Notorious Nakanai Natives Make
pp. 71-72 · Read in the full issue
Their Own Peace Pact
From Our Own Correspondent
C The following article describes a new kind of native movement. If it works, and many will doubt it, it will be a giant stride forward in social evolution among New Guinea
peoples.)
Rabaul, Oct. 10.
THIS week, His Lordship, Bishop Leo Scharmach, of Rabaul, completed a three weeks’ visit of the entire North Coast of New Britain and adjacent islands, as far as Kilenge, He was accompanied by Dr. •Stapleman, Fathers Bernhauser, Stemper, White, Hagen, Schweiger, Berger, Hawkins, and the Director of Catholic Education, Father Dempsey.
At Poi Island, Kaliai and Salumpia, His Lordship administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to over 800 natives, and at Valoka, he blessed the newly-erected European style Church, capable of holding over 1,400 The occasion also marked the Silver Jubilee of foundation of Valoka Mission Station. The previous Church was destroyed by bombs during the war.
After the Benediction of the Church, 150 native leaders of the new Catholic Action Movement met together in Valoka Area School. After the meeting, the President and secretaries presented for his Lordship’s approval, a complete written record in Pidgin, of the nature of their discussion and their Catholic Action programme for the coming year. The new movement, although based on Encyclical letters of Pope Pius XI, is entirely native in its origin and operation. European mission
aries exercise only a corrective function.
Bishop Scharmach was therefore agree ably astonished to read in the native sec retaries’ note books, a simple but com prehensive social programme.
In brief, the programme envisages a plan to end feuding between the North Coast tribes, especially in the long dis turbed Nakanai area, and to end mur derous encounters between the beach peoples and the bush men. This is to be achieved by a reciprocal adjustment and unification of tribal customs which pre viously caused friction. Details of these customs were submitted to the meeting and received unanimous approval from all sections.
The old men, the repositories of native
traditions, were asked by the meeting to co-operate in preserving native culture in music, art and legend; by instructing and initiating the younger generation in everything that was good; and in elim inating or modifying anything that form erly contributed to moral turpitude and social unrest.
The meeting also aimed a death-blow at the nefarious Cargo Cult. It pointed out the foolishness of the Cult’s leaders’ doctrines and the tragic failure of their implementation, both prior to and during the Japanese war. The Cult leaders, it added, had fulfilled none of the their promises to the natives, and had only made the loyalty of the North Coast tribes suspect by the authorities because of their seditious and anti-social actions. Co operation with the Administration and planters whose presence was for the benefit and not detriment of the New Guinea peoples, as the Cult leaders had maintained, was to be the anti-Cargo Cult watchword.
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At the conclusion of the meeting over 3,000 Catholics received Holy Communion and over 3,500 Catholics and Non-Catho lics joined in prayer for the success of their programme. rEN followed perhaps the largest and most colourful and unique presenta tion of native dances ever seen in New Britain. Among the dancers were members of the Kaulon people from the
back of Central, Eastern and Western Nakanai. On hearing from the Beach people that a big Mission Festival was to take place, they, entirely of their own accord and without an invitation, came down to witness it and to share in the dances. They are pagan people, living in an area not under mission influence of any kind; most had never seen a white man.
Huge, intricately carved and painted
masks, shields and spears, many genera tions old, were used to the delight of everybody and the wonder of the Euro pean missionaries, who had seen nothing like it in 25 years of wide and varied missionary experience.
The bushmen, for the first time per formed their secret dances in sight of the beach people. Secret societies appeared in full regalia. The bushmen accom panied their dances by native orchestras of weird-sounding pipes, garamuts and kundus of a design unknown on the Coast.
As many as ten dances were in progress at the one time on the Baloka Area School Oval, and although so many pre viously inimical tribes were participating and excitement was running high, the whole of the celebrations passed off with out incident—and without the presence of a single police boy!
A third day of the Valoka Jubilee celebrations was devoted to sports for the School children.
At the conclusion of the celebrations prizes were distributed by Father Demp sey, Director of Catholic Education, in the presence of the Bishop and the as sembly of European missionaries and native leaders.
Mr. E. A. Meredith, Assistant Superin tendent of Police, Fiji, is at present on leave prior to retirement. He joined the Fiji Police in May, 1927, and after serv ing at Levuka, Savusavu, Nabouwalu and Rewa was transferred to Suva as Pay and Quartermaster. He was appointed an Assistant Superintendent in 1943.
Ratu Naulivou Naucabalavu, who was one of the two journalists from Fiji who toured the United Kingdom this year at the invitation of the British Government, and who remained to take a BBC course, is on his way back to Fiji on the Orontes.