Traditional stories from Melanesia

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The island of the Dancing Spirits

 

S-1
Here is the story of the Tamate spirits. Once upon a time, there was a man and his wife. They were both from Teanu island, from the village of Aneve.
S-2
They were living their life, when one day they decided to travel to a different island, Utupua. They were going to visit their families, their relatives: their fathers, their siblings, their uncles, and so on.
S-3
Two days before they were going to travel, they set out to make preparations.
S-4
They harvested some taros, picked some betel leaves and areca nuts, brought those together.
S-5
The next morning, the husband climbed to take some almonds down from the shelf. Meanwhile, his wife had lit a fire, and was cooking taros.
S-6
Once the taros were cooked, she scraped them – all while her husband was cracking almonds, and crushing them.
S-7
Once the taros were cooked, she put them in a mortar and began to squash them. Once the taro was all squashed, she made into a pudding.
S-8
Then she proceeded to reheat it.
S-9
The next morning, they were thus ready to travel to Utupua.
S-10
And as they were dragging their canoe down to the sea, they took their luggage: their clothes, their areca nuts and betel leaves, their food, particularly the pudding they had prepared.
S-11
And then they told their families in Aneve: “Alright, we're leaving now for Utupua.”
S-12
They hoisted the sail, and took out to sea.
S-13
They sailed on towards Utupua. They approached the island of Utupua.
S-14
They landed there, and went to stay with their relatives.
S-15
They remained there for quite some time, maybe a whole year, or at least six months.
S-16
But the wind was still blowing the wrong way: it was the easterly wind Tangake, that was blowing from here.
S-17
So they waited on Utupua, on and on and on — till they reached the middle season: that’s when the southerly wind Palapu finally began to blow.
S-18
When that time came, they told their relatives on Utupua “Alright, it's now time we went back.” — “Yes, sure” they replied.
S-19
So they went to their garden, harvested taros, picked betel leaves, climbed for areca nuts…
S-20
Back in the village, they prepared some pudding… all the way to the reheating stage.
S-21
The next morning, they said “Alright, we're now ready to return to our island.” — “Alright” they said.
S-22
So — They collected their luggage, stowed them on their ship; hoisted the sail; and set out on their trip back here.
S-23
They sailed this way, sailed on and on and on…
S-24
But then – they missed the area of our island here; they also missed the small island of Teanu over there. They thought “Oh dear, we've actually missed our island!”
S-25
They sailed ahead, till they reached a point that's not too far away – roughly the same sort of distance as between here and Tikopia. That's where they caught sight of a small islet.
S-26
“Hey!” they said “Look at that small islet over there!”
S-27
They headed their canoe in that direction, till they could land. But as they were about to land, they heard some voices.
S-28
In fact, that island was not occupied by humans: there were nothing but creatures called Tamate.
S-29
They were not exactly gods: they were able to communicate with humans.
S-30
They were the only inhabitants on that land, that islet.
S-31
So as the couple came closer, the man was struck with fear: “If you and I land there, those people will kill us!”
S-32
So he took his bow, and strung it ready.
S-33
Once he'd bent it, he tied a few arrows around his hip, and held two others together with his bow.
S-34
They furled their sail,
S-35
put it away in their canoe.
S-36
Then he said to his wife: “Paddle this way, gently! Don't go too fast!
S-37
When we land, if they want to kill us, I'll do my best to kill one or two, or three – before they start killing us.”
S-38
As they came closer to the coast, he stood in the water, holding his bow, and docked his canoe.
S-39
As soon as they landed, the islanders came down towards them.
S-40
In fact they came to … to welcome them!
S-41
So the couple came further inland, and left their canoe.
S-42
“Hey ho!” they said. – “Hey!” the islanders replied.
S-43
Their leader walked down with them: they all came to welcome the couple and drag their canoe inland.
S-44
At that point, their leader said “In this island, we are not humans as you are. We are creatures like this… but you can see us!
S-45
So now, we'll send our boys and our girls to collect your luggage, and bring it to the houses you see up there.”
S-46
So they took their luggage, and they all walked towards the hamlet, while also dragging their canoe inland.
S-47
The couple stayed there several days. Every single day, the Tamate creatures who lived there would keep dancing on and on – during the night, the day, the night, the day…
S-48
And that dance they were doing all the time, that was a major ritual dance.
