Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Hospitable cannibals?

 
April 11, '15.  S 8d 59' 56", W 140d 94' 08",

The island of Oa Pua, like all the Marquesan islands, was home to cannibals up until the late 1800's.  A resurgence of the Marquesan culture has re-elevated the status of cannabalism.  The islanders joke about it, tell some of us that we are just the right size to be juicy, and others that they need to be fattened up.  We were invited to a two day festival, honoring sailors. They greeted us with leis 


And kisses on each cheek.


They had an amazing spread of fresh fruit from their gardens


Served on a banana leaf for a plate with a stick for a fork.



They did a demonstration of how to prepare breadfruit which is a large tree fruit.  Her hands fly as she peels it with a cowrie shell.


It tastes much like a potato and is good fried, baked, or mashed.  It's yummy fried in oil with salt, much like French fries. Marquesans are concerned as the breadfruit trees no longer produce twice a year. Extended drought has meant only one crop of breadfruit every nine months. This primary staple has been threatened by climate change.
In the afternoon, we traveled across the crest of the island to another valley.  Traditionally, each valley would have their own chief.  They often raided each other and took slaves and prisoners to eat!  The cannabalism was quite common throughout the islands and none of the villages were on the shores, but rather, up into the highlands where they were more protected from invaders.  The French sent many missionaries here and the locals tell us that it took many years before the missionaries did anything more than become dinner.
Of course, the missionaries tried to "teach" them not to eat people. One of the deciding factors was the spread of Western diseases which decimated the locals, but which was far less a problem for the missionaries.  This appeared to be evidence of the power of this new religion and many tribes became Catholic, some stopping their practice of cannabalism, and some pretending to stop.  Records suggest that the cannabalism was mostly gone by the early 1800's, but the population had dropped from around 100,000 to just over 2,000.  Today, there are almost 10,000 Marquesans.

The second day of the Sailor's fest included a trip over the mountain crest to still another valley where the children and dancers announced our coming and welcomed us.



The men formed a phallanx for us to pass through, then did a welcoming dance.


Later in the evening, they did a fire dance and a dance celebrating eating white people.   It was a strange combination of being welcomed, and not sure you should be there.  The chief agreed to hold our granddaughter's knome. 


And the end of the day was beautiful.





Thursday, April 9, 2015

Polliwogs, Shellbacks, the Southern Cross and LAND HO!



On Sunday, March 29th at 6:15pm, we morphed from Pollywogs into Shellbacks! In other words, we crossed the equator into the South Pacific!  We celebrated with a toast of gratitude to Neptune.  Not  surprisingly, it doesn't look any different out there, but we have a powerful sense of the accomplishment for crossing this imaginary line!  Tonight we saw the  Southern Cross  for the first time, the smallest of the 88 named constellations. It points to the south celestial pole and feels like a different world. But the next day, it was back to squalls coming on the horizon.
 We  have traveled 4223 nautical miles since we left Bellingham, all on the largest body of water in the world.  The Pacific Ocean (North and South) cover more area than all of Earth's continents put together.  It is surrounded by the Ring of Fire, hundreds, if not thousands of both active and dormant volcanoes.  There are over 20,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, most of which are concentrated in the south or west where we are headed.  Some of the islands are associated with their neighboring continent, like Japan, in the east, the Aleutians in the north, or Vancouver Island and the Gulf and San Juan Islands in our own backyard.  Another type is the high volcanic island such as the Hawaiian Islands or the Marquesas.  Finally, there are the sandy coral  atolls like the majority of the islands of the South Pacific.  It is this type most in danger by the rising seas of climate change. 
It  is astounding to us, as we cross this vast ocean, to realize  that we have raised the temperature of such a gargantuan mass and changed its acidity level with our high carbon uses!  I try to think of dozens  of things I can do, from skipping that airplane trip (a major carbon expenditure!), to changing to LED bulbs.  Students at the Highline School District (hi, all you amazing students!) brain stormed a list of things everyone could do and then looked for specific ways they could alter their behavior to help the Earth.  Among the items they came up with: buy local products, buy produce in season, ride your bike to work/school, buy organic (much less carbon used in this farming method, plus, your grocery dollar isn't being spent on dangerous pesticides!), play outside instead of playing electronic games, and much more.  We must each change our habits, and it feels good when we do.

4/2/15, S 8d, 23' 24"', W 136d 37' 04":  we are almost there, just about 160 miles to go! We have been busy making sure both water tanks are full as the water maker doesn't process dirty harbor water very well (every harbor has relatively dirty water.) We're also repairing and installing our screens to ward off the local mosquitos that may carry dengue fever, a very nasty bug.  We are hoping for a good rain before we arrive to give everything a nice fresh water rinse.  The entire outside of the boat is encrusted with salt.  J Boats are known as a "wet boat" meaning they are low to the waterline and we often get water coming on deck or splashing into the cockpit. When the surface has dried, you can see the residual salt crystals covering everything. 

4/4/2015 Hiva Oa! We arrived Saturday morning around 5 am after slowing down through the night so as to arrive in daylight.  As we approached the island, the full moon was setting behind it and the sun ready to rise.  It is an exquisite place, known as the most beautiful island in Polynesia.
We have been busy connecting with the other participants of the Blue Planet Odyssey (cornellsailing.com).Each day has included opportunities to see more the islands and its people. On Saturday night, we went to mass at the local church.  Many of the women wore flower headdresses, much like a westerner might wear a new hat to Easter service at church, although these were made especially for the occasion.  The 8 foot tall crucifixion statue was decorated with a 20' garland that must have taken many hours to complete.  All the flowers come from the gardens of families from the church.  There is no nursery or place where flowers are imported from. The regional bishop performed the mass, first in Marquesan, then in French. Of the 2 1/2 hour service, singing in many part harmony by the congregation was ethereal!  Additionally, About 15 families brought their infants forward to be baptized by the bishop, it seemed to be a tradition, likely, they represented all the children born on the island since Christmas. 
Today we had the opportunity to travel into the interior and see some of the Tiki statues that were part of the early religion here, before the French brought Catholicism and forbade the worship of their old gods.  
The views of the island from its crest were amazing!



In town, the little store has onions, potatoes, and a couple of things I've never seen before.  There is no need to have much more as everyone gardens.  Many things just grow in the forest and on its edge, including avocados, breadfruit, mango, guava, limes, and much more. Coconuts are everywhere and many homes have drying racks in the yard to prepare the meat for sale.  The people here import very little and get by with what can be made locally. 

We have been excited and VERY appreciative to have a shower on shore, it's a cement bunker which comes up to my chin.  The inside is covered in nearly an inch of green slime ( you shower with your sandals on) and the pipe that comes across the top has no hot water, but whatever temp comes down the hillside.  There is a tree next to it to hang your clothes.  It was a luxury as far as we were concerned, and the water temp was perfect for this HOT clime. Tomorrow night we will leave for another island. Much to do and learn.