are technical terms and concepts that scientists have explored and researched in modern times. With precise instruments and measurements, researchers are able to explain the geological history of the islands of Vanuatu from a scientific perspective. There are still many unanswered questions, like why some species are found only on certain islands and nowhere else. But, the answers to some questions are becoming clearer. Hundreds and thousands of years ago, how did our ancestors explain the beginnings of their islands? Where did they think that the islands came from? How did they account for the powerful mountains that sent burning red molten lava shooting into the air? How did they explain the tremors that shook their islands, sometimes breaking them apart? Who was responsible for the creation of the moon and how did it find its place in the night sky? Vanuatu has a rich culture of origin stories and oral histories that have been told and retold from generation to generation. Our ancestors used origin stories to explain how and why things happened the way that they did. Often these stories link physical occurrences, such as volcanoes, to spiritual beliefs. We are very fortunate to have these oral histories, as there are many places in the world that have lost this rich component of their cultures. The following accounts come from a variety of sources. Some have been collected by the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and are recorded either on cassettes or on paper. Others are explanations that have been included in studies of our various islands. This unit combines both scientific explanations and origin stories to paint a picture of our islands’ beginnings.

This ﬁrst excerpt is from Joel Bonnemaison’s The Tree and the Canoe (1994). Here, Bonnemaison describes the creation of Tanna, as well as some other islands. In this reading there are many different words that are used in the languages of Tanna. The spirit Wuhngin (or Wuhngen) created land. It is neither a man nor a hero; Wuhngin is a genuine spirit and no one has ever seen it. Wuhngin was here at the beginning of the world. To create the islands, it created the land and then stones to shape the land. Since then, Wuhngin’s spirit has inhabited Mount Melen, whose summit in the south of the island is visible from all of Tanna. This mountain is regarded as a huge raised stone – the mother of all other stones and the ﬁrst among the island’s sacred sites. Its summit is a tabu place, out

O r i g i n s t o r i e s : stories that tell how something came to be O r a l h i s t o r i e s : history that is passed orally, by word of mouth, from generation to generation

D evoid: empty; lacking in something

Kapiel Stones, West Tanna (Bonnemaison 1994: 120).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

of bounds to most Tannese and certainly to strangers. The land started its journey at the northeast tip of Tanna, moved westward and southward and ﬁnally went back to its point of departure through the east. In the course of the land’s travel, the island emerged, taking on the outline and dimensions that it has today. This land which gave birth to lands is called numapten, ‘the land’s house,’ Tanna’s name according to the west coast tradition. When the land arrived back at its point of departure, it prepared kava, drank it and took a rest. Then the land dived into the sea and disappeared, re-emerging in the north, where it gave birth to the island of Erromango in the same fashion. It kept on travelling in that direction, creating new islands on the way. All such lands are seen as Tanna’s daughters, since they appeared later, in the numapten’s wake: the island’s traditional society thereby accounts for Erromango (called Illmanga in northern Tanna), Aniwa, Futuna and farther away, Emae, Makura and Mataso (or Masaka), which represent the boundary of the known world. Conversely, Aneityum Island, to the south, was born earlier than Tanna. Because the land was bare, lifeless and devoid of form, Wuhngin sent a hard substance: stones or kapiel. According to most oral traditions, such stones came from the sea. In others, they rose directly from the earth’s core or occasionally, for instance in the eastern part of the island, from the volcano. But in all cases Wuhngin’s breath made them appear. On the island’s soft matrix, the stones created geographical shapes: mountains, capes and headlands, ridges and crests, rocks and solitary stones. The kapiel liked to travel and make noise. When they arrived on the island, they generated a great commotion and went on a fantastic circuit,

Our Islands’ Beginnings

spreading out in separate groups making war with and constantly opposing, one another. Because of this magical tumult and anarchical wandering, there was neither rest nor refuge in the land. The ﬁghting and talking stones wore themselves out in unceasing competition. But in so doing, they made the world and scenery of the island (Bonnemaison 1994: 115-6).

A n a r c h i c a l : chaotic; disorderly

Comprehension questions 1. According to Tannese tradition who, or what, created the islands? 2. What did the stones do to assist in the creation of Tanna? Discussion activity Why was Aneityum born earlier than Tanna? Investigate What is the word for stone in your language? Do you know any other custom stories that tell of stones or similar entities that created the landscape?

The following story, ‘Hao Nao Tagaro I Mekem Ambae’ was told by Cultural Centre fieldworker James Ngwero, from the Ndui Ndui area of West Ambae. This is just one segment of a long story that explains the formation of Ambae. Ambae aelan long fastaem hem i ston nomo. Nao Tagaro i sanem tufala man i kam daon i talem long tufala se, “Yutufala i go daon. Yu lukluk long ples daon.” Tufala man ia nem blong tufala i Vavarai Aho wetem Ngwera Kandiri. Taem tufala i kam daon i luk, be olgeta ples i ston nomo. Nao Vavarai Aho i sanem Ngwera Kandiri i go antap bakegen long Tagaro hem i se, “Yu go antap, mo yu talem long Tagaro se yumi luk ples daon be hem i olgeta ston nomo. Yu talem long Tagaro blong hem i givim sam samting i kam blong blokem ol ston ia long hem.” Nao Tagaro i givim graon, mo graon ia i kavremap olgeta ston ia. Taem graon i kavremap olgeta ston finis, Ngwera Kandiri i go antap bakegen. Tagaro i givim ol gras i kam daon. Ol gras ia i gro mo i kavremap gud ol graon ia. Taem Tagaro i putum ol gras finis, hem i putum ol wud. Ol fas wud we Tagaro i putum hem i ol wud we mifala i kolem naoia ‘vui venue’. Mining blong nem blong wud ia, ‘stamba blong ples’.

Thinking further 1. In what part of our country are stories of Tagaro prevalent or common? 2. Based on this story, what kind of being is Tagaro? Investigate Think of some names of different trees in your language. What are the meanings of these names? Do they relate in any way to the creation of land?

The word for ‘stone’ in many of Vanuatu’s languages is similar to ‘vatu,’ our national currency.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

The next story describes the birth of the island of Pentecost. Robert Bule Ala told the story to Joel Bonnemaison, who then recorded it. This version is found in the French textbook, Le Vanuatu Par Les Textes (1997). It has been translated into English. Maewo was the first of the islands to rise out of the ocean. After this island had emerged, steam continued to escape from the sea. These submarine eruptions lasted three days. On the third day a new, immense stone mass appeared, rising vertically above the waves. The land mass was so high that the wind could batter its sides, shaping it into a long and low form. The island that had emerged was still soft and pliable, without a fixed form. Steam continued to escape from this land, radiating heat. This was Raga [Pentecost]. The wind continued to shape and re-shape the island. Peaks and headlands were created, as were the bays between the headlands. In the centre and to the south of the island could be found the highest mountains, which created a barrier against the winds for the western coast of Raga, which subsequently was less hollowed out by the wind than the north of the island. Little by little this land began to cool and harden. Trees began to push through the soil. Pentecost began to take on its final form, with a series of peaks that hardened the contours of the northern fringe. Rising out of the waves, the land that had emerged brought with it seashells. One, the clam, was a woman, the other, a white trochus shell, was a man. Finally, the last was a species of oyster. Elevated to open air due to the rising of the land, these shells secreted tears and saliva to recreate the humid environment they had previously inhabited in the ocean. It was not enough to recreate a sea on land; but out of the mixture of tears, saliva and land were born the first human beings (Bonnemaison 1997: 9-11).

Thinking further 1. We know that Vanuatu is an archipelago of volcanic islands. How does this story relate to what we know about the geological beginnings of our islands? 2. What role does the wind play in the story? Describe the actions of the wind. Investigate In this account, Raga is the traditional name for Pentecost. What is the traditional name for your island, or the island where your school is located? Is this name still used today? Why or why not?

This next story comes from North Ambrym and is entitled ‘How the Sea Began’. It was told by Harry Fona to Jean Guiart in 1951 and can be found in Society, Rituals and Myths of North Ambrym, New Hebrides (1951). Although an Ambrymese custom story, it is placed on Pentecost. Fonwolwol is the name of the place where Barkolkol began to make the sea. There was a hole full of water there, where the sea was then, covered in limalwiwi grass which grew above the water. Barkolkol said to Punyam: ‘Come tomorrow, I will make a laplap of yams for you.’ Another day, Punyam came to see Barkolkol, who had made a laplap of yams for him and got it ready for them to eat. Barkolkol took some of the sea and poured it on the laplap. They

Our Islands’ Beginnings

ate it and Punyam found it good. He said to Barkolkol, ‘Come tomorrow and I will give you laplap at my place.’ Punyam did not know the sea. He went to a breadfruit tree and made a hole in it and the white sap ran out. He collected it and poured it on the laplap of yams. They ate the laplap, but Barkolkol did not ﬁnd it good and asked him what he had put on the laplap. Punyam replied, ‘It is the water I use for seasoning (taka).’ Barkolkol spoke again, ‘Tomorrow you will come to my place again.’ He made another laplap, preparing it with seawater. This time, Punyam had seen Barlkolkol take some of the sea. Now that he knew, he wanted to take it from him. They ate. Punyam said, ‘All right, you come back to see me tomorrow.’ Punyam made a laplap and when Barkolkol arrived, he went around to the other side to steal from him. He took some of the sea to put on the laplap. They ate and Barkolkol spoke: ‘This is not your water, it is mine.’ Punyam said, ‘It is not your water, but it is mine.’ Barkolkol said, ‘Come and show me where you took this water.’ Punyam replied, ‘All right, I will show you.’ Punyam showed the hole to Barkolkol. Barkolkol said to him, ‘This water is not yours, it is mine.’ The two quarrelled about the water: ‘You came to steal it.’ Punyam said, ‘I did not steal it, it is mine.’ Both spoke very loudly because of that water. ‘All right,’ said Barkolkol, ‘if it is your water, you can keep it from running out. If it is mine, I will let it run.’ Barkolkol set aside the stone that holds it back and the sea ran out of the village. Punyam picked up a rock as big as a house to stop the sea, but he did not succeed and the sea ran on. He added more large stones, but the water ran through them. Barkolkol spoke again, ‘If it is your water, you should be able to stop it. If it is mine, I will make it run over.’ Punyam could not stop the sea and the water spread everywhere. The stone still exists at Pentecost, rising up like a ship in the middle of the sea. The place where the sea was before is Enbarite (Guiart 1951: 75 - 78).

Comprehension questions 1. What did Punyam use to make his laplap? 2. Why did Punyam want to steal Barkolkol’s water? Investigate Are there any rocks or other physical landmarks near your village that have stories associated with them? If you can think of any stories, tell them to your classmates.

In the following story, ‘The Birth of Futuna’, we learn about the formation of the island of Futuna. This legend was given in Bislama by Willy Lekai of Futuna, who is the monitor of the Yaohnanen Custom School on Tanna. It was originally published in issues 108 and 109 of Nabanga in 1979. Nabanga was a Bislama and French-language newspaper published during the time of the New Hebrides Condominium. It often printed custom stories. As you are reading this story, keep in mind the recurring themes and consider how it is related to the story about Tanna that was recounted in Bonnemaison. The Polynesian god Maori Tiki, Mauitikitiki of Emao, also called Mwatiktik, lived in Tanna on Mount Melen. He owned an under-water residence. This happened a long time ago while Kuhngen (or Wuhngen) was creating the earth which was still naked and without bush. Mwatiktik lived the rest of the time at Enarupan in the south of the island of Tanna with his wife Perepnap. They didn’t have any children and were beginning to worry about this

Stupor: a state of unconsciousness

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

when Perepnap became pregnant. One night when Perepnap went to lay down on her mat, a woman came to her and said, “Perepnap, the night is very calm. Don’t you want to go fishing with coconut palm torches to light our way?” Under the spell of the engaging voice, Perepnap recognised the devil. “But I don’t know you,” she responded, “and I would like to sleep.” The devil insisted and Perepnap, hypnotised, finally gave in. She followed her fully aware of the fact that the only desire of this devilish woman was to kill her. Despite her stupor, she tried to regain consciousness and to stay alert. When they had arrived at the rocks just before leaving the deep bush, Perepnap turned to pick up a fistful of her ancestral land. “If I die,” she said, “I will die with the memory of what I love.” The devil pressed her, “Come on, what are you doing? Here. Take these coconut fronds! Light them and let’s go fishing quickly!” They started their hike through the rocks. As they were walking, shells were pushing against the rocks and loosening small avalanches of stone when suddenly the devil went behind Perepnap and pushed her. She slipped on the stones and fell into the water screaming. Perepnap tried to swim but the night closed in around her and made it impossible for her to find her way. The coast fell further and further away as the current swept her out to sea, then threw her violently back against the rocks. She tried to hold on, but in vain. Each time that she was able to grab a hold of a rock, the devil crushed her fingers. “No! You cannot hold on to the rocks, wife of the god that I love! Die! Disappear forever! You don’t have any chance to save yourself, you are lost! Die quickly so that I never see you ever again! Disappear in the waves!” screamed the devil as her laugh pierced the night. Once again, Perepnap swam, grabbed hold of the rocks but was taken away by the current. And again, she was thrown back against the reef by the waves. Her hands were bloody and she was losing her breath. Her last try failed as the waves threw her against the stones and her right hand was crushed with even more brutality. The current pulled an exhausted Perepnap towards the deep. She let herself be taken a little and then tried again to swim with what little of her strength remained. Seeing her being taken further out, the devil yelled, “I hope the sharks eat you and that you suffer terribly! I am now the wife of the fisher of islands, the wife of Mwatiktik!” Remembering that Perepnap was pregnant, she chose a round stone near the edge of the coast, the Tapuga, and swallowed it. Her stomach thus became enormous and she took on the traits of Perepnap. “I am Perepnap! I am pretty, aren’t I? I am the wife of a god!” she yelled dementedly. “You find my belly too big? Maybe, but don’t forget that I’m pregnant, pregnant by a god, by Mwatiktik!” Her crazy laugh rang out again. She then went to her ‘husband.’ During this time, Perepnap was swimming towards the deep. The child that she was carrying made her tired. She was on the edge of total exhaustion, ready to give up but she still struggled with all of her might. Her bloodied, crushed fingers hurt her horribly. The saltwater burned her raw flesh. Finally, she couldn’t go on. In a last effort, she cried, “I am truly the wife of the fisher of islands, the wife of the strongest god. I command a reef to break through these waters at this instant so that I may rest myself!” Perepnap had barely said the words when a reef surged through the waves and lifted her above the water. Little by little she regained her breath and added, “You, reef, grow a little higher. I want to see an ironwood tree that is over there on Enarupan!” The reef grew a little higher. And higher still.

Our Islands’ Beginnings

“I think that I can see it. Grow just a little higher. Yes, that’s it. I can see it now; you have grown enough. And because I still have a bit of courage left, let’s create!” Perepnap, who was still holding a bit of the ground from Tanna in her left hand, patted it against the newly formed island creating, thus, the ground of the new islet. Then, she laid back and took a deep breath. She stayed this way, alone, on her new island until the day when she gave birth to twins, Namakia and Nakia.

Comprehension questions 1. Who created Futuna? 2. What did she use to create the island? 3. Why did she create Futuna? Thinking further Divide this story into different scenes or sections. Divide the class into small groups and assign a scene to each group. Each group is responsible for drawing a picture that illustrates their scene. After the groups are ﬁnished with the illustrations, place the pictures in chronological order. Invite another class to look at the story in picture form and tell the story to them. Discussion activity How do you think that this story creates a linkage between the islands of the south?

Some origin stories tell how features of our living world came to be. The next story was collected by the Oral Arts Project at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and comes from Hiu Island in the Torres Islands. It is called ‘The Story of the Creation of the World’. Sedrak Likwule told this story about the creation of night and day. A man named Marati lived in a village called Daplingling. In this village, the people only lived with light and there was no night. Marati heard that there was an island in the Torres that had something called night. He paddled in his canoe through the sea to Toga Island. In his canoe he brought a pig, whose custom name was narawe. Marati gave this pig to the chief of Toga as payment for the night. In addition to buying the night, he also bought a rooster. He went back to his island and talked to the people in his village. “Everyone, go make yourself a bed on which to lie down,” said Marati. “Why should we do this?” they asked. “Soon we are going to have night,” he said, “and you will be able to sleep.” They waited and when the sun began to go down, they asked, “What do we do now, is the night coming?” The sun disappeared and the sky became dark. They waited and their eyes became heavy with sleep. They felt very tired and the feeling was something that they did not recognise. Then they asked Marati, “What is wrong with us? Are we sick? Are we going to die?” “No, you will sleep now,” said Marati. “You will just wake up again in the morning.” As they slept, Marati waited. When he decided that they had slept long enough, he decided that it was time to make daylight reappear. He took something sharp and he cut the

Obsidian: black volcanic glass

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

night until it broke and light began to shine again. It was daylight and this is why we use the phrase, “morning has broken,” because Marati broke the night with the piece of obsidian. At the same time that Marati broke the night, the chicken began to call out. This was the chicken that Marati had bought from the chief of Toga at the same time as he had bought the night. The call of the chicken signalled the beginning of morning and it was daylight.”

Writing activity Imagine that you have never slept before. Write a paragraph about how it would feel to fall asleep for the ﬁrst time. The people in Marati’s village were scared. Would you be scared? What do you think that you would dream about?

This story, ‘The Legend of the New Moon’, comes from the island of Malo. It was published in the 13 September 1975 issue of Nabanga.

Veneration: adoration; respect; worship

There once lived wild men on Malo. They lived in the middle of the bush and knew how to organise their lives simply. Truthfully, their existence would not have been at all interesting if they had not had a habit at each full moon of coming out of the bush and going down towards the ocean. At the mouth of a little river, a very little river, there was a place called Nangarai. The men would carry taro and yams to roast over an open fire. They would make their fire on the bank of the river and while the taro and yams were roasting they liked to discuss their adventures. And during these evenings, they always waited for a visit– that of the moon! At this time, the moon was not wild. At the phase of the new moon, it progressively descended from the sky and approached the island. When the moon arrived at the mouth of the little river, it dipped itself in the cold, fresh water. It was believed that it came to wash and refresh itself. It stayed for many long minutes and then it would gently start to rise. Before returning to the sky, the moon would linger for several seconds a couple of metres above the ground shining only on the little river of Nangarai, as a form of farewell until the next new moon. Each time, the same thing would happen at Nangarai. And always, on those evenings, the men looked at the moon with a sort of veneration. One amongst them, however, had only one desire: to catch the moon! It was the wish closest to his heart. He had never spoken about it, preferring to jealously guard his secret. But one day, he opened his heart to some friends in whom he had absolute confidence. They were shocked by his wish and vowed to stop at nothing to divert their friend from his plan. The man let himself be convinced not to catch the moon, at least that is what he let his friends believe! Because in reality, the protests of his friends did nothing but strengthen his desire and he swore that he would catch the moon the next time it came to Nangarai. The man waited impatiently. The big night finally arrived! With the other men from the village, he came out of the bush and went down towards the ocean. He affected a very natural attitude, speaking and acting like the others, carrying his taro and yams to be roasted. Once they arrived at Nangarai, everyone went in search of dead wood and twigs to light the traditional fire. The flames quickly lit up their faces and each man sat down around the fire and started to roast his food. Everyone was there and everyone was happy. Everyone? No! No one had seen one man leave the group and furtively hide himself behind a rock to the right of the river. Well situated in his hiding place, he waited for the moon.

Our Islands’ Beginnings

Finally, the moon appeared. It started to descend slowly. The man was ready. As usual, the moon arrived at the mouth of the river and dipped itself in the cold, fresh water. The right moment arrived! The man jumped out from behind the rock, threw himself at the moon and was able to grab it with one hand. But the moon was much quicker than the man and slipped out from between his ﬁngers. Immediately, it went high into the sky and took its normal place. But the moon was no longer the same as before. The man had carried yams and taro. He had gathered wood and helped to light the ﬁre. His hands were dirty! When he had seized the moon, he stained it. Since this memorable day, the moon has never again come to light up Nangarai. Now you also understand why the moon is wild. And if you look at it very closely, you will see that the moon has black stains on it. They are the handprints of a man who lived a very long time ago on Malo.

Thinking further 1. Think about the phases of the moon that we see in the night sky. How does this correspond with the moon’s visits to Nangarai? During what phase do you think that the moon was visiting Nangarai? 2. Why do you think that the man’s friends tried to persuade him not to touch the moon? 3. Why do you think that the moon became wild? Investigate On a clear night when the moon is full, go and look at it. Do you see the dark spots on the moon? Does the story of the man from Malo make sense to you?

On the west coast of Maewo near the village of Nasawa is a place that is called ‘the cave of the hole of the moon’. Willie Kona from Nasawa tells this story, which explains the moon’s location in the night sky. A version of this story was published in Issue 20 of Island Spirit, Air Vanuatu’s in-ﬂight magazine. A long time ago the moon lived in a cave on the coast of Maewo and its light did not shine beyond the walls of the cave. Tagaro saw that this was not good and he took the moon from the cave and threw it out to the south. However, when the moon was in the south only the people in the south saw the light. Those in the north still had darkness during the night. Tagaro took the moon back and threw it to the north. But this was not good either, because when it was in the north it did not give light to the people in the south. Tagaro took the moon back into the cave and he threw it one more time, this time to the west. When it was in the west its light shone on everyone and Tagaro saw that it was right. He has left the moon there to this day. The three canals of water that run into the cave are the places where the moon passed when it was being thrown out of the cave. The path of the moon broke through rock and the sea and that is why these deepwater paths into the cave are here.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Thinking further Why do you think that people told stories about actual places such as the hole of the moon? Do you know any other stories that explain the origin of places? Ask your teachers or people in the area about different places that are located around your school. Do any of them have stories that explain their origin?

The next story, ‘How Mystery Island was Formed’, explains the formation of Inyeug, the small island on the coast of Aneityum that is now often referred to as “Mystery Island.” This story is found in a collection of custom stories and oral histories collected by Magdalena Livingstone, entitled Kastom Stories of Vanuatu. Kenneth Sandy from Aneityum told the story to Livingstone in 2002. A long time ago there was a spider and a white crab on the beach. In those days there were two reefs on the island of Aneityum where they lived. One was called Inmal [now known as Three Mile Reef ] and the other was Inyeug. One day the crab said to the spider, “Very early in the morning, before the sun rises, you are going to throw your fishing line into the Inyeug Reef and I will throw my line to Inmal so we can pull them out from the sea as islands.” They said goodnight to each other and went to sleep. Very early in the morning the spider got his fishing line and went down to the beach. Standing on the beach he threw his line to the Inyeug Reef. He pulled the reef up to the water surface until it was no longer a reef but an island. After that the spider went back and saw the crab. The crab was still sleeping on the beach so the spider called the crab and said, “It is now day break and the sun is rising.” And the crab came out of the sand and saw that the Inyeug Reef was no longer a reef but an island. So the crab could not do anything; he did not pull out the other island and he was afraid so he remained under the sand. If you pass along the beach and you find a hole in the sand, you can bend down and listen to the crab snoring, sleeping all day and night. And what was the Inyeug Reef before is now Mystery Island and the Inmal reef is still only a reef because of the sleepy crab (Livingstone 2002: 63).

The following story about the creation of the island of Erromango is adapted from the research of a Vanuatu Cultural Centre ﬁeldworker on the island, Jerry Taki. It is a shortened version of the original, as told to the Oral Arts Project. Stori hem i abaot sotleg [dove]. Sotleg hem i stap long wan ples long Ifo. I gat tabu ples hem i stap. Sotleg hem i wan woman pijin. Hem i putum longfala dres blong hem, hem i ﬂas gud. Pasis blong Ifo hem i Telavoa, we mining blong hem i talem se ‘ples we yu stap ripitim oltaem nomo’. Long Telavoa ia nao, woman sotleg ia i stap brum i go, i kam, i go, i kam. Ol narafala pijin i stap luk sotleg ia mo oli laekem hem we oli laekem. I no longtaem fulap ol defren kaen pijin i stap trae had blong switim sotleg ia. Fas pijin hem i nawimba. Nawimba i dresap gud, hem i putum blak kot blong hem mo waet sot insaed. After i singsing, “Napumtanwatete evemete marogrog, netivariou vorule eve elog” we mining blong hem long lanwis blong mifala i ‘sotleg yu gud tumas, be yu stap go kam blong wanem ia?’ Be sotleg i no wantem hem from kot blong hem i dak tumas.

Our Islands’ Beginnings

Nambatu pijin i kam. Hem i nakarua wetem red maot. Hem i singsing, “Napumtanwatete evemete marogrog, netivariou vorule eve elog.” Be sotleg i no laekem red maot blong hem. Afta grin pijin i kam, i mekem semfala singsing. Be sotleg i laf long hem from se hem i grin tumas i stap haed long ol tri. Gogo ol pijin i stap sem. Oli flae i go. Afta flaenfoks i traem switim sotleg. Hem i putum wan lif long hem, nem blong lif ia hem i ulese. Lif ia i smel gud we i gud. Hem tu i mekem singsing long sotleg. Sotleg i laekem hem afta tufala i mared. Gogo, i no longtaem sotleg i bin bonem wan pikinini, we hem i wan flaenfoks olsem papa. Pikinini ia i stap kolkol long naet be from se feta blong sotleg i smol nomo, hem i no save holem pikinini blong hem. Pikinini i stap krae gogo mama sotleg i kros long hem, i talem se, “Yu finis krae ia. Papa blong yu i save holem yu be long naet hem i stap ronwe long yumi blong stil long ol garen blong ol man. Afta long dei hem i stap hang nomo. Tut blong hem i blak olsem tut blong yu. Yu silip!” Long moning taem papa flaenfoks i stap hang, pikinini i talem long hem ol samting we mama sotleg i bin talem. Papa flaenfoks i kros we i kros, i talem se, “Yu hang long bak blong mi pikinini.” Afta tufala i flae oli lego ples blong sotleg. Oli flae kasem wan gudfala aelan, oli stap. Long pikja [map] blong Erromango tedei, bambae yu save luk se wing blong flaenfoks hem i go long saot, narafala win i go long not. Afta leg i stap long Unpongkor [Dillon’s Bay]. Hed blong hem nao i stap long Rantop. Hem ia nao i gat fulap flaenfoks long Erromango.

Discussion activity Why do you think that some oral histories use creatures as important characters in the stories? Investigate The Aneityum story attributes the formation of the island of Inyeug to a spider. The Erromangan story credits the ﬂying fox with the creation of Erromango. Do you know of any other custom stories that have animals, insects or ﬁsh as the main characters?

Stories Through Art In 1926 and 1927, English anthropologist Bernard Deacon collected information on different customs and ways of life throughout the islands. He came across complex designs drawn in the sand and in the dust of the volcanic ash plains. He decided to record the drawings and their meanings as he travelled through Malakula, Ambrym and Ambae (There are also sand drawings from Paama, Pentecost, Maewo, Epi and the Banks Islands. In addition there is evidence that people on Santo used to create sand drawings). He considered these geometrical figures one of his most significant cultural ‘findings.’ In a letter to a fellow anthropologist he wrote, “I’ve certainly never seen or heard of anything like it.” All of these curves, circles, lines and loops link to form a design that tells a story. It is important to complete the design fluidly and continuously; to stop in the middle is considered an imperfection in the drawing. Often a grid is drawn in the sand and then a design is created with the grid as a framework. Sometimes the grid is comprised of straight lines and other times it is created from a pattern of dots. Many of the designs

Symmetrical: even; can be folded in half and produce the same pattern Myth: story that may or may not be true

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

are completed in a continuous line that ends where it begins. Others are composed of a group of symmetrically arranged lines. Some of these drawings describe the strength and personalities of mythic heroes. Others tell of the world of spirits. There are some sand drawings that are images of plants or animals. Others are used for purposes of communication and take the place of numbers or phrases. In other sand drawings an important theme is the natural world that surrounds us. Volcanoes, rivers, waterfalls and hot springs are often mentioned in custom stories and legends throughout our islands. Our ancestors were in awe of the power of natural phenomena such as earthquakes, tidal waves and volcanic eruptions. They respected and recognised the strength and energy of nature. We can see this in the large number of custom stories that explain events such as the creation of the sea, the placement of the moon in the night sky and the eruption of volcanoes. In addition to custom stories, the inﬂuence of the natural world is also seen through some of the themes and meanings of sand drawings.

A Closer Look– Vui Uli In this sand drawing from Lolopuepue, Ambae, the crater lake of Manaro is an integral part of the story. This volcano is found in the centre of Ambae. The following excerpt is from De Poussière et de Sable: Dessins Geometriques de Vanuatu (1994), by Jean-Pierre Cabane. Cabane has compiled sand drawings from many of the northern islands and he has also recorded their histories. This story describes the meaning of the sand drawing Vui Uli.

Malicious: wishing or appearing to wish evil to others

This drawing is said to be the first drawing from Ambae. On the island there exists a crater lake, ‘Manaro Lakuha Vui’ (the big lake of the spirits), which leads to the land of the dead. When we hear a loud explosion coming from the lake, someone in a neighbouring village has just died. Tagaro, who lives in the lake, asks the spirit of the dead to finish this drawing of which he has erased a part. To enter into the land of the dead one must pass this test. In the south of Malakula (the Melip tribe), the spirit of the dead must also complete a drawing to cross the threshold into the other world. Another legend tells of a day when a young man plunged into the lake to rejoin his dead wife. He found a cave whose guardian disguised the young man by covering his head with big leaves from a black-bulbed plant and camouflaging the tips of his fingers with the skins from the ends of young pandanus roots that formed a sort of cap. He then led the man toward his dead wife. On the way, the guardian and the man met a group of people who were dancing. The spirits sensed a malicious presence and stripped the young man of his disguise because they thought he was a devil. But, remarking that he resembled them, they let him continue on his way. He stayed for one hundred days with his wife whom he could see only if he was under the surface of the lake and then he returned to his village alone. When he returned, he found that his village had held his funeral feasts every five days as they thought that he had died. In southwest Malakula, there is also a story told about a living person having seen the dead dancing in an enclosed space with only one entrance. The dead also feel his presence. They were going to kill and devour him when an old woman permitted him to escape and return to the land of the living.

Our Islands’ Beginnings

Thinking further 1. Why do you think that the natural environment plays such a signiﬁcant role in the themes of many different sand drawings throughout our country? 2. Who is Tagaro? (Think back to the story we read earlier about Tagaro). 3. Why do you think that Vui Uli is called a “sacred drawing”? What is the meaning of sacred? Investigate Can you create a sand drawing? If you do not know how, ﬁnd someone who can teach you a sand drawing. Make sure that s/he tells you the story of the drawing. In addition to sand drawings, themes of our natural environment are also found on mats and baskets. This mat pattern pictured opposite is patterned after the feathers of the rail (nambilak). The rail is a little long-legged red bird that runs fast across the ground.

A Land Born From the Sea Our custom stories combine both spiritual and physical explanations for occurrences in our island environment. In addition to the origin stories and oral histories of our islands, we can study the geological explanations of the beginnings of the islands. Scientiﬁc explanations for island origins enhance custom stories by empirically showing that events in some stories actually occurred. Science therefore also shows the value of retaining knowledge of custom stories, which offer a way to explain our fascinating world using the knowledge of our ancestors. The following text has been adapted from Martin Horrocks’ Our Island Environment (1988), a secondary school science textbook. Vanuatu is comprised of islands that have been born from the sea. The land is young, still growing and fast changing. Most lands on earth are ancient, born from the break-up of huge, drifting continental plates. But this is not the story of Vanuatu. Due to plate tectonics, two forces are operating to create new land from the sea. These two forces are land uplift and volcanic action.

Ilin bwaga: the rail or nambilak feather (Apma language, Central Pentecost) (Mescam 1987: 33). E m p i r i c a l: can be measured

P l a t e t e c t o n i c s: the movement of the Earth’s crust

E v i d e n c e W e S e e a n d F e e l A r o u n d Us Land Uplift Volcanic Earth Tremors Coral/Limestone Cliffs and scarps Raised reefs

Visible Eruptions Lava Flows Volcanic Ash Pumice on Land and Sea

Vanuatu is a chain of volcanic islands positioned along a plate margin. Friction between the Pacific and the Indo-Australian plate forces the Indo-Australian plate down, an action called subduction. The Indo-Australian plate moves down under the Pacific plate because it is made of denser material. This tectonic activity creates land in two ways, uplift and volcanic action. As the Pacific plate moves down, pieces break off and melt, creating extra magma. With no space for the extra magma, it is forced upwards and forms new volcanoes. When the magma

S u b d u c t i o n : the sinking of a plate in plate tectonics U p l i f t : the raising of land above sea level or above its original location M a g m a : molten (melted) rock formed under the Earth’s crust

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reaches the surface of our living world (underwater or in open air) it cools, creating land. A large volcanic eruption might build an island immediately. Other islands form more slowly from repeated eruptions. The downward movement of the Australian plate also causes earthquakes. At the same time, the Paciﬁc plate is uplifted, causing land to rise out of the sea. A

V o l c a n i c I s l a n d Forms Most of the islands in Vanuatu are volcanic. They rise steeply out of the ocean with narrow coastal plains and fringing reefs. Coral rocks are found on the land of many islands. They can even be found at the tops of high mountains. On other islands no coral rocks can be found at all. If coral grows along the side of a volcano, under the sea and then the land uplifts to form an island, the island will be covered with coral. If a coral island rises out of the sea and then another volcanic eruption takes place, the coral will become covered with lava. Some volcanoes erupted so fast to form islands that coral had no chance to grow at all.

Thinking further Mount Erskine in North Efate is covered in coral limestone. Underneath you can ﬁnd layers of volcanic ash or pumice. What does this tell you about this part of Efate?

A Closer Look– Submarine Volcanoes Volcanic Vents: the top hole of a volcano from which molten rock and heated gases are expelled

Submarine volcanoes and volcanic vents are common features on certain zones of the ocean floor. Some are active at the present time. In shallow water, they disclose their presence by blasting steam and rock-debris high above the surface of the sea. Many others lie at such great depths that the tremendous weight of the water above them results in high, confining pressure and prevents the formation and explosive release of steam and gases. Even very large, deep-water eruptions may not disturb the ocean’s surface. The unlimited supply of water surrounding submarine volcanoes can cause them to behave differently from volcanoes on land. Violent, steam-blast eruptions take place when seawater pours into active shallow submarine vents. Lava, erupting onto a shallow sea floor or flowing into the sea from land, may cool so rapidly that it shatters into sand and rubble.

—from Tilling (1985)

Our Islands’ Beginnings

In 1997, the French research organisation, IRD (Institut des Recherches de Développement, formerly known as ORSTOM), recorded four under-sea, or submarine, volcanoes located in the Vanuatu archipelago. Name

Latitude

Longitude Activities

Characteristics Observations

Epi (East)

16/45°, S

169/15°, E

Yellow waters

Karua

16/50°, S

168/32°, E

Bubbles

Erromango 18/45°, S

170/10°, E

Yellow waters

Gemini

170/16°, E

Explosions

3 undersea mounts Strong colouration of B mount near the surface (in 1997) Belongs to the Colouration of water Kuwae caldera near the surface, ash island (1971 eruption) One undersea Strong colouration of volcano water near the surface (1994) 2 undersea mounts East undersea mount, explosion in Feb. 1996 and Oct. 1997

21/00°, S

From Wallez, Sandrine, n.d. Survey of Socio-Economic Impact of Volcanic Hazards and Other Natural Disasters in the Archipelago of Vanuatu.

Discussion activities 1. Do you think that submarine volcanoes are dangerous? Explain your answer. 2. From the table produced by IRD, what are some signs that submarine volcanoes are present?

Hundreds of years ago, our islands did not look the way that we see them today. Volcanic eruptions and seismic activity are constantly changing the landmasses of the islands. One speciﬁc example of this is the Shepherds group of islands. Before 1452, the islands of Epi, Tongoa, Tongariki, Ewose, Buninga and Valea did not exist as separate islands. They were all part of one single land mass called Kuwae. It was about 75 km long and 15 km wide. Twin-jets of highly pressurised magma blew off the mantle of rock and earth from a site east of the centre of Kuwae, forcing the island to break into pieces. This was one of the world’s eight greatest volcanic events over the last 10,000 years!

A Closer Look– the Eruption of Kuwae The following story, ‘Kuwae Hem i Wan Bigfala Aelan’, told by Willie Roy from Tongoa, tells of the eruption of the historical island of Kuwae. Wan boe we nem blong hem Pae, hem i stap long aelan. Papa blong hem i ded ﬁnis mo Pae i stap wetem mama blong hem. Nao wan naet, ol boe oli kam karem mama blong hem mo oli go stap hambag long hem. Oli kam singaotem Pae blong i go wetem olgeta, be oli no talem long hem se mama blong hem i stap tu. Nao taem oli karem hem i go hem i go stat hambag long mama blong hem nao mama blong hem i holem bodi blong hem gogo nao i holem long

Kuwae Island, Central Vanuatu in 1450 AD. Reconstruction based on Robin, Monzier and Eissen.

* Another version of the story says that Pae’s uncle gave him a lizard, which was the bearer of the volcano’s power. Yet another version says that Pae’s name was actually Tombuk or Toboka.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

jas blong hem. Nao i holem wan tatu long jas blong hem, mo i askem se “Huia, Pae?” Pae i talem se, “Yes, mi ia.” Pae i krae from ol fren blong hem oli giaman long hem, mo oli mekem se hem i hambag long mama blong hem. Long moning Pae i go long garen. Taem i singaot ol man oli stap talem long hem se, “Man ia we hem i stap mekem noes, hem i hambag long mama blong hem.” Pae hem i stap harem nogud. Nao i girap i talem long mama blong hem se, “Tedei mi go luk angkel blong mi long Lopevi.” Hem i karem kenu blong hem i go. I go nao i go soa i go luk angkel blong hem. Nao tufala i stap mo Pae i askem long angkel blong hem se, “Angkel, mi wantem wan samting, mi wantem se yu givim wan volkeno long mi.” Angkel i talem se, “Yu go mekem wanem long volkeno ia?” Afta Pae i talem se, “Mifala i stap be ol fren blong mi oli mekem mi mi hambag long mama. Oli stap spolem mi.” Angkel blong hem i talem long hem se, “Wanem volkeno nao yu wantem?” Pae i talem se “Hemia we maot blong hem i red,” mo angkel blong hem i talem se, “Bae yu spolem aelan blong yu ia.” * Pae i talem se, “Hem i gud nomo from we oli spolem mi tumas. Nao mi wantem blong mi karem i go.” Taem hem i kasem Kuwae nao i go soa. Nao i go putum long stamba blong wan oktri mo hem i go long haos blong hem, from we angkel blong hem i givim sikis yia. Nao wan yia i pas hem i kilim wan pig i kakae be i putum basket blong wota blong pig i stap i fulap nao i hangem i stap. Pae i mekem fasin ia long evri yia kasem taem sikis yia i pas. Nao Pae i karem ol balun ia blong pig. Hem i klaem i go antap long oktri ia nao i go stap singaot. Nao i brekem ol balun blong pig ia. Taem we Pae i stap brekem, graon i seksek. Taem i brekem laswan nao, volkeno i girap nao i brekem hed blong Pae i go foldaon long Lopevi. Nao angkel blong hem i luk mo hem i krae. Angkel blong Pae i karem hed blong hem mo hem i berem. So naoia long Tongoa or Shepherd yumi save luk se olgeta ol smolsmol aelan nomo, mo volkeno ia i stap girap taem i kasem wan handred yia. So hemia nao en blong storian ia.

