Taipii Resurgent

The Battle Was Won On “Wine, and Wine Alone”

By Fae Hoko

IN 1920 I was transferred from the Cie Navale de I’Oceanie’s store at Puamau, N. side of Hiva-Oa Island, to manage their main ship ping and trading station at Taiohae, Nukuhiva. We had a store at Hatiheu on the north side of the Island and I was obliged to make monthly visits to same to see how things were jogging along.

My trip over to Hatiheu took me through the whole length of Taipii Valley, and I still have a very strong impression of the beautiful sight the valley presented as I reached the crest, just before de scending the zig-zag trail that ended on the valley floor close to the beach. Far below was a silvery stream, the Taipii River, meander ing on its way to the sea.

Here was Taipii, the prison home of Melville; here was the valley of the once warlike Taipiis who gave so much trouble to Commodore Porter (who in 1813 took posses sion of Nukuhiva for the United States), even forcing him to make a withdrawal.

I well remember my trips along the valley in those days of the early 19205.

Once on the farther bank of the river, along which ran the trail up the valley, I would hitch my horse to a handy Fao tree and stroll on downstream to Mataua and his wife, native friends. The latter was the daughter of a Mr.

Nicholas, a citizen of Hoboken, NJ, USA. He had deserted from an American whaler at the island of Uapou—thirty males away—and had later come to Taipii where he had established a trading station and also married a Marquesan woman of the Haapa tribe.

It was quite plain, from her features and very light complexion, that she was a Whiteman’s child.

Her sons still show very strong European characteristics but their children are far more native than otherwise.

After a chat, a smoke and a drinking coconut that one of the sons had prepared for me, I would get on my way again. Not far from the ford, upstream, was the house of Kohoe, the half-caste son of a Chinaman named Ah Yah, then some time dead, but not forgotten, for to-day one finds quite a few of the. inhabitants showing signs of Cathay and still bearing his name, though in the slightly altered form of Asha.

Here, in this valley over-run with bush, the “Nonos”, a small black insect with a very big bite, were in their element—and so few people

to share their bites! To get some protection the few people in the valley used a smudge pot, most often a broken saucepan, m which grated coconut from winch the juice had been extracted for culinary purposes, was slowly burned.

I believe at the of my first visit there could not have

The Marquesans, handsome hospit able, happy in Nature's abundant supply of all their needs, were wiped out by the Europeans who came among them. The Group was the happy hunting ground for whalers, traders, blackbirders and all the white scum of the South Seas. The men were taught all the vices, from alcoholism to opium-smoking; the women were debauched. European diseases went through the villages like wildfire; in epidemic after epidemic, the natives died in masses.

—Pacific Islands Year Book.

Nine miles in length is the broad valley of Taipi (on Nukuhiva) . . . and in all this extent of marvellously rich land, the one-time fondly cherished abode of the most valiant clan of the Marquesas, of thousands of men and women whose bodies were as beautiful as Greek statues . . .there are now this wretched dozen, too old or too listless to gather their own food.

—Frederick O'brien In "White

Shadows In The South Seas".

been more than 15 people estab lished in the valley.

On one of my trips through the valley, and at the invitation of Opu, a grandson of Nicholas, I visited an ancient stone carver’s workshop. To get to it one walks about two miles up the valley trail and then, turning sharply to the right, one makes a fairly abrupt and stiff climb for about 1000 yards to the “Tuhuka Tiki Kea’s” (stone tiki carver). The name of this place, which is now classed as of “Historic Interest,” and so pro tected from souvenir hunters, is Paeka. I noticed seven stone Tikis there in a more or less completed state, four upright and three prone, of which one of the latter was broken in two, while of the upright ones the head of one was still just a square block.

One got the impression of the workmen having got out in a hurry.

It is my opinion, that one of four

things happened:

• There had been intertribal warfare (there were very pripbably several distinct groups living in the valley) and that the possessors of that part of the valley had been overcome.

•An epidemic, perhaps that terrible one of smallpox brought to these islands by the French war ship Diamant while on her mission of mercy to bring back natives of different islands groups who had been kidnapped and carried away to slavery in the guano islands of Peru. • The Missionaries had prevailed upon the natives to give up their so-called “false Gods.” • During the heyday of a German firm in the Marquesas many large tikis were shipped away to Hamburg on sailing ships which loaded copra at Taiohae.

In their efforts, perhaps, to man handle selected specimens in the narrow confines of the vegetation, they may have pushed the three prone ones down to clear a path. (But, that still leaves the one with its head uncarved, and the problem unsolved).

ABOUT 1865 more than four thousand acres in the valley had been acquired from the natives by a Mr. Steward, a Britisher, for the growing of cotton, but due to the natives’ lack of interest in hard work for others, his plantations were not a success.

Some years later a Mr. Goupil acquired property just, it seems, for speculation. He sold out in 1915 to a new arrival in the Marquesas, Societe Francais des lies Marquises, or SFIM as it was called for short. This firm had high hopes of taking the place of the SCO, the German trading firm that had been closed up at the start of the First World War. The SFIM sold out in its turn to a Mr. Negre, the present owner.

