in Pukapuka
p. 11 · Read in the full issue
No "Dollar Prosperity" in Pukapuka And Definitely No Foxtrot
Prom Our Own Correspondent
Rarotonga, Aug. 15.
MUCH is heard these days of “dollar prosperity” in the Pacific Islands, but there is one island at least, where the natives do not wear khaki drill and sun helmets and live on pea nuts and chewing gum.
When Mr. R. Savage, the new Resident Agent of Pukapuka. arrived there with his wife and family, he found the natives wearing copra bags and odd bits of sack ing, while others less fortunate were wear ing the traditional kilt of coconut leaves.
The island was in a bad way for food.
A recent hurricane had destroyed the breadfruit, paw-paws and bananas, washed out the taro beds in the centre of the island, and taken a heavy toll of the coconuts. The natives were living almost entirely on a limited diet of coco nuts. Fish were scarce owing 'partly to a lack of fish-hooks—and partly to the extreme laziness of the Pukapuka male.
Pukapuka is a man’s Paradise: the men do little but sit around and smoke, dis cuss the food situation, sleep, and, in an occasional burst of energy, play cards.
Meanwhile, the women do most of the work—which largely consists of finding something for the men to eat and trying to raise a little money to provide them with tobacco.
As the men consider that the heavy tasks are the business of the women, the RA has neatly turned the tables on them by insisting that they clean up the houses while their wives' work in the taro beds.
REMEMBERING R. D. Frisbie’s romantic description of the dancing and love making of the young Pukapukans on the outer beach at night, it is surpris ing to find that they are shocked by the European foxtrot.
In an effort to lighten the monotony of life on this lonely atoll, Mr. Savage, with the aid pf his sons and the Raro tongan school-teacher, has organised a small guitar and accordeon band and in stituted evening dances.
He found, however, that introducing this pastime was not such an easy matter.
Love-making in the moonlight may be all very well; but this hugging each other and shuffling round a room in the glare of a benzine lamp, with a lot of people looking on, was too much for Pukapuka modesty.
On Sundays the pastor tried to assure his congregation of the innocence of this old English custom and appealed to them to support the RA in his earnest desire to brighten the night-life of Pukapuka.
The Cook Islands Administration is trying to encourage the Pukapukans to help themselves out of their depression.
The RA is doing goocUwork in this direc tion, and recently they were fortunate in getting away a shipment of several hundred pandanus mats which found a ready sale in New Zealand and will bring them much-needed clothing and food stuffs.
Mr. O. Bonnell and Mr. T. Pattle re cently purchased Mibu Plantation, Fly River, Papua, from Mrs. Sharrot Holland.
The necessary approvals having been given by the Production Control Board, the two men were on their way to the plantation at the end of August.
Mrs. Ida McComish, who has travelled extensively in the Pacific but who at present is living in Sydney, has been made a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.