Dye pattern for a mat, Maewo (Speiser 1996: Plate 77).

Ti Tongoa Liseiriki Another custom story, collected by the French anthropologist Jean Guiart, tells the story of Asingmet, a boy from the village of Mangarisu. He escaped the explosion because he had been hunting birds on the land bridge that used to link Tongoa and Tongariki. He ﬂed to Tongariki along the coast of Kuwae and hid inside a slit drum, where he was later discovered by a young woman named Tarifegit, who had also escaped the disaster. Both of them were given a home by people of Makira Island. Asingmet’s name was changed to Matanauretong and then later to Ti Tongoa Liseiriki. One version of the story says that he married Tarifegit, while another says that he married Nawa, who was Tarifegit’s daughter. Six years later he returned to the island of Tongoa. The name Tongoa comes from the plant worotongoa, which was one of the ﬁrst plants that grew on the island

Our Islands’ Beginnings

after the explosion. Ti Tongoa Liseiriki planted a tree and placed a stone in memory of the former place of the old nakamal. Later, some chiefs who had escaped to Efate at the beginning of the eruption gradually came back to settle on Tongoa (Garanger, Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 66-67).

In the 1960s, archaeologist José Garanger excavated the area where oral history said that Ti Tongoa Liseiriki was buried. He went to the village of Panita on the island of Tongoa. The story said that Ti Tongoa Liseiriki was buried at a spot marked by upright stones and that there was a circle of stones around the grave. It also said that he was buried with Nawa and Tarifegit and some of his male followers and that he was buried with two pig tusk bracelets on his left arm and one on his right. When Garanger and his team excavated the site, they found a man with his head pointing to the south. He had two bracelets on his left arm and one on his right. The skeleton of a woman was at his feet and another woman’s skeleton was also found at the burial site. There were also male skeletons, just as the story had stated. A radio-carbon date of the bones gave an age of approximately 500 years BP (Before Present). This date corresponds with the story of Ti Tongoa Liseiriki and his escape from death after the eruption of Kuwae.

Kuwae: the Scientific Evidence As we have already learnt, the island of Kuwae broke into many separate landmasses after the volcanic eruption in 1452. Scientists have established that the crater of the volcano was located between present-day Tongoa and Epi. During the eruption, portions of Kuwae subsided, leaving only what we now call the Shepherd Islands. When the eruption was over, the island of Kuwae became a submarine crater with a diameter of twelve kilometres. Today, the submarine volcano Karua exists within the caldera underneath the sea. Sometimes it appears above sea level, the waves of the ocean lapping at its cone. The custom story explains to us why the volcano erupted. In addition to this, scientific studies are able to prove the date of the eruption. Michel Monzier, a scientist who has researched the effects of the eruption, says that the land surrounding the volcano would have been burned at about 300 degrees Celsius. Much of the ash would have been washed off in the heavy rains that followed the eruption. Plants and trees grew back slowly. The sea around the eruption site would have been surrounded by floating pumice and ash. He also says that people in Australia could have heard the blast. The dust would have turned the sky a reddish colour. The ocean would have also looked red because of the reflection from the sky. Other scientific research has also pointed to the worldwide effects of Kuwae’s blast. The ice layers at the South Pole that correspond with the years following the eruption of Kuwae point to a significant volcanic eruption, as volcanic dust has been trapped in the ice for hundreds of years! The growth rings of trees have also been used to study the climatic effects of Kuwae’s eruption. When a tree grows, we can see “rings” of growth, which usually appear for each year of growth. When the rings are thin this is an indication of stress, which might be caused by cold weather or drought. Wood samples from the 1450s exhibit significant differences in their growth rings. The eruption of Kuwae had far-reaching effects in our archipelago. It physically shaped the Shepherd Islands in the centre of the country. It was the subject of differ-

C a l d e r a : volcanic crater

Exo dus: movement of many people away from a place

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

ent stories and legends that are an important part of the history of the country. It also caused a mass exodus of the people from the area, which then affected the customs and traditions of these people. Through oral tradition and scientiﬁc research, we are able to understand the signiﬁcance and importance of the eruption of Kuwae.

Thinking further 1. In your own words, explain how archaeological evidence and oral tradition were used together to tell the story of Kuwae. 2. Why do you think that it is possible for some custom stories to have more than one version? Writing activity Imagine that you are a person on the island of Kuwae. You feel the ground moving around you. Your house is shaking and fruit is falling from the trees. You fear impending danger. What will you do to protect yourself, your family and the other people in your village? Where will you go? What will you take with you when you leave?

A Closer Look– Mt Yasur through the eyes of James Cook

Hot Sulphur Springs, Tanna 26 August 1850 (Vigors, 1850: 100).

Sunday, August 7, 1774 In the night the volcano threw up vast quantities of fire and smoke, the flames were seen to ascend above the hill between us and it, the night before it did the same and made a noise like that (of) thunder or the blowing up of mines at every eruption which happened every four or five minutes; a heavy shower of rain which fell at this time seemed to increase it: the wind

Our Islands’ Beginnings

blew from that quarter and brought such vast quantities of ﬁne sand or ashes that everything was covered with it and was also exceedingly troublesome to the eyes (Cook 1999: 486).

These are the words Captain James Cook wrote to describe the activity of Mount Yasur on Tanna during his exploration of the South Pacific in the late 1700s. Cook first saw the island of Maewo, then called Aurora, on July 16 1774. He continued to explore the islands for six weeks. Cook’s description contributed to the records of the expedition. A botanist recorded different varieties of plants and trees that were seen throughout the Pacific and an artist drew pictures of some of the places where Cook and his crew went ashore. This next excerpt from Captain Cook’s journal describes the hot springs near Mount Yasur. Thursday, August 11, 1774 During the night and all the next day the volcano made a terrible noise throwing up prodigeous columns of smoke and fire at every eruption. At one time great stones were seen high in the air… Mr. F. made a little excursion up the hill on the west side of the harbour where he found three places from whence ascended smoke or steam of a sulphurous smell, they seemed to keep pace with the volcano, for at every eruption the quantity of smoke or steam was greatly increased and forced out of the ground in such quantities as to be seen at a great distance which we had before taken for the smoke of common fire; it is at the foot of this hill the hot springs are (Cook 1999: 490).

Thinking further 1. Why do you think Captain Cook commented on Mount Yasur in his journal entries? 2. Cook describes the volcano as smelling “sulphurous”. What does this mean? Writing activity Have you ever seen a volcano? If you have, how would you describe it? Think about all of the different senses when you are writing your description. What does it look like? How does it smell? What does it sound like? When you feel the ground surrounding the volcano on the ash plain, how would you describe it? If you have never visited a volcano, speak to someone who has and ask him/her to describe it to you.

S u l p h u r o u s : smelling of sulphur, like rotten eggs

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

The Time Factor Compared to some of our neighbouring landmasses, such as Australia, our islands are young. Santo, one of the oldest islands, is only about 20 million years old. In contrast, the age of the land making up Australia is thought to be over 4000 million years old. When our islands were forced up out of the sea, other countries were already occupied by many different kinds of plants and animals. Many of those plants and animals were carried here by winds and ocean currents (Horrocks 1988: 7). The following graph shows the growth of the land area of our islands.

Growth of the land area of Vanuatu (Horrocks 1988: 6).

Comprehension questions 1. According to the graph, how old is the ﬁrst land that formed in Vanuatu? 2. What percentage of Vanuatu’s present land area had formed ﬁfteen million years ago? 3. What happened to the land area of these islands between 15 and 5 million years ago? 4. The speed of land formation has been most rapid in recent years. Approximately what percentage of Vanuatu’s land area has formed in the last two million years? 5. Look at the map on the opposite page. Name an island that has formed very recently. 6. Find your home island on the map opposite. About how old is it?

Our Islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Beginnings

Age map of the islands of Vanuatu (Horrocks 1988: 7).

Our Neighbours About 250 million years ago, all the continents in the southern part of the earth were joined into one land mass called Gondwanaland. Now they have separated. Some continents have sections that have broken off; Papua New Guinea has broken away from Australia and New Caledonia is a breakaway fragment from Gondwanaland. New Zealand is also a breakaway fragment, with land added by later volcanic action. However, most PaciďŹ c islands like Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and others have emerged independently out of the sea. They are called oceanic islands (Horrocks 1988: 8).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One ��

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Comprehension questions 1. Which two continental landmasses are nearest to Vanuatu? 2. Explain why marsupial mammals like kangaroos are found in Papua New Guinea as well as Australia. 3. Many of the plants and animals in New Caledonia are very different from those in other Paciﬁc islands. Suggest a reason for this. 4. Name two countries that would have been populated by plants and animals long before Vanuatu existed.

Over time, sea levels have changed as the earth warmed and cooled, altering the size of the polar ice caps. In the ice age periods, more water from the ocean was trapped in the polar ice caps. The most recent ice age started about 2 million years ago and ended 18,000 years ago (Horrocks 1988: 9).

Thinking further 1. What happens to sea levels when the earth passes through an ‘ice age’ period? Why? 2. What is the effect of an ‘ice age’ period on the earth’s total land area? 3. Australia used to be connected to Papua New Guinea by a land bridge. The sea level then was very low. Would that have been at a warm or cold period in the earth’s history?

Our Islands’ Beginnings

Plant Colonisation of Vanuatu’s First Islands When the ﬁrst islands of Vanuatu rose out of the sea they had no land plants. The islands had to be colonised from plants in older countries far away. Plants produce seeds or spores that are dispersed by wind, water, birds and other methods. Uprooted plants may survive an ocean voyage. Animals explore to ﬁnd food and new land but a lucky accident is needed to help them cross an ocean (Horrocks 1998: 9).

Thinking further 1. Would most land plants and animals have reached Vanuatu from the east or the west? 2. When plants first colonised Santo, where do you think most of them would have come from? 3. When plants first colonised Aneityum, where do you think most of them would have come from? 4. Most of Vanuatu’s Kauri trees are on Erromango and Aneityum. In which neighbouring countries might you expect to find Kauri trees?

C o l o n i s e : settle; inhabit; take over D i s p e r s a l : spreading; scattering

The green lizard (Emoia sandfordii) is endemic to Vanuatu (Horrocks 1988: 12).

Note: When answering questions 2, 3 & 4 look at a map to see the route of plants from their original sites to the three islands that are mentioned.

Once plants were established, some land animals made the dangerous journey across the ocean to reach the islands. Colonisation by animals over such a distance was difficult. Comparatively few made it and they were all fairly small. So we have insects and worms, lizards and snakes, bats and birds, but no large animals like kangaroos or even a monkey. No land animal could swim such a distance and, even for small animals, accidental transport was needed. Our land reptiles originally came from Australia and Southeast Asia where there are many kinds of skinks, geckos, boas and worm snakes. Most of our species probably arrived first in the northern islands, from the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. However, the iguana does not fit this pattern. Iguanas are found in South and Central America but not Australia and South East Asia. The Crested Iguana, found in Vanuatu on Efate, came from Fiji. It was brought here in the 1960s for exhibition in a zoo. The iguanas escaped and are spreading on Efate. Fiji has two iguana species (crested and banded). How did they cross the Pacific from America? Nobody can be sure, but the egg incubation time can be very long, for example nine months. The eggs could float a long way on a log in that time. The Pacific Boa and the worm snake are the only two kinds of land snakes known in Vanuatu. We have twelve skinks and seven kinds of geckos. Some of these are common all over the Pacific, for example the blue tailed skink and the house gecko. However, a few of our lizards are only found in Vanuatu and nowhere else in the whole world. We say they are endemic and that makes them special. Over thousands and thousands of years, plants and animals began to populate the islands of Vanuatu. But it was thousands and thousands of years after this when people finally arrived on the shores of Vanuatu.

This information comes directly from Chapter One (The Origin of the Land and its Inhabitants) of Our Island Environment (1988), by Martin Horrocks.

I n c u b a t i o n : period of keeping an egg warm

E n d e m i c : unique; found nowhere else

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Contemporary Geographical Issues Our location in the world affects the way in which we live. Over thousands of years people who live in deserts have adapted to the dry weather and blowing sand. The snow and cold weather in the extreme northern and southern areas of the world is part of everyday life for its people. We come to accept certain aspects of our physical environment as a way of life and as something that we must learn to live with and adapt to. Cyclones can rip apart a village in minutes. Ash from volcanoes blows over the land, falls on gardens and damages food crops. Tsunamis suddenly submerge villages and wash away houses, animals, gardens and people. Droughts cause the soil to become dry and flaky and the leaves of island cabbage shrivel and die in the burning sun. Earthquakes shake the ground beneath our feet and houses collapse. Landslides send soil and stones cascading down the sides of hills, ruining gardens and causing danger to those living below. Rivers flood unpredictably and become life-threatening to those people living downstream. In Vanuatu, these are some of the potential disasters that we face. Due to the locations of our islands, we are more prone to cyclones than most other island nations. Our location on the Pacific Ring of Fire (a group of volcanoes that encircles the Pacific Ocean) also means that we have active volcanoes that occasionally erupt. And because of the movement of plates directly under the ocean that surrounds us, we experience earthquakes. Since our islands were born from the sea, we face many disasters that other areas of the world do not. The following ‘A Closer Look’ sections focus on natural disasters that people have faced in the past and ways in which they have dealt with them.

A Closer Look– Midst Volcanic Fires

Lopevi erupts in 2003. Paama is in the foreground.

Our Islands’ Beginnings

Natural disasters have always been a fact of life for people living in the islands. Sometimes there are warning signs that tell of impending danger; in other instances there are not. In December 1913, on the island of Ambrym, Mount Benbow erupted with tremendous force. This eruption completely altered life on Ambrym as well as the surrounding islands. Twenty-one people died in massive lava flows that covered much of the island. The newly built hospital at Dip Point was completely destroyed, as well as many villages and gardens. In the following excerpt from Midst Volcanic Fires (1922), Presbyterian missionary Maurice Frater describes what he saw from the neighbouring island of Paama, where he was living at the time of the eruption of Mount Benbow. “For untold centuries, Mount Benbow had been at work, puffing out steam which at night glowed with a bright, intermittent light. As in the days of Captain Cook, the eruptions were still taking place. There was the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night. So accustomed had the natives become to its presence that the frequent outbursts occasioned no fear. They cultivated their gardens up to the edge of the ash plain near the base of the volcano and some natives who had climbed to the mouth of the crater with bunches of coconuts – the usual peace-offering to the spirit of the volcano – had reported that all was well. But all unknown to the natives and to the British and French settlers who had their homes in Ambrym, there stretched from east to west a belt of volcanic fracture, which was studded with a series of extinct craters, occasional puffs of steam being the only indication of the pent-up fire beneath. In December 1913, the age-long sleep of these extinct craters was broken and the imprisoned giants awoke to life. From numerous thunder-throated vents the island was rent and torn by convulsive explosions. The outburst was heralded by a series of earthquake shocks which increased in frequency and severity until the solid earth reeled and tottered. The hospital buildings rocked like a ship at sea; the natives, in their picturesque mode of speech, say that Ambrym danced. Then, from the newly-formed vents, was seen to rise, dark as the blackest London fog, a dense cloud which shot up like a pillar and spread out in all directions like a gigantic mushroom. In a short time ash and cinders began to fall, making a noise like hailstones and smothering Ambrym and the adjacent islands in a thick layer of volcanic ash. From the mission house on the neighbouring island of Paama – 20 miles distant from the scene – we obtained an unobstructed view of the outbreak. During the day dense volumes of smoke could be seen hanging over the island of Ambrym, but the natives of Paama thought that a bush fire was raging; and as the islands had been parched by a drought of several months’ duration, the explanation was quite a likely one. But towards evening the atmosphere cleared and the approach of darkness removed all doubts, revealing one of the most awful and one of the most magnificent sights that it is possible for the eye of man to behold. Over an area of ten miles the earth seemed to have opened up and out of this huge fissure tongues of living flame were shooting up into the sky. In one place, which seemed to be the centre of the disturbance, six volcanoes had burst out within a short distance of each other and out of these six furnaces pillars of fire were leaping. The entire district was illuminated and the inhabitants of Paama and the surrounding isles beheld a spectacle such as had never been seen before in the memory of living men. Rivers of molten lava were flowing from the newly-formed craters and so great was the flood of this liquid fire that no single channel could carry it. High up on the mountainside the lava rivers divided and in separate channels flowed in their

F r a c t u r e : a break or a crack

Map of Ambrym (Patterson 1976: vii).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Sketch of the eruption (Fletcher 1925: 93).

Refuge: shelter

Dip Point Hospital, West Ambrym, c.1910 (National Archives, VKS).

destructive courses to the sea. From the mission house on Paama the whole course of the Port Vato flow, from the crater to the sea, could be clearly defined fifteen miles away. In the darkness, winding among the hills, the track of the red-hot lava was like the trail of a serpent. One can imagine, better than describe, the kind of cauldron that was formed when the enormous mass of red-hot lava mingled with the waters of the ocean. A heavy sea on the beach of Paama prevented an immediate departure; but as soon as our motorboats could be launched we set off to the rescue. Long before the coast of Ambrym was reached, we could see crowds of natives assembled on the long stretch of sand near the Pansileo boat-landing waving branches of trees as a signal for us to approach. The people were all terror-stricken. They had come from the fire zone around Port Vato and were waiting a chance of escape by boats from Paama or Malekula. Their place of refuge was clear of the fire zone and was comparatively safe; but we could see to what straits the poor people had been put. Their houses and belongings had been buried deep in ash and scoria. Every green leaf was stripped or scorched from the trees and the Ambrym bush resembled a winter scene on a dark November day in England. The land was a very desolation to behold. The place at which they were congregated seemed in no immediate danger; and with the promise that we would return and rescue them later, we set off with all possible speed for the hospital district, where the people were in the greatest danger (Frater 1922: 11-15).

In addition to the recollection of Maurice Frater, there are also the memories of the people from Ambrym. Chief Willie Bongmatur tells the story of when the volcano erupted in 1913, as told to him by his father and grandfather who were residing at Dip Point on the northwest coast of Ambrym. The cause of the volcanic eruption of 7 December 1913 is believed to have been the action of humans. Chief Bongmatur’s grandfather was the chief of Lonwolwol village, the family’s traditional home at Dip Point. The village had a hospital staffed by two doctors from New Zealand, one of whom also worked as a Presbyterian missionary (Robert Lamb). There was also a school, attended by students from throughout the islands, coming from places such as Malo, Tongoa, Efate and even the southern islands. Chief Bongmatur tells the following story:

Our Islands’ Beginnings

Long Ambrym, wan man o wan jif we oli kakae tabu faea, kokonas blong hem tabu, we evri man i no save dring mo ol woman i no save dring, be hem i blong hem wan nomo. So i mekem se long wan Sande, ol studen we oli stap long hospital, oli go long ol defren vilij antap long bus. Oli stap go skul long ol defren vilij, be yu save, kastom blong yumi, taem ol man i kam olsem oli mas kakae fastaem bifo oli go bak. Taem oli kakae finis, oli putum haf kakae long basket oli karem. Oli karem i go, ale, taem oli stap kambak ia oli lukum long rod wan kokonas, blong hae man ia, we nem blong hem Malmur. Hem i blong Hawo. Ale, sam long olgeta ia i talem: “Kokonas ia i tabu olsem wanem? Yumi traem dring.” Ale, oli mekem nao. Wan long olgeta ia i go antap long kokonas ia. Hem i katem i kam daon. Sapos i tekem wan nomo, inaf blong olgeta ia nomo, be i katem bandel i kam daon. Oli no finisim kokonas ia. Oli putum wud long bandel kokonas. Nao, oli karem i kam daon long solwota. Taem we oli karem i kam daon long solwota, evri man tu oli dring kokonas ia. Hem i wan fasin we oli daonem hae jif ia, from we oli daonem tabu blong hem. From long Ambrym, taem yu dring wan kokonas olsem, yu mas pem faen blong wan pig. Mo jif bae i tekem pig i go long nasara blong mekem tabu blong hem i stanap strong bakegen. Be olgeta i no mekem samting ia. Ale, i stap gogo nao, oli tokbaot se ol abu blong mifala bae oli finis long tabu faea. [The villagers then decided to have a custom ceremony.] Nao oli rere long vilij, oli sendem toktok i go long Not. Olgeta long Not tu i kam long seremoni ia. Wan seremoni blong ol abu ia we i finis long tabu faea. Oli mekem kakae. Long Lonwolwol, oli talem se long level ples ia. Oli putum kakae narawan saed rod mo nara saed rod. Taem we oli go stap, papa blong mi i talem se, oli go nao. Ol pikinini i go kakae long tabu faea ia long abu, we nem blong hem Wungimar. Hem i stret pikinini long hae jif blong ples ia. Abu blong mi, from se hem i hae jif blong ples ia, i tekem tufala brata blong hem wetem wan smol papa, mo oli go long haos blong dokta. Ale dokta i tekemaot nambas blong tufala mo bigfala strap blong tufala. Ale i givim traoses long tufala, i shevem tufala, putum ol klos long tufala. Ale i brekem bred, i givim long tufala olfala ia. Hem i wan saen blong tufala i finis long tabu faea. Taem we oli finis long haos blong dokta, oli folem rod. Ale, Wungimar i go pusum han long ol laplap we oli mekem i stap. Ale hem i tekem wan pis kakae long han blong hem, i putum antap, ale i toktok: “Ol fren, ol bigman, ol woman, mo ol pikinini. Olsem we mi stamba blong kastom, nao mi singaot Skul tu i kam. Tedei yumi kam wan. Ol samting i fri.” Ale, i pusum han long kakae ia i folem rod i go krosem rod, i mekem sem fasin. Taem we hem i mekem aksen ia, ol hae man long defren vilij oli kam daon. Oli lukluk, oli krae. Oli krae from we ol hae man blong kastom oli finis mo oli kam daon. Taem we ol seremoni i finis, oli go bak, be i gat wan narafala olfala blong Nakul, nem blong hem Ling Mal. Hem, hem i no kam. Be taem ol man oli go bak nao hem i askem: “Yufala i go be tufala hae man blong Lonwolwol oli talem wanem?” Oli talem se: “Oli talem se naoia evri samting i fri mo ol man i kam wan.” Taem ia nao, Ling Mal i talem se: “Oraet, bae yufala i go talem long tufala hae man ia se bambae long tu wik bae mi kam visitem ples blong tufala.” Be taem i talem tu wik ia, hem i putum taem blong volkeno i ronem Dip Point. Hem ia nao, tu wik ia, oli luk saen blong volkeno. I gat wan klaod we mifala i kolem Worwor. Taem i pusum olsem, i poenem wan ples. Hem i minim se volkeno, taem hem i jam long hol, bae i go olsem mo bambae i folem rod ia. Hem ia nao, taem we volkeno hem i bloap, hem i kamaot long hol blong hem long midel blong aelan. Hem i long wei ia. Mi no save hamas kilometa. Nao i kam from. Taem i kam aot long hol, hem i flae olsem pijin. Gogo, i kam

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

sidaon long Dip Point, long hospital. Taem i kam daon long hospital i no gat taem. Ol man oli kam long solwota. Oli tekem olgeta olfala mo putum olgeta long bot. Sip i sakem olgeta long Malakula, long Lamap, mo long Weso, mo long Bui, long ol ples ia, from hem i klosap. Evacuee: person who is evacuated, or removed from, an area for reasons of safety

(Interview by Sara Lightner and Ambong Thompson, Vanuatu Cultural Centre, 2004)

Chief Bongmatur then relates the story of what happened to the evacuees. Boats from other islands also came to rescue villagers. Some went to live on other islands and some went to stay with relatives in other villages on Ambrym, such as Chief Bongmatur’s family when they returned from Malakula. But the people of Dip Point remember the cause of the 1913 volcanic explosion. Tedei, mifala i save tu se naoia problem i no save hapen from we ol olfala oli draonem basket blong kastom ia. Taem we oli bin ronwe i go long Malakula, olfala ia, Ling Mal, i bin ron tu ia. Taem oli go long Malakula nao sam long ol olfala ia i wantem sakem olfala [Ling Mal] long solwota, wetem masket blong hem. Be wan narafala olfala i bin blokem. Be oli sakem basket blong hem nomo aot long sip, we hem i bin fulumap wetem hed blong devel, we volkeno i stap long hem. Hem ia nao, taem we oli sakem basket ia, wetem masket blong hem, oli luk se hed blong devel ia i faerap. Hem ia i min se paoa ia oli sakem long solwota. Hem ia nao i mekem se problem blong volkeno i stop.

Thinking further We have read about the physical damage that the eruption of Mount Benbow caused to the landscape of Ambrym. We have also read about the evacuation of many people from the Dip Point/Lonwolwol area of Ambrym. How do you think that this evacuation affected their lives? Think about custom, language and traditions. Writing activities 1. The ﬁrst excerpt is from the perspective of a European missionary. Compare and contrast it with the story of Chief Willie Bongmatur. How is it the same? How is it different? 2. In Midst Volcanic Fires, Frater (1922: 25) discusses the cooperation of Ambrym’s neighbouring islands. Many people from Ambrym were taken to Malakula and Paama by boat to escape the danger of the volcano. He writes, “The Christian natives of Paama and Malekula treated the Ambrym refugees with the greatest hospitality. A committee of chiefs was formed to make arrangements for their disposal among the villages and the tribes simply vied with each other as to which would carry away the largest number of refugees.” Imagine that you are living on an island that has an active volcano. If your island faced a disaster such as the people of Ambrym faced in 1913, who would you and your family turn to for assistance? What do you think that your immediate needs would be? What could other communities do to help you and your family? This photo was taken by anthropologist Felix Speiser during his work in Vanuatu from 1910-1912. It is entitled, ‘Drum, Ambrym, height 350 centimetres.’ Speiser took this photo before Mt. Benbow erupted in 1913, destroying this drum and many other aspects of the culture of the Dip Point area. This drum is the famous Etingting Gelan, which belonged to the Mweleun Namal of Dip Point.

Our Islands’ Beginnings

A Closer Look– The resettlement of Maat Village In November 1951, the Condominium Government evacuated most of the population of Southeast, South and West Ambrym. Heavy volcanic ash falls and lava flows from Mount Benbow ruined gardens and coconuts, causing some house roofs to collapse. Visibility was reduced so much that it was difficult to tell night from day. An estimated 1300 people from Ambrym were evacuated. Of these, 750 went from Southeast Ambrym to East Epi; 350 went from the Craig Cove-Port Vato area to Tisman and Aulua on Malakula; and another 200 from Craig Cove-Port Vato went to Lamap, Malakula. Prior to the evacuation, nearly 400 people from Southeast Ambrym had already left independently, most of whom were recruited to work on various plantations on Epi. Some people did not agree with the evacuation and wished to stay on Ambrym. District Agents (British and French government officials) and policemen forced the people to stay on the beach and wait for the boats that were sent to transport them to Epi. The evacuation was very difficult because of rough seas and the people had to wait days just for the boats to arrive. The people from Ambrym were expected to start anew by building houses and planting gardens on the land that they were allotted by the government. The Government’s plan for the people of Southeast Ambrym was to have them recreate their communities in the area of Big Bay, East Epi. They thought that this was a good idea because it was close to Paama and Lopevi, where the language is similar to that of the people of Southeast Ambrym. Upon their arrival, there was nothing prepared for the people. They were expected to create their new communities with few supplies. They did not even have adequate cuttings to use for planting their new gardens. Also, they were very sad to leave their home island. The morale of the people of Southeast Ambrym was very low upon their arrival at Big Bay. The resettlement, which was already riddled with problems and difficulties, became a complete disaster when a cyclone passed through the New Hebrides and hit Emae, Epi and south-central Malakula on 24-25 December 1951. The cyclone killed an estimated 114 people and left 4000 people homeless. The cyclone killed nearly 50 people from the Southeast Ambrym settlement in Big Bay and ruined what progress they had made on their shelters and gardens. The creek near the settlement flooded and overflowed, drowning some people and washing others away. A huge landslide also engulfed one of the houses. A French planter based on the island of Efate, André Houdié, went to Big Bay and persuaded the people who had come from Maat Village on Southeast Ambrym to come and work for him on Efate. He gave them use of land at Mele on which to resettle and in return they provided labour for his plantation. The rest of the people from Southeast Ambrym gradually drifted back to their original village sites on Ambrym and rebuilt their villages, but the people who moved to Efate stayed in their new village. Today many people from Mele Maat travel back to their original village in Southeast Ambrym to see family and spend holidays. Their families on Ambrym also come to visit them on Efate.

Comprehension questions 1. Why do you think that the people of Maat decided to move to Efate and work for the French plantation owner? 2. Describe the ways in which acts of nature dictated the actions of the people of Maat.

M o r a l e : state of mind

Adapted from Tonkinson (1968).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatuâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Volume One

3. In general, what are the ways in which a volcanic ash fall affects a community? 4. Do you think that the Condominium Government was correct in its decisions concerning the evacuation of the people of Ambrym? Explain your answer. Writing activity 1. In your exercise book, trace a map of Vanuatu on one page. Label the islands named in the text. Identify the relocation sites. 2. If you had to leave your island because of a natural disaster and you could only take one thing with you as a memory of your home, what would you take? Why would you choose this object?

A Closer Lookâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Damage Done By Cyclone Uma Wrath: fury, powerful anger Colossal: huge, enormous

Tropical Cyclone UMA 5-9 February 1987 tracking map

On 7 February 1987, Vanuatu faced the wrath of Cyclone Uma. The destruction was colossal, affecting especially the Southern Islands and Vila. Many people lost their lives and many houses and buildings were damaged or completely destroyed. Numerous ships were damaged as well and some crews and passengers died or were lost at sea.

Our Islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Beginnings

The newspaper articles on this page and the following one are from The Vanuatu Weekly Hebdomadaire.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatuâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Volume One

Our Islands’ Beginnings

The next excerpt is from the ‘Final Report on Tropical Cyclone Uma’, published by the Vanuatu Meteorological Service on 3 March 1987. It is the text from a message that was read on Radio Vanuatu on 7 February 1987. Warning No. 26 Hurricane warning issued by the Vanuatu Meteorological Ofﬁce at 1500 hours on Saturday 7 February 1987. At midday today tropical cyclone UMA lay some 74 miles northwest of Efate moving in a southeast direction at about ten knots. At its present rate of progress it is expected to be close to Port Vila at about 6 o’clock this evening. The strong winds affecting all areas will increase steadily and are likely to be of hurricane force – that is of 75 knots with some gusts stronger than this. The heavy rain will continue for some time and is still liable to cause considerable ﬂooding in many areas. UMA’s path is still expected to pass close to all southern islands. People living in those areas should take all precautions now – before the cyclone reaches them. It is estimated that tropical cyclone UMA will be close to Erromango by midnight, to Tanna by 3 o’clock and to Aneityum by 6 o’clock tomorrow morning. Warning number 27 will be issued around 1900 hours this evening.

Comprehension questions Look at the path of Cyclone Uma on the map and answer the following questions. 1. Cyclone Uma came closest to which island in Vanuatu? 2. Which provinces were affected by storm force winds? 3. At midnight GMT on 7 February, the eye of Cyclone Uma was located (give a direction) of Malakula. Thinking further Why is it important to listen to the radio during a cyclone? In addition to the radio, what can we use to help us follow the path of the cyclone? Discussion activity Think of a cyclone that you remember during your lifetime. What was its name? Did it cause a lot of damage? Investigate Talk with one of your teachers, your parents, or another person at your school or one of the surrounding villages who remembers when Cyclone Uma passed through Vanuatu. Think of a list of ﬁve questions that you would like him/her to answer and write them down. Take this list with you when you interview the person. You may want to ask the person where s/he was during the cyclone or how the cyclone affected his/her life. You may want to take your book with you so that you can show the person the pictures of the damage caused by the cyclone.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

A Closer Look– Natural Disasters & Food Preservatiion We live in an area of the world that is especially prone to natural disasters. Analyse the following table. E s t i m a t e d L e v e l o f Vulnerability to Specific Natural Hazards

From Natural Disaster Reduction in Paciﬁc Island Countries – IDNDR Report 1994.

Country

Cyclones

Coastal Flooding

River Flooding

Tsunami

Earthquake

Landslide Drought

Volcanic Eruption

Cook Is. FSM Fiji Kiribati Marshall Is. Niue Palau PNG Solomon Is. Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Samoa

M M H L M M M L H M H L H M

M H H H H L M H H H H H H H

L L H H H M H H

M H H H H M M H H H H H H H

L L M L L L L H H L H L H M

L L H L L L L H H L L L H H

H H H H L

H H M H H M M M L H M M L L

Comprehension questions 1. If L stands for low, what are the meanings of M and H? 2. There is one other country that has the same levels of potential disasters as Vanuatu. Which is it? Thinking further 1. Why do you think that river ﬂooding is not a danger in Tokelau? 2. Why do you think that drought is not usually a big threat in Vanuatu?

Cyclones, ﬂoods, tidal waves, earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions are a part of life in Vanuatu. These disasters are not new; they have been happening since the beginning of time. Just as we have to be ready for potential disasters today, our grandparents and great-grandparents and our families from many generations before also had methods that they used to prepare for disasters. We must think about ways in which we can use the knowledge of our ancestors to help us during difﬁcult times. Preserving food is one way in which we can use the practices of our ancestors to assist us in our lives today. Historically, communities survived disasters by their detailed knowledge of wild foods available in the sea and land. While some foods were cultivated or regularly harvested, others that perhaps involved more work or were not considered as tasty were eaten when there was no alternative.

Our Islands’ Beginnings

In 1999, the Women Fieldworkers Workshop at the Cultural Centre focused their work and research on Kastom Kakae. Thirty-two women came together from different islands to discuss many different aspects of custom food preparation. One specific topic was ‘Ol kakae long taem blong hariken’. In the following excerpts, fieldworkers tell of the preparation of food during disaster times. You can read more about food preparation in Kastom Kakae: Ripot Blong Woksop Blong Ol Woman Filwoka. 11-22 Oktoba 1999. Dora Remo – Paama Fastaem bae mi tokbaot ol kastom kakae blong hariken. Olsem mi askem wan olfala man. Olfala jif ia hem i stap tokbaot ol kastom kakae blong hariken. Taem hariken i kilim Paama bifo oli stap yusum bredfrut olsem we sam mama oli talem finis. Oli digim hol i go daon. Taem man i go daon oli no save luk hem. Afta oli putum ol lif daon oli putum ol bredfrut ia wetem skin nomo. Evri samting i go long hem kasem faev dei blong hem. Long faev dei oli go digimaot. Oli tekemaot ol sit blong hem mo skin blong hem, afta oli putum narafala lif daon. Man we i wantem go daon long hol ia oli mas wasem gud leg blong hem from bae doti i no go long bredfrut ia. Oli putum gogo i finis ale oli kavremap olsem olgeta blong Tongoa. Oli talem se oli putum ston antap long hem. Oli mekem se bae wota i no save go insaed long hem, afta oli berem. Oli berem i stap. Sapos we hariken i kam mo i nogat kakae oli save go digim, oli karem smol nomo i kam, oli putum long lif. Oli bekem long ston bakegen, afta oli kakae. Samtaem oli stap kakae olsem nomo wetem kokonas be olsem kakae blong hariken i gat fulap. Long lanwis blong mifala, nem blong bredfrut ia ame.

Leisara Kalotiti – West Efate Long taem blong hangri we bigfala san i stap, i nogat kakae. I gat wan rop we ating plante long yumi kakae rop ia. Rop ia mifala i talem se neka. Yu go long bus yu digim rop. Afta ol olfala abu woman oli mekem faea mo oli kukum rop ia long ston. Taem we yu karemaot long ston olsem ia yu save kakae. Nao yu juim olsem yu juim sugaken. So rop ia mifala i singaotem neka.

Sophie Nemban – Erromango Olsem bifo long taem blong bigfala hariken, ol olfala blong mifala oli yusum kakae ia blong hariken. Hem i yam, ol raon wan ia. Bifo oli stap yusum ol wael yam, lif kokonas, bambu, faeawud, bigfala riva kabis. Bifo taem hariken i kam oli go wokbaot long bus. Oli fulumap ol wael yam afta oli kam be bifo oli yusum ol bambu blong skinimaot ol kakae. Oli katemaot ol skin blong wael yam afta oli putum insaed long basket mo oli go draonem long wan wota. Afta i stap faev dei. Taem faev dei i pas oli go karemaot. Oli wasem gud. Oli mekem faea long ston afta oli bekem long ston. Oli bekem wetem wan kabis we i no aelan kabis be wan lif we bifo ol olfala blong mifala oli stap kakae. Lif ia i stap gro long solwota. Ating sam long yumi ol woman aelan ﬁlwoka i faenem se wanwan long aelan blong yumi oli stap yusum kaen lif ia worvauo, hem i yelo wan ia i stap konkon. Bifo oli yusum olsem blong mekem i kam gud blong oli kakae wetem lif we i stap long solwota.

Diana May – Loh, Torres Mifala i gat wan spesel kakae we mifala i stap priperem blong taem we hariken i spolem ol kakae blong mifala. Kakae ia hem i natanggura laplap. Long lanwis blong mifala i kolem se nou. Taem hariken i ﬁnis mo i spolem ol kakae blong garen, bae mifala i save go long ples we mifala i planem natanggura. Mifala i luk ol natanggura we hariken i mekem olgeta i foldaon. Mifala i karem naef, afta mifala i katem. Mifala i splitim stamba blong natanggura long tri o fo pis, mifala i katem wan

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

bambu we i sotfala nomo, afta mifala i katem wan smol hol long ring blong bambu ia. Mifala i putum wan wud i go insaed long ring blong bambu ia afta bae mifala i stap katemaot ol gat blong natanggura. Mifala i putum lif laplap long graon blong taem mifala i katem gat blong natanggura bae ol gat blong natanggura ia i folfoldaon i go long lif laplap ia. Taem mifala i katem finis mifala i fulumap insaed long wan basket we oli wivim long lif kokonas. Lif i go insaed long basket ia, afta mifala i kapsaetem ol gat blong natanggura ia i go insaed. Afta mifala i karem. Naoia yumi yusum ol dis be fastaem mifala i yusum wan smol basket. Putum lif i go insaed afta wota blong ren mifala i kapsaetem i go insaed, afta mifala i kapsaetem gat blong natanggura i go insaed. Afta mifala i stap skwisim. Taem mifala i skwisim bae yu luk wota blong hem i red. Ol makas blong hem mifala i sakem. Mifala i putum long basket ia blong fiftin minit. Staj blong hem i stat blong stak long lif blong laplap ia. Taem yu luk se staj blong hem i bigwan, yu kapsaedemaot wota blong hem, mo bae yu luk se staj blong natanggura ia i red. Wota blong hem i mas kamaot evriwan afta yu putum long san bae yu luk i olsem flaoa. I stap long san tri o fo wik olsem blong i drae gud. Afta bae mifala i karem, putum long grin lif blong ambrela we i bin drae long san, afta fasem wetem rop blong lif mat. Finis, mifala i putum antap long ples we mifala i stap kuk long hem, blong faea i stap smokem oltaem. Taem mifala i putum olsem bae mifala i save kakae tri o fo yia olsem. Taem mifala i wantem kakae, mifala i go tekemaot pasel blong natanggura ia, tekemaot smolsmol afta go bekem wetem kabis insaed long hol blong laplap. Bifo mifala i stap mekem wetem wan kaen kabis ia i stap gro taem burao i gat frut blong hem. Bambae frut blong hem i folfoldaon be bae yu luk se frut ia we bae i gro i kam antap, kabis. Afta bae yu luk se frut blong kabis ia bae i olsem frut blong burao, flaoa hem i yelo. Kaen kabis ia nao mifala i stap mekem wetem staj blong natanggura mo mifala i save mekem wetem wan kaen red lif.

