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Home , Benjamin Boyd, Rennell Island, Sikaiana, Taumako

103. Some Account of or Stewart's Island in the British Protectorate. Author(s): Charles M. Woodford Source: Man, Vol. 6 (1906), pp. 164-169 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2787938 Accessed: 27-06-2016 04:58 UTC

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This content downloaded from 142.150.190.39 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:58:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms This content downloaded from 142.150.190.39 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:58:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1906.) MAN. [No. 103. from north to south and about sixteen miles in circumference. They are situated about ninety miles to the north-north-eastward of the island of Ulawa, and the position of the principal island, Sikaiana, is about 8 deg. 22 min. 30 sec. S. Lat. and 162 deg. 44 min. E. Long. They were discovered by Captain Hunter in 1791 and were frequently visited, during the last century, by whalers and passing sailing vessels on the voyagre from to Chiiia. Captain Cheyne, a be'he de mer trader, spent some tinme witb a party ashore at Sikaiana in 1847. and has left an account of his visit and a vocabulary of the lanquazre in his book, Description of the Islands of the Western Pacific, published in London in 1852, but I bave at present no copy to which to refer. In 18a51 Benjamin Boyd, in the yacht WVanderer, visited the group, and an account of his visit is given in the Last Cruise of the Wanderer, Sydney, N.D. In October 1858 the Austrian frigate N\ovara visited the island and found a white man named Davis, who had been landed from a sandal wood trader, livinog with the natives. From then to the present time the islands have been regularly visited by trading vessels from the Solomon Islands. In 1891 the British flag was hoisted by Captain Pollard of ll.M.S. Wallaroo, and from that time the islanids have formed part of the Proteetorate. At the time of the distovery the land above water consisted of five small islands, named respectively, Sikaiana, under which name the whole group is now generally i ncluded, Faole, Matuiloto, Matuavi, and Barena. The last has since been washed away by the sea, some stones upon the reef alone marking the site of its previous position. The most important island, Sikaiana, is about a mile and a quarter in length and I perhaps three-quarters of a mile in width, and is the permanent place of residence of the whole population, the other islands being FG 1 O inhabited onily temporarily for the purposes FIG. 1.-MAN OF SIKTAIANA. of collectinug the coco-nuts or for fishini. The population, according to Cheyne, in 1847 consisted of forty-eight men, seventy-three women, and fifty children; a total of 171. At the present time it is estimated at about 250, and is believed to be slowly increasing. The natives are almnost pure but with a slight admixture of the Micronesian element. This is quite unmistakable in cases where the cross has not occurred more than two or three generations ago and will be referred to later. [ 165 ]

This content downloaded from 142.150.190.39 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:58:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms No. 103.) MIA N. [1906.

Throuigli the kindness of Mr. Svensen, of Cavutu in this Protectorate, an opportu- nity was given me to visit Sikaiana in his vessel in May, 1906. The results of my visit are embodied in the following notes. From a most intelligent and interesting native named Larrio, whom I found to be a perfect mine of native traditioni, I elicited, during, the course of a night and day, the following information. The names of tlle ruling chiefs of Sikaiania in a backward series are as follows Semalu, the present chief; Saie; Tudea, falher of Semalu; Apussi; Pasauru; TesiDnu Mahuna; Poamu; iNahinahi; Teavaa; Magia ; Aniti; Amono; Pesinu; Seulu; Luahiti; Otiwea; Maiakisoa ; Alima Salau. My irnformant was not able to go farther back into history. During the H~~ reign of Alima, which he estimates at about nine "1 lives" or generations ago, a large double canoe named "1 Telualua " arrived from . The canoe left, but a native of Samoa, named Levou, remained behind at Sikaiana. During the life of the same chief Alima a double canoe arrived from and anchored outside the reef on the north-east si(le. I n I Alima sent a small canoe off to them with food. This food, which consisted of almond cakes wrapped in leaves, was b 01t given to every man in the Tongan canoe with one exception. The Tonigan who had not received food killed one of the Sikaiana men named Kaiea with a club, 1' \~~1 whereapon the rest of the Sikaiania people in the small canoe fled to the shiore. The Tongans then landed and cooked and ate the body of Kaiea. Nothing more is related of this party of Tongans. Shortly afterwards, during the lifetime of the same chief Alima, another canoe, /~~~~~~~~~r< a double canoe, called "' Fuavakalua," arrived from Tonga. The chief in com- mand of this canoe was named Waioma, arnd he is said to have been accompanied by a crew of one hundred men. They landed at Sikaiana and E the Sikaiana FiG, 2.-WOMAN OF SIKAIANA. people supplied them with food against the advice of Levou, the Samoan previously mentioned. Among the Tongans w as a man whom Levou had previously met in Samoa and knew to be a bad character, and Levou probably with the view to obviating future trouble killed him. A couflict then took place between the Tongaus and the natives of Sikaiana. A Sikaiana native, named Letakd, is said to have performed prodigies of valour. He is related to htave seized the branch of a large tree and to have killed eight Tongans with it. He had felled Waioma and was killing him when he was struck from behind and killed. Eventuallythe Tongans were victorious and most of [ 166 ]