S-49
That island, that little islet, had only good plants and trees. There were only edible plants on this islet.
S-50
There were chestnuts [Inocarpus], breadfruit [Artocarpus], ambarellas [Spondias], coconuts, lychees [Pometia], avocados [Persea], walnuts [Dracontomelon]…: all sorts of edible fruit, and nothing else. Such was that island, that little islet.
S-51
They remained there for a while, because the Palapu wind was still blowing south from here: so they were unable to get back here, to Teanu.
S-52
So they stayed there quite a long time, perhaps six months at least.
S-53
Finally, the wind changed course, allowing them to return.
S-54
As the wind conditions improved, the couple said to the chief: “Well, we'll be going back to Teanu now, the wind is better now.”
S-55
“Alright,” said the chief. “When will you leave?” – “Tomorrow.” they said.
S-56
That's it. That's how it went.
S-57
So they went to prepare their luggage.
S-58
They collected various fruits, like breadfruit, chestnuts, ambarellas, cabbages [Burckella], lychees…
S-59
The next morning, the chief came to see the couple, the man and the woman, and asked “What do you think? Do you think we are beautiful, or ugly?”
S-60
“We think you're beautiful! You people are really superb creatures.”
S-61
“In that case,” said the chief, “would you like to take some of my boys with you?”
S-62
“Well yes,” the man replied, “if you allow them! Tell them I'll take a few of them with me, because I find them superb, and I really loved your dances.”
S-63
I want to show them to my relatives on Teanu.
S-64
In our place, we do have a few dances already, but this one I saw here was absolutely fabulous!”
S-65
“Alright”, said the chief.
S-66
So the next day, they were getting ready, dragging down their canoe, bringing together their luggage, their clothes…
S-67
Then the chief came to them, and said “I will tell four of our boys that you'll take them with you. As for the fifth one here, this is their mother: Takulalefioe.”
S-68
“Agreed,” said the man.
S-69
So the four brothers climbed on the canoe with the couple, and away they sailed!
S-70
They were travelling back to their island, towards Teanu here.
S-71
So they sailed on, and on, and on – Now, those ‘Tamate’ creatures, remember they looked just like people; but like spirits, they knew how to become invisible.
S-72
So as they were still voyaging, suddenly the Tamate disappeared from the ship! They returned to their own islet.
S-73
The small island they were coming from was called Veluko. (Sorry I forgot to name the island: it was called Veluko.)
S-74
And so, they had disappeared! Vanished in the air!
S-75
The couple realised their canoe was suddenly empty.
S-76
“Hey! Our friends have vanished!”
S-77
The man said to his wife “Let's go back! I really wanted to take them with us, and the chief had allowed us to!”
S-78
And so they furled away their sail, turned around, and began paddling away.
S-79
They paddled back to Veluko. The island's chief saw them, and shouted “Hey! So you guys are coming back?” – “Exactly!” they replied.
S-80
The chief understood what had happened. “I see, he said, you two tried to take the boys with you, but they came back here!
S-81
You know, these creatures are partly human, but in part they're a bit godly too.
S-82
They can go invisible, they can come back here, and so on.
S-83
But you, you seem to want them badly?” – “Oh yes!” he said.
S-84
“Alright, said the chief. I will tell them again to climb on your canoe with you two. You know, their culture is the one we have here, around this island; but for them, Teanu is another major island.”
S-85
(You know – when women are in their periods, they also have them in their sleep, right? In such moments, it is taboo for them to come inside our houses.)
S-86
So the chief explained: “Your wife's skirt, whenever she is in her period: if she covers the Tamate with it, then they won't be able to disappear again.”
S-87
“Oh really,” said the man.
S-88
As they all climbed on the canoe, the man explained everything to his wife; so she took her cloth where the monthly period had come, and she put it on the Tamate.
S-89
And so they sailed, heading this way. They were sailing towards Teanu, the little island over there. But then, they chose not to land at Aneve: instead, they approached the island from the other side, the Andie Fono side.
S-90
They docked on the other side, at Aniboi.
S-91
So they landed together with the Tamate and their mother, Takulalefioe. (She had another name, Takole. Takole, or Takulalefioe.)