Writing activity Think about the different disasters that we face in Vanuatu (look at the table categories). How can each of these disasters affect our food crops? Investigate Form groups of three or four people and investigate methods of food preservation. Talk to your teachers, friends and people in the community. Does anyone know of any other methods in which food was preserved in the past that are different than the ones described above? Are these still used today? Why is it important to know these methods? How do you think that methods of food preservation may have differed from island to island? Make sure that you write down notes when you are talking to people. Each group can then orally report back their ﬁndings to the class.

A Closer Look– Disaster Plans & School Mapping Natural disasters are a part of our lives. We know that some come upon us unexpectedly, such as earthquakes. We have warnings for other disasters, such as cyclones. Being prepared for disasters, whether or not we know about them ahead of time, can help to decrease the potential damage they bring to our communities. Read the following excerpt from Vulnerability Reduction: A Community Training Guide

Our Islands’ Beginnings

for Paciﬁc Island Countries, published by FSPI Island Consulting in December 2000. Disaster preparedness at a community level is not primarily about learning facts. It is about taking responsibility for our own families and possessions in practical ways. It is about skills and attitudes that we apply throughout our daily lives and that enable us to better respond to a range of immediate and long-term situations. These include: · Leadership · Planning · Responsibility · Cooperation · Commitment These skills are neither speciﬁc nor unique to disasters. They are general skills that can be useful in many aspects of our lives.

P r e p a r e d n e s s : measures taken to reduce to the minimum level possible, the loss of human lives and other damage, through the organising of prompt and efﬁcient actions of response and rehabilitation.

Thinking further Study the opposite graphic. Preparing for a disaster falls into which category of the Disaster Cycle? Group Activity One way in which we can prepare for a disaster is to create a plan to follow in case of an emergency situation. In the following exercise we will prepare a plan for our school.Split your class into four groups. Each group will become a team that will work together to create one part of an emergency plan for your school. All of the groups will then come together to formulate the “Emergency Plan of Action” for the school. Group 1– Map Drawing This group is in charge of creating a map of the school. Begin by drawing a sketch on the blackboard and transfer your map to poster paper. Be sure to include all outbuildings, trees, shrubs and footpaths. Group 2– Building and Yard Assessment This group is in charge of assessing all buildings and the yard of the school Walk around the schoolyard and make a list of things that you see that could be potentially dangerous (poorly attached rooﬁng, tree limbs that need to be trimmed, etc.) When you have made your list, make sure that you also write down what needs to be done to solve the problems. For example: • Bathroom door hinge broken– nails needed to re-attach the hinge. These areas of potential danger are called vulnerabilities. Group 3– Emergency Plan: Cyclone This group is in charge of writing a plan of action for a cyclone. What steps should the school community follow if there is a cyclone imminent? Put these steps in chronological order. There may be many steps in your plan and some of them may happen simultaneously. Example ideas: 1. School secretary is in charge of listening to the radio and following the cyclone tracking map. S/he will report this news to the teachers, who will then inform the students. A cyclone tracking map should be laminated and placed in every classroom during cyclone season. 2. Year 10 must put window shutters in place.

From DPM: Integrating Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation in Your Work (n.d.: 15).

V u l n e r a b i l i t y : risk

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

3. Year 9 must carry all books and supplies to the office. Group 4– Emergency Plan: Earthquake This group is in charge of writing a plan of action for an earthquake. What steps should the school community follow if an earthquake occurs? Example ideas: 1. In advance, each class should have a designated person in charge (class leader). This person will be responsible for maintaining control of his/her classroom and reporting to the principal after the earthquake has occurred. 2. Once a month the school should practice earthquake drills to ensure that everyone knows what to do. Group 5– Emergency Plan: Fire Evacuation In addition to natural disasters, communities are sometimes faced with situations that have been created by people. This group is in charge of writing a plan of action in case of a fire on school grounds (this includes the kitchen and the dormitories). What steps should the school follow in order to prepare for a fire? Example ideas: 1. Design an escape route for each room in the school. 2. Choose a meeting place for each class (under the nakavika, etc.) and place a student leader in charge of making sure that each student is present. 3. Write a list of rules that will lessen the potential for fire hazards on the school grounds. When the groups have completed their tasks, each group should present their material to the class. As a class, everyone should assist in revising the map and the plans. Ask your principal for permission to present the ‘Emergency Plan of Action’ to the school staff at their next staff meeting. The staff can give their comments and suggestions for revision of the plan. The plan should then be presented to the entire student body. Investigate 1. Interview an older person who lives near your school. How did people prepare for disasters in the past? How did communities organise themselves in preparation for natural disasters? 2. Think about ways in which your family can prepare for disasters. When you go home for the Christmas holidays, talk with your parents or guardians about ways in which you can make sure that your house, gardens and yard are prepared for a disaster. You can even create an “Emergency Plan of Action” for your home.

Our islands were born from ﬁre within the earth. Both the origin stories and scientiﬁc explanation agree on this fact. Our islands’ powerful beginnings are still a reality for us today, which is why we need to know how to look after ourselves in times of natural disasters. We have learned how the young islands were colonised by plant and animal life. In the next unit, ‘The Peopling of Our Islands’, we will learn how our human ancestors colonised our archipelago.

unit two

The Peopling of Our Islands

Population Movement Across the Asia Pacific Region As we have already explored in ‘Our Islands’ Beginnings’, we know that science explains M i g r a t i o n : the movement of the birth of our islands by underwater volcanic activity and uplift caused by plate tecton- people ics. We also know that our islands are geologically younger than most of the other land- S u n d a : the former landmass masses of the world. The islands gradually changed shape over millions of years. Rivers that is now SE Asia formed, volcanoes erupted, earthquakes shook the ground and the changing ocean lev- S a h u l : the former landmass els reshaped the coastlines again and again. Eventually humans began to move into the that broke up to create Tasmania, islands and they found coral reef-lined coasts, small islets near the coasts of larger is- New Guinea and Australia lands, freshwater rivers and thick forests. The migration of people into the islands did H u n t e r - g a t h e r er: people not happen all at once; it depended on a number of migrations into other areas that oc- who hunt and collect food from curred prior to the migration to our islands. In order to study and understand the hu- their environment for survival; they do not practise agriculture man migration into Vanuatu and the other islands of the Pacific, we need to understand the migrations through the landmasses surrounding the islands of Vanuatu. Modern humans have their origin on the African continent. They spread to Asia and Europe around 100,000 years ago. At that time, the sea level was much lower and coastlines did not look as they do today. Southeast Asia was a unified landmass called Sunda; New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania were joined, forming the Sahul landmass. For the early movement of people from Asia toward the Pacific water crossings were necessary. This was a time when the sea level was around 100 metres lower than it is today. These early people reached the shores of Sahul about 50,000 years ago, which is the earliest demonstration of navigation over distances exceeding 100 kilometres. The Oceanians were the first open sea sailors and navigators in the world. As these first hunter-gatherers spread across Sahul, they discovered the eastern shores of the subcontinent. About The Sunda and Sahul landmasses (Spriggs 1997: 25)

Climatic: relating to weather patterns in a certain area

Adapted from Green (2002) and Sand (2004).

Pleistocene: before 10,000 years ago Map 1: The Pleistocene supercontinent of Sahul (Kirch 1997: 27).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

40,000 years ago some groups occupying the northeast coast of present-day Papua New Guinea sailed onward toward an eastern landmass, now called New Britain. From here neighbouring islands were settled and so on, continuing through to the northern Solomon Islands at least 28,000 years ago and Manus 20,000 years ago. Thus the islands of Near Oceania, which included the islands of present day Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, were settled. The time lag between these settlement estimations points to the slow development of seafaring abilities in the Bismarck Archipelago during this period. About 12,000 years ago, the world entered a warmer climatic period. Glacial icecaps melted and sea levels rose rapidly. The rising ocean flooded low areas. Peaks and mountains that were not covered by water are the present-day areas of Southeast Asia as well as many of the island groups such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Sahul separated into the smaller landmasses we know today as New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania. Migration from Near Oceania to Remote Oceania (the rest of the Pacific islands, as shown on the map on the next page) did not occur until 3300-3200 years ago. This is interesting to note, as there was a long period of time between the settling of Near Oceania and Remote Oceania. Next, there was a fairly rapid movement into Central East Polynesia and East Micronesia, which were settled in two different stages. The early stage was 2200-2500 years ago and the late stage was 2000-1500 years ago. New Zealand (Aotearoa) was one of the last areas to be occupied by people and was permanently settled 700-800 years BP (before present). This is just a general timeline of the peopling of the Pacific; it is not necessary to memorise the dates or the number of years between migrations. It is more important for you to understand the chronological order and the general movement of the migrations in order to better comprehend the migration of people to our islands. To better understand, let’s look at the following maps.

The Peopling of Our Islands

Comprehension questions 1. Look at Map 1. Study the key. Look at the border of the Pleistocene coastline and compare it with the modern coastline. As the ocean levels rose and some of the land was submerged, what countries were formed out of the landmass of Sahul? 2. Look at Map 2 and ﬁnd the Bismarck Archipelago. It is located between what groups of islands? 3. Where is the break between Near and Remote Oceania? Vanuatu is located in which region? 4. After migrating to Vanuatu, people then began to move to what areas in the Paciﬁc?

Map 2: Islands and Archipelagos of the Southwest Paciﬁc, Near and Remote Oceania (Kirch 1997: 5).

Collecting Evidence The information in the previous section was obtained through linguistic and archaeological/scientiﬁc research. There are various ways to collect evidence for events in early human history: tracing language roots, digging up ancient items of material culture made by people that can then be dated, or even examining the evidence of environmental changes throughout time. Oral histories and ancient artwork also provide information about the past. All of these help to paint a picture of our distant past. The next two ‘A Closer Look’ sections examine the work of archaeologists and linguists and how they gather evidence to construct this picture.

M a t e r i a l c u l t ure: the materials that were used by a culture group in their daily lives

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Near and Remote Oceania

Flora: plant life and vegetation Fauna: animals

Instead of using the terms Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia to talk about the islands of the Pacific, we can refer to the areas of Near Oceania and Remote Oceania. Near Oceania includes New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the majority of the Solomon Islands. Remote Oceania consists of the other islands to the north, east and south of the black line on Map 2. There are a couple of reasons to identify the islands by the terms of Near and Remote Oceania. First, the types of animals and plants of the two groups are very different. Near Oceania’s flora and fauna is more varied and numerous than that of Remote Oceania. This is probably because it was easier for plants and animals to spread through Near Oceania in the past as a result of the landmass of Sahul. The landmasses were closer together which made species dispersal easier. Conversely, many of these animals and plants were not able to travel to the islands of Remote Oceania because of the vast amounts of water that separated the landmasses. This is apparent when looking at Map 2. Secondly, Near Oceania was peopled much earlier than Remote Oceania. As we have read, there was a time lapse of over 35,000 years between the migrations to Near and Remote Oceania. Just as it was difficult for plants and animals to find their way to Remote Oceania because of the long distance between the landmasses, so it was also difficult for people. Therefore, the peopling of our archipelago and other landmasses in Remote Oceania occurred much later than the peopling of the Bismarck Archipelago and the other areas of Near Oceania.

A Closer Look– Archaeology: Digging up the Past

Artefacts: objects from the past Excavate: dig up

Sieve: to sift through

Stratigraphy: the layering of the earth

Archaeology is the study of how people lived in the past. Archaeologists use their research to understand the changes that have occurred in human lives over hundreds, thousands and even millions of years. Archaeology uses the objects that people made or used in the past to understand what happened in the past. These objects are called artefacts. Archaeologists excavate to find evidence of old villages or population centres. Different kinds of evidence include pottery, bones, shells, sometimes plant remains and charcoal from old fires. The objects are carefully taken out of the ground and studied to find out about the people who used them. The term excavation is just another word for digging the ground. Archaeologists mark out an area, for example 1m by 1m, with string and begin to dig down evenly across the square. The square hole is called a test pit. An archaeologist has to be careful when digging, as everything that is found must be recorded. Most material that is carefully sieved is put into plastic bags with details of the depth of the hole from which the material was taken. The photo on the opposite page illustrates the large squares that were dug by José Garanger and his team when they excavated a site on the island of Tongoa. An artefact’s position in the ground tells many things about its age relative to the position of other artefacts (artefacts on top are younger than those underneath, which is a study in stratigraphy). But what about finding the actual age of an artefact? The most

The Peopling of Our Islands

Excavation at Mangarisu, Tongoa. Ewose and Valea are in the distance (Garanger 1972: 239).

common method of doing this is by using carbon dating, also called C-14 dating. This process involves many other sciences including physics, chemistry and biology. Because C-14 dating relies on the amount of carbon that is present in an object, it can only be used to test organic material (items that were once living) such as plants, wood burnt in a fire, bones and shellfish. There are two kinds of carbon in living objects, C-12 and C-14. As the objects grow older C-14 changes into C-12. By measuring the percentage of the kinds of carbon that are left in the material, one can find out the age of the material. After something dies the amount of C-14 that it holds decreases at a constant rate. Therefore, the older the object, the less C-14 it contains and more C-12 is present. C-14 dating gives an object a particular date relating to the time that it died, but C-14 dating only works on objects that are less than 50,000 years old. By dating the remnants of wood from a buried fire pit, one can connect this to the human activity that occurred at the time. The artefacts that archaeologists dig out of the ground are grouped under the term material culture. Archaeology relies upon the principle that material culture is related to the behaviours of the people who made it. For example, if archaeologists found a stone made into an arrow-head, they could suggest that the owners used to hunt animals with stone-tipped arrows or spears. A type of material culture that is important in telling the story of the migration into the Pacific is pottery sherds. Most people in Vanuatu do not use pottery today, but they did many years ago. So an important question is, when did people start making pottery and when and why did they stop? Other questions include: what methods did people use in their gardens thousands of years ago and when did they first become horticulturalists? By studying the artefacts that they find, archaeologists are able to come to conclusions about the lives of the people who once lived in the area that they are excavating.

S h e r d : a piece of pottery

H o r t i c u l t u r a l ists: people who cultivate crops for their subsistence

Some of the information for this section was taken from Hoffman (2001) and Mills (1982).

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Let us again consider the pottery sherds that have been found throughout the Pacific. The presence of the sherds tells us that the area was once occupied by people who made and used pottery. Archaeologists use these pottery sherds in many different ways. They can look at the type of sand or clay from which the pottery was made to find out if it was made locally or traded from another location. By using a microscope to look at the remnants in the bottom of the pots, archaeologists can study the different foods that the people used to eat. Archaeologists can also study the different designs that are on the pottery sherds. Pots with little decoration often have their bases burnt by fire, which is a sign that they were probably used as cooking pots. Other finely decorated pots do not have burnt bases, suggesting that they were used for other purposes, possibly in ceremonies and for trading. Pottery sherds can also give the archaeologist indications of social interaction and even methods of identification within a population group. Many things can be learned about people’s behaviour and activities by analysing artefacts such as pottery sherds. Through excavating, dating and analysing the material culture that is found throughout our islands, archaeologists are able to provide us with a clearer picture of how our ancestors lived and how the lives of people have changed over time.

Excavation, presumed burial sites at Itakuma, Tongoa (Garanger 1972: 258).

Comprehension questions 1. What sort of evidence do archaeologists use to create pictures of how people lived in the past? 2. In your own words, explain how C-14 dating works. Thinking further In addition to those mentioned in the text, can you think of some other examples of material culture?

The Peopling of Our Islands

Discussion activity The Vanuatu Cultural and Historic Sites Survey (VCHSS) at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre researches and records important cultural and historic sites throughout our islands. These include archaeological sites. Why are archaeological ﬁndings important to us?

A Closer Look– What do Linguists do? Perhaps you have met researchers who have come from other countries to study one of our many languages. When these researchers come, they stay in villages and ask many questions to people in the village, whom they refer to as ‘speakers’. They record the different words and sounds of a language in order to learn how to correctly speak the language. Many people are confused about the work of these researchers and do not understand why these people come to Vanuatu. Why are they asking all of these questions about our languages? When they leave Vanuatu, what do they do with the information that they have collected about different languages? People who study languages are called linguists and the study of language is called linguistics. Linguists analyse languages in order to have a better understanding of their construction. They look at many different aspects of a language, from the individual sounds that make up words, to the way that speakers construct sentences. Linguists have a special way in which they study languages. They place languages into groups that they call families. By studying all of the different words and sounds in a language, linguists can group languages into different families. Language families include languages that are related to one another. Related languages are those that have certain similarities in their vocabularies, pronunciation and grammar. Languages can even be placed on a family tree to show their relationship to one another, just as we can make a family tree to show the relationships between our family members. Linguists take all of the related languages and make hypotheses concerning how these languages originally came from an ancestor language, called a protolanguage. This shows how a number of related languages develop from a single earlier language. A single group speaks language X. This community splits into four groups, A, B, C and D. After a few hundred years these four groups begin to speak different dialects of the same language (A dialect begins to form when communities begin to speak the same language differently. They can still communicate with each other, but there are some

L i n g u i s t : people who study languages L i n g u i s t i c s : the study of languages

P r o t o l a n g u a g e: an ancestor language D i a l e c t : branch of language, speakers of different dialects of a language can usually understand each other, e.g. American English is a dialect of English

Genetic Relationships (Lynch 1998: 11).

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differences in the way that they speak and the grammar that they use.) After a thousand years or more, the four dialects eventually become different languages. Now it is difﬁcult for the people in the groups to communicate with one another, because their languages have changed considerably.

Comparative linguis t i c s : the comparison of different languages

From Lynch (1978) and Lynch (1998).

What do linguists do with the information that they collect? Some linguists come to Vanuatu to assist the native speakers of languages. Native speakers are those who speak a language as their first language. There are many languages in Vanuatu that have not been recorded on paper, but have been passed orally from generation to generation. Some linguists learn a language and then show the speakers how to write their language. This ensures that the speakers have a written record of their language. Sometimes linguists publish dictionaries, language studies and children’s stories in local languages. Bible translation into local languages is another area of work for some linguists. There are many dictionaries and reports on various languages in the Vanuatu Collection at the National Library that have been written by linguists. Other linguists come and study the history of Vanuatu. They use languages and their relationships with one another to help them understand changes that occurred in the past. Comparative linguistics is one of the disciplines that contributes to the study of prehistory, along with other disciplines such as archaeology and oral tradition. Linguists can compare and contrast many different languages in order to make hypotheses about the first migrations of people throughout the islands, as well as back-migrations that occurred later in time. They can also make hypotheses about prehistoric culture (for example, the staple crops that were used by the first settlers) and the changes that took place throughout time by the words that can be reconstructed in a protolanguage. The work of linguists is very interesting and contributes to our continuing knowledge of Vanuatu in a number of ways. Whether by recording current languages for the existing population or reconstructing protolanguages to study the characteristics of past populations, we can learn a lot from the research completed by linguists.

Comprehension question Describe the work of a linguist. Thinking further There are more than 100 indigenous languages in Vanuatu. Which of these can you speak? Does your indigenous language have any written texts that you are aware of (e.g. dictionary, Bible)?

Moribund: in a dying state

Discussion activity Some of our languages have disappeared from daily use and others are in danger of being forgotten because of population decline, the dominance of other languages or the blending with other languages. As a class, list reasons why it is important to record these moribund languages. How can we revive their use?

The Peopling of Our Islands

Human Migration from Asia to the Bismarck Archipelago We now know that people arrived in our islands about three thousand years ago. But how did they travel here? Where did they come from? What did they bring with them? These are all questions that we will answer as we look at the migration of the group that has become known as the Lapita People. To begin this story we must go back 5500 years BP (before present) to the land area that we now know as Taiwan. At this time, a group of people migrated to Taiwan from South China. We refer to them as Austronesians. They spoke a language which we refer to today as Proto-Austronesian, grew rice as their staple food, made and designed clay pots and kept dogs and pigs. From Taiwan, people eventually moved on to other areas. They sailed on simple rafts to the north and central regions of the Philippines and the equatorial islands of Southeast Asia around 4200 BP. They continued to make clay pots, developed new agricultural techniques, grew yams and taro in their gardens instead of rice, kept chickens and improved their seafaring skills. Instead of using sailing rafts for sea travel, they began to construct canoes with sails. Eventually people began to move further south and east out of these areas and into the group of small islands that we now call the Bismarck Archipelago. Some people also stopped along the way and made settlements in areas north of the Bismarcks, such as the Mussau Islands. During their migration, the Austronesians found others inhabiting these islands. These people whom the Austronesians came upon had already been in the Bismarcks for thousands of years. They were the descendants of much earlier migrations, which we learned about in the previous section of this unit.

A u s t r o n e s i a n s : early peoples of the western PaciďŹ c

A Closer Lookâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; God Blong Ol Lapita

Mussau Islands, PNG, position of the Talepakemalai site in relation to the mid-Holocene shoreline (Kirch 1997: 169).

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In the following excerpt from On the Road of the Winds (2000), archaeologist Patrick Kirch describes an archaeological dig in the Mussau Islands of Papua New Guinea.

Trowelling: a method of taking soil, rocks etc., out of an excavation pit Stilt house: houses built on stilts, or legs Adjacent : next

Stilt house in the Mussau Islands (Kirch 1997: 174).

The reddish-gold light of early morning streamed laterally through motionless coconut palms and pandanus trees as the Eloaua village workmen and I headed up the narrow path toward our excavation at a place called Talepakemalai, in the Mussau Islands of Papua New Guinea. The sky was cloudless, I mused silently that it would be another scorching day in the breezeless excavation pit under a baking equatorial sun. Nothing hinted at any disruption in the normal routine of trowelling away the waterlogged sands that for more than three thousands years had smothered and protected the remains of this ancient village of stilthouses, which once fronted the lagoon at Talepakemalai. We took up our places, some at the screening platforms, others excavating. I asked Bauwa Sagila, a middle-aged man whom I had found to be an alert and careful excavator, to work in one of my 1-meter grid units, while I took up my place in the adjacent square. The work progressed steadily through the morning, sweat beginning to run in little rivulets off our brows as the tropical sun broke above the cool shade of the surrounding jungle. The point of my trowel revealed a cluster of reddish potsherds- still lying where they had settled in the shallow lagoon bed after being tossed off a stilt-house platform 3500 years ago– and I began painstakingly to expose them for photographing. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Bauwa had uncovered a small, elongate object of heavy bone, which he had left in place, knowing that I would want to measure and plot its location. After I had taken the object’s coordinates, Bauwa gingerly lifted the little piece of white bone, about four inches long, turning it over as he set it in his palm. Simultaneously, we caught our breath, two pairs of eyes riveted on the exquisitely carved, stylised human face that stared back emotionless, sunlight illuminating it for the ﬁrst time since it had found its watery grave more than three millennia earlier. Neither of us spoke; then Bauwa muttered in Melanesian pidgin, “God belong ol Lapita!” (Kirch 2000: 85-86).

The Peopling of Our Islands

Beneath the surface of our islands we can ﬁnd clues to our past.

Comprehension questions 1. Find the Mussau Islands on Map 2. Where are they located? 2. Are the Mussau Islands in Remote or Near Oceania? Refer to Map 2. Thinking further 1. What do you think that Kirch means by “watery grave”? 2. Why do you think that he refers to the object as “God blong ol man Lapita”?

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Arrival of the Lapita People, by Lucas Kukler, 2004.

Shark’s tooth found at Teouma excavation site, July 2004. This was possibly used for aesthetic purposes (Bedford 2004).

Lapita Cultural Com p l e x : the characteristics of the Lapita culture, including styles of pottery, shell adzes, shell ornaments and ﬁshing gear

Once they reached the Bismarck Archipelago, the Austronesians began to interact with the other groups of people who were already settled in the islands. All of these groups had different customs and ways of life and their interactions influenced each other’s cultures and languages. While the Austronesians were of a seafaring tradition, the people of Papuan origins (who had come to this area thousands of years before the Austronesians and were the original inhabitants of the Bismarck Archipelago) were considered land, or bush, people. These original inhabitants lived in scattered settlements as hunter-gatherers. The newly arrived groups of people constructed their settlements near the beach or in stilt houses over lagoons. They fished with trolling lures and fishhooks made of shell. As a result of interactions with the indigenous Papuan populations in the Bismarck Archipelago, aspects of the Austronesians’ culture began to change and develop. Pottery designs began to change and many archaeologists think that the core characteristics of the Lapita culture developed in the Bismarck Archipelago. Additionally, intermarriage between the groups probably occurred, which partly explains the physical differences between Asian and Pacific Austronesian speakers. The Lapita Cultural Complex refers to the characteristics of the Lapita People. It includes items such as ceramics (clay pots), shell adzes, fishing gear and shell ornaments (rings and bracelets). These items have all been found in excavations at Lapita sites. Through years of intermarriage and culturesharing, it is believed that the fusion of the voyaging Austronesian-speaking people and the indigenous Papuan speakers brought about the emergence of this cultural complex.

The Peopling of Our Islands

A Closer Look– A History of Languages in the Pacific We have already learnt about the work of linguists. Many linguists are interested in studying the languages of the Pacific because the region is the most linguistically diverse in the world. There are nearly 1400 languages spoken throughout the Pacific, which is almost one quarter of the world’s languages. These languages are spoken by only 0.1% of the world’s population. The following excerpt is from John Lynch’s Pacific Languages: an Introduction (1998). It explains the different language families throughout the Pacific. Austronesian Languages The Austronesian language family is one of the two largest language families in the world in number of member languages (The other is the Benue-Congo family in Africa.) The family as a whole has somewhere between a thousand and twelve hundred languages, spoken by almost three hundred million people. The map shows the distribution of Austronesian languages. Outside the Pacific Basin, Austronesian languages are spoken in Taiwan, in Malaysia and a few small pockets on the Asian mainland, in Madagascar and in almost all of island Southeast Asia. All the languages of the Philippines and almost all the languages of Indonesia (excluding most of West Papua) are Austronesian. About 450 Austronesian languages are spoken within the Pacific region. These include all the languages of Polynesia, Micronesia, Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, as well as almost all the languages of Solomon Islands. Only about one quarter of the languages of the New Guinea area belong to this area, however. Speakers of these languages generally occupy New Guinea’s offshore islands and some coastal areas, but very few inhabit inland areas (Lynch 1998: 45-46).

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Map of Austronesian Languages (Lynch 1998: 46).

Within Austronesian languages, there are different subgroups. A subgroup is a group of languages that are more closely related to one another. For example, the Polynesian languages form a subgroup within the larger Austronesian family. This implies that at some time in the past there was a single Polynesian language, from which all modern Polynesian languages are descended. The languages of Vanuatu and New Caledonia form the Southern Oceanic Group. Within the Southern Oceanic Group there are two groups. They are: • The North-Central Vanuatu subgroup– comprising the non-Polynesian languages of north and central Vanuatu from the Torres Islands to Efate. • The Southern Melanesian subgroup– with the non-Polynesian languages of Southern Vanuatu (Erromango, Tanna and Aneityum), New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands.

Oceanic Subgroups in Melanesia (Lynch 1998: 49).

The Peopling of Our Islands

Vanuatu’s Polynesian Outlier languages, which have Polynesian origins, do not ﬁt into either the North-Central Vanuatu or the Southern Melanesian subgroup. Most linguists think that these languages were probably a result of a Polynesian back-migration to Vanuatu. As we have already learned, during the original Lapita migration, many groups of people settled in our islands. Time passed and migrations continued to the islands of Polynesia. Hundreds of years passed and some people from Polynesia (Tuvalu, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna and perhaps Samoa) sailed back to the islands of Vanuatu. When they came to our islands, their languages affected the languages that were already being spoken. We will read more about this back-migration later in this unit. The languages of Emae, Iﬁra, Mele, Futuna and Aniwa provide us with linguistic evidence of this back-migration.

P o l y n e s i a n O u tliers: islands or villages outside of the Polynesian cultural area that display Polynesian culture, for example Mele village or Futuna Island

Chaining of language subgroups (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 179).

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Papuan and Australian Languages There are nearly a thousand languages spoken in the Pacific region that do not belong in the Austronesian family. These languages are placed into two groups, Papuan and Australian. Two hundred of these languages are Australian and the remainder are Papuan. The majority of these languages are found throughout Australia and in the interior of New Guinea. Papuan languages cannot trace their beginnings to a single original language. The story of these language groups is very complicated because the speakers have been in the Pacific much longer than Austronesian speakers. We do not know where the speakers came from and it is difficult to trace their movements and migrations. The only thing that we can be sure of is that by the time the Austronesian speakers were moving along the northern coast of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the western Solomon Islands, speakers of Papuan and Australian languages had been established in these areas for a very long time.

Thinking further Imagine that it is 3000 years ago and you are migrating with your family group from the area of the Bismarck Archipelago. Eventually you will reach the islands that we now call Vanuatu. Would you encounter Papuan speakers in your new home of Vanuatu? Did you encounter Papuan speakers along the way? If so, where?

Using Linguistics to Study History The following excerpt again comes from Lynch’s Pacific Languages: An Introduction (1998). Linguists construct hypotheses about the interrelationships of languages to attempt to find out about the past. These theories about past languages and language splits generally lead to theories about the origins and migrations of peoples. In many cases, one can compare linguistic and archaeological hypotheses in an effort to put both on a firmer footing.

Reconstruct: rebuild

We have already looked at how we can use archaeological evidence to understand the origins of our ancestors. Linguistic evidence is another tool that we can use to better understand the migration patterns of our islands’ ﬁrst inhabitants. How can we use language to look at the past? One method is to reconstruct the languages of the past. When we study the words that they used, it helps us to better understand their lives. To reconstruct languages, linguists take words from present languages and formulate hypotheses about the structure and words in the protolanguage. For example, Proto-Austronesian is the language from which all members of the Austronesian family are presumed to have derived. Proto-Oceanic is the language from which all members of the Oceanic subgroup of Austronesian are presumed to have derived.

Discussion activities Discuss these points as a class and come up with answers to the questions: 1. There are Proto-Austronesian words that refer to different kinds of rice. However,

The Peopling of Our Islands

2. 3. 4. 5.

there are not any in Proto-Oceanic. Therefore, we can surmise that Oceanic speakers stopped cultivating rice during their migration from Southeast Asia to the Pacific. What crops do you think replaced rice as staples? There are Proto-Oceanic terms for different kinds of canoes, the specific parts of a canoe and different kinds of fish and shellfish. What does this suggest about the people who spoke these languages? There are Proto-Oceanic terms for clay pots and for the different decorations that are found on these pots. Based on what we have already learned, how do you think this relates to the migration of people from Southeast Asia to the Pacific? There are Proto-Oceanic words for pig, dog and different birds. What kinds of archaeological evidence can support the suggestion that early settlers in the islands knew about pigs, dogs and different birds? There is no Proto-Oceanic word reconstructed for the sweet potato (kumala), pawpaw or manioc. However, these foods are eaten throughout the Pacific. Why do you think that there are not reconstructions for these words? Use your knowledge about different crops in our islands, and when they arrived. We will learn more about this in ‘An Agricultural History of Our Islands’.

S u r m i s e : conclude; assume

A Study of Words: Austronesian Languages English Malay

Motu (PNG)

Araki (S. Santo)

Neve’ei (Malakula)

Sye Fijian Samoan (Erromanga)

two leaf ﬁsh eye mosquito ﬁve eat

rua rau [gwarume] mata namo ima ani-a

dua dau [m’aci] m’ara [mohi] lim’a han

i-ru no-rou n-iakh ne-meta ne-nam i-lim khan

du-ru [nogklin] [nomu] ni-pmi yomuc suk-rim eni

dua daun ikan mata nyamok lima ma-kan

rua drau ika mata namu lima kani-a

lua lau i’a mata namu lima ‘ai

Comprehension questions 1. Look at the headings of the columns. Which of these languages are from Vanuatu? 2. Look on a map of the Paciﬁc and determine the location of the Malay language. 3. Choose one row and pronounce the words aloud. Can you hear any similarities between the words? 4. Look at the words that are in brackets. These are words that linguists have determined are not related to the other words in the row with the same meaning. For example, nogklin (leaf in Sye) is not related to the word for leaf in the other languages in the table. Compare the bracketed words to the others in the row. 5. Think about a language that you are familiar with (other than English, French, or Bislama) and compare it to the words in the table. Do any of them sound similar? 6. What is the main idea that is shown by this table of words? Think about what we have learned in this unit about the migration of people throughout the Paciﬁc. How does this collection of words support these ideas?

Source: Lynch, n.d.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Different Languages on Malakula: A Custom Story The following custom story, collected by Marinet Abel for her Year 12 Malapoa Research Project entitled ‘Traditional Economy in Litzlitz Central Malakula,’ explains Malakula’s linguistic diversity. There was once a couple who had a son who always cried for the moon. He wanted the moon as his own. His father called together the village men and told them that they must get the moon down from the sky, for his son always cried for it. The people found a very tall ningi tree at Jeval and decided they would start joining pieces of bamboo from the top branch of the tree in order to get the moon down. So the men stood on top of each other’s shoulders, at the same time joining more bamboos into the sky. There were some others on the ground passing pieces of bamboo to the ones up in the tree. After passing the dew point in the clouds, there was a sudden pause. The men in the tree asked what was the matter and the people below said they couldn’t work, for it was raining. After the rain stopped, the job continued. But then the branch began to crack and suddenly it broke. When the branch broke, everyone in the tree fell to the ground. After falling, they found out that they could not understand each other, for every person was speaking a totally different language. The men then scattered everywhere on Malakula. As a result, today Malakula has so many languages.

What is Island Melanesia? In Island Melanesians (1997), archaeologist Matthew Spriggs identiﬁes Island Melanesia as a group of islands that bridge the gap between Near and Remote Oceania. It is also the area that was most directly inﬂuenced by the migration of the Lapita People. The islands that comprise Island Melanesia are found on the map on the opposite page.

Differentiate: to tell apart

Subsequent: following on from (used in describing sequence of events or ideas)

Island Melanesians as a group are defined not so much by a shared genetic inheritance, they are not a ‘race’…but by their situation as inhabitants of a set of islands immediately to the east of a major continental area which we now call New Guinea and Australia. It is the condition of living on these Pacific archipelagos, which differentiates them in life-style and environment from the indigenous inhabitants of their larger neighbours. Different currents of culture have flowed through Island Melanesia than have affected large parts of New Guinea and Australia and its environments have posed different challenges to its early settlers. Island Melanesia was affected more centrally by a particular current, the Lapita culture, than areas to the west. Subsequent contact between societies of the region have been more pervasive than those across the wider distances between island groups in Polynesia and Micronesia… Island Melanesia can be defined geographically as a set of archipelagoes that stretch from north-west to south-east, adjacent to New Guinea at their northern end and far from anywhere at their southern end although part of an undersea ridge which ultimately leads to New Zealand. The archipelagos in question are the Bismarcks (currently part of PNG), the Solomon Islands (the northernmost main island, Bougainville most recently in rebellion against PNG rule, the rest forming the independent nation of Solomon Islands), Vanuatu and New Caledonia (Spriggs 1997: 1).

The Peopling of Our Islands

Island Melanesia (Spriggs 1997: 2).

Discussion activity As a class, list some of the characteristics of Island Melanesia. Describe ways in which our islands are connected to our neighbours in Island Melanesia.

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The Lapita Movement into Remote Oceania Now we come to the story that explains how our islands were first inhabited by our ancestors. Look again at the map of Near and Remote Oceania. As you can see, the distance between the Solomon Islands and the Santa Cruz Islands is much larger than the distance between the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomons. As we have already learned, that distance is probably the main reason why there was a 35,000 year gap between the migration of people to Remote Oceania from Near Oceania. From the southern islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, the Reef Santa Cruz Islands are not visible. Therefore, the first people to bridge this gap were travelling into the unknown. Eventually, however, sailing canoes full of people, plants and animals crossed the wide expanse of the ocean and made their way into the Santa Cruz Islands and further south. Some groups of Lapita People travelled even further south into the area of what are now the Torres and Banks Islands. These southern travelling groups quickly spread into the main archipelago of Vanuatu and then into the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia to the southwest of Vanuatu. Other Lapita People went east instead of south when leaving the Santa Cruz/Northern Vanuatu area and they travelled to the islands of Fiji. This eastward movement happened at about the same time as the southern movement. From Fiji some groups of people then moved into the islands of Samoa, Tonga and Futuna. It is possible that all of this movement happened in just two or three centuries! Considering the distances travelled, this was an amazing feat. The descendants of the first Lapita movements made their way as far as Rapa Nui, near the coast of Chile in South America!

A Closer Look– The Teouma Discovery

A piece of Lapita pottery found at Teouma in 2004. Photo by Stuart Bedford.

In July 2004 the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, along with archaelogists Matthew Spriggs and Stuart Bedford, conducted an archaeological excavation, funded by the Pacific Biological Foundation, in the Teouma Valley on the south coast of Efate. An amazing discovery was made. A burial ground was found that can be dated back to the arrival of the Lapita people. Alongside several intricately decorated Lapita pottery pieces were 13 skeletons. One skeleton held a piece of pottery in its hand. All the skeletons had had their skulls removed during some period after the burial and in some cases, conus shell rings were put in place of the heads. The positioning of the burials varied and in one case, bivalve shells had been placed at the joints; on another, a bivalve was placed on the pelvis. Several of the pottery pieces found alongside the burials had intricate face patterns, possibly a clan motif. The Lapita pottery pieces found were of an early Western style, with a stylistic intricacy similar to Lapita pottery found in the Santa Cruz and Mussau Islands, New Guinea. The pottery cylinder stands and some of the other vessel forms and decoration are a style found only in the Western Lapita tradition, which is associated with the earliest phase of Lapita settlement into Remote Oceania. What are the implications of this Teouma find? 1. The skeletons in the burial site are most likely those of the first Lapita peoples in our

The Peopling of Our Islands

islands. It provides us with the ďŹ rst opportunity ever to study many aspects of the Lapita people and their genetic relationships. Through DNA analysis, archaeologists will be able to ascertain what race these Lapita people could have been and if there was mixing of Melanesian and Polynesian (therefore answering the question as to why there is a Melanesian/Polynesian difference today). If it turns out that these Lapita people had more Polynesian physical characteristics, then the next question to ask is what happened in our islands after the arrival of the Lapita peoples that made us look the way we do today. DNA analysis will also tell us about the Lapita diet and whether it was land or marine based. It can also help us conduct a broad analysis of the physiological characteristics of the Lapita peoples. Finally, other analyses can be used to ďŹ nd out what diseases people may have had, if malaria was an issue and whether the Lapita people were malaria-resistant. 2. The dentate patterns on the pieces of Lapita pottery found at the Teouma site suggest an older Lapita style, which may alter the settlement dates for our islands from 3000 BP to the 3200 BP. These pottery pieces provide further support for early Lapita settlement in Remote Oceania. 3. The burial patterns indicate funeral rituals, which helps us understand more about the Lapita culture.

D N A a n a l y s i s : method of tracing genetic heritage through analysing genes

P h y s i o l o g i c a l : physical characteristics D e n t a t e : stamped

Lapita skeleton from the Teouma excavation site, July 2004. Photo by Stuart Bedford.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Comprehension questions 1. How many skeletons were found at the Teouma site? 2. Why were the skulls found separate from the skeletons? 3. Why is this discovery so important to the archaeology of Vanuatu and our history? 4. What can a DNA analysis of the bones tell us about the Lapita people in our islands?