Through all these changes of ownership, the whole left side of the valley, facing upstream, has remained very much as it did in Steward’s time. In sharp contrast to it now is the right hand side of the valley, owned by the natives. This side is well planted in coconuts and is one of the biggest copra producers in the Marquesas.

IT was in the later 1920 s that Taipii began its upward climb from the abyss of desolation.

Until that time, all alcoholic liquor had been prohibited to the natives and perhaps the decline had been due, in a measure, to that, for the natives for years had every opportunity to see how gay the whitemen were after a few drinks, and it is certain that most of them managed to scrounge a glass or two on their visits to Taiohae. Quite naturally, as the Whiteman’s liquor was prohibited, they turned to their “home brew” of coconut toddy and its distillation, at which they were very adept even though they had little equipment but an old

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laucepan or kerosene tin and some samboo piping.

As the flower stalk of the oconut tree had to have a slight liver shaved off it each morning ,nd evening, to prevent coagula ion, it meant taking up an empty •arnboo receptacle and bringing the ull one down, distilling it—and so continuous debauch.

It was about 1924 that the law ras changed, and the natives flowed to buy wine on a permit ssued by the Administrative )flicer. At once two of the old imers of the valley, Hakatao and [ohoe, big land owners. got jgether and decided that it would e a good idea to buy a few gallons f wine and with it try to get the alf-dozen listless young bucks of tie valley to go to work for them lanting coconuts.

The plan met with immediate access, so much so that other oung men from neighbouring alleys, hearing of the good times le young Taipii bucks were having, rifted into the valley to work for le two old timers.

Then the Administration officials, ;eing the amount of work being ane and the general change for le better in the young bucks, were lirly liberal with their wine jrmits.

I once read in a newspaper that udents in London had shouted, at meeting held by Pussyfoot John m: “We won the battle of the imme on rum, and rum alone”, think it could be truthfully said iat Taipiivai was rejuvenated on ine, and wine alone. Withal, it today one of the most sober id peaceful valleys of the Mar lesas.

Later on, people owning land in e valley but living elsewhere, and ose whose forbears had emigrated more populous valleys when the dine in population had set in, irted to come back to their icestral land, and to plant it.

The new arrivals were evidently ry virile and fecund and by the d of 1955, there was a fine althy population of close to 200, II growing rapidly.

Some years ago a large school use had to be built to accom odate the numerous offspring of e hardy settlers. A fine big R.C. urch with belfry, standing on a issive concrete foundation, was ilt entirely by Taipii carpenters d masons, under the supervision Rev. Pere Jean.

Father John also got the young m interested in football and they trned the game so well that in >3 and 1954 they were semi alists in the matches for the irquesan Cup, donated years ago Alain Gerbault. the lone French vigator and tennis champion.

They put into their sport the same fierce energy that their ancestors put into their man-for-meat hunts.

The Taipiis have not been content to live as their forefathers. One native has a jeep, two others large clinker-built canoes each with 15 hp outboard. There are several motor bikes and numerous pushbikes, while a great-grandson of old Nicholas has built a smart cabin cruiser and engined it himself. plans of same being his own.

Living on the land of Mr. Negre is an energetic Frenchman, Monsieur Offret, who tills a large vegetable garden which supplies the Europeans of the neighbouring valleys and also the trading

schooners and visiting yachts. He raises carrots, cabbages, lettuce, beans, tomatoes and other vegetables which will grow well in the virgin soil of the left bank of the river. At the same time he runs a store and small cinema, Along with all this there are many modern bungalows in the valley as well as good native material houses. Also there are stores owned by natives, When I first visited the valley I should say that the production of copra could not have been more than 40 tons per annum. Today it is probably over 200 tons, and like all things Taipiian, increasing

rapidly.

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There is still however, room for improvement. Today, as one goes along the valley trails, one sees the bad effects of absentee landlordism.

On the left side of the valley, 99 per cent, is given over to bush, mostly fao (Tahitian Purao). Land on which fao grows is excellent for growing coconuts, pepper etc.

On the opposite side of the valley live the new energetic population who have planted their own land, and all, with their growing families, must cast longing eyes on the un cultivated, sombre bushland of the absent owners. These “Men of Taipii” have already shown that unused bushland can be turned into profitable coconut plantations and food gardens.

If ever this comes to pass then the once prostrate Taipii Valley could become the chief centre of the Marquesas, with direct overseas shipping calling at the Bay of Houm-i which provides a quieter anchorage for powered shipping than Taiohae which owes its present prominence to the fact that it was, in the old days, the best bay for sailing vessels to enter and leave. r A daughter was born at the Lae Hospital, NG, on June 23, to Rev. ind Mrs. Hartley Hage, of the Lutheran Mission Teachers’ Train ng School, near Finschhafen.

t A Qantas Dakota moved two com plete prefabricated houses from Bulolo to Kaiapit, NG, early June, All told, the airlift involved nearly 23.500 lb. One DC3 did the entire job in one day.