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.