A Closer Look– The Origins of People In ‘Our Islands’ Beginnings’, we read various oral histories that explained our islands’ origins. In this section we have a collection of oral histories that explain the origins of the first people to populate our islands. The first story was recorded by Tom Harrisson in Savage Civilisation. It explains the origins of the people of Matanvat, Northwest Malakula. There was in the islands, about fifteen and more generations ago, on until seven generations, the coming of some people whose lives spread over many islands. They traced their descent from a succulent fruit, a rose-apple [in Bislama, nakavika]. One rose-apple man came to Botnia and founded our present Matanvat. It was thus: The rose-apple fruit was ripe and scarlet. It fell on the upright buttress of the hard wood natabol root near are in the hills in the inland. The fruit split and the half fell on one side, the half on the other. From one half came forth a boy, from the other a girl. The buttress of the root was like a wall, so that each did not know the other was there. And they grew up, feeding on the fruit that fell about their feet. Until one day a fruit fell just outside. Both ran out for it. They bumped into each other on the way. Then they were mightily surprised and said to each other: Where have you come from? They told each other the same story; then they looked at each other’s bodies and were very interested to find that they were not the same. In time they had two sons who formed two villages in the hills; they were the beginning of these, as their chiefs (Harrisson 1937: 20-21).

The next story comes from the collection entitled, Mythes et Légendes des Indigènes des Nouvelles-Hébrides (Océanie) (1912). Father Suas, a French priest who spent many years in our islands, collected oral histories from many islands in our archipelago. This story, ‘Tagaro Creates Man’, comes from East Ambae, where Father Suas lived on the Catholic Mission at Lolopuepue. It is raining; the ground is muddy. Tagaro takes the mud, he kneads and kneads and kneads. When it is strong enough, he shapes it. He makes a head, he makes the eyes, a nose, ears, a mouth, hands, the gentitals, the anus and finally the legs. When he has finished, he puts it next to him and he holds it there. He then makes another that he places beside him. In the same manner he makes ten of them. The tenth one finished, he takes the first one and places it near his face so that their noses touch each other. Then he blows in his mouth and he opens his mouth, he blows in his eyes and they are open immediately. He blows into the ears, which open as well and the figure hears. He blows into the nose, which opens and allows him to smell. He blows on his

The Peopling of Our Islands

genitals and he urinates. He blows on his anus and he goes to the bathroom. He blows on his hands and feet and he moves. When he is finished blowing on him he sets him down. He then takes the second one and blows in the same manner and the third in the same manner as well and finally all of them are the same. At last, he is finished with the blowing, but there are only males and no females. When Tagaro sees them, he isn’t satisfied. He says them, “Bring some fire here; light it and cook some food so that we can eat.” They light the fire and they carry stones with tongs. They grate yams to make laplap. They stand around the fire in the presence of Tagaro. Then he tells them, “Hold yourself still and do not move.” Then Tagaro takes in his hands an orange and a chestnut [in Bislama, namambe]. At the same time, he throws them on the genitals of one of the men. They hang off him and fall down. This hurts him and he cries out in pain. His genitals are pierced and the man has become a woman. Tagaro takes the leaves of the tupe vine and he makes a belt for her. Next he says to the woman, “Now you go away from here, go and stay all alone.” She then goes, enters the house and remains inside. Then Tagaro sends a man and says, “Go and ask her for fire; when she talks, you listen well to what she will say.” He leaves and goes to the woman’s house. She says to him, “My older brother, why are you here?” He says, “I have come looking for fire.” She gives it to him and he leaves. Tagaro says, “Did you listen when she talked to you? What did she say?” “She called me her older brother,” says the man. Tagaro says, “Good, she is your younger sister.” He sends for the second, who goes to the woman’s house. The woman says to him, “My little brother, why are you here?” He says, “I have come looking for water so that we can drink kava.” She gives it to him and he goes back. Tagaro asks him, “What?” “She called me her little brother,” says the man. “She is your older sister,” says Tagaro. He sends all of them in the same manner. Then woman calls the first nine her family. Then Tagaro sends the tenth one at the end. He arrives, the woman sees him and says, “My husband, why have you come?” He goes back and says to Tagaro, “This woman called me her husband.” Tagaro says, “Good, she has become your wife.” He says, “Go and stay together.” He takes some mats and goes and they stay together. Tagaro says, “Stay together, but don’t sleep together. You will hear me coming. I will come and show you how it is done.” When it is night, before Tagaro comes, the husband goes and sleeps with the woman so that she is no longer a virgin. The blood colours the mat, she is in pain and the woman shouts for war, “Oh, the war!” Tagaro hears, he runs to them and says, “This was not the way that it was supposed to be! You have treated her unfairly! I said that I would teach you myself. You didn’t listen to my words. Now the war will begin!” This woman had a child and she gave it milk from her left breast. The child became Mueragbuto. She had another baby and she gave it milk from her right breast. This child became Tagaro, the good man. That is how Tagaro separates the men, some in the class of Mueragbuto and the others in the class of Tagaro (Suas 1912: 45-47).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

We will now read a story about Qat from the Banks Islands. Qat is a creation ﬁgure similar to Tagaro, who was prevalent in the histories of Ambae, Pentecost and Maewo. R.H. Codrington, a missionary with the Melanesian (Anglican) Mission, spent many years in the northern islands. He recorded many custom stories in the mid to late 1800s. His book, entitled The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folklore (1891), is unique among books written by missionaries. In the preface of the book he writes, “…this book, though written by a missionary, with his full share of the prejudices and predilections belonging to missionaries, is not meant to have what is generally understood to be a missionary character; but the writer is persuaded that one of the ﬁrst duties of a missionary is to try to understand the people among whom he works and to this end he hopes that he may have contributed something that may help.” Codrington’s book has become an important anthropological study of the northern islands of Vanuatu. The following story has been translated to Bislama. Long olgeta stori we i kamaot long Lakona (Santa Maria). Qat wetem “Narawa” wan narafala “Vui” we hem i olsem Supure blong Maewo (mo Raga) oli bin liv long Matau, klosap long maonten Garat, long ples we olgeta volkanik faea oli stap silip yet kasem tedei. Tufala i bin mekem ol man olsem. Qat hem i bin katem sam fom long wud. Hem i wokem leg, han, bodi, hed mo hem i putum sora mo ae. Hem i bin wok siks dei blong givim fom, putum pis afta pis. Afta nao hem i kaontem siks dei blong givim laef long hem. Hem i haedem olgeta tri dei mo hem i wokemap tri dei blong givim laef long olgeta. Hem i karem olgeta i kam nao long foret blong hem. Hem i danis nao, mo hem i luk ples man ia we i muv smol. Hem i kilim tamtam mo hem i lukluk ol man ia we i muvmuv lelebet mo long fastaem. Long fasin ia, Qat hem i bin “hip-notaes” [hypnotise] olgeta i kam long laef, mo taem hem i mekem samting ia, hem i luk se evri wan i save stanap, stanap hem nomo. Taem ia Qat hem i mekem grup wetem evri man i stap wan ples, mo long evri man hem i givim wan woman long hem, mo taem hem i putum wan man wetem wan woman hem i talem se, “Hemia man mo woman blong hem.” Hem i mekem tri woman mo tri man be Narawa, hem, hem i mekem olgeta pipol blong hem blong wan narafala wud, nem blong hem tavisoviso. Hem i bin wok long siksfala dei tu blong putumap olgeta, mo hem tu hem i bin kilim wan tamtam, mo hem, hem i givim laef long olgeta, long sem fasin, olsem Qat, be taem Narawa hem i luk olgeta i stap muv, oli stap laef, hem i bin digim wan hol long graon. Long botom long hol ia hem i putum ol lif kokonas, mo hem i berem evri man mo woman. Oli stap siks dei long hol ia. Taem hem i tekemaot kraon we i kavremap olgeta wetem, hem i tekemaot wetem olgeta hand blong hem. Hem i luk se evri wan i stap ded mo evri wan i roten mo evri wan i smel nogud tu. Hemia, hem i orijin blong ded blong man. Stori blong Qat long fasin blong Mota hem i talem se Qat hem i bin mekem man mo pig, long sem taem, mo hem i mekem olgeta semak nomo. Be ol brata blong hem, oli no laekem samting ia, oli no laekem we man mo pig i stap semak, so Qat hem i bin kilim ol pig we hem i bin mekem blong olgeta oli wokbaot long fo leg, mo hem i mekem man we hem i stanap long tu leg nomo. Man hem i mekem long klei (hem i graon ia we ol pipol long Wusi oli yusum blong mekem kleipot blong olgeta), red klei we oli save faenem long saed blong riva long Vanua Lava. Fasfala woman, nem blong hem Iro Vilgale. Qat hem i bin tekem smol pis wud we yu save faenem long tri, we i gat lif long hem, mo wud ia we yu save penem. Aot long samting ia hem i mekem sam stik, mo hem i mekem sam ring tu, mo hem i mekem Iro Vilgale, fas woman ia wetem ol samting ia, mo hem i mekem long fasin we olgeta oli mekem ol hat ia blong “Kwatu.” Hem i putum ol ring long stik, mo hem i kavremap evri samting wetem lif blong natanggura. Nem blong hem, hem i kam long vil blong taetem mo

The Peopling of Our Islands

gale we hem i blong giaman klos blong dresap. Taem hem i ﬁnisim samting ia, hem i luk we woman ia hem i smol, mo long taem ia hem i save, hem i wan woman we i laef.

Class activity As a class project, talk with your teacher about sharing custom stories with a class at the primary school level. Your teacher can arrange with a primary teacher for your class to visit a class at the nearest primary school. Split the class into groups and tell them different stories about the origins of people in our islands. Make sure that you have a map of Vanuatu in order to show them the island from which the story originates. They can then draw pictures to illustrate the stories that you shared with them.

Arriving on the Shores of Vanuatu: a Narrative History The canoes rocked back and forth in the waves as the travellers attempted to beach the wooden vessels. Full of plants, animals and people, the weight of the canoes lurched them onto the beach. People pulled them up onto the sand as others began to jump over the sides into the warm, shallow water of the sea. As they walked onto the land, sand pushing up between their toes, they saw the river that emptied into the protected bay. The bush was lush and green. The water was teeming with ﬁsh. It seemed like an ideal place in which to start anew. These people found that there was no one else living on the island; they were the ﬁrst human inhabitants. They erected their houses near the beach. In the next few months

Piece of obsidian found on Aore Island, 2002. The inhabitants of Aore probably traded for this piece of obsidian from island New Guinea. It was probably used as a sharp edge for cutting. Photo courtesy of Jean-Christophe Galipaud.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

they began clearing the land to plant gardens further back from their houses. They used the plants and crops that they had brought with them in the canoes from their previous home. While they waited for their crops to grow, they sustained themselves with what they could find to eat in the ocean, river and bush. Shellfish, crabs and fish were abundant. They found leaves and nuts in the bush, many of them were similar to those that they had eaten on their previous home island. They were able to drink from the water of the river, for they had chosen this particular area partly because of the freshwater source that was nearby. The people settled into their new environment. They learned the lay of the land. They explored the hills, ledges, caves and the waterfalls in the river. They began to harvest food from the crops that they had planted. They had time to continue the production of their Lapita clay pots, a tradition that they brought with them from their previous home. The designs that they created were very similar to those that they had made before. Some they decorated with designs and other clay pots were left plain, without any marks or patterns made in the clay. These plain pots were the ones that were used everyday to cook. Years passed and the people continued to plant their gardens, fish the ocean, design clay pots and use the river as a source of fresh water. But just as had happened before, some decided to move on, to find new islands and continue to make new settlements. What drove them to continue to move from place to place? It is difficult to know for certain: most of the possible answers are based on educated guesses. Perhaps their customs and social structure made movement a necessity, requiring younger male family members to move on and create new communities. Or maybe they were looking for new trading opportunities that lay beyond the horizon. Archaeologists continue to study the possible reasons for the swift migration through the islands of Remote Oceania.

A Closer Look– The Rock Art of Vanuatu

Engraving: making designs by cutting or etching Stencil: a cut-out design or pattern

Tucked into the sides of hills, in limestone caves or on volcanic boulders and platforms, are forms of art that are clues to our past. Engravings and stencils and paintings in colours of black, red and white grace these hidden places. Rock art is found throughout the islands of the Paciﬁc, from New Guinea to the Torres Strait Islands and east to Fiji, Tonga and Easter Island. In some areas the art is found in the inner regions of the islands, whereas in other places it is found near coastal areas. Archaeologists have studied many of the engravings, stencils and paintings that are found throughout these areas. They have come up with theories as to why rock art developed in the way that it did. They also use rock art to attempt to answer questions about the ﬁrst people who lived on the islands. What do these designs mean and why did our ancestors decide to create them? In Vanuatu, rock art is located on many different islands. You may be able to visit a site that is near your school. Ask the people who live near your school if there is a rock art site that is available for your class to visit. Some of the oldest designs are those that are engraved into the stone. By looking closely at the designs, archaeologists think that the artists used different methods to cut the stone. In designs that are ‘U’ shaped and deeply engraved into the surface, it is probable that the artists pecked away at the surface of the rock with a sharp object and then smoothed away the stone to make the groove. In shallower, ‘V’ shaped grooves,

The Peopling of Our Islands

the designs were probably cut into the stone. What sharp objects do you think that the artists could have used to make their designs? Some of these engraved designs are similar to those that are found on Lapita pottery. Therefore, it is possible that the first cave engravings were produced at the same time that the first people arrived in Vanuatu. That means that some of the designs may be around three thousand years old! Because we do not have direct answers to questions about the rock art, archaeologists must use different clues to piece the story together, like putting together a puzzle. Another piece of evidence is that the engravings are found in caves near sites that would have been attractive to the first Lapita settlers, such as those in North Malakula. As we have already learnt, the Lapita people often chose to settle near protected bays or harbours that also had a fresh water source. Many of the engravings are found at sites that have these characteristics. Archaeologists think that the first painted designs in our islands were created with red pigment. Through methods of dating the age of the designs, researchers suggest that red designs were probably created during the first few hundred years of the archipelago’s colonization. Red rock art is not found at very many locations. The motifs were probably created with red clay and different roots that were used to make a kind of paint with which to make the designs. People from Northwest Malakula say that most of the red painted designs came from plant sources, such as the liquid around the seeds of the fruit of the nawal tree. Various methods are used to determine the age of rock art designs. One technique is by radiocarbon dating, which involves the measurement of the amounts of C-14 found in the flakes of paint. The higher the level of C-14, the more recent was the rock art design’s creation. Radiocarbon dating only works with stencils and painted designs and not with engravings. Why? Another method is to study the sequences of superimposition. To superimpose two pictures means to place one on top of the other. Therefore, one method of dating is to look at the layers of designs. Artists would often create designs on top of others that had been made by previous artists. By looking at these layers, we can determine the

P i g m e n t : colour M o t i f : design

S u p e r i m p o s e : overlay an image

Inaccessible rock-art, Velemendiv, Erromango (Wilson 2002).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

order in which they were produced. Therefore, we can make hypotheses concerning the age of different types of rock art relative to each other. There are some difficulties with dating rock art. For example, say that there is an engraving filled with paint. Was the engraving infilled with pigment (paint added to the engraving as part of its original design) or was the paint evidence of a design created hundreds of years later on top of the engraving? In situations such as this, it is difficult to determine the order of superimposition. Superimposition suggests that black hand stencilling and other black designs began after artists stopped painting red designs. This is because red designs almost always underlie all other types of rock art. One of the earliest black hand stencils is in Yalo cave in Northwest Malakula. This was produced about a thousand years after initial colonisation of this region. Many different designs have been found that were created in black pigment. About a thousand years ago the rock art of our islands began to change. There are many suggestions as to why this happened. Perhaps this was a result of increased interaction with people from other islands, who gave the artists new ideas for their drawings. Another idea is that people began to develop their own ideas within their areas. This means that areas began to develop their own styles, which were different to styles in other locations. This is reflected in some of the artwork that is found in the rock shelters and caves. We know that the production of rock art continued through the beginning years of European contact because of the subjects of some of the designs that were painted. However, there is not any evidence to show that new motifs were developed in response to the arrival of Europeans. ‘Tufala Kev Blong Devil’: Yalo and Apialo Caves, Northwest Malakula The following excerpt is from ‘Tufala Kev Blong Devil’: People and spirits in North West Malakula, Vanuatu– implications for management by Meredith Wilson, Jimmyson Sanhambath, Pita Dan Semembe, Bruno David, Nicholas Hall and Marcelin Abong (2000). It refers to Yalo and Apialo caves. Yalo and Apialo are words that mean the same thing in two different languages: place of the spirits. Yalo is located on the land of chief Pita Dan Senembe near his village of Wonbrav, in the area of Tenmiel. Apialo is about a 10km walk south, along the coastal road, in an area between the villages of Lekhan and Benenavet. Yalo is located in Small Nambas territory and Apialo in Big Nambas territory… The Small Nambas consist of a set of linguistically and socio-politically distinct groups. They occupy territory beginning to the immediate north of Malua Bay River, extending northwards and eastwards towards the coast and southwards both inland and along the coast. The Big Nambas form a linguistically distinct group in the southwest of the dog’s head of north Malakula. One kastom feature that unites the Small Nambas and Big Nambas are their ‘devil caves’ (Yalo and Apialo), which are incorporated into social and spiritual life in strikingly similar ways. For both groups, which have in the past been at war with one another and which are culturally differentiated, the caves represent points where their differences can be seen to dissolve. These caves are centres for people in life and in death. They are locally thought to be connected to one another. Yalo and Apialo’s cultural importance extends well beyond their immediate social and environmental settings. The caves are linked to many people and places outside the small coastal region in which they occur. They are centres, from which connecting pathways run out

The Peopling of Our Islands

to other important places. Yalo and Apialo are both revered and feared and lie at the heart of peoples’ spiritual existence.

R e v e r e: to respect; to be in awe of

The spirit world and the two caves When a Small Nambas person dies, his or her spirit departs his/her body and travels to Yalo. The spirit enters the cave by one of two ways, through the entry-way reserved for spirits, or down the trunk of the tree that grows out of the skylight in the main chamber. The nature of the individual’s death determines which path into the cave the spirit will take. If the person died a natural death, such as from old age, then they pass through the main entrance. If, however, the person is the victim of a violent death or murder by another person, then they pass through the roof of the cave and down the tree. It is said that soon after a death that has occurred in this manner, the blood of the victim can be seen trickling down the trunk of the tree. Similar options face the spirits entering Apialo: a person who has died a violent death passes through the roof, while those who have died of other causes pass through the main entrance. At both sites it is said that the spirits who entered through the roof must only ever use this entrance for passing in and out of the cave. Likewise, those who passed through the main entrance may only enter and leave the cave by this means. This differentiation between the nature of peoples’ deaths is also known from other parts of Malakula. At Yalo, in the dark southern chamber, there is a ﬂat-surfaced rock positioned at the rear of the chamber. Upon this rock sits the watchman of Yalo, a spirit-being. When someone dies, the watchman is alerted that a spirit is entering the cave when a shaft of light ﬁlters into this chamber. The watchman greets the spirit and deposits him/her in a receptacle in the rock in another part of the cave. The concept of a guardian or watchman who is met at the entrance to the land of the dead is also known from many other parts of Malakula. For the southwest, Bernard Deacon describes the existence of a guardian who requires that a spirit seeking to enter the land of the dead must be able to complete a drawing which the guardian ghost has drawn in the ground and then half erased. If the spirit is unable to complete the drawing (which they should have learnt in the life-world), then it is denied entry and devoured by the ghost. A rock art design resembling such a ground-drawing is present on one of the rock surfaces in Yalo. According to the local community, the spirits are responsible for the production of the rock art. It has been suggested that the faces, which are the main engraved motifs in the caves, may be self-portraits. Yalo is important to people today because there are things there that are used by the

An example of engraved ‘eyenose’ faces, Apialo, Northwest Malakula. This photo is an example of the kind of designs that are similar to those found on the Lapita sherds from Teouma, July 2004 (over page).

Lapita pottery sherd found at the Teouma site, July 2004 (photo courtesy of Stuart Bedford). Compare the eye-nose face engraving with those found in some rock art designs.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

custodians of the cave and other people for prayer, for answers, to empower them, to test them and to pay respect to the spirits. Chief Pita Dan says that it is allowed to speak about a few of these things, but not of others. People travel from far and wide to visit Yalo speciﬁcally to locate the footprints and hand stencils of ancestors. It is said that the footprints of the spirits can be found in the rear of the cave where the spirits have been dancing. If one rubs out the footprints, then leaves the cave and then comes back, the footprints will have returned. People also visit the cave to throw a stone. The ledge, with small stones lying on top and below, enables people to determine whether their next-born child will be a boy or a girl. The stone is thrown left-handed; if it lands on the ledge and stays there, then the next born will be a boy. If it falls off the ledge, it will be a girl. The thousands of stones that can presently be seen on the ledge were all thrown or otherwise placed there by people.

Thinking further 1. Some rock art designs that have been found are similar to those recorded on Lapita ceramics (clay pots) throughout Island Melanesia. What does this suggest? 2. The following designs were found on the island of Maewo. Do you think that these designs are very old or are recent? What is your reason for your answer?

3. You visit a cave with some people from the nearby village. In the cave you ﬁnd an engraving that looks like a face, a black hand stencil and a red design that looks like a ﬁsh. Using patterns of superimposition, which design was probably created the earliest? Which was probably created most recently? How can you justify your answers? Writing activity Imagine that designing rock art was still popular today and that you were asked by your community to paint or engrave a design. Where would you put your design? What would your design signify? What materials would you use to make your design? Discussion activity Some rock art sites are inaccessible or out of reach. The designs were placed on the ceiling of caves, in high places on the sides of caves or boulders. Why do you think that the artists put their designs in these out of reach places?

As time progressed, settlements dotted the shores of the islands of what is now Vanuatu. Some people created engravings and painted stencils in the caves that were located near their settlements. They continued gardening, ﬁshing and taking care of their animals. They also continued to make clay pots, some plain and some with intricate designs that were pressed into the wet clay before the pots were ﬁred to make them strong.

The Peopling of Our Islands

Sometimes they used a special tool to make designs in the clay. Some of the more elaborate pots were probably used in ceremonies, as storage containers, or as a trading commodity with settlements in other areas.

Information taken from Wilson (2002).

Cupule-based rock-art, Yalo cave, Northwest Malakula (Wilson 2002, plate 11).

A Closer Look– Lapita Pottery

A Lapita vessel form occurring in early Lapita site in New Caledonia (in Kirch 1997: 103, courtesy of Christophe Sand).

The following excerpt is a description of Lapita pottery by Patrick Kirch in ‘The Lapita Ceramic Series’, from On the Road of the Winds (2000).

Assemblage: grouping

Rubric: heading Paddle and a n v i l method: technique of pottery making that involves striking the clay with a paddle to shape it while it sits on an anvil (base) Temper: paint

Analogous: similar to

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

…Lapita ceramic assemblages are not uniform and there were changes in manufacture, in vessel forms and especially in decoration over time as the Lapita peoples expanded into Remote Oceania…there are commonalities to all Lapita ceramics, which can be grouped together under the rubric of the Lapita Ceramic Series. Lapita pottery consists of handmade earthenware, manufactured without the aid of a wheel, but often using a paddle-and-anvil method of vessel wall thinning. The potting clays had beach or river sand added as temper. We have no evidence of kilns and pots were presumably fired in simple open blazes of coconut shells and wood, as is still done in some Oceanic societies. Due to this method of rapid, low-intensity firing (with temperatures in the range of 600-700 °C), the interior walls of Lapita vessels are often incompletely oxidised, leaving a telltale “sandwich” filling of dark, unfired clay while the outer surfaces are usually a reddish brown color. Although all Lapita ceramic assemblages consist of decorated and plain wares, the decorated pottery has especially captured the attention of archaeologists. Lapita potters used several techniques to decorate the surfaces of bowls, dishes and jars. Most often the leatherhard clay was impressed with stamps that had series of finely carved teeth; the process was thus referred to as ‘dentate stamping.’ The stamps have not been archaeologically recovered and they may have been carved in wood, bamboo, or possibly turtle shell. In addition to dentate stamping, Lapita potters used incision with a finely pointed tool and they also modeled and carved vessel surfaces. What did these human faces on bowls and dishes signify to the Lapita people? Possibly they were representations of ancestors, the vessels functioning within a ritual system or cult of ancestors, as well as constituting objects of reciprocal exchange among related kinship groups. It is conceivable that the decorated vessels were actually representations of ancestors and that the act of decorating the pots was analogous to tattooing a human body. We know that the Lapita peoples practised tattooing, for tattoo chisels have been found in some sites, made up of rows of fine teeth, probably similar to the stamps used to decorate Lapita pottery (Kirch 2000: 101-102).

Comprehension questions These sentences are false. Find the information within the text that proves that they are false. Rewrite the sentences correctly. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Every Lapita pot looks exactly the same. Dentate refers to the method by which the pots were fired. Lapita pottery was made with a pottery wheel and fired in kilns. Lapita pots were probably not given to other people in custom ceremonies. The firing method was very slow.

Lapita Pottery in Vanuatu In Vanuatu, pieces of Lapita pottery have been found on the islands of Malo, Aore, Tutuba, Malakula (Malua Bay), Vao, Uripiv, Wala, Atchin, Efate and Erromango. It is probable that Lapita is present on every island in Vanuatu, but difﬁculties in actually locating sherds during archaeological excavations make it challenging to conduct excava-

The Peopling of Our Islands

This page and opposite: Pieces of Lapita pottery found at Teouma, 2004. Photos courtesy of Stuart Bedford.

tions on every island. These pieces of pottery are the main clues that archaeologists have used to trace the footsteps of the Lapita people in their Paciﬁc migration. Earlier in this unit we learned about archaeology and how it can be used to help us put together the story of our past. In our islands, the pottery sherds that we have read about in the previous sections are very important pieces of information in this story. In the following section we will read about how people from our islands are assisting in ﬁnding these pottery sherds and other remnants of material culture.

A Closer Look– The Cultural Heritage Training Program The following excerpt is from a report published in 2003 based on the results of the Cultural Heritage Training Program. This program, which took place from 2001 to 2003, trained individuals in different areas of cultural heritage management. Vanuatu Cultural Centre fieldworkers and others learned a variety of skills that focused on practising archaeological excavation techniques and identifying and recording cultural and archaeological sites. This project was funded by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation of Japan. Various archaeologists, Vanuatu Cultural Centre staff, fieldworkers and villagers cooperated in this project. In 2001, the training was held on the islands of Wala and Uripiv. In 2002, research and training took place on various small coastal islands in north-east Malakula, including Uripiv, Uri, Atchin and Vao. In 2003, the project concluded with research and training on Vao, Uripiv and the Maskelyne Islands. The following describes what happened on the island of Vao in September and October 2002. A small team visited the island of Vao for a short period of six days. The visit was extremely productive and the people on Vao were very receptive to the workshop. A short survey of the island was followed by some archaeological testpitting (five 1 by 1m testpits were excavated) on an uplifted beach terrace in an area known as Kowu, located again on the sheltered

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

southwest side of the island. The short time available limited what could be achieved but the testpits did reveal very deep archaeological deposits, some more than two metres, where evidence of Lapita settlement was once again recovered. The Lapita remains were very well preserved on Vao as the first settlement was on top of a soft sand beach. A wide range of shellfish species were identified as were turtle, pig, chicken and rat bones. Some pieces of shell (clam) adzes as well as one stone adze were found. Many pieces of broken Trochus shell which had been discarded during the process of ring making were also recovered. The investigations in 2001 and 2002 confirm that Uripiv, Wala, Atchin and Vao Islands, along with the rest of Malakula were settled some 3000 years ago when populations moved out of the Bismarck Archipelago to the east, through the Solomon Islands, on to the Reef Santa Cruz, Banks and then to Santo/Malo and Malakula. The archaeological record also indicates that people related to the same cultural group (Lapita peoples) moved on to New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Other islands in Vanuatu where Lapita pottery has been found previously include Malo, Aore, Tutuba, Malakula (Malua Bay), Efate and Erromango. The materials recovered during the workshop also included pieces of later pottery styles and adze and shell ring forms. Significantly pig bones were found throughout all levels of the stratigraphy which demonstrates the long history and important position of pigs in Malakula society. Also the Trochus rings appear to have been made, with only slight variation in form, from the first arrival of people up until very recently. A number of people on the islands remembered older people wearing large rings on their arms. One of the more important features of the sites in the islands in the north east of Malakula is that they are well preserved, particularly those on Uripiv and Vao Islands where they are buried in some cases by a volcanic ash (probably from Ambrym where an enormous eruption occurred around 2000 years ago) and sand deposited by cyclones.

Thinking further 1. Why do you think that it is important to study the archaeological history of our islands? 2. Why do you think that the archaeologists decided to excavate the small islands of Malakula? Discussion activity Would you like to take part in an archaeological excavation? Why or why not?

A Closer Look– Pottery Today

Pottery from Wusi, West Santo (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 98).

The following excerpt comes from an article entitled ‘Pottery and Potters of Vanuatu’, by Jean-Christophe Galipaud. The article is found in Arts of Vanuatu (1996: 94-99). Galipaud has done an extensive amount of archaeological research in Vanuatu, primarily in the northern islands. In this article, Galipaud looks at the art of making contemporary pottery, which continues in some areas on Santo.

The Peopling of Our Islands

Except in New Guinea, very few groups went on producing pottery after their ﬁrst contact with the white man. The tradition persists on Santo’s west coast, on Choiseul in the Solomon Islands and in a few Fijian valleys… 1 Speiser , at the beginning of this century, mentioned the names of two villages where pottery was being made: Wusi and Pespia. Only one of these, Wusi, now survives. A coastal village, it appears to have been abandoned shortly after Speiser’s visit and later resettled by west-coast clans who revived the tradition. At the time of Speiser’s visit, two different pottery-making processes were used in Pespia and in Wusi. In Pespia, a long roll of clay was coiled and attached to the extremity of a bamboo cylinder about 12 centimetres long. Other rolls were then added, one after the other, to form the belly of the pot. While this was being done, the potter turned the bamboo cylinder between her legs, in a way reproducing the movement of a potter’s wheel. The base, a circular sheet of clay, was ﬁnally attached to the rest before the whole pot was removed from the bamboo base. Pottery made in this way retained a base of conical shape.

Felix Speiser was a Swiss anthropologist who studied the cultures of different groups in Vanuatu from 1910-1912. We will read more of his work in ‘Features of Traditional Society’. E x t r e m i t y : boundary; edge

Writing activity Draw a picture of what you think that this clay pot from Pespia village in Santo would have looked like. Use the text to guide you. Write a paragraph description to accompany your drawing.

In Wusi, pots are made by moulding a ball of clay the size of a fist. The ball of clay, hollowed out with the fist and then moulded on the knee, forms the rough basis of the pot. The sides are built up with the help of a paddle and an anvil; that is to say, by striking the outside of the vessel regularly in an upward motion with a small wooden or bamboo paddle, while holding the inside with a flat stone or sometimes the hand. When the pot has been shaped, the potter flares the mouth with a turning motion and smoothes the resulting edge between two fingers. Wusi pots are small bowls or basins 14 to 28 centimetres in diameter and 12 to 18 centimetres in height. After drying in the shade for some time, they are decorated with applied or incised patterns and then covered with a red slip. This slip, made of iron-rich clayey earth, comes not from Wusi but from a valley in the interior and is obtained in exchange for pots. After further drying, the pots are fired. The firing, the last but decisive stage, is done with particular care. The prohibitions observed in the process are all intended to prevent the pot from cracking in the fire. Magic leaves are used for additional protection. This is the most delicate stage of the operation. In Melanesia, many factors are involved in the making and firing process, over which the potter has no control but which nonetheless determine the success of the enterprise; the nature of the clays and tempering material, the thickness of the pot, the residual humidity

Photos on this page and next: A Wusi potter at work today (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 98).

S l i p : iron-rich clay

Flux: (in this context) something that fuses things together

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

at the moment of firing and, of course, temperature and length of firing. The potter takes innumerable precautions, using empirical knowledge based on long experience. For example, in Wusi the slip and the clay are mixed with seawater. The salt acts as a flux; in other words, it promotes fusion of the clays at low temperatures. The hearth is also prepared with the same preoccupation in mind. It is done in two separate stages. First, a small fire is lit on a platform of smooth river stones. When the stones are hot, the fire is scattered and the pots to be fired are arranged upside down on the stones. Preheating the hearth reduces the risk of poor diffusion of heat at the base of the fire. Dry coconut palm fronds and broken bamboo are used for the fire proper. They are piled up on top of the pots and stood upright in bundles around the hearth, with the tips meeting at the top. Firing is done at dawn, to avoid anyone coming to stir up the fire, which would make the temperature rise too fast. Firing is rapid and the heat intense. While the fire is burning away, the potters prepare another platform of stones nearby and as soon as the last flames have flickered out, they carry the still red-hot pots there. The pots are then sprinkled with seawater into which arrowroot has been grated. The purpose of this is to make them more watertight. These techniques, well-described by a number of researchers, are not exclusive to Santo. They were used with little variation in New Caledonia shortly before the arrival of the Europeans and are still in use in New Guinea.

Comprehension questions 1. What does it mean to “ﬁre” a pot? 2. Where do the people from Wusi get their clay to make the slip for the pots? 3. Why do the potters from Wusi mix the clay with seawater? 4. Why is the hearth preheated? 5. Why are the pots sprinkled with a seawater and arrowroot mixture after they have been ﬁred?

A Diversification of Cultures The lives of our ancestors were based on adapting and moving with the currents of time. About two or three hundred years after their arrival in the islands of our archipelago, changes in the lives of the Lapita People became even more evident. They began to develop new styles of pottery and they began to abandon their traditional Lapita pottery styles. Instead of creating dentate style pottery in which designs were pressed into the clay, people began to incise or cut designs into the pots. Another thing happened as well: people on Efate began making their pots in a different style from those in the

The Peopling of Our Islands

Banks and people in Erromango created a style that was their own. Indeed, every area began to produce pottery that was particular to their area. Diversiﬁcation began to occur and a differentiation of cultures emerged. While we can see this in pottery designs, it undoubtedly factored into other aspects of life as well. The changes in pottery style and design are the clues that we can use to help us to understand the greater cultural changes that were also happening.

A Closer Look– Ceramic Sequences of Vanuatu

key ? = sequence uncertain; Lapita ? = assumed but as yet not identiﬁed; \/\^\/\^\’ = circa date Source: The Ceramic Sequences of Vanuatu (Bedford 2000: Appendix, Fig. 7.16).

ceramics: clay objects

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatuâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Volume One

The Ceramic Sequences chart shows the different types of ceramics that have been found in Vanuatu. It is important to note that, as time passes and more excavations are completed, we will have more information about the different kinds of pottery that were made. This chart is based on research that had been completed up until 2000. Study the table and answer the following questions: 1. What is listed along the left side of the table? What is the meaning of BP? 2. What is listed along the top of the table? What does each column represent? 3. Look at the names that are found throughout the column. These are the names given to different styles of pottery that have been found throughout the islands. Based on the information provided in the table, what is the oldest type of pottery that has been found? For about how many years was it made? 4. Look at the notes at the bottom of the table. What does a question mark represent? 5. What kind of pottery sherds have been found in Erromango that are approximately 2000-2400 years old? 6. According to the table, what islands appear to have similar pottery sequences throughout time? What could be a reason for this? 7. According to the key at the bottom of the table, the wavy line means circa date. Look up the word circa in the dictionary. Based on the meaning of circa, what do you think that the wavy lines represent? Naamboi Pottery Find Naamboi on the table. On what island was it produced? According to the table, during what approximate time period was it produced? The following excerpt is a description of Naamboi pottery, which has only been recorded (to date) on Malakula. These clay pots represent the last phase of ceramic production on Malakula.

morphological: the science of form and structure

The Naamboi are generally tubular in form with a conical base, hence attracting the generic term bullet pots. Large and small versions have been recorded along with a multitude of decorative motifs. The vessel form clearly appears, at least on morphological grounds, to have developed from the earlier decorated bullet-shaped pots (Chachara ware) found throughout Malakula. The walls and the base of the Naamboi show a dramatic increase in thickness compared with the earlier vessels and their cumbersome size and form render them less suitable for cooking purposes. The absence of any charred residues on the internal surfaces, or blackening of the exteriors of these pots, would seem to further support this argument (Bedford 2001).

Comprehension questions 1. Why are Naamboi referred to as â&#x20AC;&#x153;bullet potsâ&#x20AC;?? 2. Naamboi probably developed from what previous type of clay pot? 3. What is used as evidence to show that these pots were probably not the most appropriate style for cooking?

The Peopling of Our Islands

Naamboi ware recorded by John Layard, 1928.

For more information on different styles of pottery and for assistance in identifying different pottery sherds, please see the Pottery Identiﬁcation Chart in the Appendix.

In Matthew Spriggs’ book The Island Melanesians, he describes this diversification of cultures among the Lapita people (1997: 185). The Lapita culture was never a homogenous entity and did not directly impinge [influence] all populations in the region. Its indirect effect, however, especially in the subsistence sphere and in introducing new technologies such as pottery production, was much more general. By about 2500-2000 BP the region was as homogenous as it was ever going to get, with related pottery styles being produced from Manus to New Caledonia and with much of the material culture in daily use similar from one end of the region to the other. Widespread exchange networks linked the entire region in down the line trade, albeit in tenuous connection. This relatively unified cultural region subsequently underwent diversification as the tenuous threads of connection were severed. Pottery production ceased in several areas so that potters no longer came across the products of their peers and stylistic drift ensued. Trade networks contracted. As communities faced subtly different social and natural environments (including of course the unintended consequences of their own actions on those environments) and made local histories, new forms of social organization and belief were created. As language followed its natural tendency to diverge, what had been essentially a mutually intelligible dialect chain from the Bismarcks through to New Caledonia, broke down into a myriad of languages, a myriad set of ways of naming the world. The cultural diversity for which the region is celebrated is a product largely of the last 2000 years of contingent history and cultural drift.

In other words, the Lapita culture was never completely uniform. However, the ties between all of the island communities are apparent through related pottery styles and other styles of material culture. When diversiﬁcation occurred, these similarities ceased

H o m o g e n o u s : uniform; the same throughout

T e n u o u s : weak

M y r i a d : numerous

Insular: limited; inward-looking

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

to exist. Pottery styles began to change and individual communities either ceased producing pottery or began making their own styles. Trading patterns between islands and communities altered and this also affected their lives, making them more insular. Also, as we have already seen in our study of linguistics, related dialects evolved into their own languages. Of course, this does not mean that the formation of different customs and practices within communities completely cut them off from outer inﬂuences. While there was a period of isolation, this was followed by a time of interaction between different groups of people. There is evidence of people on Tanna and Aneityum interacting with islanders in the Loyalty Islands to the south. Some of the oral traditions point to the trading relationships between these islands. Stone necklaces made from New Caledonian serpentine stone have also been found on the island of Tanna. There is also evidence of trade between the Banks Islands and Tikopia, an island in the southern Solomon Islands.

