IDYLLIC ISLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 215, 11 September 1929, Page 13

IDYLLIC ISLAND.

LITTLE-KNOWN TIKOPIA.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH

CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

Mauis were great fishermen. Not only did one hoist the North Island of New Zealand above the sea surface, but, according to legendry, a hero of that name also raised Tikopia, an island of less than three square miles in the Santa Cruz group, and north of the New Hebrides. Peopled by a race very similar to the Maoris, Tikopia is an idyllic island, where the simple life of the tropics is lived in country untrammelled by civilisation. For twelve months Dr. Raymond Firth, a young Aucklander, has been studying the customs and superstitions of the natives of Tikopia, and for threequarters of that time he saw no white man. Having completed his anthropological investigations, he returned to Auckland yesterday by the Makura from Sydney and had an interesting etory to tell of the habits of the Melanesian people he has been dwelling amongst—a race who were claimed to be of giant stature. Dr. Firth, who has been working under the auspices of the Australian National Research Council, left Auckland in April last year and was taken to Tikopia, via Tulagi, by the Southern Cross, the Melanesian Mission steamer. An authority on Maori, he found his knowledge of the language invaluable to his investigations, as the natives of Tikopia could speak only a few words of English, and their own tongue is very similar to that of the New Zealand native. "The grammatical structure of the speech on the island is almost identical with that of the Maoris," said Dr. Firth. "Tho vocabulary, however, is rather different. There is a certain number of Melanesian words, such as the word for house (paito), which differ from the Polynesian wording, which for house is whave. "I found the natives fairly friendly, particularly in the first three months, when my' investigations were confined to social organisation on the island. The chiefs, however, became antagonistic when I wanted to learn something about their religion, which is a complex system of gods. °When I tried to get information, I ran up against stolid silence, as the chiefs did not want me to see anything of their particular ceremonies. Finally, by adopting a policy of conciliation I was able to secure the confidence of the chiefs. The result was that, before I left Tikopia, I got practically the whole of the secrets of their religion from them. % "The stature of the natives is little different from that of the Maoris. It has been said that the Tikopians are a race of giants, but that is not correct The average height of the men wou.d not be more than sft lOin. There are one or two exceptionally big men, arid, generally speaking, the race is physically fine The men wear their hair long and the'women theirs short, and it is the custom of the former when in mourning to cut their tresses, of which they are exceedingly proud. By treating their hair with lime the natives turn it a golden brown, and get wonderful effect from their wavy locks in a special dance called the 'canoe bow.' They march along in a dance with their heads swaying in perfect rhythm, and the tossing of their hair looks like the spray dashing over a canoe bow. "I had an interesting experience in witnessing the manufacture of turmeric, for which the strictest taboos are enforced. The women are segregated from the men, who sleep in one house and have special food prepared for them. One- of the injunctions in" connection with the ceremony is that the participants must remain seated with their legs crossed or stretched out. In order to witnes turmeric making I had to sleep in a chief's house and adopt these taboos for five days. My main difficulty was that I could not sit in a comfortable position. My legs ached for days after the performance. "The houses on the island are very low on account of the high velocity of the winds, and the people move about them on their hands and knees. The men tattoo heavily on the body, but it is quite different from the tattooing performed by the Maoris. Drink is rarely indulged in, except at ceremonials, and the natives do not know the value of money. I effected exchange by distributing calico, knives and tobacco. A particularly interesting ceremony was the week's circle of religious festivities, commencing with the canoe dance. Then there are ceremonies for sacred houses, ancestors, and the yam harvest. Finally the ceremonies conclude with dancing for four days and four nights. The whole ritual is exceedingly picturesque. Value of Research. "The natives preserve the majority of the features of old Polynesian culture, so I found my studies particularly interesting," added Dr. Firth. "Perhaps it is the only Polynesian culture that has been studied while it is still living, so I hope to be able to throw some light on the general problem of Polynesian social organisation, religion and customs. The results of anthropology are, of course, indirect. Firstly, there is the search for knowledge, which helps us to realise that our civilisation is not quite such a unique product, and then the search for the right thing to do in view of the fact that civilisation is in touch with native races. Consequently the more we know about the culture of natives the better. Research is an aid to more adequately catering for the native races, if we can appreciate the fact that there is some value in their customs and their superstitions are not stupid. Anthropology should be able to show us that instead of trying to destroy customs which are the life blood of the natives, we should try to preserve them as far as possible."