S-92
The couple decided to hide them in a cave. They left them there, and then came back to the canoe.
S-93
They paddled a little, till they reached their village Aneve, and stayed there.
S-94
So they lived in their village for a while. One day, the villagers had been cooking, had been going to the men's club to drink kava; and after kava, they were having dinner together.
S-95
When dinner was finished, our man made a declaration: “Dear elders, chiefs, leaders of our island; and youngsters too, I have something to tell you. Something I want to tell to all the dignitaries here.”
S-96
“Alright,” said the chiefs. “What is it you want to say?”
S-97
“Well,” he started, “I would like everybody to go work in their garden.
S-98
I mean, not just the chiefs, but everyone in the island: all the married men, all the adults.”
S-99
That's it. The chiefs heard his declaration, and said “Alright.”
S-100
The next day, they all went to make their gardens, each one his own.
S-101
At the end of the day, they set fire to the ground.
S-102
Once they had burnt their garden, the next day they planted some taros.
S-103
They did so in the garden of one man, of another man, of a chief, of another chief – essentially, every adult in the village.
S-104
The same happened for everyone: their gardens were planted with taros.
S-105
Time went on, till they reached mid-season: this is when the almonds had finished ripening.
S-106
So people went to collect ripe almonds.
S-107
People collected almonds for each and every important man in the island. When they had enough, they brought them to the village, stacked them upon their shelves, and lit fires underneath.
S-108
That's how they were able to dry their almonds. As for their taro, it had grown considerably, and was soon ready to harvest.
S-109
The taro kept growing, until it was fully mature.
S-110
Not only had they cultivated taros, but they also planted bananas.
S-111
They had two sorts of bananas. Among the many possible types of bananas, most types they didn't have; they only had ‘faiene’ and ‘fakaero’ bananas – that is, local cultivars.
S-112
One day, it was announced that a festival would take place.
S-113
There would be a festival in the village of Aneve.
S-114
The taro was already mature at that stage.
S-115
People began chopping firewood, and stacked it together.
S-116
Once people had brought enough firewood for all the families, they went to cut slabs for the dances.
S-117
They cut the slabs, chopped on and on, and when they were ready, they brought them to the village.
S-118
The taro was ready, the bananas were ready.
S-119
The next day, as the festival was almost going to start, they went to cut down a tree called ‘pole mallow’ [Sterculia banksiana], for the festival pole.
S-120
Then they also went to cut the rattan for the pole, and brought it to the village.
S-121
The next morning, they began digging holes for the stomping slabs.
S-122
They dug holes in a circle, all around the village area.
S-123
Then they buried the boards themselves all around the area; and they brought the festival pole they had chopped down.
S-124
They erected the pole in the middle of the village.
S-125
They propped it up using four rattan canes: one attached on this side, one on that side, one on this side, one on that side – thus making sure the pole would stand straight in the middle.
S-126
The stomping boards were laid out all around the dancing area; then they erected a fence around them.
S-127
They created that fence by tying together some coconut palms in a wide circle, so they could dance in the middle.
S-128
The next morning, the villagers went to harvest their taros.
S-129
They brought all their taros to the village, and got ready for the ritual dances.
S-130
The sun was already well ahead in its course, when they began crushing their almonds.
S-131
The women lit fires to cook the taros.
S-132
The same happened in each and every house of the village.
S-133
Everywhere, people were smashing their taros, crushing their almonds, making pudding.
S-134
Every family was doing the same. Each house had perhaps three or four large bowls to fill.
S-135
When everything was ready – about when the sun was going down – the men went to have dinner in their men's club.
S-136
Those were the dignitaries, the adult men, the young boys. As for the women, they were in a house.
S-137
They were all in the house of the man who had called for the festival to take place. He was a prosperous man, and had called for a dancing festival in the village.
S-138
Alright, so when everyone had finished their dinner, they all thought “That's it now! The moment has come for the ritual dances.”
S-139
And so it began. Many people were standing in a circle around the area, along the stomping boards.
S-140
It was a long line of people! Imagine the middle of the dancing area is here: the line of people started all the way over there in the bush, coming this way; a bit like between the beach and Kaluiki's house over there.