Influences from the East: the Creation of Polynesian Outliers Perhaps as early as 1200 years BP (but focusing around 750-400 BP) another series of migrations began that influenced some of the cultures and customs of islands in our archipelago. Instead of coming from the north, like the majority of migrations, these people came from the east. People in canoes from islands in Western Polynesia sailed west to the islands of Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago and even some islands in Micronesia. Where they settled, these islands are called Polynesian Outliers. In these areas Melanesian and Polynesian cultures were brought together, which considerably influenced cultural and social aspects of life. What evidence shows us that there was considerable Polynesian influence on the islands that we now classify as Polynesian Outliers? Firstly, we can look at linguistic evidence. People on the islands of Futuna and Aniwa speak a Polynesian Outlier language. It is assumed that the original inhabitants of Futuna and Aniwa spoke an Austronesian language, but were later linguistically dominated by the Polynesians when they arrived. Polynesian-influenced languages are also spoken on Ifira, in Mele Village and Emae. Archaeological evidence also points to the influence of the back migration of Polynesians into Island Melanesia. Excavation of burials have shown burial rituals that are similar to those found in Polynesia, notably that of Chief Roimata on the island of Eretoka, off the west coast of Efate. In the burial site of Roimata, excavated by French archaeologist José Garanger in the early 1970s, Polynesian influence is apparent in the decoration of the bodies with pig tooth and whale tooth beads. Gravesites on the island of Aneityum also point to a Polynesian influence in burial rituals. The use of bark cloth is also indicative of Polynesian influence. Some of the decorations on tamtams from Mele and Lelepa Island are reminiscent of designs found on Polynesian bark cloth. Oral traditions also point to the influence of Polynesian culture. Stories of Mauitikitiki (with its various spellings), a prominent Polynesian figure in oral tradition, are found throughout some of the custom stories of the southern and central islands of Vanuatu. Many of these stories are comprised of layers of Melanesian and Polynesian oral traditions, thus showing the mixture of the cultures.

The Peopling of Our Islands

A Closer Look– Polynesian Themes in Our Custom Stories The following custom story, ‘Mwatiktik and Teramsumas’, comes from the island of Tanna. It is found in A Grammar of Lenakel (1978), by John Lynch. Mwatiktik and Teramsumas There was once a big devil who ate all the people around Tanna and his name was Teramsumas. And he ate up all the people and pigs and birds- he ate the lot of them. He took white men and he fenced them in and kept on eating up people. But he kept watch on the white people to see if they went away. And there was a man called Mwatiktik, who came upon this place and saw them playing inside the fence. And he said, “Hey! What are you doing?” And they replied, “We are playing. Our grandfather has gone to look for some food for us.” But he said, “Aah! Let me tell you that he is deceiving you. He’s going to eat up all the black people and he’ll come and eat up the lot of you too.” And they cried, “Awe! Father, how then might we get away? It’s difficult.” He took an axe and chopped down the fence and they got out. He led them away and they travelled on until they felt hungry. So they picked breadfruit and roasted it and when they were roasting it they felt the wind of Teramsumas’ coming. “Awe! Piss on the fire quickly and put it out!” They pissed and pissed but it was no use; the fire wouldn’t go out. “Ah! Go away!” said Mwatiktik, who pissed on the fire and put it out. But Teramsumas had come closer. So Mwatiktik pulled the core of a breadfruit and they went inside and he closed it up. Teramsumas came, searched and searched, but there was no one, so he went away. Then Mwatiktik pulled out the core of the breadfruit and they came out. He led them off and they went on until they came to an oak-tree and they climbed it. They climbed to the top and sat there. Teramsumas went on and on until he came to the oak-tree, but there was no one there. And he said, “My dinner came here but where have they gone to?” Then Mwatiktik, who was sitting up above, shook his head like that with the tail-feather of a bird in his hair. Teramsumas went to the sea (to investigate the shadow moving) and came back. And Mwatiktik shook his head like this and Teramsumas went to the sea and came back. Then Mwatiktik said, “Hey, we’re sitting up here.” The other replied, “My grandchildren, how did you get there?” “We climbed up on our bellies.” So he put his belly to the tree, but it became scratched. So he said, “You’re lying.” So Mwatiktik said, “We climbed up on our backs.” He put his back to the tree, but it began to get all scratched. So he said, “You’re lying.” So Mwatiktik said, “We climbed up on our knees.” He put his knees to the tree, but they got torn to shreds. And again he said, “Hey! You’re lying, my grandchildren.” So Mwatiktik said, “See this thing? We climbed up on it,” and he threw down a rope. And Teramsumas grabbed hold of it and climbed hand over hand until he came close and then he grabbed a branch. “Awe! My dinner, why did you run away and come here?” Then Mwatiktik chopped the rope with an axe and it took Teramsumas down and he fell and was killed. And Mwatiktik sent all the birds down there and one of them went and ran from his feet to his head and came back. Mwatiktik questioned him and he replied, “Yes, he’s dead.” All the birds went. And he sent the Tikiskisik bird. The Tikiskisik went to and fro on top of

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

him and came back. And when questioned he replied, “He’s dead.” And he sent the Koiametameta bird, who went and entered his anus and went on until he came out of his mouth. And he came back and said, “Hey! Well, I went into his anus and came out his mouth.” And he said that it was true. So they all came down and Mwatiktik speared Teramsumas’ belly with the axe and all the birds cried and the pigs called out and the people too called out.

This story explains the geographical placement of the islands of the south. It was told by Masel Manua of Aniwa. Majikjiki, the Fisherman of the Islands In the southern islands, especially Futuna and Aniwa, there are many stories that tell of the serpent-god, Majikjiki. Here is another one of them that has been passed down from father to son and explains how Majikjiki moved the islands of the south. One day, Majikjiki was walking along the small island of Aniwa when all of the sudden, an idea came to him. “Why is it that all of the islands are so far away from one another?” he asked himself. At that time, the islands were located at a long distance from one another. He began to look for a solution to bring them closer together. Here is what he did. He took four vine ropes and tied each one to the end of a piece of wood that was shaped like a hook. Then he threw the four lines towards the four islands— Tanna, Aneityum, Futuna and Erromango. From the island of Aniwa, he pulled the islands toward him. There is a song in local language that is sung when this action is made. Majikjiki pulled and pulled and pulled again and slowly brought the islands toward the direction of Aniwa. Finally he gave the rope a strong pull and the vine that was attached to Tanna broke. The island was too big and too heavy to quickly pull in the ocean. At the moment that the vine broke, Majikjiki fell back and landed on his bottom with his arms spread out at his sides. If you ever go to Aniwa, you can see where Majikjiki stood when he pulled the islands. And at the same place, you can see the place where he fell when the vine broke and sent him sprawling on the ground. Then this is the reason that the southern islands that we now know as TAFEA province are close to one another, because they were pulled into the position by Majikjiki, our famous serpent-god.

The Peopling of Our Islands

The Legacy of Lapita The various Lapita groups who expanded into the islands and archipelagoes on Remote Oceania were the founding populations from which the later, more complex societies of this vast region ultimately developed. Lapita social structure, as we presently conceive it, contains the necessary germs of ranking and of intergroup competition based on economic exchanges, from which the diverse array of complex societies of Micronesia, Polynesia and island Melanesia emerged over two to three thousand years of continuous social change (Kirch 2000: 115).

Comprehension questions 1. What is the meaning of “founding populations”? 2. Based on this quotation, what emerged “over two to three thousand years of continuous social change”?

Canoes that arrived in our archipelago over 3000 years ago were the beginnings of the story of our past. The Lapita people, along with the customs and practices that they brought with them, were the original basis of our customs and cultures. These seafaring people crossed the wide expanse of ocean between Near and Remote Oceania without seeing the outline of the next island on the horizon. When they ﬁnally saw land in the distance, they found a chain of uninhabited islands on which they could begin their communities. Layered upon this base, other groups contributed their own unique customs and traditions in our archipelago, thereby inﬂuencing those that were already in place. In ‘Features of Traditional Society’, we will explore some of the rich and complex aspects of traditional life in our islands.

unit three

Features of Traditional Society

Islands of Diversity More than 3000 years ago our ancestors first arrived in the island archipelago that we now call Vanuatu. In ‘The Peopling of Our Islands’, we learnt about their journey from the north, the things that they brought with them in their canoes and the pots that they made. But what about the 2500 years between the original settlement of our islands and the arrival of the first European explorers 400 years ago? In those 2500 years, we have a fascinating history of many interacting complex societies, forming a web that reached far beyond our archipelago. While we do not have a written record of these years, we have a wealth of knowledge that has been preserved through oral histories. We also have the written accounts of the first explorers who came to our islands. While these written records from 400 years ago cannot account for the entire 2500 years of living in the islands prior to European contact, they can still provide us with a picture of what life was like at the time of contact. Also, we must remember that these accounts are written from the perspective of an outsider looking in; therefore, these travellers may have misunderstood certain aspects of the material cultures described. However, these early writers did understand a common characteristic of traditional life in our islands: that of the diversity of island cultures. The following excerpt, taken from Tom Harrisson’s Savage Civilisation (1937), illustrates the vast range of different cultures in our islands. Unlike our Polynesian cousins to the east, our islands have a multitude of languages and an immense variety of cultural practices. In these islands there has been no wide uniformity of culture or languages—as exists over thousands of islands in the east of the ocean. Here some trace descent from the mother, others from the father; some deform the skull; some make elaborate effigies of the dead. There are half a dozen methods of burial; round houses, straight houses, long houses, houses always on stones. Women naked, women in grassy skirts, in voluminous skirts of hibiscus fibre, in narrow red mat skirts or broad white ones. Tribes a few miles apart may not understand each other’s language. Nevertheless there runs an incessant interchange of things and ideas, the firm roots of tradition always sending out new branches on the evergreen tree. New influences going from island to island; drifting in from far-away groups, drifting out again (Harrisson 1937: 69).

E f f i g y : image

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Culture: A Web of Relationships Think about some customs that are important to you and your family. Think about the layers of meaning for each custom and how it interconnects with other aspects of culture. For example, a traditional tattoo is not simply used for body adornment, but also symbolises social status or a particular stage in life. Traditionally, there were various rituals that had to be completed before a woman gained the right to have a tattoo. Similarly, the designs that are stencilled and dyed onto mats are chosen not for aesthetic reasons, but for speciďŹ c meanings and purposes. Each custom our ancestors practised and that we have inherited, weaves together the various threads of community life forming what we describe as our culture. Our social lives are connected to our political, spiritual and economic lives. Each custom practice creates and strengthens these links. This unit explores some of the cultural practices that have existed in our islands. The material is arranged alphabetically. This is not an exhaustive unit and not every example of material culture is explored, nor is every possible type of cultural ritual or ceremony. However, this unit provides examples of some cultural practices and encourages you to ďŹ nd out more about customs in your own place. Included at the end of the unit are suggestions for possible research topics concerning additional cultural practices that have not been explored in this text.

Architectural Styles Nakamals

Ceremonial house, gamal, for a person of high rank, with sculpture and paintings, Gaua, Banks Islands. Photo by Felix Speiser c.1910 (National Archives, VKS).

Writing activity What can you identify in the photograph? Write a description of a present-day nakamal that you have seen.

Features of Traditional Society

Investigate As a class, take a trip to a nakamal that is near your school. Sketch the nakamal, including the interior and the exterior and identify its signiﬁcant components. Find out what the purpose of the nakamal is. Find out if the nakamal is built in a completely traditional style. If it is not, what parts have been modiﬁed?

Fern-tree sculpture representing the face of the founder of the nakamal in the old Big Nambas village of Tenmaru, NW Malakula (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 224).

Plan of the interior of a Torres Islands gemel (Coifﬁer 1988: 4).

Housing Christian Coiffier has researched many of the architectural styles that are found in our islands. In the following excerpt, he describes the styles that are particular to certain areas throughout the archipelago. The types of architecture in Vanuatu can be classified into three distinct categories, corresponding to geographical areas (Coiffier 1988). The northern type (Torres, Banks, Santo, Ambae, Maewo and northern Pentecost) is characterised by buildings in the form of a hall with a double, slightly sloped roof coming down almost to the ground. In the central islands (Malakula, Ambrym and central and southern Pentecost), houses have a rounded ‘apse’ at either end, while in the southern type of building (in Efate, the Shepherds, Tanna and Aneityum) is oblong with a ribbed roof coming down to ground level. Hybrid forms combine the three types, sometimes with outside influences (Coiffier 1996: 217).

Left: Living house, Efate (Coifﬁer 1988: 61). Right: Vanua Lava (Speiser 1996: Plate 12).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Thinking further 1. “The variety in types of dwellings, which used to reflect the different origins of the inhabitants of the numerous islands of the country, is disappearing with the growth of a general standardization. Colonisation and the introduction of Christianity have brought new types of design which reflect a different style of life” (Coiffier 1996: ix). What do you think Coiffier is saying in this paragraph? Can you think of any examples in your village or area that illustrate his point? 2. Consider different housing styles that you have seen in villages and in town. What styles do you think are the best protection against cyclones? Give reasons for your answer. Writing activiti es 1. What do you think are some of the reasons that housing styles are changing? Make a list of things that you think affect the way in which a person decides to build his/her family’s house. 2. What are the traditional materials that are used in building a house in the area where you are from, or the area in which your school is located? Make a list of the materials. Describe each material, where it is found and its use in building a structure. Discussion activities 1. Go to a nearby village and complete a survey of sleeping houses. How many houses are there in the village? How many of the houses are built in traditional style? How many are modern? What materials were used to build the houses? 2. Find an older member of a community and ask them about changing house styles. Are there any traditional styles that are still being used? Investigate 1. Research the use of kitchens. Did houses traditionally have separate kitchens, or did cooking take place in the sleeping house? How have things changed throughout time? 2. The sketches below were completed by Felix Speiser during his time in the islands. He drew these layouts some time between 1910 and 1912. The first is a village layout in Ambrym; the second in Vao. How are they similar? How are they different?

Village layouts (Speiser 1996: Plate 10). Left: Vao; Right: Ambrym.

Features of Traditional Society

3. Draw a diagram of your family’s hamlet (living area). Make a list of all of the family members who live in your hamlet. If you like, you can also draw a diagram of a hamlet near your school. Do you think that the layout has changed over time? Why or why not?

Arrows The Torres Islands have their own type of arrow which is distinguished not so much for its artistic forms as its exceptionally careful workmanship. They are all slender and extremely smooth arrows with no binding that projects or is in any way decorative. They are either hollow shafts with a simple long wooden head or have a wooden foreshaft and a long awl-shaped bone point. The characteristic feature of the arrows is the wood they are made from; it is not tree-fern wood but a very hard, reddish brown or light-yellow wood. The heads are strikingly regular in shape and polished to a high gloss. The point of the bone arrow is remarkable for its regularly tapered form and careful polish, likewise the short foreshaft of dark wood; the way bone and wood are united by a fine, barely projecting binding of the most delicate resincoated fibre is particularly noteworthy… The arrows of Erromanga are in fact different in type from those of the northern islands. There are no bone heads at all; the arrows are very finely wrought and provided with flat, delicate heads with barbs or ring projections in the familiar arrowhead form, seated on a very thing neck so that they easily break off in the wound. There are never any nocks and the arrows are small and light, being scarcely longer than 100 centimetres (Speiser 1996: 198).

R e s i n : glue

Arrowheads from around Vanuatu (Speiser 1996: Plate 54).

Investigate Research the arrows that were/are made on your island. What do they look like? Are they similar to the arrows that Speiser described from Erromango or the Torres Islands? Draw a picture and write a paragraph description.

Bark Cloth The production and use of bark cloth (nmah in the Sye language of Erromango) was relatively widespread among our islands. It was particularly used in the central and southern islands, from Tongoa southwards. The following excerpt from Robertson and

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Huffman describe how the cloth was made on the island of Erromango (You can read more about the Robertsons in ‘The Beginnings of Christianity in Our Islands’.).

Glutinous: sticky

The bark is taken off in broad strips and done up in bundles. Then, on a round, smooth log, about a foot in diameter and eight or ten feet in length, one of these strips is laid. Generally two women work together at it, one on each side of the log. The ‘beater’ (neko) is made of nokesan, a very hard wood… With the exception of the handle, which is plain, it is often beautifully carved in patterns of leaves. Each woman has on the ground beside her a small canoe-shaped dish of fresh water and a whisk, made of reeds. Every now and then the bark is sprayed with water and after it is beaten for a long time, another strip is added overlapping the first one. The bark is so glutinous that in the constant beating the pieces join very quickly. As the women work, they draw the fabric from side to side of the log; strip after strip is added, principally lengthwise (for the cloth is always narrow and long) till it is one solid piece. The colour is now a dull white and the materials very like parchment in appearance. It is then hung over a bamboo or some creepers, tied between trees and while still damp, patterns are drawn on it with charcoal (Robertson 1902: 368). The barkcloth was produced by women and was of different types: a rough, strong kind as a floor ‘mat,’ slightly finer types as sleeping and ‘blanket’ mats. These were undecorated. The most famous kind of barkcloth… is the beautiful decorated type worn by women across their shoulders, or draped over one shoulder and across the breasts. This type was used mainly for ritual and ceremonial display and as part of ritual payments… An undecorated type was also worn by women when, for example, working in the gardens in cool weather, or in which to carry their babies. There was much nevasi (trade) in these barkcloths along predetermined trade routes. During rituals, women would put on their best nomblat (the Erromangan type of voluminous leaf skirt made of pandanus, burao, or a type of split banana bark) and their best decorated barkcloth, but the most voluminous nomblat and the most ‘flash’ barkcloth were usually worn by nasimnalam (the wife of a chief) married to a fan lou (chief; also natemong in Sie and yarumne in Ura) or fan lou nusian (high chief). Sometimes dozens, or hundreds, of these decorated barkcloths would be hung from long bamboo or wooden poles radiating, like the rays of the sun, from the base of 30-metre-tall nevsem towers built for nehekar/nisekar chiefly alliance rituals, or burnt en masse in a similar situation for chiefly funerary rituals (Huffman 1996: 136).

Writing activity Was bark cloth made on your island? If not, what type of textiles did people wear? Write a description of the traditional clothing styles from your island. Investigate Bark cloth belts are still made by men on the island of Tanna. Who makes textiles on your island?

Features of Traditional Society

Erromango bark cloth (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 135).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Birth Rituals The following excerpt is from R.H. Codrington’s The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folklore (1891). Codrington was a missionary with the Melanesian Mission and spent many years in the northern islands of our archipelago. The Melanesians is regarded as one of the most thorough of the early anthropological studies of the New Hebrides. This excerpt tells of the rituals of the father after the birth of his children.

At this time in history the Banks and Torres Islands were considered separate from the New Hebrides, hence, Codrington’s reference to the New Hebrides.

In the Banks’ Islands, both parents are careful what they eat when the child is born, they take only what if taken by the infant would not make it ill; before the birth of her first child the mother must not eat fish caught by the hook, net or trap. After the birth of the first child, the father does no heavy work for a month; after the birth of any of his children, he takes care not to go into those sacred places, tano rongo, into which the child could not go without risk. It is the same in the New Hebrides;1 the expectant Araga (Pentecost) father keeps away from sacred places, ute sapuga, before the child’s birth and does not enter his house; after the birth, he does work in looking after his wife and child, but he must not eat shell-fish and other produce of the beach, for the infant would suffer from ulcers if he did. In Leper’s Island (Ambae), the father is very careful for ten days; he does no work, will not climb a tree, or go far into the sea to bathe, for if he exerts himself the child will suffer. If during this time he goes to any distance, as to the beach, he brings back with him a little stone representing the infant’s soul, which may have followed him; arriving at home, he cries, ‘come hither,’ and puts down the stone in the house; then he waits till the child sneezes and he cries, ‘Here it is,’ knowing then that the soul has not been lost (Codrington 1891: 228-229).

Irene Lini (Kaioga, Maewo) – Cultural Centre Fieldworker Taem bebe i stap insaed long bel blong yu, yu no swea long man blong yu mo yu no kros long man blong yu. Sapos yu tekem fasin olsem bae pikinini blong yu i tekem fasin olsem. Bae hem i no save respektem yu taem yu bonem hem, mo taem hem i stap gro i kam antap. From taem hem i stap yet long bel blong yu taem yu kros olsem hem i save se mama hem i kros. Mifala i bonem ol pikinini blong mifala insaed long kijin blong ol doti blong hem i lus nomo long kijin ia. Mo mifala i stap wetem long kijin kasem ten dei, ale tekem hem i go long narafala haos blong putum nem blong hem. — Kastom Fasin Blong Respek, 1998 Woman Filwoka Woksop.

Writing activity In these excerpts we have looked at father and mother rituals after the birth of their children. What about grandparents, other siblings, aunts and uncles? Research their roles upon the birth of a child, either from your island or the island on which your school is located. Design a table that illustrates family relations and their responsibilities when a baby is born. Investigate 1. Find out if there are any special rituals surrounding the birth of twins. 2. Ask your family members about the custom and tradition surrounding birth on your island. Were there any special rituals that were followed after your birth?

Features of Traditional Society

Burial Practices The following excerpt from Kiamu, the Southern Canoe by Michel Aufray (1996), describes traditional burial practices on the island of Aneityum (traditionally known by people of other islands as Kiam or Kiamu). In former times, there were two types of burial. When a chief was being buried, the corpse was interred except for the head, which was left protruding above ground. A small hut, in which a man had to stay by the dead chief, was built over the grave. A basket containing taros and nipcin wei, a freshwater ﬁsh, was hung in the hut. The mourner was to eat this food while looking the dead man in the eyes. If he turned his eyes away, he was put to death by the warriors waiting outside the hut. After ﬁnishing his meal, he had then to make an incision with his thumbnail in the dead man’s head, along a line down the middle of the forehead and nose to the mouth, to hasten decomposition. When the head had become detached from the trunk, the mourner carried it to a sacred place in the bush, where the skull of another chief who had died previously had been placed. This skull was pushed out of the way with the head of the chief who had just died. Thus he succeeded his predecessors. It appears that the other type of burial, netheso an cop, ‘sea burial’ was for commoners. The corpse was carried on a litter to the coastal cliffs. If it was necessary to go through en-

P r o t r u d e : to stick out

Left: One of the most-researched burial sites in Vanuatu, this is a photograph of José Garanger’s archaeological excavation on Eretoka Island in 1972. Right: This is a funeral efﬁgy (rambaramp) from Southwest Malakula. It was made from plant ﬁbres, wood, pig’s tusk, natural pigments and an over-modelled human skull (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 1).

Cortège: convoy; escort

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

emy villages, these would allow the cortège to pass. Once at the seashore, the dead man’s relatives would put on him an armband made of coconut shell, nethado and various plants. The body was weighted down with stones and thrown into the sea from the top of the rocks. One man had to jump into the sea with the body to make sure it came to rest on the seabed. Back on land, the diver was not to stay on the shore, but to live hidden in the bush so as not to see the dead man’s remains devoured by sharks. The spirits of the dead, natmas, were carried by the sharks to their dwelling places at sea. These were islands all around Anatom, which the living could sometimes glimpse early in the morning. At Isia, on the east coast, the island of the dead was called Ralau. There grew a banyan whose leaves were associated with a sea ﬁsh, nopom erin pak, ‘banyan leaf makerel’. When these ﬁsh are plentiful, people say the spirits of the dead are sweeping the leaves of their banyan (Aufray 1996: 197-8).

Discussion activity How do the burial practices on your island compare to burial practices in other places of the world? If you have access to research materials, use them to ﬁnd out about other burial practices in other cultures. As a class, discuss your ﬁndings. Investigate How were people buried on your island in the past? Do today’s rituals include some of the burial rituals of before? Were there differences between the burials of women, children, men, chiefs, chiefs’ wives?

Ceremonial Votwos, named Yeavotahya, Ureparapara, Banks Islands. showing place where the skull of the high-ranking man would be kept. Photo from the National Heritage Inventory of Vanuatu, VKS.

Features of Traditional Society

Cannibalism The following excerpt comes from Deacon’s Malekula: A Vanishing People in the New Hebrides (1934) and explores traditional practices of cannibalism on the island of Malakula.2 In general it is probably accurate to say that a man would not ordinarily be eaten by members of his own district even if killed by them in war and certainly not by any of those people to whom he extends the kinship term hala. But it is not true of the Malekulans… that the eating of human flesh is restricted to the corpses of strangers killed in fight. On the contrary, it is necessary to distinguish in this island between those occasions when a man is killed primarily that he may be eaten and those on which he is killed for purposes of vengeance or to punish him for some heinous offence and then eaten as a gesture of mocking contempt. It is said to have been common in days gone by to buy, or obtain in some other way, a human victim for an important nimangki celebration. Apparently this did not form any essential part of the ceremony, but was merely regarded as a tasty contribution to the feast. The man ‘buying’ the new nimangki grade would see about the killing of the selected victim and if a man appeared at a nimangki gathering highly decorated with red mbwingmbwingamb leaves, it was taken as an indication that he was going to provide a human body for eating, though it might also mean that he himself had recently been a leading participant in a cannibal meal. Whether cannibalism was practised in Malekula because the people desired to gratify their taste for human flesh or in order to express their contempt for a stranger or enemy, the cooking and eating of a human being was never treated as a secular affair. In the first place human flesh may not be cooked inside a house, a rule which is said to be observed for fear of the ghost of the victim. Further, human flesh when cooked has a special name, timis mbal… and the portions of the cooked body such as the arms and legs are not spoken of by the usual words for these limbs, but as nambal nin and nipwis ran. Again, before being consumed the limbs and body are freely decorated with nmbwingmbwingamb leaves and are then distributed with some ceremony to the participants in the feast, according to the importance of the recipient, as are the portions of pig at the nimangki feast (Deacon 1934: 227-230).

Investigate Was cannibalism a part of your island’s culture? What rituals were involved in ceremonies? Find out about different rituals between men and women involving cannibalism.

Canoes The following description of trading canoes on the beach of the small island of Rano, NE Malakula, is from N. Hardy’s The Savage South Seas (1907). [T]hree or four very ﬁne specimens of large war canoes lying on the beach…these are far larger than any in the Solomons but, judging by their appearance, they have not been in use for ages and ages…the stern of one of them is protected by a shed…The larger of the two is considerably over thirty feet from stem to stern and the bow rises up to a height of over ten

Deacon spells Malekula with an ‘e’ although today the more common spelling is with an ‘a’ as in Malakula.

V e n g e a n c e : revenge H e i n o u s : awful

S e c u l a r : not part of a religious belief or practice

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

feet and is made of a solid dug-out log curved and tapering to a point, where evidently a ﬁgurehead of some sort has been.

Above: Canoe prow, naho, purchased by Guiart at Ranon, north Ambrym, where it had been ritually exchanged. Vao Island, north-east Malakula (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 174). Right: Canoe race in Havannah Bay, north Efate, photographed by JW Lindt in 1891 (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 36).

The following excerpt is from Kirk Huffman’s article in Arts of Vanuatu entitled, ‘Trading, Cultural Exchange and Copyright: Important Aspects of Vanuatu Arts’ (1996). The large trading canoes that could hold up to forty people (of the type called nimbwembeu in the Nahava-speaking area of south-west Malakula, or the Vao nuwak wala, Port Sandwich nuangk wala and the Lamen Island double-ended ﬁghting canoes wabo, ‘silence’) had almost all died out by the beginning of this century. The last-mentioned of these types were more ‘sacred,’ involving rituals in construction and launching similar to entry into the graded system, taking on of a personality and name and even having mortuary rituals performed for them when their days were over. Women were excluded from their construction and forbidden to travel in them (Huffman in Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 187).

Writing activity If you come from a solwota (coastal) village, write an essay describing your village’s dependence upon canoes. Do people continue to build and use canoes? If so, for what do they use them? If not, what do they use instead? Investigate 1. Find someone who has made a canoe. Interview him/her and ask about the steps of making a canoe. You should think of your own questions. Some examples are: • What is the ﬁrst step in making a canoe? • Are there any customs that you must follow when crafting your canoe? • How do you choose the wood that you will use for your canoe?

Features of Traditional Society

2. Find out about canoes in the area surrounding your school or in your home village. • Were sails used? If so, what were they made from? • Who made canoes? Did they have to gain the right to make canoes? • How were canoes designed? Did men have to “buy” designs, or could they design them however they wished? • What were canoes used for? • Were different canoes used for different reasons? • What are canoes like today?

Circumcision3 Martha Alick (Laman Island, Epi)– Cultural Centre Fieldworker Taem mifala i luk oli stap pulum ol boe i go long nakamal, mi no save kakae laplap we oli bekem long ston. Mi kakae ol kakae we i kuk mo i rus nomo. Afta 5 dei ol angkel oli rusum wan laplap oli kolem kolang, afta oli karem i kam mi kakae, afta 2 wik mi bae mi mekem gud i go long ol angkel blong hem nao. Mi karem pig wetem kakae mi go givim long olgeta angkel afta mi jas kakae laplap we oli bekem long ston. Nao taem boe blong mi i stap long nakamal mi no save go long garen blong katem banana o ol samting we i gat wota. Be long taem ia bae oli karem kolang wetem ﬂaoa haebiskis we i min se blad i ron. Ol laplap we mifala i mekem blong ol angkel blong hem, mifala i no save putum ol mit long hem, taem mifala i karem i go long nakamal bae angkel blong hem nomo oli serem wetem hem blong kakae. Ol woman oli no save kakae laplap ia. Taem boe i kambak long nakamal mifala i mekem bigfala seremoni. Long taem ia boe i

While we refer to it as ‘circumcision’, the correct term is actually incision. The Big Nambas were the only people to practise circumcision.

Men carrying laplap for a circumcision feast, West Tanna (National Archives, VKS).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

mas pem ol sista blong hem wetem mat mo kaliko o blangket. Hamas sista i gat sapos hem i seven i mas pem evriwan. Sapos i gat sam i stap boe ia i mas givim flaoa haebiskis ia long olgeta, i min se bae brata i pem olgeta. Taem boe ia i pemaot ol sista blong hem finis, bae ol angkel oli tekemaot hem long nakamal blong kam long haos. Oli laenemap ol longfala waelken gogo finis boe ia i stap wetem ol papa blong hem, hamas papa i gat evriwan, i mas stanap long ol waelken ia blong kilim. Ol angkel nao samtaem oli kilim gogo blad i ron afta mama i pemaot blad ia. Sapos wan narafala boe wetem woman blong narafala aelan oli kam stap wetem mifala afta boe blong hem i wantem go long nakamal bae mifala i tritim hem i i mas olsem (Kastom Fasin Blong Respek 1998: 39-40).

Discussion activity What are the roles of various people in a circumcision ceremony on your island? Discuss this as a class. Investigate 1. How do circumcision ceremonies vary from island to island? 2. Does circumcision relate to entrance into the nakamal on your island? 3. A circumcision ceremony is an important step in the lives of young boys. On your island, is there a ceremony for females that also signiﬁes a “coming of age”?

Dancing Rattles Dance rattles are found in all the islands and consist of nut shells cut in half and tied to a string which is then secured to a rope. As a rule they are fastened under the knee but sometimes also on the upper arm. Snail shells can be used instead of nuts. Simpler percussion instruments are represented by a bamboo cane from southern Malekula, split at the front and struck with a stick, thus producing a rattling sound. Often two pieces of wood are simply struck one against the other (Speiser 1996: 377).

Accessory: extra decoration

Discussion activity What kinds of accessories are used in dances on your island? Do these vary depending upon the type of dance that is being performed? As a class, discuss the dances that you have seen or participated in and describe the different accessories that are used. Investigate 1. Are only certain people allowed to wear dancing rattles? If so, how do they attain this right? 2. How are dance rattles made? Find out about different kinds of dance rattles from older members in your community. If you can ﬁnd the materials where you live, learn how to make them. 3. Nowadays, custom dances are often performed for special occasions such as circumcisions, marriages, ﬁrst communions, church openings, etc. Research

Features of Traditional Society

some of the following topics that have to do with traditional dances. • How do you request a dance and from whom do you request a dance? • How do you pem bak (pay) the dancers for their performance? • Who makes the accessories (masks, special textiles, rattles, etc.) that are needed for the dance? • How do the dancers choose the songs to which they are going to dance? Who teaches the songs to the dancers? • Are there any special rituals that dancers follow when they are practicing a dance? • How do dancers decide who will lead the dance?

Ear Piercing And Ear Ornaments This short excerpt comes from Tom Harrisson’s Savage Civilisation (1937). He is describing a custom from Matanavat, Northwest Malakula. On the fourth day after birth the maternal uncle comes over from his village. He comes to the door of his sister’s hut. She is inside, still secluded, pushes the baby to the door. With a sharp orange thorn the man, her brother, pierces a narrow hole in each ear. In those, later in life, he will wear tortoise-shelled spiral earrings and tufts of coloured pigs’ tails. Then an old man and woman relative of the father’s take the child and ask the maternal uncle, “Where did this little thing come from?” And the maternal uncle says, “From my village.” For the mother is of his clan and it is the child of his place. Then the old ones ask him, “What, then, is its name?” To which he replies usually his own name, with the preﬁx Le- if it is a girl. Uncle then gets a good tusker pig and goes home; if it is a girl he will get a better pig than if it is a boy, because if it is a girl the father will eventually gain pigs from her when he sells her in marriage and so he is indebted to his wife’s brother, who has, in some way, produced this pigearner—though for himself he would, perhaps, rather have a son (Harrisson 1937: 41-2).

Thinking further 1. Why does the father of this baby give the uncle a tusker pig? 2. Do you know of any other body ornaments that are made of tortoise shell?

Incised Bamboo and Cane Ear Ornaments The designs on incised bamboo and cane ear ornaments can represent a variety of different aspects of nature, from sea life to the sun. In the northern islands these ornaments were worn by both men and women, although some designs were restricted to men. They were no longer used after the end of the 19th century.

Cane ear ornament, Torres Islands (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 239).

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Investigate Find out if there are any customs in your area that involve ear piercing. Are they still practised?

Family Totems This excerpt is from Ples Blong ol Fis Long Kastom Laef, Woksop blong ol Man Filwoka, 12-23 Julae 1993.

Titus Joel, Kurunratago Village, Toga Island, Torres Group– Cultural Centre Fieldworker Fis ia dolfin hem i wan fis we hem i impoten tumas long Torres we mifala i singaotem se nequria. Fis ia dolfin long saed blong laen blong famle o wanem mifala i singaotem se e meteviv mi ne quria, we i minim se laen blong dolfin. Bifo, long taem ol dolfin i save gud ol laen blong hem we i stap toktok wetem olgeta, mo ol dolfin i stap harem save olgeta. Mo tu kasem naoia taem ol man i go long kenu o bot sapos wan i talem se leftemap bodi blong yu i gat wan man i wantem lukum, bae yu luk i kamkamaot long solwota or sapos wan i se wan laen blong yu i wantem lukum pikinini blong yu bae yu luk dolfin i stap soem rod long givhan long hem blong go kasem ol man taem oli go long bot. Bae yu save lukum hem long fored hem i go fastaem. Sapos man i go hukum fis mo faenem hem o olgeta bae hem i no save hukum olgeta from se ol dolfin, olgeta famle blong man. Ispeseli long hem i leftemap pikinini blong hem mo man ia i lukum.

Discussion activity Are there any ﬁsh tabus in your community? If so, what are they? What do you think would happen if you did not obey the restrictions that were in place? As a class, discuss these issues. Investigate 1. Traditional resource management systems are another way to show respect for the environment. We read about some of these in ‘An Agricultural History of Our Islands’. Find out about the traditional resource management systems practised in your area. 2. A family’s totem may be a certain creature or plant, such as the dolphin in the above excerpt. On Efate, totems are part of the naﬂak system, which is described in ‘Land Tenure in Vanuatu’. Does your family have a totem? What is the purpose of having a totem? Do you have any particular rituals you must follow to respect this totem? 3. Can you trace your family line? Interview different family members in order to better understand the origins of your family. How does your family lineage relate to land?

Food Prohibitions A distinction must be made between permanent and temporary prohibitions. The latter can be imposed by any man of inﬂuence on any occasion. For example, the consumption of coco-

Features of Traditional Society

nuts or breadfruit can be declared tabu for a certain time. The position is different where permanent prohibitions are concerned. These are rooted in a custom based on superstition. In Santo, except among the pygmy tribes, a man is forbidden to consume anything female such as, for example, hens and eggs. The same also applies to Malekula, where the eating of sharks is prohibited. Women here may not eat twinned bananas for fear of having twins. In Ambrym men may eat female pigs in ordinary life but not at suque feasts. The rules are less strict in Pentecost, where turtles may be eaten only by unmarried people, for if parents eat them their children will have crooked legs. In Aoba, Maevo and the Banks Islands men may eat female pigs in daily life. There appear to have been no rules on this subject in the southern islands. In Tanna, however, turtle hunting was the privilege of certain families, in which it was hereditary. They alone were allowed to cook them but everyone could partake of them…In Tanna the men were not allowed to convey food direct to the mouth with the hand but had to use a leaf. The idea is that their hands are unclean through contact with women (Speiser 1996: 122-3).

Thinking further Food tabus may be linked to health concerns (such as birth defects), religious beliefs and traditional resource management. Can you think of environmental reasons that prompted people to create food tabus? Writing activity Write a story in which someone breaks a food tabu. What does the village do? How does the person feel? What happens to the person? It is up to you to create the setting, plot, characters and theme of your story! Discussion activity Research other food tabus by talking to people who live in the area of your school. Are these different from island to island? Investigate The food tabus mentioned in this text are from the early twentieth century. Have any food tabus changed throughout time? Are there any tabus now that were not originally in place? Are there any tabus from before that are no longer followed?

Games– String Figures String ﬁgures are intricate designs that are created by weaving a piece of string or pandanus into a design, using one’s ﬁngers as a framework. Sometimes the designs are passed from one person’s hands to another. Some designs even require two sets of hands on which to weave the designs! The following information is from Stephen Zagala, a researcher from the Australian National University in Canberra who has extensively looked at and catalogued sand drawings throughout our islands.

P y g m y : any member of various peoples that have an average height of less than 1.5 metres

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

String figures and sand drawings are closely related to each other in Vanuatu. This is interesting, given that sand drawings are very geographically specific to the northern islands, but string figures are found throughout the archipelago and in fact, the world…Women probably dispersed string figures (and sand drawings) through marriage…What we can say with certainty is that they are important teaching devices. They help children learn custom stories (in the same way that sand drawings do). And they also help children learn to handle pandanus with dexterity, which is good training for making mats and baskets in the future. (Stephen Zagala, personal communication, 8 September 2004).

Discussion activities 1. As a class, create string figures. Tell your classmates the name of the figure (in its original language if you know it) and show the different steps of the figure. 2. As a class, make a catalogue of all of the string figures that you know. If you know any stories that correspond with the string figures, write them along with the name of the figure. Investigate 1. Talk with people in your village or the village near your school. Do they know any string figures that they can teach you? How do people learn string figures? If you know any, who taught them to you? 2. Can you create any new string figures? Along with your friends, try to create a new design!

Above: Bird basket trap, Ambrym (Speiser 1996: Plate 28). The bird is lured in with bait and cannot ﬁnd its way out again. Opposite: Animal trap, Malo (Speiser 1996: Plate 26).

Hunting Techniques There are various methods of catching birds. Bird lime is obtained from the sap of the breadfruit tree and spread on the twigs. This method is practised in northern Pentecost. There, as in Aoba [Ambae] and Malo, bird snares are also used. They consist of a long,

Features of Traditional Society

stout line to the end of which a ﬁner but very tough cord is fastened. This end is tied in a running noose on the earth or over a forked branch and the bird is then lured into the snare with bait. The cord is then tugged hard by hand and the noose closes round the bird’s legs (Speiser 1996: 140).