This content downloaded from 142.150.190.39 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:58:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1906.] MAN. [No. 103.

the Sikaianans slain. After remaininig some time at Sikaiana the Tongans left, taking with them Semalu, the son of Alima the chief, and many girls of Sikaiana. From Sikaiana the Tongans wenit to , one of the islands of the Duff group, where they were at first well received, but the natives having beard from Semalti an account of the occurrences at Sikaiana fell upon them with bows and arrows and exterminated the whole party. Descendants of Sikaiana girls taken to Taumako by the Tongans are said to be still living there. About the same time Wandeti, a native of Kuria, in the Gilbert Group, went adrift in a canoe with his three sons and arrived at Sikaiana. Wandeti and two of his sons were murdered by the Sikaiana people, but the third, a boy named Kaitepu, was spared. Levou, the Samoan referred to previously, had a son named Kaidakita by a Sikaiana woman. Kaidakita's daughter was married to Kaitepu, the boy whose life was spared when the other Kuria natives were killed. Kaitepu was the father of Tui-ou. Tui -ou was the father of Hunakina. Hiunakina was the father of Talaloa. Talaloa was the father of Te-ai. Te-ai was the father of Kilatu. Kilatui was the father of Larrio, who was my informant. Now, this Kaidakita, the son of Levou, was a great navigator, and ma-de niany voyages from Sikaiana in an outrigged canoe. It was especially impressed upon me that Kaidakita's canoe was an outrigged canoe and not a double canoe. His adlventures read like a new Odyssey. He is relatedl to have gone from Sikaiana to Mala, and from thence to Gao, on Ysabel, and thence to Laina, a place which I cannot identify, ullless it can be the place marked on the chart as " Lina Id," near tlle soutlh-west end of Choiseul. At Laina he had an adventure with the kin, Sebaluana, who tried to break up his canoe. He had obbaiued permission from Sebalbiana to repair this canoe, but when it was finished Sebaluana wailted Kaidakita's axe, and because he would not give it up lie broke up the canoe. Then Kaidakita made a new canioe of "voia" wood, which is said to be a nut-bearing tree. Another king, by name Saluana, broke this. He then went to a third king,, Vanakula, who allowed him to repair it. He then sailed to Leueneua, Lord Howe's Group, and thence returned safe to Sikaiana. He made other voyages from Sikaiana, anid is said to have visited Taulmako (Duff Group), Tucopia, Nupani (Swallow Group), Nukuloin (?) and , which was correctly described as a fire island. He also visited an island named Fenuahala (the land of the Pandlanus tree). This island is said to have been an island without sandy beaches and to have been inhabited only by women. The women were said to conceive with the assistance of the banana fruit, and all m-ale children were killed at birth. My informant, Larrio, could not identify the island of Fenuahala, but said it Jay somewhere in the direction of the Solomons. Now, it is curious that a tradition of an island inhabited only by woomen has lingered oIn until quite recentlv, the island with which the traditioni has been connected being , an island inhabited by pure Polynesians. Only about ten years ago an expedition was fitted out in the United States to take possession of this Adamless Eden, and the project was only abanidoned wlheni it was found that the island of Rennell had been placed under British protection. in spite of this an account appeared about five years ago in an American paper in which an altogether imaginary story was given of the establishment of the [ 167 j

This content downloaded from 142.150.190.39 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:58:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms No. 103.) MAN. [1906.