S-141
Then they began the ritual chants. Their song started over there, coming this way; their chant sounded like this:
S-142
Eie kio nupu
Ila vasongo kia e nupu
Ila vasongo kio o nupu
Ila vasongo kia e nupu
Ivo utele ke
Ivo utele ke iou nupu
Ila vasongo kia e nupu
Ila vasongo kio o nupu
S-143
That's right. Their chant started all the way over there, and came this way towards the middle of the area.
S-144
And their chant was growing towards the middle area, they began to stomp the boards.
S-145
All the men who were standing in circle by the boards, began stomping them, jumping and dancing around.
S-146
That's how they launched the dancing festival.
S-147
That sort of festival doesn't last two or three days: it can take up to a whole moon!
S-148
(In the olden days, people would follow the changes of the moon; and when it finally disappeared, they would say “Alright, it's been one moon!”)
S-149
And so, the dancing festival ‘ngapiene’ can last for a whole moon.
S-150
Now, the man who had requested the chiefs – that man who had been bringing over the Tamate, felt that the festival was soon going to hit its final day; like he was yesterday, and the festival would end tomorrow.
S-151
“Tomorrow,” he said, “the tide will be low during the night, and remain low till the morning;
S-152
well, I would like everyone here in Aneve, to walk down to the beach and stand there – the men, the women, the chiefs, the children… I want everyone to watch as my wife and I invite our friends to come out and turn up around that point over there, around Nom' Nomianu.
S-153
The two of us will stamp bamboos and sing, and as for them, they will come dancing this way.”
S-154
People asked “What shall we do?” – “Nothing,” he replied. “My wife and I we'll send the signal, and you'll see them come dancing, perform ritual dances as they'll be coming this way.”
S-155
Alright. So everyone walked down to the shore, at low tide.
S-156
The couple was there, stomping bamboos, and ready to guide the dancers with their song.
S-157
And so they led the dancers with a song that went like this:
S-158
Mule muleia
Mulablamateie
Mulablamateie
S-159
Mule muleia
Mulablamateie
Mulablamateie
S-160
Right at that moment, people saw the dancers come out of the bush, as they turned around the cape of Nomianu.
S-161
Everyone was struck by fear: “What are those big creatures? Are they gods? Are they monsters? Are they cannibals? Are they going to kill us?!”
S-162
But they were beautiful. Oh, so beautiful. Those creatures were superb, and yet people were scared.
S-163
The children, the women, they all wanted to run back and hide in their houses!
S-164
“Don't leave!” said the couple. “Don't be afraid, these are our friends.
S-165
Those are not gods, or monsters. They don't kill.
S-166
Watch them: they'll come towards you dancing, and then they'll dance on towards our village area up there.”
S-167
But as they came closer and closer, some of the villagers ran away!
S-168
They ran to hide under their houses; but from their shelter they kept looking out.
S-169
The dancers kept coming closer, moving up towards the dancing area, where the couple was stomping their bamboos.
S-170
People were amazed: “Really? That couple had been telling us about a dance, and so THIS is it!”
S-171
Indeed, our man had been promising exactly that, when he had explained “Let's hold a large festival, so you can see the new friends we brought along, so you can watch them dance, and see how majestic their dances are.”
S-172
Because those dances came from the Tamate: those were not dances from our island. They were introduced by that couple.
S-173
So that's how we came to know those dances, and know them still today.
S-174
After the time of my story, the creatures themselves disappeared – those Tamate creatures.
S-175
But the people had had the time to figure out how exactly they were going to proceed.
S-176
That is: they could observe the grass skirts, the dancing gear; which part was red, which part was white, which part was blue, here and here…
S-177
Also, their antennas – since originally, the Tamate's eyes were antennas.
S-178
And then here, there should be two holes, so that the dancer wearing it can actually look around; so he can see where he's dancing, and doesn't fall down. That's right.
S-179
And so, people had the time to meet the actual Tamate before they disappeared.
S-180
That's all. Such was the story of the Tamate. It's just a small story, a short story like this.
S-181
People discovered them, and passed on their knowledge all the way to us today. That's how our generation was able to make Tamate headdresses too.
S-182
That's also how we got to know the song that goes with it: it came to our island together with the Tamate.
S-183
That's right. I think that's all.