Thinking further What kinds of birds do people hunt in Vanuatu? We know that there are some bird species that are now extinct because of over-hunting in the past; archaeological evidence (bird bones found during excavations) proves this. Why do you think that our ancestors over-hunted certain bird species? In our lives today, are there any birds that we should not hunt excessively? Investigate 1. Talk with people in your village or the area surrounding your school about methods that are used to catch birds. What kinds of birds do they hunt? How do they catch them? Do they use all local materials, or do they use some manufactured materials in their traps and snares? Have trap designs changed over time? 2. Build a bird trap or snare. Display different varieties of bird traps in your classroom. Try them out and see if they work!

Kava The Origins of Kava Long taem i pas ﬁnis, wan men hem i mared mo woman blong hem, hem i bonem tufala pikinini, wan boe mo wan gel. Wan dei, mama blong tufala hem i kasem sik, gogo klosap nomo hem i ded. Nao hem i singaot long tufala, mo hem i talemaot long tufala wetem papa blong ol se, “Nao mi no save harem gud bakegen. Taem mi ded, yufala mas berem mi long wan ples, mo bae i gat tufala samting bae i gru stret long tufala titi blong mi. Yutufala mas lukaot long tufala samting ia.” I no longtaem, woman ia hem i ded, mo oli go berem hem long graon. Oltaem tufala pikinini i stap go lukluk long ples we mama blong tufala i stap long graon. Wan taem nao, tufala i luk we tufala samting oli stap gru long titi blong mama blong tufala. Wan hem i gru long lef titi, mo wan i gru long raet titi. Ale, smol boe hem i stap klinim hemia we i gru long raet, mo smol gel hem i klinim hemia we i gru long lef saed. Oltaem tufala i stap klinim, gogo tufala i kam bigwan lelebet. Nao gel ia hem i mared, i go long wan ples we hem i longwe tumas. Ale, gel ia i nomo save klinim gru blong hem, mo bus i kavremap. Boe ia hem i stap nomo, i stap klinim gru blong hem. I stap klinim, gogo i kam kava. Nao evri dei, boe ia wetem papa blong hem tufala i go long garen. Woman blong man ia hem i ded longtaem ﬁnis, be man ia hem i no save fogetem woman blong hem, mo hed blong hem i stap trabol tumas from hem. Wan taem, man ia hem i stap silip long garen, mo woman blong hem, hem i talem se, “Yu go tekemaot ol rus blong kava ia, yu wokem, mo yu dring. Bae yu nomo tingbaot mi.” Man ia hem i girap, hem i talem long boe blong hem se, “Mi drim long mama blong yu. Hem i talem se mi mas go tekemaot rus blong kava ia we yu stap klinim. Bae mi wokem, mi dring, mo bae mi nomo tingbaot hem.

Kava utensils from Ambae and Ureparapara (Speiser 1996: Plate 19).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatuâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Volume One

Ale, tufala i go tekemaot rus blong kava, oli karem i gobak long haos. Man ia hem i wokem, hem i dring. Hem i harem gud nao, hem i slip gud gogo kasem deilaet. Nekis dei, hem i go talemaot long ol man se hem i faenem wan samting we i gud tumas. Mo evriwan oli go karem kava, oli wokem, oli dring long nakamal. Oli harem gud tumas, mo olgeta evriwan oli go karem wan wan han blong kava, oli go planem long garen. Nao ol man i mekem kava olsem i stap kasem tedei. Be wan we gel i nomo klinim, hemia nao hem i wael kava, mo man i no save dring. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Story as told by Avio Koli and Joel Lemaya, found in Suniena Lala La Newo, Ol Storian Blong Lewo, Epi Aelan.

Thinking further Is kava grown on your island? If so, is it sent to Vila or Santo markets? What is done with the kava that grows on your island? Writing activity How do you think that the use of kava has changed over time? Write an opinion paper on this topic. Discussion activity As a class, discuss how the use of kava varies from island to island. Investigate How was kava used in the past? What are the customs and traditions that surround the use of kava on your island? Who had a right to drink kava? What did the person have to do to gain this right?

Leaf Chewing On some islands, women (and sometimes men) made patterns by folding leaves and leaving bite marks on them. The patterns from these bite marks represented tattoos, particularly those of high women. This practice was recorded in 1987 in Burao, on the island of Tongoa.

Investigate 1. Was leaf chewing practised on your island? If so, what kind of leaf was used? Who created the designs? What were the designs used for? 2. Make your own leaf designs! First, fold the leaf in half and make imprints. Next, fold the leaf in half again and make more imprints. Continue until you create the desired design. Then transfer the design to a piece of paper.

Features of Traditional Society

Magic Stones The magic stone in the picture opposite, named Lengnangoulong, was originally purchased on North Ambrym by Jean Guiart in 1949 and placed in the Musée National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie in France. It has been chosen to be part of French President Jacques Chirac’s collection in the new Musée Quai Branley. The following excerpt, written by Kirk Huffman, tells the story of Lengnangoulong. This stone “magically assists its owner to acquire castrated male tusker pigs and is of a general type known in north Ambrym as müyü ne bu… this particular müyü ne bu is not just an ordinary stone. In Ambrym belief, it is the materialised form of the spirit Lengnangoulong, from whom it takes its proper name. Lengnangoulong was […] a man […] with magical powers and a voracious appetite for tusker pigs. He originally lived in a hollow na biribiri tree on the coast near Fantoro, South Pentecost. Finding pig bones around his tree, local inhabitants rightly accused him of devouring their tuskers. Challenging him, one man discovered that the only thing Lengnangoulong was afraid of was strong wind. The former then made wind magic, breaking Lengnangoulong’s tree house and the latter was swept, standing on one of the branches, across the straits to north Ambrym, where he eventually ended up living in a similar tree near Farbu, next to the present-day village of Magham. He was already there when the founding male of Farbu village, Tubuvivi, was discovered there as a child by a man from nearby Halhalfanbulvar (who had come looking for the teeth of his pigs eaten by Lengnangoulong). This is said to have happened nine generations ago. As Farbu village grew up, Lengnangoulong devoured its pigs, so the Farbu men decided to chase him away. A Farbu man challenged him, found out about his fear of strong wind and so made the wind magic that swept Lengnangoulong along the sea to Lolibiviri. Devouring the pigs in this area, he was chased again by wind magic and the south-east wind blew him to Melvar on the northwest side of Ambrym. Here he lived in a fan bwehe (cave) whilst devouring the areas’ pigs. Melvar men found a way to kill him in the cave and took away his bones. Shortly after this, Lengnangoulong’s spirit appeared in a dream to the Farbu man who had made the ﬁrst magic wind that began his Ambrym travails. The dream spirit told the man to search near the base of Lengnangoulong’s tree home near Farbu, where he would ﬁnd a gift in recognition of this struggle. The Farbu man thus found the present stone, Lengnangoulong materialised in the form of a taeman (good luck charm). The proper use of this stone enabled the Farbu holders to become rich in pigs and high-ranking men over generations (Huffman 2001: 269-72).

Discussion activity Do you think that this Lengnangoulong should be in a museum in France? Why or why not? Investigate Find out about stones in your area. Are they still used for special purposes? If so, what kind of special stones are still in use? Who has the power to use them? How does the knowledge of stones pass from generation to generation? When you are researching special stones, make sure that you do not ask for information that you do not have a right to know; be sensitive in your inquiries.

V o r a c i o u s : greedy

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Marriage The following excerpt from Lissant Bolton’s Unfolding the Moon: Enacting Women’s Kastom in Vanuatu (2003), describes a marriage exchange on the island of Ambae.

Ex plicit: clearly expressed

Like the huqe [grade-taking ceremony in Ambae], marriage focuses on exchange, involving the presentation, by bride’s and groom’s families alike, of large numbers of textiles [mats], food and other goods. The form that marriage takes works out, among other things, a relationship between two hamlets. Marriage always commences with a pig killing by the bride. She takes one of the junior ranks in the huqe, usually but not always the second such rank that she has taken in her life. Unless, exceptionally, she is married to a man who achieves very high rank in the huqe, this is the last huqe rank she will take. The tusked jaw of the pig she kills to obtain rank is sent with her to her new home, visible evidence of the status she has achieved and the respect of which she is worthy. Her father arranges the pig killing with the explicit intention of ensuring that her new family will respect her. On the next day, the goods given with and to her are amassed on the sara [nasara] of her hamlet and a complex series of payments, mostly of textiles, is made to those who have helped her family with the wedding (Bolton 2003: 100).

Thinking further 1. Think about the following sentence: “From we long fasin blong kastom woman nao hem i pis, women hem i go fastaem, nao i wokem rod, bambae i nogat faet.” (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 183) What does this sentence mean? 2. The above excerpt from Bolton describes one component of a present-day marriage on the island of Ambae. How have marriage ceremonies changed over time? How have they stayed the same? Writing activity In a description paper, write about a marriage ceremony that you attended. What happened in the ceremony? What island(s) were the bride and groom from? If it was a “church” wedding, were elements of traditional culture present as well? Discussion activity Find out about marriages on your island. As a class, have a discussion about marriage on all of your different islands. Compare and contrast the customs and traditions involved in marriage on different islands.

Mats And Their Designs The following story tells how the ﬁrst red mats were made on the island of Pentecost. This story is found in Pentecost: An Island in Vanuatu, by Genevieve Mescam (1989). To the south of Pentecost lies the island of Ambrym, permanently capped with the smoke emitted by two impressive volcanoes, Benbow and Marum. Until recent times, the inhabit-

Features of Traditional Society

This mat was said to have been acquired on Efate Island in the 1880s, but its exact origin is unknown. It is called naipf and was said to have been used as a sort of ‘royal presentation mat’, on which the son of a chief was presented to the community upon his birth (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 18).

ants used to go to the coastal villages of Pentecost to get clothing, coloured baskets and currency mats. However, it is from this volcanic island that the dyeing technique was to come. The legend relates that a man living in Ambrym daily used to see luminous flashes coming from Pentecost. Intrigued, he journeyed there by canoe and, on arrival, found two young girls washing their mats, lifting them high above their heads. He then realised that the sparkling objects he had seen were none other than these white mats shining in the sun. He married the young girls but soon realised that their father wanted to kill him. He told them that after his death a plant would grow on his tomb. ‘When the tree is tall, cut off its fine roots and grate them to remove the skin. Then, take the bark of a tree to make an oven, fill the oven with water and pour in the powder obtained from the roots. Then boil the mats and they will turn red,’ he told them. A short time later the two young women did as their husband had instructed them and thus they obtained beautiful red mats.

Mats in Northwest Malakula: Nambwe The following excerpt is from Tom Harrisson’s Savage Cilivisation (1937), other excerpts of which can be found throughout this text. In the opening chapter, Harrisson describes life in the area of Matanavat, Northwest Malakula. In the following excerpt he describes the nambwe, a woven mat that is worn only by women. Sometimes some of the village women wear red strips of mat on their heads. The whole is dyed red and looks like… long purple hair. These headdresses, called nambwe, are put on after the chiefly rites of the graded-pig society. The wearers are the wives of the man who killed the pigs; they put on the nambwe with some ceremony and thirty days’ hut seclusion, after the final pig killing. They continue to wear the nambwe, night and day, for two or three years and during that time neither man nor wife may eat the wild woveli tuber. This is a tabu of mourning, as if one was dead; part of the death and resurrection of pig sacrifice. When the tabu is to be ended there is a big yam feast and a dance, with three pigs, one a circle tusker, killed at daylight after an all-night dance; there are presents of pigs by the man to his wives’ sisters, who come and take the nambwe off the women. Only then will the man be free of all the Mangki affairs that he started that day, three or four years ago, when he stood in the clearing outside his club and ‘named a day’ (Harrisson 1937: 44-5).

L u m i n o u s : shining

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Thinking further The Harrisson excerpt is an excellent example of the ways in which many of our customs and traditions are linked to one another. We cannot explore and learn about our customs in isolation because they form a complex web of ideas and traditions that formed the way in which people lived their lives. While this paragraph introduces the use of the nambwe in the custom of northwest Malakula, it talks about many other aspects of custom and tradition. Read this excerpt again and make a list of the themes that are touched upon in the paragraph. How do they all relate to one another?

Dyed designs on Pentecost mats, (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 110-111) .

Investigate 1. Divide your class into groups and ﬁnd the answers to the following questions. • How are mats used on your island? • How are mats made on your island? • How do mats on your island compare to mats on other islands? • Do you know any other oral histories that tell of mats on your island? • How are mats used differently by men and women? • Are there any islands where men actually make mats? 2. Interview a person who knows how to make mats. Make a list of questions to which you would like to know the answers. Some example questions are listed below. • Who taught you how to weave? • What are some different patterns that you have learned? • Do these patterns have special meanings and special names?

Musical Instruments Slit-gongs, photographed by Lindt, 1891. Leleppa, NW Efate (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 147).

Features of Traditional Society

Examine the graphics of traditional musical instruments and carry out the activities that follow.

Discussion activity Think about the importance of music in your life today. In what ways does music play a part in your life? Compare this to the past. How do you think that music was a part of our ancestors’ lives? As a class, discuss the importance and signiﬁcance of music in the past and in the present. Investigate Interview someone to ﬁnd out about different types of music on your island. What ceremonies were marked by the use of different types of songs? What instruments were used traditionally when performing these songs? Were some songs performed a cappella (without instruments)?

Naming In the following excerpt from Unfolding the Moon: Enacting Women’s Kastom in Vanuatu (2003), Lissant Bolton describes some aspects of naming and properly addressing family members. People are rarely called by their personal names, especially once they become adults. Most people have both a language name and a christened name and they may be known by either. People address each other frequently in terms either of the relationship between them (a person will address his or her classificatory grandparent or grandchild as bubu, for example) or in terms of particularly crucial relationships in their lives. Thus a woman is often addressed as the mother of her first-born child– retahii Ronnie (mother of Ronnie). When men and women take grades in the huqe, they are given new names and a person who holds a particularly significant position in the community may also be referred to by the name of the position by most people– chief… In a situation where personal identity is rarely at issue (since everyone is known), names are used creatively to reveal or suggest relationships, status, or some other aspect of who a person is (Bolton 2003: 113-114).

Thinking further 1. How did you receive your name? Who named you? Do you have more than one name? What are the origins of your name(s)? 2. Why are names so important to us? Writing activity Write your name as you would on an ofﬁcial document. Write a paragraph that describes the signiﬁcance of each part of your name.

Single bamboo ﬂutes, Ambrym (Arts of Vanuatu, 1996: 153)

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Investigate Research and ﬁnd answers to the following questions. If you can think of more questions, you can ask them as well. How are children named? What is the process of choosing a child’s name? Can people change their names? Who can call you by your name? Are certain categories of relatives not allowed to say your name? What is the difference in use between Christian/western and custom names? Please also refer to the related section on Titles.

Nimangki: a System of Grade-Taking in the Northern Islands Information for this section on grade-taking comes from Nimangki, the report of the 1994 Men Fieldworker’s Workshop. The ﬁrst excerpt is from the welcome talk that was given by Kirk Huffman to open the Fieldworker’s Workshop.

Chief Nisai’s Nimangki at Unmet, NW Malakula (Big Nambas area). Photo by Kirk Huffman, 1980 (Nimangki 1994: 31).

[L]ong Tafea mo Saot, samting ia yufala i nogat. Yufala i gat narafala samting be Nimangki hem i olsem wan rod blong paoa, wan rod blong pig mo paoa we i stat long Epi i go daon i go kasem Torres. Wanwan eria i gat nem blong hem, be olsem rod blong hem, hem i semak, olsem hem i pig hem i paoa, hem i gat spesol wei blong hem… Nimangki tu hem i wan samting we hem i stap muv. I gat ol defren step blong hem… Samting we hem i interesting wetem Nimangki olsem we hem i politik tu ia. Hem i politik tu from hemia we sapos yu wan kaen man we plante man oli respektem yu oli wantem helpem yu; samting ia i save pulum plante pig ia, pulum plante pig blong helpem yu go antap. Ol man oli helpem yu yu go antap. Be olsem evri taem i gat step blong hem blad i mas ron (Nimangki 1994: 3-11).

The following excerpts from Cultural Centre ﬁeldworkers describe various aspects of Nimangki in different areas of our islands. Kalman Hapsai (Northwest Malakula). Nimangki i folem nomo laen blong jif… Nimangki, mifala long lanwis mifala i talem se Parupnarvet Iturin. Hem i nimim se nimangki bae hem i strik. Hem i kamaot fastaem (ﬁrst step) long ndawa. Ndawa hem i grin grashopa ia blong kakae. Long nambatu step we hem i folem ndawa hem i kam long nbarapar. Nbarapar hem i smol bae mi yusum grashopa, smolwan we yu save mestem taem hem i jamjam. Mo long nambatri wan hem i kam long tapat. Tapat hem i grashopa we hem i braon wan… nambafo wan hem i kam long drae kokonas frut. Mo long nambafaev wan hem i kam long saed blong pig (Nimangki 1994: 13).

Telkon Watas (Bunlap, South Pentecost). Taem hem i kasem tri yia, ale, hem i jas go long nakamal be hem i mas kilim wan pig. Nem blong hem (the ﬁrst step) tokonmal. Afta hem i jas go insaed long nakamal, mo hem i kamaot bakegen long nakamal. So hem i min se hem i gat raet long nakamal. Taem hem i kam stap gogo hem i go insaed long nakamal bakegen, i mekem se hem i sekomsaes nao…

Features of Traditional Society

So mi nao, mi mekem ol pikinini oli rere, mekem laen olsem ia. Mi operetem olgeta gogo i ﬁnis, mo mi putum olgeta insaed long nakamal (Nimangki 1994: 14).

Vira Joseph (North Malo). Long taem bifo i gat wan man we ston blong hem i stap yet long wan hil blong Malo we oli kolem pig. Man ia nem blong hem Lagausava. Devel blong man ia nao hem i talemaot olgeta samting ia olsem rang mo taetol nem i gat longfala stori blong hem. Be bifo Lagausava oli stap kilim ol smolsmol liset, ale oli kaontem olsem. Naoia mifala i stap sakem waelken. Tru long gem ia man we i neva kilim pig bae i jas save kilim pig. Gem ia i gat tu long Vao oli kolem meta. Taem oli sakem waelken ﬁnis mo oli kaontem gogo nao oli faenemaot wanem pig ia man i save kilim (Nimangki 1994: 115).

Some language names for Nimangki: Lamen Island, Epi: fara North Pentecost: bolo loli South Pentecost: warasangul Central Pentecost: lolibuan Northwest Malakula: erpnavet Malo: sungwe

Nimangki: How Old Is It? Archaeological evidence shows that there are remnants of pig bones that have been found dating back to the time when our ancestors originally arrived. However, the number of bones found is not especially abundant. Therefore, some people suggest that before nimangki was based on pigs as a source of wealth, other items were used. Talk with older community members in your area. Do they have any knowledge that has been passed down to them that suggests this?

Investigate There are many interesting aspects of the nimangki that link to nearly every facet of village life, including the lives of women as well as men. In addition to the nimangki itself, consider researching any of the following topics. • Meaning of ‘tabu faea’ and how it relates to nimangki • Women’s grade taking and how it relates to the gradetaking of their husbands • Meanings of leaves, feathers, ﬂowers, different colours and designs of paint, etc. worn during nimangki and how they relate to rank • Lyrics to songs that are part of the nimangki • Dancing during the nimangki • Names of the different steps and what is required to gain a step in nimangki • Deciding when it is time to take another step • Names for the different levels of growth of a pig’s tusk • Role of circumcision in nimangki • How different kinds of foods are related to steps of the nimangki • What was used in nimangki before pigs were plentiful in the archipelago • How men and women gain names through nimangki • What role is played by the tamtam in a nimangki ceremony • Who is allowed to be present at a nimangki ceremony • The role of mats in a nimangki ceremony As these are different from area to area, you will ﬁnd that your answers will vary from place to place. As a class, assign a different topic to each student. As a class you will be able to piece together a picture of many different aspects of a nimangki ceremony.

Chief Tainmal of Fanla, North Ambrym. He has attained the highest grade of Mal Mer’r (Meur’t) (Nimangki 1994: 83).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Thinking further 1. If you can ﬁnd someone to help you, compare the nimangki system to the system in the Central and Southern Islands. How are the systems different? 2. Nimangki is also described as a ‘road of peace’ that links high-ranking men over large areas. What do you think that this means?

Left: Palolo worm catcher, origin unknown (Harrisson 1937: 316). Right: A palolo worm collecting basket from Gaua (Speiser 1996: Plate 28).

Palolo Worms They [the Islanders] know precisely the date when they swarm and go down to the shore with torches and baskets on the evening in question. There they catch the worms either with their hands and throw them into the baskets, or, as in the Banks Islands, they creel them in a special basket, which, although woven fairly tight, easily lets water through (Speiser 1996: 143).

In Tom Harrisson’s Savage Civilisation (1937) he also describes the harvesting of palolo worms in Northwest Malakula. This (the month of Etilugian) is three months after the palolo sea worm has come on the reef in his millions, so regularly on a certain state of tide and moon known to the day experts, that all are waiting there with small hand nets, to catch worms in canoe-fulls, with feasting and dancing; these worms ﬁx the year in its progress and name the months of the worm, Na-uwl.

Investigate Research the history of the harvesting of palolo worms. Do the people in your village harvest the worms? With what do they harvest the worms? Do they still use special baskets, or do they use modern materials? During what time of year do the worms appear? Are there any tabus associated with the harvesting of the worms? Once they are harvested, how are they prepared for eating?

Features of Traditional Society

Pigs

Left: Carved stone for pig magic, Ambrym (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 164). Right: Pig-killing club, collected by Guiart, 1949. Lele, west Ambrym (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 163).

Discussion activity Talk to someone in your village or the area near your school to ﬁnd out the language names of the various stages of growth of a pig’s tusk. Draw a diagram that illustrates your ﬁndings. As a class, discuss the information that you have found. Investigate Before pigs, were there any other animals or objects that were an integral component in custom ceremonies throughout our islands? Ask older people in your area if they can answer this question.

Respect Respect is a very important aspect of our cultures. It is a core value of kastom. Respect deﬁnes relationships. For example, the respect for elders demonstrates the acknowledgement that they are wiser and have experienced more things. Respect is also a way to demonstrate your consideration of other people’s rights: for instance, respecting someone’s garden land by not stealing fruit, or respecting a tabu placed on a particular part of the reef. The following examples of different types of respect come from the islands of Malo, Ambrym and Epi. They were told at the 1998 Woman Filwoka Woksop about Kastom Fasin Blong Respek, at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre in Vila.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Respecting the Garden: Vovuro Leo (Malo). Long saed blong garen, yumi ol mama taem yumi luk sik blong yumi, yumi no save go long garen. I tabu blong go long garen go kasem taem sik blong yu hem i ﬁnis. Yu no save go long garen blong defren man taem yu no askem. Mo taem yu wantem karem wan samting long garen, yu mas askem long man blong hem fastaem. Sapos yu planem wan garen blong yu, be afta i gat wan man hem i kam insaed we hem i no planem garen yet. Hemia mifala i biliv se hem i tekemaot ol devel blong yam blong yu, afta i go putum long garen blong hem, mekem se yam blong hem oli gud be blong yu i nogud.

Respecting the Family: Elsie Lilon (West Ambrym). Long saed blong famle we yumi save tok plei long olgeta mo yumi save respektem olgeta, long kastom blong mifala long West Ambrym, hem i olsem:

Man ia nao we yu respektem bitim ol nara man, mo yu no save wokbaot klosap long hem. *

Woman wetem man blong hem: no Woman wetem sista blong hem: yes Woman wetem brata blong hem: no Woman wetem ol mama blong hem: no Woman wetem ol angkel blong hem: no Woman wetem pikinini boe blong mama blong hem: no Woman wetem pikinini gel blong mama blong hem: yes Woman wetem bubu we hem i papa blong mama blong hem: no* Woman wetem bubu we hem i mama blong mama blong hem: yes Woman wetem bubu we hem i papa blong papa blong hem: yes Woman wetem woman blong boe blong hem: no

Thinking further How do your family and community show respect for family relationships and garden land? Discussion activity What are the words for respect and honour in your language? As a class, make a list of the words from different languages/areas. Investigate Can you think of any other traditional forms of respect? What about respect for nature, animals, ﬁsh, birds, fruits, root crops or people’s talents, like traditional healing or pot-making. Can you think of any other things that we show respect for? Ask the older people in your village or near your school.

Sand Drawing In other units (‘Our Islands’ Beginnings’ and ‘An Agricultural History of Our Islands’) we have learnt about sand drawings in our islands. In this section are more examples of sand drawings.

Features of Traditional Society

Investigate How do certain sand drawings possibly relate to some of the following topics? • • • • • • • • •

dances grade-taking ceremonies the road to the afterworld/journey of the dead string ﬁgures various custom stories family lineages songs custom knowledge communication

If you are from an island where sand drawing is a part of your culture, ask people in your community. If not, ﬁnd a teacher or another person who is from an island that practises sand drawing. Class Activity Put on a sand drawing festival at your school. Invite members of the community who can demonstrate some sand drawings. Make a place where sand drawing artists can exhibit their drawings. If they know the stories that correspond with the sand drawings, have the drawers tell them as well. Also encourage students and teachers to take part in the festival. During the festival, record the various drawings that have been made. After the festival, make a book of the drawings and put it in your school library!

Left: Jacques Gédéon, from Paama, tracing the sanddrawing timaëh keilu, the twins (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 248). Above: Titamol (Paama).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Sculpture The following excerpt is from Kirk Huffman’s section in Sculptures: Africa, Oceania, Americas (2002). This tree fern sculpture has been chosen to become part of French President Jacques Chirac’s new Musée Quai Branley. This piece was originally “collected” from Gaua in the late 1800s by CCNH founder John Higginson. (You can read more about Higginson and CCNH in ‘Planters and Plantations’.) This piece carved in tree fern may be the only surviving example of a particular style of Banks Islands sculpture… Monumental ritual carvings in tree fern were widespread in the Banks, particularly on Gaua and Vanua Lava, but examples from Ambrym and Malakula are better known in the literature…Such tree fern carvings died out in the Banks in the early part of the 20th century and to date there has been no in-depth coverage of them in the literature. The objects themselves may have disappeared from the Banks today, but much of the associated ritual knowledge and some of the connected rites have not. Eastern Gaua’s wuswus wutve graded rituals were a spectacular variant of the Banks’ system and it is here that the Sukwe has left its most massive permanent remains. “Man Gaua” were stone-builders par excellence. Gaua (particularly east) is covered by hundreds of kilometers of high drystone walls (with pig shelters) ﬂanking narrow paths. Each gamal (nakamal) stood on huge stone platforms facing the leisar (nasara). The highest ranking men had their own personal stone-platformed dwelling also. Stone monoliths, stone altars and stone “dancing walls” spread onto the leisar and immediately facing the public was a line of sacred namele plants interspersed sometimes with up to a dozen large tree fern carvings representing the spirits associated with the rank or ranks being taken in wuswus wutve. Similar statues lined the façades of the gamal and the separated houses of the “highest” men. This statue is deﬁnitely female. Two steps above mwele in the wuswus wutve was the grade gwurugwuru valuwo. The spirit of this grade is female, sometimes two faced.

Thinking further 1. How is this tree fern sculpture related to grade taking on Gaua? 2. How do you think that our ancestors carved the tree fern? What tools do you think that they used? Writing activity Write a description of tamat doro. Female statue for male graded rituals (tamat doro), Eastern Gaua (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 46).

Monolith: a large placed in the ground by people

Investigate 1. Find out about black fern. What does it look like? What is it used for today? Where does it grow on your island? Did your ancestors use black fern? 2. Does your island have a tradition of sculptures? If so, what do they look like? What were they used for?

Features of Traditional Society

Signs And Symbols Kuvu Kevin (Northeast Santo)– Cultural Centre Fieldworker Mifala i planem namele, be mifala i yusum olsem kod blong komunikesen. Mifala i yusum blong kaontem ol pig. Wan eksampol. Sapos ol man blong Jif N oli kilim wan man blong yu, yu nao bae yu tekem wan lif namele nao yu brokem sam pat blong hem we i stret wetem namba blong pig we oli shud pem i kam long yu. Taem we yu givim lif ia long Jif N bae hem i rikodem o ridim mo andastandem mesej blong namele, nao hem i pem yu wetem ol pig we yu bin askem.

Taken from Nimangki, 1994 Men’s Fieldworker Workshop (1996: 112).

Thinking further In this example, the namele leaf is used as a symbol with which to communicate a message. Do you know of other ways in which namele leaf is used as a symbol of communication? What about other leaves, plants, feathers, etc? Think of some other symbols that are used throughout our culture. Do these symbols change from place to place? How do we learn these symbols as young children? Writing activity As a class, make a poster of cultural signs and symbols. Draw different symbols and write their meanings. Write their names in your language as well as in Bislama, English and French.

Skull Binding The following excerpt from Bernard Deacon’s Malekula: A Vanishing People in the New Hebrides (1934) describes the process of binding the skulls of infants in order to change their shape. [A]long the south coast of Malakula, it is the fashion to deform the heads of all boys and this process is begun in infancy. The fruit of a tree called naai molei is put into the fire and partly burnt; the charred remains are rubbed on to the hands so that they become black and this black is then scraped off on to a shell (netu) to be used as a paint. Some branches of a certain variety of banana (nitambwingk nenngit) are now rubbed into a pulp and a rope is plaited from the bark of a tree called nimangar. These, together with a small conical plaited cap called noont tatap are all the materials used. The baby’s head and forehead are first painted with the black preparation; the banana pulp is then fashioned to make a kind of close-fitting cap and is bound round tightly for a distance of some two inches with the bark rope. Over all this the plaited cap is fixed to keep everything in place (Deacon 1934: 242-3). Woman and child with bound skull, Tomman Island, Malakula (MacClancy 2002).

Thinking further Think about different ideas of beauty in the past. What are some other ways in which the body was altered in order to make it more ‘beautiful’? Think of some examples from your area or island.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Spider’s Web Cloth

Left: Spider web cloth and mask, Malakula (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 22). Right: Tool used to collect spider webs, Ambrym (Speiser 1996: Plate 78).

A cloth made from spider webs was sometimes used in the creation of masks.

Splay: spread out

In Ambrym and Southern Malakula a cloth is made from spider’s webs. Its manufacture is very easy. A long bamboo with a diameter of about ﬁve centimeters is split lengthwise at one end into about ten slats. These are splayed open and two to three rings of lianas are tied on the outside so that the bamboo forms a narrow funnel. With this instrument the natives go through the bush in the morning and pull down all the spider’s webs. These accumulate in criss-cross fashion on the framework and become glued together. After the operation has been repeated a number of times, a fairly thick layer of spider’s webs, stuck and matted together, is ﬁnally formed on the bamboo. When the layer is thought to be thick enough, it is stripped off towards the thin end. The result is a tube in the shape of a narrow funnel open at both ends. To close it, the narrow end is fastened in a knot and the result is a bag which tapers to one end. This very supple cloth is extraordinarily hard-wearing, tough, fairly waterproof and very resistant to rot (Speiser 1996: 241).

Investigate 1. Find out more about the materials used in the creation of traditional masks. How were they gathered? How were colours mixed? 2. Does the type of material used relate to the importance of the mask?

Features of Traditional Society

Tattooing The following excerpt, from Bure Blong Ambae (1994) by Nadia Kanegai, describes the traditional tattooing rituals from the island of Ambae. Wan dei bifo stret dei blong katem mak long gel, ol anti blong gel oli karem frut blong gwevu (wauvile), oli rusum ale oli singsing long hem, ale gel ia i kakae. Afta hem i kakae, ol anti blong gel oli tekem hem mo oli mekem hem i swim… Taem blong katem mak long gel ia, i gat tu anti blong gel i holem taet leg blong hem, wan i holem taet hed blong hem, mo wan i holem sel kokonas we asis blong faea mo wota blong nangae i stap insaed. Wan anti i katem ol mak ia long yangfala gel ia… Long namba faev dei, we hem i las dei blong katem mak long gel ia, oli stat katem mak ia andanit long bel blong hem i go kasem leg blong hem…long las dei ia we oli bin katem tatu blong hem, gel ia i kilim mo long 50 pik. Hem i mekem nahungwe [nimangki blong ol woman long Ambae]. Taem hem i ﬁnis kilim ol pik ia ol man mo jif blong vilij blong hem, olgeta i luk hem olsem wan spesel woman mo wan hae woman long vilij. Mo jif blong vilij i givim nem blong hem ‘bure’ from hem i gat tatu long bodi blong hem mo hem i luk naes (Kanegai 1994: 19-20).

Thinking further How did tattooing on Ambae relate to other aspects of cutom life? Discussion activity How do you think that tattooing has changed throughout time? As a class, discuss traditional tattooing and compare and contrast it to modern tattooing. Think about designs, purpose, etc.

Top left: A woman’s tattoo being made, Lolowai, East Ambae. Photo by Speiser. Right: Tattoo designs from the Banks Islands (Speiser 1996: Plate 42). Below: a tattooed Banks woman, drawn in 1859 by Mikloucho-Maclay (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 50).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Investigate 1. Do you know anyone who has a tattoo? Why did s/he decide to be tattooed? 2. Traditionally, only women received tattoos in our islands. How is this different from some of our Polynesian neighbours? 3. Is there a tradition of tattooing on your island? Find out more about it. If tattooing was not practised, what other methods of beautiﬁcation were used?

Titles In The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folklore (1891), R.H. Codrington describes the grade-taking system in North Pentecost. In his explanation, he also describes the progression of acquiring titles that accompanies an increase in rank. The sixth step, moli, is the ﬁrst that is important; the youth takes the great loli, ma loli gaivua (the name for nimangki in North Pentecost) and assumes a name with the preﬁx Moli. There are three steps of moli. The ninth rank is udu, the tenth nggarae, the eleventh livusi, the last vira. The patron, or father, of the new moli gives him when he attains that rank some of that white and beautiful shell money…This is worth many pigs and is worn on the arm or wrist in the string, or woven into an armlet […] The Vira is seldom reached; the man of that rank, like Viradoro now, is in fact the chief (Codrington 1891: 115).

Discussion activity Do you think that the signiﬁcance of titles has changed throughout time? Why or why not? As a class, discuss this issue. Consider how national leaders are often given titles upon appointment to Presidency or Prime Ministership. Investigate Ask about titles in your family. How does one acquire a title? Are their titles for women as well as men?

Traditional Medicine Writing activity Write a paper in which you discuss your opinions concerning the use of kastom and modern medicine. If you can, ask the opinions of others as well. You can also include their thoughts in your paper. Discussion activity Many people hold a general knowledge of lif or kastom medicine. What practical knowledge do you have of useful plants in the bush? As a class, discuss different plants and their uses.

Features of Traditional Society

Traditional Forms Of ‘Money’ The following excerpt from R.H. Codrington’s The Melanesians (1891) describes shell money used in the Banks and northern islands. Anything can be bought with shell-money; and the money is lent, but without interest. To make the money, the body of a shell, som, is broken and the tip rubbed on a stone by means of a pointed stick inserted in the broken end till the inner hollow of the shell is reached; into the hole thus appearing at the tip of the shell the stick is then inserted and the broken base ground smooth on the stone. There is thus a shell used for each disc and no drill is needed… The shell discs are strung upon a slender strip of the bark of a hibiscus. The shell-money, som, thus made is good for any kind of purchase, but the great use of it is in buying steps in the Suqe Club (the nimangki of the Banks Islands). The som is arranged and counted in coils; two sticks are ﬁxed in the ground and the som is wound, sig, upon them; a turn from the one stick and back again is tal; ten rounds, tal sangavul, is a hank or coil, qatagiu; when the quantity is less than the qatigiu it is counted as so many tal…rich men accumulate large quantities of this money… Money transactions play a great part in native life: social advance is secured by possession of shell-money, because the steps in the Suqe Club cannot be taken without it; social eminence is maintained by it, because the moneyed man has his debtors under his thumb and by the power he has of imposing a loan he can make rising men his debtors and keep them back. By the Suqe institution money was kept in continual circulation, alike in large and small quantities (Codrington 1891: 326 - 327).

Different kinds of traditional ‘money’: • • • • •

Shells Stones Feathers Mats Pigs and Pig tusks

E m i n e n c e : distinction, importance

Thinking further 1. What is the meaning of ‘barter’ or ‘trade’? 2. For what purposes do you think that Islanders used traditional money? 3. Why do you think that the use of traditional money has decreased?

‘Traditional Money’ painting, by Joseph John.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Discussion activity The Cultural Centre and unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientiﬁc and Cultural Organisation) have started a project that deals with traditional money banks. Do you think that this idea would be successful in your community? Why or why not? As a class, discuss this idea. Investigate 1. Talk with an older person in your community or in the village near your school. What types of traditional money were previously used? How were they used? How was their value calculated? What constituted “wealth”? 2. Are there any forms of traditional money that continue to be used on your island or in the community near which your school is located? If so, how are they used?

Traditional Trade Networks Top: Navelac kone, fossilised clam shell from Erromango. Bottom: Shell bead string, Banks Islands (Mani Blong Yumi 2000: 8 & 9).

Look at the map on the following page. What can you tell by looking at this map? Look at the places where more lines converge (meet). These locations can be considered ‘hubs,’ or “a crossroads where contact, exchange, cultural creativity are likely to be more intense” (Bonnemaison 1996: 175).

Investigate Find your island and your area on the map. With what other islands is your island connected? Can you think of any present-day links between your island and the island(s) to which it is linked? What was traded, or exchanged, between islands?

Establishment of intra- and inter-island links: exchange, markets and trade of ‘non-ritual’ commodities The following excerpt is from Kirk Huffman’s ‘Trading, Cultural Exchange and Copyright: Important Aspects of Vanuatu Arts’, in Arts of Vanuatu (1996: 182-194). As with so much in Vanuatu, women were often at the basis of the establishment of many trading links which were then normally organised and controlled by men. Such connection could have a basis in fact, or have a mythical origin conceptually as true as the factual one… In the larger islands of the area, such as Malakula, there were large ‘saltwater’ and ‘bush’ populations. Inland peoples needed coastal produce and vice versa [See ‘An Agricultural History of Our Islands’ unit]. As the normal relationship between such groups could be hostile, a peaceful link or rod had to be made and this was normally done by the exchange of women between the two groups concerned; that is, a woman from the bush area would be sent to the coast (in marriage) and a woman from the coastal group sent inland (in marriage), thus establishing the rod along which trade and other items could ﬂow… As the two groups involved often spoke different languages or dialects, such primary exchange was useful to also have someone from one’s own language group within one’s trading partners in the early stages. Children of these ‘exchange’ marriages would grow up learning both languages…

Features of Traditional Society

Traditional Trade Networks (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 175).