American colony on the island in question, with the portrait of a yolung man in a becoming uniform, who was said to be the ruler of the community. It is a curious fact that on the occasion of my recent visit to Rennell Island, where I communicated four times with the natives, on two of these occasions I saw women only. I account for it by the supposition that the women devote the most of their time to fishing wbile the men may attend to the gardens. As to more recent arrivals of natives from other islands at Sikaiana, Larrio informed me that about thirty to forty years ago thirty natives of the island of Kuria in the Gilbert Group were landed at Sikaiana by a certain Captain Davis, master of an American whaler, name unknown, who had picked them up in their canoes at sea after they had been driven out of Kuria by Paideke, father of Timbenuku, the king of Apamama, when he devastated that island. The devastation of the islands of Kuria and Aranuku by the king of Apamama is a matter of recent history and, I regret to say, was engineered by the master of a Sydney trading vessel whose name I withhold.* About the same time a boat with eleven natives arrivedl at Sikaiana from the islandl of Mangarewa, in the Paumotu or Low Archipelago. They are said to have left their island in consequence of differences with the missionaries and had intended to make for Fiji, but they sighted no land and sailed on before the south east trade wind until they reached Sikaiana. The distance covered must have been about 3,700 miles. After remainiiang some time at Sikaiana eight of them left in their own boat and reached the island of Ulawa in the Solomons, where they were all murdered. The three remaining are said to have left Sikaiana in a whaling ship. Larrio also told me that his people knew of the two small islands of Anuda and Fataka, situated to the north-east of Tucopia, the former inhabited by Polyniesians, the latter uninhabited, but both at present included in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. He referred to Fataka, or as he probably more correctly designated it, , as a well-known breeding place for frigate birds. The natives of Sikaiana are a tall race, and resemble the Samoaus or Tongans, but I noticed a few men of unmistakable Micronesian type, and upon inquiry I was told that they were the descendants of the Kuria refugees, who arrived rather more than a generation ago in the American whaler. The Gilbert Island type was quite unmistakable, viz., long straight hair, high cheek bones, eyes looking down their cheeks, and generally sullen expression. Larrio informed me that on Sikaiana there still existed some old stone fortifica- lions, and said that they were built under the direction of the Samoan native Levou, mentioned above, as a defence against the Tongans. I had left the island before I heard about them so that I must defer a description of them uutil a future timne. The dead are either sunk at sea or sent to sea in a canoe. In the latter event they have sometimes returned, and a case is on record that one man was so reluctaut to leave his wife that he returned to land three times after having been despatched on his last voyage. Seventy woirds in the language of Sikaiana: Adze, blade (shell) - Beniapu. Belly - Manava. ,, handle - Tagantoki. Bird - - - Manu. Ashes - - - Uma. Black - - Euli. Bad - - - Faiego and Faki- Blood - - Toto. navina. Boat - - Manou-i. Banana - - Huti. Body - - - Vuithino.

* I heard of this case when I visited the Gilbert Group in 1881. [ 168 ]

This content downloaded from 142.150.190.39 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:58:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1906.1 MAN. rNo. 103.

Bow - - Vavana. Moon- - Malama. Butterfly - - Pepele. Mosquito - Namu. Castor-oil fish" - Delavena. Mother - - Tinana. Child - - Tarna likiliki. Mouth - - Moaisu. Coco-nutt - Niu. Night- ^ - Ubo. Cold - - Makalili. Nose - - Gaiusu. Door - - - Totoka. Pigeon - - Lube. Ear - - Talina and Tegau. Rain - - Ua and Waidaha. Egg - - - Wamoa. Rat - - - Kiole. Face - - Ogaremata. Red - - Eula. Father - Tama. Road - - Teala. Ala. Finger - Motigau. Root - - Batiaka. Fire - - - Afl. Sea - - - Tahi. Fish - - Ika. Skin - Kili. Flesh- - - Io; Smoke - - Ou. Fly - - Lano. Soft - - Maluhua. Flying fox - - Beka. Spear - - - Tao. Fowl - - Moa. Spittle - - Savale. Fruit - - Kolu. Star - Vetu. Good - - Lavi. Sun - - La-a. Hair - - - Ulu. Sweet - - Malanu. Hand - - Lima. Tatooing instru- Matau'u. Hard - Makadou. ments.4 Head - - Posoulu. Tongue - - Alelo. Hot - - - Vevela. Tooth - - Niho. House Vale. Tree - - Can. ? Large - - - Maniu. Water - - Wai. Leaf - - Delau. Wbite - Ema. Little - Likiliki. Wing - - - Pala. Louse - - Kutu. Woman - - Fafini. Man - - Taina. Yellow - - Efelo. Mat - Vasa. It has gone - - e lau.

Numerals. 1. Tasi. 30. Tolunahui. 2. Lua. 40. Fanahui. 3. Tolu. 50. Limanahui. 4. Fa. 60. Ononahui. 5. Lima. 70. Vitunalhui. 6. Ono. 80. Walunahui. 7. Vitu. 90. Sivonaliui. 8. Walu. 100. Katoa. 9. Sivo. 200. Lua katoa. 10. Kato and Sehui. 1000. Mano. 20. Luahui. 10000. Heafi. CHARLES M. WOODFORD.

* A fish, from 6 feet to 9 feet in length, caught at a depth of 200 fathoms. Another smaller fish, called Palu, is caught at a depth of 50 fathomns. t Coco-nut toddy used to be formerly made for drinking, but in consequence of its intoxicati' g properties the use of it has been abandoned except for boiling down into molasses. I The tree CalophylluTn, inophypllumn, from the charred nuts of which the colour for tatooing is made, is called Hetau. The tree called in Fiji -Dawa, is here TalLa. ? Pointed with bone from the wings of the frigate-bird. [ 169 1

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