There was a highly organised, ‘semi-silent’ type of trading between the coastal Lambumbu peoples and those inland, taking place during the slack season between yam planting and harvest. The Lambumbu would travel by canoe to specific coastal passages and wait in their canoes while inland peoples brought and left taro and other inland products on the shore, which the Lambumbu would pick up after the inland peoples had retired. Ten days later, the Lambumbu would return and go onshore with the predetermined amounts of fish and other coastal products. These market exchanges were called nisevei in Lambumbu. Such types of silent or semi-silent trading were pursued essentially by groups potentially hostile to one another, or who had no links (yet) established by marriage exchange of women. In south Santo the islets of Tangoa and Araki, although having ‘proper’ trading links with some areas, also had silent trading partners in other areas on the mainland. ‘Bush’ people would come down to a specified clan-boundary area on the coast with such items as yam, taro and arrows, place the items in specified heaps and retire a distance. The ‘saltwater’

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

North Central Vanuatu: Aspects of trading and cultural exchange (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 185).

people would then approach and place by each heap a specified amount of smoked fish and coastal products (for example, salt water in bamboos), pick up the bush products and retire. The inland people would then pick up the coastal produce. The island of Malo served an important function as a manufacturing centre for stringed shell-money, jom and as a ‘middleman’ in a complex trading system for mat dye between north Malakula and south Santo. Malo jom were particularly fine and greatly desired in neighbouring areas where shell money was accepted for pig purchases, bride price and status display. From the main manufacturing centre at Avunambakura, in north-west Malo, jom circulated within the island and was then taken up by canoes on trading voyages as far north as Sakao (Lathi) Island (and the mainland opposite), in north-east Santo, in exchange for narave (intersex pigs: ndre in Sakao), essential for Malo graded rituals and highly valued in east and south Santo, Ambae, Maewo and Raga. Returning from Sakao, the Malo canoes made trading visits to Mavea and Tutuba islands.

Features of Traditional Society

Writing activity Study the North Central Vanuatu trading networks map. Based on the information provided on the map, choose one particular area that is designated as a ‘central place in the traditional exchanges network’ and write a description of the trading that occurred in the area. Creative activity The previous excerpt discusses the complex network of trade that existed in the north and central islands of our archipelago. With your classmates, create a mural (a painting or continuous drawing) of one of the scenes that has been described.

War and Fighting

Watercolour painting of northeast Malakulan trading canoes. Probably on mainland opposite Wala and Rano Islands (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 186).

[T]he causes of war between villages or clans of the same district were adultery, especially with the wife of an important man; theft, especially of pigs; and, perhaps most important of all, the death of an important man supposedly as the result of malevolent magic (Deacon 1934: 217-18).

Discussion activity Research traditional methods of making peace. Compare them to peace-making rituals of today. How are they the same? How are they different? As a class, discuss your findings. If possible, find information that comes from different islands and compare and contrast the information that you find.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Investigate When was the last war fought in your area? Why did it happen? How did the comunities make peace?

Woman Exchange These excerpts are from Kastom Fasin Blong Respek, the report for the 1998 Vanuatu Cultural Centre’s Woman Fieldworkers’ Workshop. Mary John (Whitesands, Tanna)– Cultural Centre Fieldworker Mifala i no pem woman, hem i kastom blong mifala. Mifala i givim jenis nomo. So, sapos yu nogat gel, yu askem long mi, mi givim long yu, yu talem nomo se samtaem bae yumi luk long hu, hem i swop wetem mama blong hem.

Jennifer Mera (Lowainasasa, North Ambae)– Cultural Centre Fieldworker Long saed blong mared, yumi ol woman yumi gat respek long mared blong yumi. Papa blong woman i mekem kakae blong hem mo i gat fulap samting long ples ia blong hem i pem, blong mekem se hem i gat raet long wan ples we hem i kastom mared. Olsem, hem i gat raet long kakae o tajem sam samting blong narawan ia. So, hem i min se evri woman Ambae we oli mared oli mas mekem spesel kakae we mifala i kolem woro. Oli mas mekem wan kakae bakegen we mifala i singaotem malasi. Hemia hem i karem i go long ples blong man blong hem, mo i gat wan samting we papa blong hem i putum long hed blong hem mifala i kolem werwero. Hem i mas karem mat ia i go long ples blong papa blong hem. Olsem ol kaen seremoni ia nao hem i leftemap woman ia, blong hem i gat raet long samfala samting taem we wan woman hem i mekem wan seremoni olsem.

Investigate In the past, did your area exchange women with another area on your island, or perhaps another island? Ask an older person in your community to tell you about how marriage partners were decided in the past. Also ask them to tell you how the value of the exchange was determined. What happened during the exchange itself? Was reciprocation required?

Features of Traditional Society

Women’s Pig-killing Ritual The following excerpt is from a thesis entitled, Making Lengwasa– Analysis of a Women’s Pig Killing Ritual on Maewo, Vanuatu (1982). Author Lynn Hume describes when the Lengwasa is performed and the types of face paint that are applied. Women’s grading systems are also a part of custom on all islands where men’s grading systems exist. The Lengwasa is usually performed when a girl is a very small child and so someone else— some older girl or woman takes her place, someone of the same moiety, either Asu or Liu, but not necessarily the same clan. She must stay inside a tambu house for ten days. During these ten days she can only eat certain foods and she must not wash. She may only go outside to urinate or defecate, then she must go straight back inside the tambu house. Her face is painted on the first day of the Lengwasa with the Lengwasa mark and fresh paint is applied every day for the whole ten days. Something different happens each day during the ten days. She can sometimes hear Notarisurahia moving about inside and outside the tambu house. This is the devil-leader of the women’s tambu who will kill any woman who is not tambu. This is why the Lengwasa is made. If a woman does not become a tambu woman Notarisurahia will kill her by sticking a bamboo knife into her body. She is a devil-woman who can appear in human form and disappear at will. She lives in a place called Gwangea, in Naviso, on the other side of Maewo (east Maewo). Gwangea is a pool near the sea where the water comes from a stream and is close to the sea. She lives in this pool. It’s all right for tambu women to swim there but if a woman swims there who is not a tambu woman, Notarishurahia will kill her (Hume 1982: 73-4). Lengwasa Face Paint There are two types of ‘marks’ or designs which are painted onto the face during the Lengwasa. The first is the Lengwasa “mark,” called ulikokona, which is worn on the first day of the rite by both the tambu women who are participating and the initiates. This mark is painted onto the initiate’s face in stages, while she is inside the tambu place and each stage is accompanied by a song. A red base paint, made from the seeds of a nut called rerena, which are crushed into a powder and mixed with water to form a paste, is applied first. Then a series of black lines, made with charcoal powder, are drawn on the upper part of the face, starting near one ear, going across the forehead as far as the other ear and then under one

Lengwasa face paint designs. Left: lengwasa mask after ﬁnal application of paint. Right: An alternate mask (Hume 1982: 120).

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eye, across the nose, under the other eye and meeting at the ﬁrst ear where the line commenced. Encircling the series of lines are lines radiating out from the outer circle. This is the mark which is freshly re-painted on the face of the initiate each day for the duration of the Lengwasa. The second type of mark is worn only by the tambu women, on the second day of the ritual. This mark differs according to each tambu woman’s clan and is a distinctive mark belonging to her clan. The same colours, red and black, are used, but the designs differ for each clan. Face paint is applied by anyone who knows how to paint the clan marks and is unceremoniously rubbed off after the second day’s ritual activities are over (Hume 1982: 79-80).

Thinking further How does Lengwasa relate to the devil-leader Notarisurahia? Investigate Face and body painting is integral to many different custom practices. Research the different plants and materials that were used to make paints. Also ﬁnd out the meanings of different signs and symbols that were made with paints.

Women’s Tooth Removal/excision Lambumbu, Malakula Usually several girls or women will undergo this rite together, but this is not invariably so. When a man has decided that it is time for his wife or daughters to be operated upon he plants a special yam garden and when the tubers are ready for eating he appoints a day for nimbaghai to be held. He then builds a hut like an open shed close to his own house. This hut is called nium tömbwar. Some five days after it is finished the girl begins to observe those restrictions and tabus which are associated with the word vilval. She may not have anything to do with salt water—either directly or indirectly—she may not eat coconuts or pigs and she may drink no water. Further, she has to be careful when she goes out of doors not to step over a tree root, since it is believed that were she to do so her incisor teeth would be very difficult to extract and her jaw might even be broken in the effort to knock them out. After about another five days the girl is secluded in the nium tömbwar and here she remains for four days and nights, observing her tabus. At the end of the fourth day the ceremony of nimbaghai is introduced with a dance. We do not know who partakes in it; whether visitors from other villages are invited for the occasion, nor whether men as well as women are present. The dance takes place during the night and on the following morning the candidate has her teeth removed. This is done by an old woman skilled in the art who is called nimogh terou. She takes a leaf of the native cabbage (nuhuver) and rubs the girl’s gums with it, after which she hammers out the teeth in the same way as that employed in Seniang (an area in southwest Malakula). Close beside the girl’s head is a taro leaf (neselang) filled with water into which the blood from the wound flows. When the teeth have been removed the girl continues to remain in seclusion for another ten days, after which she is allowed to return home to her father or husband and resume her normal life. It may be at this point in the proceedings, or it may be on the evening of the day on which the incisors were knocked out, that the dance naawus nembelang is performed. This is the dance which is specially associated with

Features of Traditional Society

nimbaghai and with other ceremonies connected with a woman’s rise in social status. The men gather together and sing the song naam raröt, to which they mark time with bamboo sticks which they beat on the ground; the women meanwhile do the dancing. On the morning after this performance the father or the husband of the candidate makes the necessary payments for these ceremonies. One pig is given to her maternal uncle; one to each of her grandfathers; and one to her paternal aunt. The old woman who did the operation, the nimogh terou, is also recompensed for her trouble, but we are not told what is given to her (Deacon 1934: 488-9).

Discussion activity Find out about some customs on your island that involve women. Are there any customs that are no longer practised? As a class, discuss your ﬁndings.

Yams This excerpt is from Marinet Abel’s Malapoa College Research Project entitled, Traditional Economy in Litzlitz, Central Malakula. Before they moved down to the coast to the area that is now Litzlitz, the people lived in a village in the bush called Bangakisil. It is about two kilometres inland from Litzlitz. In this excerpt Abel describes the significance of yams. Yams played a big part in the economy and social organisation of the people. It was grown mainly because it had a purpose. Without yams or pigs, you were one of the very unfortunate people. When yams were harvested, according to Masel from Lingarak, the yam man set aside a day on which he would sacrifice the yams to the yam god. He alone could do this and he used a rather complex language to communicate with the yam god. He had a certain place where he did the sacrificing. Each person brought some yams and gave them to the yam man. This also applied to other crops when it came close to harvesting time. All crops had special men who were educated in the special magic that the crops required. Yam could only be eaten until the next harvesting time. Anyone caught eating yams from the last harvest would be severely punished or fined with a certain number of pigs. It was the yam man’s task to watch his villagers to make sure that no one was breaking the tabu. If, for instance, there was a surplus from the previous harvest, the yams were left to rot. The nevanbevdebdeb (made from wild sweet yam) was a commonly prepared food. It took an entire day to prepare this food and only the women were allowed to make it. After the skin of the yam was peeled, it was placed in an earth oven. When the nevanbevdebdeb was cooked, the flesh was grated out using wild cane. The flesh was then placed in coconut woven baskets in the water where the sour part was drained off. After that, the food was served on a cotton tree leaf. It was served cold. Those who had eaten from the tabu fire were not allowed to eat it. Yam huts which stood two metres above the ground level were built. After all of the yams were harvested, they were stored in the yam huts. The yam huts were quite large. According to Chief Jacob Naus of Lingarak, the huts were approximately four metres in width and six metres in length.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Yams were believed to have emerged from man. Therefore, when cooking yams, the skin had to be removed using a dirong (shell) and then chopped into pieces using a nishi (a certain stick that was used for breaking a yam into pieces).

Thinking further What are the important crops in your area? Are there any special rituals that must be performed in the cycles of planting and harvesting of these crops? Discussion activity As a class, make a chart that describes different foods and their custom value. Descriptions of custom value may differ from island to island.

There are many more features of traditional society that you can research. Some may be particular to your area; perhaps others are found throughout the archipelago. Here are some examples, but you may be able to think of more. Find out more about traditional: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Agricultural practices Baskets: styles and uses Belief systems Carving Ceremonial body decorations and painting Children’s games Clothing Communication Custom stories Dancing (Rom Dance, Toka Dance, etc.) Family lines/Genealogy Fishing techniques Food dishes and types of food preparation and preservation Hairstyles and hair ornaments Healing Land-diving (the Naghol). Land tenure systems Languages Leadership Masks and other types of traditional headdresses Massage techniques Modes of transportation Music and its role in various ceremonies Monoliths and important stones Nakaemas/black magic Nasara/dancing grounds Oratory Pottery types

Features of Traditional Society

• • • • • • • • • •

Ranking systems Resource management Scariﬁcation Singing and songs Systems of communication Traditional artforms and designs Village site locations War and peace ceremonies Weapons: spears and warclubs Weaving

Have the class make a book of ﬁndings to be placed in the school library. Send a copy to the Vanuatu Cultural Centre to make sure this valuable information becomes part of the National Archives of our cultural heritage.

unit four

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Introduction The man carefully places the smooth magic stones in the miniature wooden outrigger canoe after he washes them with sea water. He rubs them with the special leaves and bark that are designated for use with the stones. Next he spits on the canoe wrapped in leaves and buries it in the turned soil of his garden. He alone holds the knowledge of the magic stones and he is the one that ensures the production and fertility of crops for the women, men and children in his community. The stones will help the gardens produce plentiful quantities of food for the upcoming months. The food will be used as gifts to others within the community, in special ceremonies and for the sustenance of the people. Upon the harvest of the ďŹ rst yams from his garden, he must distribute them throughout his community. This gift signiďŹ es his importance and power in the community. His magical garden is deserted after the community holds a festival and the remaining food in the garden is left for wandering spirits. The magic man then rests until it is time to once again begin the process of forming the mounds and planting the yam gardens.

S u s t e n a n c e : nourishment

Adapted from Bonnemaison (1994: 172-3).

Ceremonial yam mounds in Tanna garden, c.1910. Felix Speiser (Weightman 1989: 71).

Inextricable: unable to be separated

Equilibrium: balance

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

When we think about the things in life that are important to us, we may mention family, custom or religious and spiritual beliefs. What links all of these together and constructs our identity within society? What helps define the social structure of our families and our relationships with our communities? It is the land. Without land we could not exist because it nourishes, clothes and shelters us. Land is directly related to agriculture, because one of the main uses of our land is to produce food. Nearly every day of our lives we are in contact with agriculture, whether in our urban centres, villages or at school. Does your school have a garden as a food source for all the students? Who works in the garden? Most of us still rely on our gardens as our major source of food. Even though many of us buy at least a few items in the store, we know that aelan kakae is superior from a nutritional standpoint. If we did not plant food in our gardens, how would we survive? In the beginning of this unit we read a scenario that tells of the important rituals of a magic man on the island of Tanna. He uses the special fertility stones to ensure a plentiful harvest. Without his knowledge, the gardens of his community members are at risk. The production of food and the custom that surrounds it are inextricable. Without one, we could not have the other. Our land is not simply the soil that we use to grow our food. It is part of us and it sustains us. We should not disregard those customs of the past that still provide us with ample harvests. Instead, we should remember and honour them in their contribution to maintaining a favourable relationship with our land. When you live and work on your land, you intimately know the location of every nakavika tree, each small bend in the stream, the feel of the soil between your toes. It becomes a part of you. Land also ties us to our families, whether we cultivate together or share garden produce. It strengthens our relationships with one another. It is at the very centre of our customs and rituals. Without our physical and spiritual connections to our land, our lives and our methods of identifying ourselves would not be what they are today. Custom ceremonies, such as the one described at the beginning of the unit, acknowledge and honour this connection with the land. Another approach to honouring our special relationship with the land is seen in the scientific methods of agriculture taught in schools and used by the Department of Agriculture. Practising inter-cropping and crop rotation on a plantation or in a cashcropping garden are all ways to ensure the land remains fertile and therefore continues to help us survive. These techniques are similar to the use of the fertility stones described earlier, because they also recognise the importance of respecting the land and keeping it healthy. We can apply both cultural and scientific approaches to agriculture in our lives and experiences, depending on our needs. This is preparation for life after school, whether you decide to return to your island or whether you choose to live and work in an urban area. Our grandparents and parents also teach us about different methods of agriculture when we work with them in the garden. We can listen to programs on Radio Vanuatu that talk about agriculture and gardening. Throughout the country, there are agricultural extension workers who assist people with questions concerning gardening and agriculture. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, agriculture is an important component of our lives. Thinking further In Weightman’s Agriculture in Vanuatu (1989: 30), Joël Bonnemaison states that “Melanesian civilization constitutes a whole, a kind of agro-cultural equilibrium…”

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

in which the components cannot work without one another. What do you think he means by this? How does Bonnemaison’s statement support the scenario given in the introduction to this unit?

The Beginnings How did agriculture begin in our islands? Where did the different food crops originally come from? What role did women have in agricultural practices? These are some of the questions that we are going to explore in this unit on the agricultural history of our islands. In ‘The Peopling of Our Islands’, we learned about how people originally travelled to Vanuatu from islands that lie to the north of our archipelago. What did these people bring with them in their large canoes? What food crops were already in the islands when they arrived? These are some of the questions that can help us understand how agriculture developed. The presence of plants we see today in Vanuatu is due to a variety of possible explanations. Being a chain of islands, most of Vanuatu’s first plants would have floated across the sea from the nearest landmass. In order to survive this ocean crossing, plants or their seeds would need to have characteristics such as salt tolerance or a thick shell; the coconut is a good example. When the first settlers arrived in our islands 3-4,000 years ago they also brought with them some food crops from the west to plant, to ensure they had food to eat in their new home. When Polynesian voyagers arrived in our islands a couple of thousand years after the first settlement of our islands, they introduced plants from the east. When Europeans arrived in our islands, they also introduced new plant species. So there are at least two ways to explain the presence of plants in Vanuatu: natural and human introduction. The time of crop arrival in our islands can be seen in the table on the following page. In 1978, archaeologist Matthew Spriggs decided to investigate the origin of the coconut. He wanted to find out if coconut trees were in Vanuatu before people arrived; that is, if coconuts were indigenous plants to Vanuatu. He dug up layers of the soil in a swamp on Aneityum and looked for fragments of coconut shells. He and his fellow researchers then used a method called carbon dating to find out how old the pieces of shells were. You have already learned about carbon dating in ‘The Peopling of Our Islands’. When they compared the age of the shells they found to the estimated time that people began to migrate to our islands, the evidence showed that the coconuts were older than the time when people first arrived in Vanuatu. What does that tell us about coconut trees? Is human dispersal or natural dispersal the most probable explanation for coconut’s origins in Vanuatu? Why is this a significant piece of information in the history of agriculture in Vanuatu?

Father John Bennett and son at an agricultural magic site, Namatiu area, Mota Island. Photo from the National Heritage Inventory of Vanuatu (VKS).

I n d i g e n o u s : originating in a particular place; native Carbon-dating ( C - 1 4 d a t i n g ) : dating technique employed by archaeologists to determine the age of an artifact D i s p e r s a l : spread, or spreading, of something

‘European Contact’ includes the early traders, settlers and missionaries, as well as returned ni-Vanuatu labourers from Queensland plantations. 2

It is not certain that the kumala was introduced by Polynesians, as early European explorers who were familiar with the crop did not mention it in their detailed logs about our islands. Therefore, some argue that the Europeans themselves introduced kumala. Information taken from Weightman 1989.

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Introduction of Food Crops into Vanuatu Food Crop Introduced by Nature The ﬁrst/ Polynesian early Islanders Back-migration Avocado Banana (Cooking type) x Green Bean Breadfruit x Carrot Cocoa Coconut x Corn x Cucumber Grapefruit Guava Kumala ?2 Mango Manioc Aniwa Orange Sugarcane x Passionfruit Pawpaw Pineapple Potatoes Pumpkin Taro (Colocasia esculenta) x Yam (Dioscorea alata) x

European Contact 1 x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x

The history of agricultural crops can help us to understand that Vanuatu was not an isolated group of islands without outside influence. It can also help explain migration movements into the Pacific. Some of the yams found in Vanuatu originated in far-eastern Asia. One particular variety of taro probably originated in Southeast Asia but was already being cultivated in Egypt over two thousand years ago. The breadfruit tree originally came from the Malay/Indonesian archipelago. Kumala and manioc originally came from the Americas. Look at all of these areas on a world map in an atlas or on a globe. Are they close to Vanuatu? How many kilometres do you think that they travelled to reach Vanuatu? What path did they follow to reach Vanuatu? Did they come directly from these countries or did they pass through somewhere else before they came here? Did they arrive naturally or through human activity? Think of what we have already learned about migration to Vanuatu in the unit about ‘The Peopling of Our Islands’. Until other crops were introduced, yam, taro, coconut, fish and pigs were the main staples of life for our first ancestors. They also relied upon cooking bananas and breadfruit, as well as fruits and nuts from the tree species that they had brought with them.

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

People also knew which foods they could ﬁnd to eat during times of food shortage or natural disaster. With all of these foods and their knowledge of how to use them, people were able to create a diet that was nutritionally balanced. As time progressed, other crops were introduced and became an integral part of people’s diets.

A Closer Look– The Origins of Our Food This story was told by Cultural Centre fieldworker, Rachel Ngotiboe, who lives in Central Maewo. It explains the origin of food crops on the island of Maewo. This story is in Kastom Kakae, a report that was published after the 1999 Vanuatu Cultural Centre’s Women Fieldworkers’ Workshop. Soaga hem i fas kakae we i gro long Maewo. Ol man oli kakae mo oli laef ananit tu gogo Tagaro i kam stap long Maewo i jas faenem natanggura. Wan taem san mo mun i mekem storian blong tufala. Mun i askem san i se, ‘Yu stap wea?’ San i ansa long hem i se, ‘Mi stap long Lalaere Memea. Taem mi kirap long moning mi klaem long wud dadae i go antap long top. Mi stap lukluk daon long graon. Be yu stap wea mun?’ Mun i se, ‘Mi stap long sofmad buaga, wota we i stap i no ron, i no muvmuv hemia nao buaga.’ Afta long toktok blong tufala mun i askem san i se, ‘Weswe yu no sori long ol man ia from oli nogat kakae?’ San i se, ‘No, mi sori tumas long ol man ia be mi no save givim kakae long olgeta from mi hot. Be weswe long yu? Yu no sori long man?’ Mun i se, ‘Mi sori long ol man’. Nao i brekem haf blong hem i sakem i kam daon mo i brekem bransis blong wan tri gwogwosa. Lif blong gwogwosa i roten i gro i kam gadigadi. Gadigadi i putum flaoa. Flaoa blong hem i foldaon i gro i kam fia i waet. Mifala i kolem se fia gula. Sid blong fia i foldaon i gro i kam wael yam mo banana soaga. Sid blong soaga i foldaon i gro i kam taro wa o waga. Ples we hem i gro long hem Nasura. Oli lukaotem gogo i redi blong man i kakae. Oli karem kam rusum. Taem oli kakae, oli laekem afta oli singaotem ples ia Gantaroa o Gantaran, we i minim se laekem. Gantaran i jenisim i go smol, olsem Gantaroa. Plante fia i gro long taem we mun i brekem haf blong hem mo i sakem daon long graon. Nara fia we i kamaot long Ambae mifala i kolem se gulatasugu from wan ples ia nem blong hem i Sugu. Taro i kamaot stret long Sentrol Maewo. Hem i swit mo i saen gud.

Comprehension questions 1. Where did the moon live? Where did the sun live? 2. Why was the moon able to help the people, whereas the sun was not?

Kokonas We Hem i Wokbaot The second story, ‘Kokonas We Hem i Wokbaot’, is from the island of Vanua Lava in the Banks Islands. Sophie Caillon, a researcher studying agriculture on Vanua Lava, recorded this story. The story of Motovanvan was told by Chief Eli Field Malau and Chief Hosia Waras of Vetuboso village: A long time ago the coconut and the banana tree were growing together in Vanua Lava. One day the coconut asked the banana tree to wait for him because he had to go to the Reef

B u a g a : swamp D a d a e : nandae tree (cinnamon) F i a : a variety of taro that has a big leaf F i a g u l a : moon taro, bigger than any other variety G a d i g a d i : bush cabbage G a n t a r o a : a village between Tanmito and Giawo on Maewo G u l a t a s u g u : a variety of taro G w o g w o s a : a tree with a black base, fruits grow along the trunk L a l a e r e m e m e a : a place south of Kerembei village

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

Islands to renew his water. But the banana tree was tired of waiting and he went along the shore to ﬁnd shells. Then he put the shells all around him. One new shoot grew from each shell. Six months later, the coconut came back to Vanua Lava and went to visit his friend, the banana tree. When he saw what the banana tree had done, he scolded him because now he would die every year whereas the coconut would live many years, as he chose to keep all his leaves and his fruits on top of his stem. Every six months, the coconut goes back to the Reef Island to turn his water sweeter.

The First People and the First Coconuts This story, found in Terry Crowley’s Oral History: Stories from Paama (1980), was told by Timothy from Nou Village. Once, there were no people in the world. Then, there was a man who lived on a hill with a gully on either side. He made his house up in a banyan tree. He lived there and made himself a bow and some arrows. He would stay up there and shoot at birds every day for food. He thought he was the only person there, but there was a snake who lived in a cave below him. That snake gave birth to a girl who grew up to become a woman. One day, the man was taking a walk in the gully and shooting at the birds up in the trees. His arrow went down right at the place where this woman was living. The woman took it and recognised straight away that it must have been made by a person. She went away and hid with the arrow. Then the man came along looking for his arrow, but he couldn’t find it. He went back to the place he shot from in the first place and fired another arrow in the same direction to see where it landed. It went to the same place, but he still couldn’t find the first arrow. Then the woman came out and said, “What are you looking for?” He said he was looking for his arrow and she said, “Is this it?” He said that it was and she gave it to him. Then he asked her where she lived and when she told him, he asked her if she would like to come and marry him so they could live together. She said she would like to, if he wanted to, so they went off together to live in the banyan tree. One day, the man asked his wife where her mother was. She said that she lived at the bottom of the hill. Her husband said that they should visit her and take her some food, so they went to the garden and brought back some yams and made some pudding. When they were going to give the food to the woman’s mother, she warned her husband, saying, “My mother is very ugly. Don’t be afraid when you see her.” The man said he would not be afraid, as he had already married her daughter. So, when they got to the cave with all the food, the woman called out to her mother. When her mother heard her daughter calling her, she started slithering to the mouth of the cave. As she slithered, the ground started to shake. When the man felt the earthquake, he began to get frightened and when he finally saw his wife’s mother slither out of the cave, he got so frightened that he wet himself and he got diarrhoea. When his wife saw how frightened he was, she told her mother to go back inside and she would just leave the food at the mouth of the cave. So, then they went back home together. But the man was very upset about having wet himself and getting diarrhoea. He decided he would have to kill his wife’s mother. He sent his wife away to the garden to clear away the undergrowth, while he would go hunting. When his wife had gone, he picked up some firewood and dry coconut leaves. He took it down to the cave and stuffed it all in the entrance and set fire to it. The fired burned the snake up. But a piece of burnt skin floated up in the smoke and eventually fell back to earth just where his wife was working in the garden. His wife recognised it straight away as her mother’s

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

skin and knew that her husband had tricked her. She went back home and asked her husband what he had been doing. He said he had just been hunting, but she said he was lying and showed him the piece of burnt skin. So, he had to admit that he had killed her mother. She said, “All right then, we’ll have to take a mat down to the cave and bury her in the mat.” They buried her and stuck a croton branch in the ground at the gravesite. But the woman’s mother had already promised that when she was buried, something would come out of her grave. As time went on, a tree started to grow out of the grave. It grew and grew and eventually it started to bear fruit. At this time there were no coconuts as yet and this was the first coconut to grow. The fruit developed until they were big and green. But the man and the woman didn’t know what to do with it. Then a bird, called a hotil, which was really the old woman again, flew along and settled on one of the coconuts to tell them what to do. She put her head on the coconut and started to turn her head. The woman saw her doing that and told her husband to go up and turn the fruit around just like the bird was doing with its head. He went up and did it and the fruit came off. He brought it down, but they still didn’t know what to do with it. The bird came back and settled on a piece of wood sticking out of the ground. The woman told her husband to go and take off the skin with the stick. He did that and held the husked coconut in his hand, still not knowing what to do next. So, the bird came along and pecked a hole through the top of the coconut and the water squirted out. They drank the water, but they still didn’t know how to get at the flesh inside. The bird came back and put its head to a stone and they thought they would try to break it open on the stone. They did that and that is how they got the flesh. That is the story of how the first people came to be and how they came across coconuts. From these two people are descended the whole population of Paama today.

Thinking further 1. Some custom stories explain why things happen the way that they do in nature. For example, the second story tells us why the coconut tree fruits many times during its life, whereas the banana gives fruit only once. Why do you think that these stories are so important to us? Why were they so important to our ancestors? 2. What crops are central to many of our custom stories? Why do we hear about certain crops more than others? Why do you think that crops such as pineapple and manioc are not commonly mentioned in custom stories? Investigate Have you heard any other stories that tell the origin of the food crops that we eat today? How do they compare to the story from Maewo? Why do you think that many of our custom stories have agriculture as a main theme?

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

A Closer Look– Depicting Breadfruit and Yams The origins of our food and gardening techniques can also be told through artwork. The sand drawing opposite is found throughout the islands of Penama Province. Simon Godin from North Pentecost explains the Masekoh sand drawing as follows:

Masekoh sand drawing (Tailhade 1978).

The section of the garden pictured in this sand drawing is known as umwa in the language of north Pentecost. This one in particular is a yam garden. An umwa is found inside of a higauo, which is a larger piece of land for gardening. The umwa is sectioned into multiples of two, comprised of two, four, six, eight, or more sections. When one follows the correct methods of gardening, one makes a garden in one section of the higauo. When a year has passed, the umwa is moved to another section of the higauo. One time there was a very old man who knew that he was about to die. He felt sorry for his family because they only ate fruits and roots from the bush, so he decided to help them when he died. First, he told them to clear a place in the bush by burning it off. He told them that when he died they were to take his body to this cleared area. Next, he told them to cut his body into pieces and to place the pieces around the cleared area. He told them to wait five days until they went back to the area where they had placed the pieces of his body into the ground. He died and his family did as he asked. When they cut up his body, his blood ran in rivulets from the cleared ground. They tried to block the blood from leaving the garden by building fences around the garden, but the blood ran to the sea. The blood of the man became the palolo worms that we harvest during the late months of the year. In Raga language these worms are known as udu. The first worms that are harvested are called udurara and they are red. Then next ones are called udumalgeha and they are bluish-green in colour. The last ones are called udumatala and they are a mixture of the two kinds of worms. His family waited five days until they went back to the cleared area in the bush. When they looked, they saw that many different kinds of yams were growing from the body of the old man. By telling them to place his body in the cleared area in the bush, he had given them the gift of yams. This was the first garden that was ever planted on Pentecost and from this garden came the first yams. If you look at the design on the sand drawing, the straight lines signify the fences that were built to attempt to stop the blood from flowing out of the garden’s boundaries.

Writing activity In your exercise book, draw a diagram of a garden, perhaps one of your gardens at home, or a garden that you have visited. Make sure to label the different fruits and vegetables that are present, as well as fences or trees that mark the boundaries of your garden. Also, include a key for your map. What patterns can you ﬁnd within your diagram? Compare your drawing to the drawings made by your classmates. How are they similar? How are they different? Investigate This explanation of the sand drawing tells the story of a family. Do you know a story that describes your family line? If you do not know of one, ask one of your family members. Perhaps you can ﬁnd out more about the origins of your family!

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

The next drawing, called Beta in the language of North Ambrym, depicts a breadfruit. It is one of the best-known sand drawings and is not difﬁcult to create. In the Seniang district of Southwest Malakula, they call this design Nimbetep. In some custom stories, it is said that breadfruit originated from the sea.

Investigate Find a place (on the beach or on the ground) and practise these sand drawings. Can you perfect the design by drawing it continuously without lifting your ﬁnger from the ground? Beta sand drawing J.P. Cabane (1994).

We can also investigate the origins of the sweet potato, also known as kumala. It originated in tropical America. Scholars still debate how the sweet potato made its way to the Pacific. Some argue that Polynesian navigators transported it from the east, eventually carrying it to our islands. Others suggest that Europeans introduced it when they came to the archipelago. There is, of course, no reason why both could not have happened: Polynesian introduction in some areas and European introduction in others. When did the sweet potato actually arrive in Vanuatu? We do not know the specific date, but we do know it is a recent introduction, probably around the 18th century. It is possible that Polynesian connections with Futuna resulted in the island being a major centre of dissemination of the sweet potato for the surrounding islands. Why does this make sense from an historical standpoint? What area of Oceania had a significant impact on the culture and language of Futuna? (For more information, refer to the section on ‘Polynesian Outliers’ in ‘The Peopling of Our Islands’.) In addition to plants, people brought animals with them in their canoes. Pigs, which play an important role in many of our customs today, arrived in these canoes thousands of years ago. Some people have said that Captain Cook brought the first pigs to our islands when he explored the area in 1774, but this is not true. He and his crew carried pigs with them on their ship, but when they arrived there were already pigs throughout the islands. Chickens also arrived in canoes thousands of years ago. Rats are another type of animal that arrived with both the first settlers and the early European explorers. Do you know what animal is an indigenous species to our islands? It flies through the air at night and feasts on mangoes and pawpaw.

The Beginnings of Agriculture in Our Islands People began to settle in one particular place rather than moving around from area to area. They also began to plant and cultivate crops in organised spaces. The practice of agriculture connected people to the land on which they settled. They identiﬁed with the land from which they harvested their crops. Some people moved on to other places, but others stayed and began to manage their land. The ﬁrst settlers in our islands brought with them the knowledge of agricultural practices. However, they had to adapt what they knew to their new island environment. Sometimes when we think of our ancestors, we assume that they understood how to

D i s s e m i n a t i o n : distribution; spreading

Horticulturalist: a person involved in the science of growing plants Animal husbandr y : the rearing or farming of animals

Fal low: cultivated land that is not seeded for one or more growing seasons

Environme n t a l management: caring for the environment in the least destructive manner possible

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

best manage their ground and gardening plots. However, this is not necessarily true. We know that the Lapita people who came to the islands brought extensive knowledge about gardening with them, as they had grown gardens on the islands from which they came. They were knowledgeable horticulturalists and were familiar with the practices of agriculture and cultivation. They brought many different plants and animals with them in their canoes, in anticipation of planting gardens and animal husbandry. However, they had to learn how to utilise their new land. It took time for our ancestors to understand how to look after their gardens and the resources in the bush. It took many mistakes for people to understand how to effectively use their land. Through archaeological evidence we can tell that some land was used to the point of intense environmental degradation and was then abandoned. This happened many times until people learned how to use other methods to conserve their environment. Today farmers and gardeners throughout Vanuatu understand how to best utilise the land. We know that gardens must lay fallow for a certain amount of time. We understand that different crops take different nutrients from the soil, which necessitates crop rotation. We know that taro is a crop that requires irrigation or damp swampy soil, whereas yams and other crops can be grown on cleared bush land. We have learned how to work with the land to maximise production. The methods of producing a successful garden have been passed down from generation to generation, from parents to their children. When people ﬁrst moved to the archipelago they knew some of these practices, but they also had to learn how to effectively use the land. They often had to learn from the mistakes that they made. The term environmental management is used to describe the way in which we use our land.

A Closer Look– Systems of Irrigation Adapted from Weightman (1989: 89-90).

Aqu educt: elevated channel carrying water

The year was 1889. Throughout the islands ships were calling at ports and attempting to recruit labourers to work on plantations in Queensland, Fiji and New Caledonia. Douglas Rannie was a British government agent who travelled with some of these ships to “police the seas.” His job was to make sure that the ships were following the rules that the overseas governments had set for them. As Rannie sailed around the Paciﬁc islands, he kept a journal in which he wrote about things that he saw at different ports. Journals are a historical source that we can use to learn about people’s thoughts as they experienced new things. However, we must also remember that this is one man’s personal thoughts and opinions. This particular quotation is an explanation of irrigation systems that he saw on the island of Maewo. The most perfect system of agriculture I have yet seen in the South Seas Islands is carried on. Last year, while anchored at Double Waterfall, I had a good opportunity of visiting the native gardens and plantations… we went a long way up the stream and there we found the natives had adopted a very perfect system of irrigation. We passed through a very large taro plantation. It was cut up into squares, each square being about ﬁve or six feet and raised from the ground about one foot. The plantation being, of course on the side of a hill, streams of water were conveyed from square to square by means of large bamboos split up the centre and forming perfect aqueducts. On going to the source of their water supply, we found the natives had made a channel by building a thick wall along the ledge of a steep cliff, thus leading the channel almost twenty or thirty feet above the natural channel of the main stream

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Comprehension questions 1. What important root crop depends upon moist soil, therefore either requiring an irrigation system or swampy ground? 2. What did Rannie mean when he wrote, “…the natives had adopted a very perfect system of irrigation…”? 3. What materials did the people of Maewo use to construct their irrigation system? 4. What is the meaning of the word aqueduct? 5. Why were irrigation systems important? Writing activity Sketch the system of irrigation that Rannie describes in this excerpt. Have you ever seen a working irrigation system? If you have, does it look like the one that Rannie describes? Investigate Where is irrigation used in our islands today? Find someone who has either seen or used an irrigation system in his/her garden. Ask them to describe it to you and to explain why s/he utilises irrigation.

Over a thousand years ago on the island of Aneityum, gardeners built canals (some were nearly ﬁve kilometres in length) to carry water to their taro gardens. In the language of Aneityum, canal-fed gardens are called incauwai. They developed the system because of erosion damage that lessened their ability to produce crops from dry-land gardening. Erosion is bad for the soil because it strips the soil of the necessary nutrients for plant growth. This irrigation system included dams made of stones and canals lined either with stones or kneaded mud. The canals were sometimes as much as three metres high. The terraces were constructed on a slope in order to allow water to travel in furrows to the taro beds. Missionaries and travellers who came to Aneityum often commented on these systems, likening them to highly organised and advanced agricultural wonders. During times of increasing population density, it was important to have these systems in order to grow enough food for the population. However, many of the canals have not been used since Europeans arrived in our islands. Why do you think this is so? What happened in Aneityum and throughout the other islands after European contact that would have lessened the need for intense crop yields? The large-scale depopulation that occurred due to introduced diseases resulted in abandoned gardens.

Writing activity Compare and contrast the two irrigation systems that we have talked about in this section. In your exercise book, draw a line down the middle of a page. Label the ﬁrst column ‘Aneityum,’ and the second column ‘Maewo.’ Make a list of the characteristics of each irrigation system. How are they similar? How are they different?

Stone-lined drainage channel, from about 1000 BP, Antina River, Aneityum (Spriggs 1987: 182).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

A Closer Look– Man Mo Garen Blong Hem The following excerpt comes from an article entitled ‘Man mo Garen: Olgeta Rod Blong Presen Long Fasin Blong Kastom’ by Joël Bonnemaison. This article was published in Man, Langwis, mo Kastom Long Niu Hebridis (1978) and edited by R. Brunton, J.D. Lynch and D.T. Tryon. This book is a collection of articles written in Bislama. You can ﬁnd this book at the National Library at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre in Vila. On some islands villages can be found at three different levels This settlement pattern is found particularly in the northern, hilly islands, such as Ambae, Pentecost and Maewo. However, southern islands like Tanna also have this settlement pattern. From sea level to 100-150 metres elevation, there are coastal villages: this is the land of man solwota in Bislama. On Ambae, coastal dwellers are called elao; in Central Pentecost they are called ila; and on South East Tanna, at Kwamera, they are called kwankakiyapasu, which means “crab’s pathway to reach the ocean”. The next level of village settlement lies at 200-300 metres elevation and is neither coastal nor mountainous. These dwellers can be called ‘the people in the middle.’ In the language of Central Pentecost this area is called lolonvini; on Tanna it is called kawaterem. The third level of settlement sits at 300-500 metres elevation. On Ambae, the hill dwellers are called taute and on Pentecost, kut. In Bislama we refer to them as manbus. On Tanna, the line joining all the nakamals at this level is called mananapi. This is also the name for a type of grass that grows only at this elevation. Coastal gardens

A yam garden typical of coastal dwellers, Mele Village, Efate, 2002. Photo by Anna Naupa.

Coastal dwellers plant yam gardens, which are fenced to prevent pigs from digging up the gardens. Yam does not grow well on dry ground close to the sea so gardens are planted further inland. The people living on the coast used to know a lot about the different kinds of yam but now they only know about a few kinds of yam. Ambae used to have more than 60 different varieties of yams and Pentecost had more than 80. Our ancestors could distinguish between yam varieties. They would look at the colour, the type of leaf, the roots and how it was used in making laplap. There were two ways to plant yam. One was for personal consumption and the other for gift-giving at a custom ceremony, or for exchanging with people from neighbouring villages. The short or round yams were used for eating only and it is believed that these do not have the same power/symbolism as the long yams. The long yams were used only for giving to chiefs. Some long yams are up to one metre long, sometimes two metres, such as aga (Ambae) which has white roots, or voroi, with red roots. Planting the short yams is not very time-consuming. The long yams, however, require a lot of care and attention. Our ancestors would compete with each other to see who could grow the longest yam. The longer a person’s yam, the more respect he could receive from others. Styles of yam cultivation vary between islands and between yam varieties. In North Malakula the Small Nambas people dig a deep hole of 1-2 metres. Tilled ground is then used to ﬁll the hole, as well as to cover the tuber up to a metre above the ground. On top of the soil they put the original tuber from which the subsequent yams grow within

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

the hole. On top of this heap they also plant some short yams (see drawing). The vine for the short yams grows up along a stick or a piece of wild cane. This is different from the vines of long yams, which grow along a long piece of bamboo elevated by a structure of sticks. On some other islands such as Tongoa and Pentecost, wild cane surrounds the mound so that the vines can wrap around the stems when they emerge from the soil. On Tanna, they arrange the wild cane so that the yam vine grows along it. Our ancestors were very knowledgeable about yam cultivation and could eat yam everyday from May to December. But yam cultivation can require a lot of work and the ground also needs to be left fallow for a few years, sometimes up to ten years, before yam can be planted again. In some places where traditional knowledge is still well-known and where coconut plantations do not take up the land, traditional yam cultivation is still practised. Hill gardens and bush gardens For bush dwellers, in the high villages, such as the taute of Ambae and the kut of Pentecost, or the Tannese from Middlebush, yam is not as important a crop. Taro becomes the main crop and is central to people’s food gardens. Taro is different from yam in that it can be planted any time during the year and so there is always taro to be eaten. Taro grows best in wet soil that has been cleared of vegetation. Taro cultivation is not as difficult as yam cultivation as there are no deep holes to be dug. However, taro cultivation still requires a lot of work because it is year-round and the planting, weeding, harvesting and re-planting is a continuous cycle. On Pentecost, Maewo and Santo taro is grown using a system of irrigation. River water, or spring water, is channelled into the taro patch via a stone aqueduct. The taro patch becomes a watery garden and the water then flows down to the next level of taro, much like the system of rice cultivation in China. This can be very hard work as water flow needs to be constantly monitored. This system enables big taro to be grown (see ‘A Closer Look– Systems of Irrigation’, also in this unit). The manbus also know magic that assists with the taro cultivation. While yam is also grown, it is only the taro that can provide a lot of food from the garden. The manbus know many varieties of taro: over 60 on Ambae, 80 on Pentecost. As with yam, there are different grades of taro. In Central Pentecost, the tsinon taro is cultivated only for custom ceremonies, or gift-giving. This is the most prised taro. There are three kinds of tsinon: a green one, a red one and a white one. In Central Pentecost, tsinon only grows in tavahel (a small valley that does not have a river). Regular eating-taro is called bwetsak and it is grown on the sides of valleys and hills. In Middlebush, Tanna, the villages have different taros for feasts, gift-giving and for

A Malakulan yam garden (Bonnemaison 1978: 39).

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

exchanging with neighbouring villages. Each taro has a magic stone, called kapiel. This stone is hidden in the bush and has the power to make taro grow well.

Thinking further Why do you think that people from different areas of the island exchange crops? Writing activity Draw a line down the middle of one page in your book. Label one column ‘Yam Cultivation’ and the other ‘Taro Cultivation’. Now create a list of cultivation techniques for each crop column. Discussion activities 1. Is your village near the ocean or is it in the bush? Where are your family’s gardens? If you live in town and you have never been to your village, ask your mother or father to describe their villages and gardens. As a class, discuss your gardens. From island to island how are they similar? How are they different? 2. Have you ever planted yams? If so, describe the method that your family uses to plant yams. Talk with a friend from a different island and ﬁnd out if s/he uses the same method.

Agriculture in Vanuatu is not limited to cultivating gardens. Following is an ‘A Closer Look’ section regarding the rearing of pigs as another aspect of agriculture in our islands.

A Closer Look– The Cultural Significance of Pigs In 1933, English biologist and researcher Tom Harrisson came to the New Hebrides to conduct research with the Oxford University Expedition. The expedition ended in 1934 and Harrisson stayed on by himself to travel and learn more about the custom and culture of the islands. In 1937, he published a book entitled Savage Civilisation, which he describes as “a bitter lovely story of man, in stone and song, in iron and gunpowder….” In the beginning section of his book, he is staying with the people of Matanavat village in northwestern Malakula. He describes the signiﬁcance of pigs in their lives. He writes from the perspective of a man from Matanavat. The gong is celebrated with pigs. Women are bought with pigs; women must (above all) tend the pigs, feed them twice a day on, especially, cooked taro and coconut scrapings. Pigs are our life and our progress. Without pigs we would only exist. Our pigs are power. The ﬁrst pig came out from a vine on a tree; it was a boar. Another pig came from a rock in the sea and was the sow; she bore a son. He started the tribe of Tevter in the south, whose people still do not reply to their group name but to the call for calling in pigs, ‘Mboi, Mboi.’ There are many sows running free, many piglets. The best male piglets have their top incisor teeth taken out when they are nearly one year old. These teeth should otherwise rub on the lower jaw tusk-teeth, so stopping them growing. Incisors removed, there is no such check.

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Display of tusks on jaws following nimangki pig killing at Togvanu, Vao, Northeast Malakula. c.1914. J Layard (Weightman 1989: 32).

The tusks start to grow curving up and over backward, eventually across the cheek and down towards the lower jaw-bone again. Slowly the tusk will grow right into the lower jaw-bone, will pass clean through it, still curving a circle, so that it comes out again in the front of the mouth near the point which it started from: one complete circle. Then it may grow on, do the same thing all over again. Each circuit takes about seven years. The value of the pig, here in Matanvat and in all other places, is the stage of growth in the tusk. A sow is worth nothing. The flesh of the pig is of no value. The condition or size, fat, hair, the look of the pig– none are of any significance. What counts is the circled length of the tusk. The tusk without the pig; the dead pig with the tusk; the pig’s skull; a momentarily magnificent-looking pig with a small tusk– all these are without meaning. With the aid of his woman, the man can start feeding pigs in earnest. But he owes for the woman. First, he must pay back those debts. This is one way into the business. For on all such debts there is interest. And this interest is the growth of the tusk, what that growth would have been during the time of the loan, had the owner still had the pig. So you must pay back a pig, any pig, with a bigger tusk– according to the condition of the pig you received and the time that has intervened. The longer you take to pay back the pig, the more valuable the pig you will have to pay back and the harder for you to do it. Every man will know how the tusk was when it was lent; how many moons ago that occurred… if a man is slow about paying, you may send him a coconut frond knotted in various ways according to the growth on the tusk of the pig that you lent. This will remind him of the debt. Or you may shame a debtor by giving him a yam and fowl pudding publicly, in the open. As a last resort his club will pay it off for him, rather than let their prestige more down (Harrisson 1937: 24-27).

Comprehension questions 1. Harrisson describes pigs from what perspective? Choose a couple of sentences from the excerpt that support your answer. 2. Pigs are important because they are a food source, as are the crops that we plant

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

in our gardens. However, in this excerpt the importance of pigs is explained as much more than just something to eat. What other values for pigs are there? 3. Why do you think that Harrisson writes that “a sow is worth nothing”? Thinking further The pig’s tusk is one of Vanuatu’s national symbols. Think of two places where you can find a pig’s tusk as a symbol of the nation. Why do you think that this is important? What do you think that the pig’s tusk signifies? Writing activity 1. In your own words, describe how a pig grows a circular tusk. Why do you think that pig’s tusks are so valuable? 2. Do you think that the significance or value of pigs has decreased over time? Why or why not? State specific points to support your opinion. Double-circle pig tusk (Arts of Vanuatu 1996: 161).

Investigate As a class, conduct a survey to identify some of the islands that regard the pig’s tusk as an important cultural symbol. Describe any ceremonies where pig tusks are used as the main item. Use people in your village or near your school as your sources of information.

Land Tenure Systems Land tenur e : the management of land rights

Reciprocity: mutual exchange Usufruct rights: the right to use something

Matrilineal: inheritance through the mother’s line Patrilineal: inheritance through the father’s line

In addition to the way in which land was physically managed in the past, it is also important to study the traditional principles of land tenure. Land tenure is the way in which land rights are managed. As we have learned, land is one of the things that we can use to deﬁne ourselves. We are the land; it is where our ancestors were buried and it is how we identify with the past, the present and the future. Therefore, the unwritten but understood policies concerning land tenure are very important, as they were in more traditional times. Land tenure systems vary throughout our islands. However, these systems have some basic shared characteristics. Traditionally, land tenure was ﬂexible and was based upon foundations of reciprocity. While a person could have primary rights to the land (that is, to be the major decision-maker concerning the land), it was his moral obligation to allow others within his territory to use it if they asked him. People were given usufruct rights to land, meaning that they had been given permission to use the land for gardening, but that the land itself would stay in the possession of its original landholders. Allowing people to utilise the land of others was actually a way to strengthen the ties and unite the members of the social group. Of course, land had economic value, as it provided people with food for subsistence as well as food to use in custom ceremonies. Its value also lay in its source of identity for individuals and groups. It is important to note that there is no evidence from our ancestors’ time that there was a monetary value that was tied to the land. The way in which land was passed from generation to generation followed different patterns in different areas of the archipelago. Land may be communal, with no permanent distribution to individuals. It may be passed via the mother (matrilineal inheritance) or the father (patrilineal inheritance). In some places there may be a system of

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

double descent, where land may be passed through both the mother and the father. In cases of double descent, there may be a matrilineal or patrilineal emphasis in land rights inheritance. Depending on the culture, men and women may have equal land rights, although on some of our islands women may not be allowed to have as much authority over land as their male relatives. For a more in-depth look at land tenure, read the section about ‘Land Tenure in Vanuatu’ in ‘The Young Nation’ (in Volume 3 in this series).

D o u b l e d e s c e n t: system of inheritance through both the mother’s and father’s line

Planting a fence of reeds in Aneityum, c.1892, R.W. Lawrie (Weightman, 1989: 48).

Investigate 1. Research the type of land tenure system used by your family. You may need to talk with your family members in order to have a better understanding of your family’s system. Describe the pattern of passing on land rights using the terminology presented in this section. Draw a family tree tracing how land rights are passed in your family. In your family’s system, do men and women have equal land rights? If your father and mother are from different areas, are the systems of land tenure similar or different in their respective areas? 2. Find out about the land tenure system for the land on which your school is located.

A Closer Look– Customary Rights to Reefs and Landings You are walking along the beach when you see a namele leaf with a pawpaw leaf placed on top. What does this mean? In the following excerpt from Land Tenure in Vanuatu (1984), Peter Taurokoto from Lelepa Island describes the traditional methods by which access and use of the reefs and the ocean is controlled. Ever since the islands were settled, the rights to ﬁsh around reefs and to land canoes on beaches have been regulated by custom. For example, Melanesians do not go shelling for the

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

same species every day of the year. Each edible fish or shellfish is associated with a certain plant. For instance when the wild cane flowers are about to open, the lobsters are also about the lay eggs. With coconut leaf torches, the people try to catch as many as they can before they start laying eggs. When the flowers are fully open, the lobsters have laid their eggs and the fishing of lobsters is postponed until the next season. This principle is applied to every edible fish and shellfish in the reefs. All plants don’t flower at the same time and there is never a danger of over-fishing the reef. Reef boundaries are determined by where one’s ancestors landed or by later negotiation. The amount of land owned above the high water mark often determines the size of one’s reef. Boundaries extend as far out as one can fish or dive for shells. Anybody may fish in the deep waters beyond these boundaries, but in ancient times, such fishing would have been possible only for a few people who had canoes– usually the reef owners and their relatives who owned landing rights. Deep sea fishing could also only be carried out when one had the time to make a line long enough for the purpose with bark or coconut fibre. On Lelepa, my home island, the reef boundaries follow village boundaries. There used to be six villages on the island and the reefs were regarded as the property of the six chiefs who would notify each other of people fishing outside the village boundary and arbitrate disputes. On some islands, such as Paama and Southeast Ambrym, the reefs are scarce and are subdivided in order to provide everybody a share in the protein diet obtained from reef fishing. On certain areas of Paama Island such reef divisions include allocation of single rocks on the reefs to heads of families. The most common traditional way to prohibit and control the fishing on the reefs is to use the namele, a palm leaf, as a boundary post. A namele leaf tied to a stake and placed on the beach by the owner of a reef prohibits people from fishing in this area. The people may swim there but fishing is strictly prohibited. When the pawpaw leaf is placed on top of the namele leaf, in some areas, it means permission may be obtained to go fishing on the reef. When the wild cane leaves are placed on top of the namele leaf, it means that anybody caught fishing in the area will be killed immediately. On some islands, pregnant women are banned from fishing on the reefs because tradition has it that they would scare all the fish away. On other islands a trochus or a green snail may be placed on top of the stake on which a namele is tied. Fishing of whatever is displayed is thereby prohibited. These tabus are enforced by owners of the reefs or their relatives paying regular visits to the reefs during the day and night. Anybody caught may be killed or made to pay compensation in pigs, mats, or other valuables (Taurakoto 1984: 14-16).

Writing activity This excerpt discusses methods in which signs are used as a form of communication on reefs. Investigate the methods of communication that are used in gardens. Are they similar or different to what we have read about? How do people know whether or not they are permitted into an area? Discussion activity “…when the wild cane ﬂowers are about to open, the lobsters are also about to lay eggs.” Do you know of any other connections between sea life and plants? How can we describe these connections as a form of ‘environmental management’?

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Investigate Interview someone in a nearby village. Ask him/her about different signs that are used as a form of communication. In your exercise book, draw pictures of the various symbols and write explanations of their meanings.

Women and Agriculture Whether it is cultivating a garden or tending to livestock, women play an important role in agriculture in our islands This section examines female labour in both these capacities of gardener and farmer and how roles have changed over time. Many senior secondary students complete research projects on different aspects of life in our archipelago as part of their coursework. In the late 1970s, a Malapoa College student, Votausi Jingo, researched the role of women in the Big Nambas village of Brenwei in Northwest Malakula. She travelled to Malakula and interviewed women in the village in order to record their thoughts and opinions. In her final paper, she wrote about women’s roles in the past as well as in the present. In one section she describes their responsibilities in taking care of their family’s pigs. Following is an excerpt from her research. The male pigs which have their tusks grown in one or more circles and other male pigs were regarded as special pigs. These pigs were kept in the house where the family was living… The reason why the pigs were looked after very strictly was that these special pigs were often killed during the nimangki and they had to be well-fed for these important occasions. The women prepared laplap for the pigs and fetched them water in coconut shells to drink. A woman could not have her meal without first feeding the pigs. The pigs were looked after like little babies. They were watched continually and whenever a pig urinated the woman quickly took a bamboo and let the pig urinate in the bamboo and then emptied the bamboo outside. Nowadays the pigs are looked after by both men and women but the women play the most part in caring for the pigs. The pigs are no longer kept inside the houses; they are either kept in pens or tied to trees with plaited fibre of the burao tree.

Next is an excerpt that describes how the roles of women in the garden have changed over time. In the past when a new garden was cleared only the men used knives to clear the bush, the

Brenwei, NW Malakula.

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women were forbidden to touch knives and they used some type of sea shells to clear the garden… After the bush was cleared, only the men did the cutting down of big trees. The women then set ﬁre to the garden and the men planted the yams… At present both men and women use knives to clear their new patch of gardens. After the patch is cleared it is then the men’s job to cut down the big trees and the branches of smaller trees which could be used to stake yam tendrils (Jingo 1978).

Thinking further Compare this excerpt to Harrisson’s in the section about the cultural signiﬁcance of pigs. How does the information provided by Harrisson support the information that Jingo recorded in her interviews with the women from Brenwei?

Margaret Jolly, an anthropologist from Australia, spent many months in the early 1970s with the Sa speakers of South Pentecost. She was particularly interested in the role of women in the communities of Pohurur, Bunlap and other custom villages in south Pentecost. In Women of the Place (1994), Jolly discusses present-day agricultural practices of the Sa people. Taro is a primary staple in this area of Pentecost, because of the moist soil of the interior river valleys. Some taro is also planted in irrigated plots in small streams. She also compares the spiritual importance and value of yams and taro and discusses the process of planting and harvesting. She argues that the differences between the importance of the two crops are reﬂected in the way in which they are cultivated in this area of Pentecost. Taro cultivation usually occurs within one household, whereas yam cultivation is often a community activity. The role of women in the production of these two crops also differs. Following are two excerpts that describe women’s roles in these agricultural processes.

A scription: assignment Diffuse: spread

Polarity: opposition

The nature of labour cooperation involved in producing taro is simple. It is household-based and lacks a rigid sexual division. Work groups in the taro gardens typically consist of all members of a household, with occasional reciprocal help between households… Though men do more of the heavy work of clearing and burning and women do proportionately more weeding and harvesting, there is no rigid sexual division of labour. Men and women are not made dependent on each other through the ascription of various tasks to each sex. Secondly, unlike the diffuse division of labour between men and women in taro production, there is a rigid sexual division appropriate to yam production. Speciﬁcally, in the process of planting, only men are allowed to dig the holes and insert the tubers, women are permitted only to soften the soil by shifting it and to shape a mound over the planted tuber… Thus the polarities between the production of taro and yams can be seen to extend from surface differences in the process of cultivation to deeper symbolic oppositions, ultimately implicating female versus male (Jolly 1994: 64, 67-8).

Jolly continues by stating that in the process of yam and taro cultivation, men make most of the decisions concerning the organisation of labour. She believes that this is because women usually allow their husbands to make the decisions within the household. She also states that males have control of the magical tools used in gardening. Similar

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Sa speakers, South Pentecost (Jolly 1994).

to the excerpt at the beginning of this unit, there are men in south Pentecost who also perform certain rituals to ensure the fertility of the crops. This position as a horticultural â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;priestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and the magic that is learnt, can only be inherited by men and usually passes from father to son.

Discussion activity What do these two excerpts tell us about the role of women in agriculture? How have things changed and how have they stayed the same?

We must keep in mind that every island and every community has its own unique customs and traditions. The agricultural roles of women on Epi are perhaps different from

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those of women in the Banks Group. Also, the extent to which communities have held on to traditional practices of division of labour varies from place to place. Culture is always changing. As we will learn in ‘The Beginnings of Christianity in Our Islands’ (in Volume 2 of this series), the missionaries discouraged many important customs and traditions when they came and lived on our islands. Therefore, some traditional practices were lost as time progressed. However, we still continue to respect and follow some of our agricultural customs of before.

Investigate Talk with your grandmother (if she lives near you) or an older woman who lives near your school. Ask her if she thinks that a woman’s role in the garden has changed over time. What does she think brought about these changes? Ask her about the different magical agricultural customs that are/were used in her community. Does she know anything about these customs, or is all of the knowledge in the possession of men? Do women have any special customs that they follow when they are working in the garden? Make a list of ﬁve questions that you would like to ask. When you are writing your questions, think of some of the points that were raised in the excerpts that you read, such as different customs and traditions for different crops and the physical preparation of the garden.

Family digging and mounding in yam garden, Atchin, North Malekula, c.1914. J. Layard (Weightman 1989: 75).

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Outside Influences on Agricultural Practices A Technological Revolution Scenario 1: Imagine that you are planting yams in your garden. The year is 1650. What tools did you use to dig the holes? What did you use to clear the bush in order to make the place for your garden? Who helped you clear the bush? Look at the drawings of the stone adze. What do you think that this was used for? What other types of digging and cutting devices did people use in their gardens?

Scenario 2: Now the year is 1890. You live on the island of Tanna, near a Presbyterian mission on the coast. There is a European planter who has a plantation near the mission. You are planting yams in your garden. What tools are you using to dig the holes? How do you think that this has changed your level of agricultural production? What did you use to clear the bush in order to make the place for your garden? Who helped you clear the bush? In the first scenario, you used tools made of stone and wood. Perhaps you fashioned an axe out of stone and attached a wooden handle. You used the axe and fire to clear the bush. You may have made a digging stick out of wood and hardened the tip by burning it in the fire. You used this to dig the holes in which you planted your yams. You also sharpened stones and used them when you needed to have a sharp edge for cutting. In the second scenario, you lived near a mission. You saw the metal tools of the planter, tools that he brought to Tanna he when came from overseas. Perhaps the missionaries allowed your family to borrow them if you promised that you would attend church services at the mission. Or perhaps the planter gave you a metal tool in exchange for labour on his plantation. Or maybe a passing labour recruiter exchanged metal tools for labourers from your village. There were many ways in which you could have acquired these implements with which to work in your garden. These tools made it much

Left: Ambrym Stone Adze; Right: Stone Adze from NW Santo (Speiser 1996).

Labour-intensive: requiring a lot of work

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easier for you to clear the bush in order to plant your garden and to build fences to protect your crops from wandering pigs. However, if you were a woman, your labour input may have stayed much the same, as your tasks of weeding and harvesting were not necessarily lessened by the introduction of these metal tools. When missionaries and planters began to settle in the islands, they brought with them different tools, plants and methods of agriculture. Labour recruiters also used tools (as well as other items such as guns) to trade with families or communities in exchange for recruits. These new products and ideas directly affected the patterns of agriculture that had been a part of life in the islands for thousands of years. Metal tools increased the output of the gardens compared to the use of stone or wooden tools, because people were able to work much more efﬁciently with their new tools over larger areas of land. Traditional methods of clearing the bush in preparation for a garden were labour-intensive. Metal tools made this easier. Indeed, the introduction of metal tools was equivalent to a technological revolution in the islands.

Technolog i c a l revolution : new developments in tools

Plantations and Cash Cropping: New Types of Land Use

Copra being loaded off southeastern Ambrym, May 2004. Photo by Anastacia Riehl.

These settlers also brought new crops and fruits with them that were previously unknown in the islands (refer to the table entitled ‘Introduction of Food Crops into Vanuatu’ earlier in the unit). These included fruits that we now consider part of our everyday lives, such as pawpaw and pineapple. Some of these new crops, like manioc, could be used during times of difﬁculty, for example, when taro and yam production was low. These new crops also added variety to the diet of the Islanders. The planters who settled in the islands also altered the way in which the land was used. As you will read in ‘Planters and Plantations’, this large-scale method of agriculture was markedly different from the subsistence agriculture and agricultural rituals that our ancestors practised in their daily lives. Instead of planting enough food to eat, to share among relatives and to use in custom ceremonies, straight rows of coconuts that reached as far as the eye could see began to dot the coastlines of the islands. Coffee bushes and all of the implements needed in the process of coffee production found their way into the archipelago. Ships began to come around to the islands to pick up copra that was regularly shelled, smoked or dried and then bagged and shipped. Some planters also experimented with growing cotton, which became one of the principal cash crops during the early days of the planters. This was in direct response to the decrease in cotton production in the United States because of the Civil War, which lasted from 1861-1865. The plantation owners in the southern part of the US were not able to produce cotton because of the war and this brought about a shortage of cotton worldwide. Events throughout the world affected the economy and agricultural development of our islands. This system of cash cropping and plantations changed the way that Islanders thought about agriculture. Instead of concerning themselves with gardening that supplied them with enough food to eat and to use within their communities for ceremonies, people

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

began to plant crops to earn money. This disrupted the traditional relationship between gardening and everyday life. Less emphasis was placed on the importance of the rituals of the garden and people began to think about planting and harvesting to earn money. While the majority of cash cropping was in the hands of the Europeans who came to the islands, Islanders also began cash cropping as time progressed. This marked the end of gardening purely for subsistence and ritual reasons. As cash cropping introduced a monetary value for the land, uncertain land boundaries were disputed, whereas prior to the introduction of European money boundaries were not so important.

Comprehension questions 1. What is a plantation? 2. In the above paragraph, identify three effects of cash cropping on traditional lifestyles. Investigate Are there any working plantations near your school? Give examples of some plantation crops.

Coconut plantations that were planted to produce copra are perhaps the best examples of this shift from gardening to cash cropping. Until the early 1890s, copra production depended greatly upon the coconut groves of Islanders, as the trees planted on the plantations had not yet reached maturity. Planters bought from or traded with Islanders for their copra. The plantation owners would either purchase it raw or smoked and then they would export it on a ship that transported it overseas. Copra had to be shipped from the plantation to an anchorage where it could be put aboard a ship that was going to either Sydney or France. By 1910, the largest coconut plantations in the islands were found at Valesdir on Epi and at P.R.N.H. (Plantations Réunies des Nouvelles-Hébrides, now P.R.V.) in Norsup, Malakula. Some plantation workers who had returned to their home islands after working on overseas plantations, began to plant coconuts in traditional ‘plantation style’, placing the trees in orderly lines. At some missions, the churches planted coconuts and church members donated their labour to provide funds for the church. These small enterprises provided examples for some Islanders who then began to plant their own coconuts and shell their own copra. This helped to make them more self-sufficient and it also affected the European planters, as it made it more difficult for them to find labour for their plantations. By following the example of the planters, some Islanders were able to begin cash cropping, albeit on a much smaller level than the plantation owners. This changed the way in which our ancestors utilised their land and moved them into the arena of selling crops for money or goods. In order to maintain these plantations, planters relied upon wage labour. As they often could not find sufficient labour sources in the islands, the plantation owners imported labour from other countries. People came from places such as north Vietnam and Kiribati (then called the Gilbert Islands) to work on the plantations. During difficult economic times, plantation owners found it difficult to maintain their labour supplies. We will study this in more depth in our unit on ‘Planters and Plantations’ (in Volume

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

2 in this series). Why do you think it was necessary to import labour from other countries? How do you think that the recruitment of labour affected local workers? Due to the difficulties in finding labour, some expatriate settlers attempted to find different avenues in which to acquire copra for export. On the island of Ambae, an Australian trader who arrived in the early 1930s came up with a different plan. In her book entitled Masters of Tradition (1987), anthropologist Margaret Rodman discusses customary land tenure issues in Longana, on East Ambae. The following excerpt from her book discusses the system set up by this Australian trader. Like his predecessors at the site, the Australian was a trader, but, unlike earlier residents, he was not content simply to buy coconuts or the fresh coconut meat known as green copra. Instead, he encouraged Longanans to plant coconuts for commercial copra production. He taught many Longanans how to smoke-dry their copra. He organised the construction of a road from Boiboi to Lolowai to facilitate copra export. Instead of taking local labour from the island to produce copra elsewhere, as first the labour trade and then island planters had done, the trader applied local labour to the production of a local product for export. The trader bought Longanans’ copra and they spent the money at the trader’s store. The trader’s boat brought new stock in for the store and took copra off for sale to the large export houses, especially Burns Philp, who owned the land where the trader lived (Rodman 1987).

In this system, there were both advantages and disadvantages to the Islander copra producers. One advantage was that the copra trader assisted them with the development of their area, even though it was solely for the beneﬁt of his business. This was through the construction of roads. He also assisted them by teaching them how to smoke-dry their copra. The Longanans also began to plant their coconuts in a systematic style, thereby increasing their production. However, in other ways there were disadvantages to this system. The Longanans often became indebted to the company store and spent most of their earned money paying off their debt. The store stocked some items that had the potential to cause problems in the community, such as alcohol. Based on these facts, what do you think about this system? Did the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for the people of Longana? Do you think that this system was advantageous for the Australian copra trader? In each case, give reason to support your answer.

An island plantation, c.2002.

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

Changing Land Tenure In addition to new tools, crops and methods of planting that Europeans introduced to the people, they often disrupted the traditional system of land tenure in the islands. The massive depopulation of the islands that occurred in the middle to late 1800s disrupted the traditional land tenure system. As we will learn in the unit on ‘Population Decrease’ (in Volume 2 in this series), thousands of people died due to a lack of immunity to diseases that were brought into the islands by outsiders. A lot of traditional knowledge was also lost at this time. It was more difﬁcult for people to follow the family lines and use their traditional systems of land tenure because the knowledge base concerning land rights had weakened with the massive decrease in the population. There were other factors that also upset the system of land tenure in the islands. As we will learn in ‘The Beginnings of Christianity in Our Islands’ (in Volume 2 in this series), the missionaries encouraged people to move out of their villages to come and live near the mission stations. This resettlement was a method to bring people closer to the missions, thus making the conversion process easier. This often caused misunderstandings concerning land tenure, as people were moving from their land and settling elsewhere. Why do you think that being away from your land could make it harder to control what happens on your land? A third major way in which traditional land tenure was affected was through the establishment of plantations. Plantations were concentrated on four islands; Efate, Epi, Malakula and Santo. On these islands, traditional systems of land tenure were the most affected by European plantations. The early European settlers came to the islands with no knowledge of the system of land tenure that was in place and assumed that they could use Western methods to purchase land. They did not understand or respect the spiritual connection to the land. By European accounts, they purchased land when they exchanged beads, muskets, tobacco and calico with Islanders. When they drew up their paper contracts, which Islanders signed (thereby transferring the land into their hands), it represented a legitimate contract in the eyes of the planters. However, that signature meant absolutely nothing to the man whose land it was. His ground was something from which he could never be

Winnowing and separating dried coffee beans, Rathmoy plantation, north Efate, 1891. W.J. Lindt (Weightman 1989: 184).

Retaliate: to strike back; to get even

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

separated, whether or not he signed a paper allowing another man to use it. In the lives of the Islanders, this was not even a possibility and it did not even occur to them that these planters would think that they had permanent rights to use the land. By Islander accounts, acceptance of these European goods allowed Europeans the right to temporarily use the land, but not to own it forever. This misunderstanding between the two groups would later become a major argument for Vanuatu’s independence. These misunderstandings concerning land tenure were the crux of the difﬁcult relationships between the planters and Islanders. Because of their unfair treatment, Islanders sometimes retaliated against the plantation owners. After all, they had been deprived and cheated out of their land, which was their identity and their connection to their heritage.

Comprehension questions 1. What are the three major causes of changing land tenure? 2. What islands experienced the most plantation activity? Thinking further Since the main crops [of planters] in the 1870s were seasonal—cotton, maise and sugar—early settlers would not have appeared especially threatening to ni-Vanuatu, compared to their later years when local people saw Europeans planting large areas in coconut trees… (Van Trease 1987: 21). Why do you think that it alarmed the ni-Vanuatu to see that the planters were planting rows of coconut trees?

Contemporary Issues in Agriculture Marie and Jean-Claude have been married for fifteen years. They live in Jean-Claude’s home village on the island of Ambae. They have three children; the eldest daughter is in Year Eight at Collège de Luganville and their two younger children live with them on the island, where they attend primary school. How do Marie and Jean-Claude find money to pay their daughter’s school fees? The answer to this question helps us to understand how agriculture has changed throughout time and how we have changed from a subsistence gardening system to one in which we use subsistence as well as cash-cropping for our livelihood. There are many potential answers to this question. Depending on what cash crops are grown in their area, Marie and Jean-Claude could either make copra, sell kava or send baskets of fruit or root crops (depending on the season) to Santo or Vila. Marie can also sell cabbage to the secondary school that is located in their village, as the school’s garden is not sufficient to feed the students. There is also a community market once a week and this is another opportunity to make money.

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

A Closer Look– Systems of Agricultural Exchange The following excerpt is also from ‘Man mo Garen: Olgeta Rod Blong Presen Long Fasin Blong Kastom’ by Joel Bonnemaison (1978). It explains the role played by agricultural crops in custom ceremonies throughout different island communities. It also talks about the relationships forged between manbus and man solwota (coastal people) based on their agricultural needs. We have seen how manbus and man solwota cultivated different crops. However, changes in people’s lives caused some bush villages to relocate to coastal areas. In North Vanuatu, the chiefs of the nimangki (like the suqe in the Banks Islands or the hungwe of Ambae) would travel by canoe to other islands where they had friends or family. They would go to buy tusked pigs, mats, small pigs, yams, or to buy the shell money of the Banks Islands. These ‘businessmen’ would trade between the islands, for example Nduindui men on Ambae would trade with the big men of Malakula, Santo, South Maewo, Pentecost and Ambrym. Within islands there was also trade between villages. The manbus would trade taro for the yams of man solwota. Sometimes, taro was traded for pigs, or tusked pigs, or the leaves of the pandanus for making mats. Sometimes, manbus would trade to obtain rights to access coastal resources, such as ﬁshing on the reef or digging for crabs. For these trade reasons, coastal dwellers would take special care of pigs, so that in times when there was not much garden produce to trade, they could trade pigs. When the manbus wanted to gain rank in the nimangki system, they would buy pigs from the coastal people for the ceremony. The elders of Ambae would say that this system of exchange was good for peace, it ensured this spirit of tamwata (peace) was maintained. On Tanna, trade systems varied slightly. At the time of the nekowia many villages would form dance groups to perform at a big feast in honour of their friends. They would start dance rehearsals many months in advance and would also try to gather as many pigs as possible to contribute to the feast (sometimes 60-80 pigs). On the day of the feast, when all the villages gathered, they would dance the toka and give gifts of pigs, yam, taro and kava. Their friends would, in return, dance for them and over the next few days would also give them the same or more number of pigs that they had been given. Today, however, the custom has changed a little bit to include only a few neighbouring villages in the same area. This time of exchange ensures that peace is maintained between the villages. On Tanna there is another important festival, though not as colourful as the toka. It is called the niel. To prepare for the niel, one village plants an especially large garden. It chooses the best yams, long yams and many pigs (20-30 pigs). These presents are then put in the bush for exchange with another village. If the second village accepts the presents, it must then give back the same number of different pigs. In addition, extra pigs must be given to pay for the initial number of gifted pigs. Sometimes if the second village cannot pay in yams, it pays in taro. This trade was not really ‘business,’ but a system of exchange that ensured peace between villages (tamwata in Ambae language). In this fashion, custom can be used to prevent disputes. Sometimes, those living between coastal and bush areas would trade with either manbus or man solwota. Their geographical location between coastal and inland areas enabled them to act as ‘middlemen’ in the exchange process. Today, traditional systems of exchange have changed. Coastal villages tend not to plant as

Histri blong Yumi long Vanuatu– Volume One

much as before, particularly where coconuts have become popular for copra. Coastal villages do not rear as many pigs as before. In some places like West Ambae, coconut trees are many and there is no longer much space to plant yam gardens. However, in bush areas inland, where coconuts do not grow so well, traditional gardens are still grown. This is why coastal people do not have as much food anymore and try to keep rights to land further inland in order to have somewhere to plant gardens. Otherwise, the man solwota have to buy taro and kumala from the manbus. Many things have changed, but the system of exchange remains alive today. It is not a business as in the Western world. Ni-Vanuatu do not exchange goods to make a proﬁt, nor is money part of the system. People give and people receive gifts. As it is the custom way to ensure there are no disagreements, people must always give more than they received. This maintains peace between neighbouring villages, as well as within villages.

Comprehension questions 1. What is the role of those residing between manbus and man solwota? 2. What is the niel? Is there a similar exchange on your island? Are you aware of any exchanges that continue to take place between different groups? 3. How have gardens changed throughout time? 4. In the last paragraph Bonnemaison states that the exchange of crops between groups is not a method that requires money. If not for ﬁnancial gain, then why does this exchange take place?

Men making a garden fence, Atchin or Vao, North Malakula. c.1914. J. Layard (Weightman 1989: 46).

Instead of relying on our gardens to provide us solely with food for our families and food for custom ceremonies, we have different responsibilities in our lives today. Just as the story of the family on Ambae illustrates, we can use agricultural means to help us with some of the financial responsibilities that we now have in our lives. There are different agricultural opportunities now than there were two hundred years ago. The majority of families in the islands depend upon cash-cropping to assist them in their financial responsibilities. Crop diversification is an option and some farmers have chosen to grow crops such as pepper, vanilla, coffee or cocoa. Some farmers have also begun growing spices such as chilli, turmeric and ginger. There is a small overseas market for these crops. Some communities have set up agricultural projects in their areas. In the past fifteen years, kava has also become a significant export crop. The overseas market for kava has fluctuated, but there is also a high demand for kava in the national urban centres of Luganville and Vila. Many families sell kava to kava bar owners in town, or to local brokers who buy and sell kava. The difficulty with kava comes in shipping, as it must be transported soon after it is dug and bagged, as kava deteriorates quickly. In the international market, there are a lot of issues that have to be taken into consideration. These include quality control, recent negative reports concerning kava in the international media and taking steps to ensure that kava farmers do not overproduce. Copra continues to be the most important cash crop, especially on islands that have small amounts of kava for exportation and also on islands that historically had plantations. Most families have a couple of hectares of coconuts that they use for the purpose of shelling out copra. Difficulties have arisen because of falling prices and problems with the Vanuatu Commodities Marketing Board (VCMB). In the past, copra ships have

An Agricultural History of Our Islands

stopped servicing copra-producing areas for months at a time, thereby forcing people to simply leave their bags of copra on the beach. In areas where copra is the main source of income, these can be very difﬁcult times for the local economy. Nonetheless, coconuts will probably remain a very important crop for ni-Vanuatu for many years.

Unloading Aniwa oranges at Vila Wharf, 1984 (Weightman 1989: 190).

Land Issues One of the most significant issues that we face today concerns land. Nearly every week there is a news item on the radio, an article in the newspaper, or a radio message that deals with land disputes. Communities and families are torn apart because of these arguments. It does not matter if a family member is not even on the island; the problems follow him/her to town as well. The Police and Mobile Force are sometimes asked to smooth over the situation, but it is often difficult to solve. Sometimes having the police involved can exacerbate the situation. Why do you think that there are so many problems today concerning land disputes? What originally brought about these land disputes? While it is true that our lives today are very different from those of our ancestors in many ways, it is very important that we do not forget the agricultural practices that they used in their daily lives. These are important aspects of life in the islands that we need to hold on to. We can still see many ways in which agricultural production follows the traditional customs that have been passed down from generation to generation. This is illustrated by traditional methods of planting crops that continue to be followed today. Ceremonies that celebrate the harvest of yams, whether through custom or in the Church, are also another example of a way that we are carrying on customs that have been passed down from generation to generation. Sharing food with family and friends is seen as a sign of respect and is also an important part of our lives today. This is directly related to the way in which our ancestors shared food from their gardens. While some of these customs have transformed themselves to fit into our modern lives, others are very much the same. Regardless of the changes in our lives, we still identify ourselves through our land. After all, it is through our land that we are connected to our families, our spirituality and our customs and traditions.

E x a c e r b a t e : to aggravate; worsen