The Name Of The Lopper God

How Jack Summers Got His Pearl-Shell

An Old-Timer’s Story, hy J. Nixonwestwood

rpHIS is a true account of some- JL thing that happened about 50 years ago, in Torres Strait.

In 1908, Pearler Jack Summers, based on Thursday Island, was working the Warrior Reef. The weather was atrocious; so he de cided to give his men a spell, and his four luggers ran across to Daru, off the West Papua coast. Jack lodged with Louis Pothier.

One day, Jack accompanied Pothier to Mawatta village, on the estuary of the Fly River, near Daru Island. This place once had been heavily barricaded, but was now partly in ruins. There was a church In a good condition, however, and the bell there was very heavy, and on it coufd be seen the letters, “SANTA MA. . .” and the date 1797.

It was still there in 1914.

Jack noticed among the villagers a small man called Kikia, who carried with him a wooden box, like a 50-cigars box. Jack wanted to know what was inside; and another native, Yakoof, explained that it was their “wind Jesus”.

Persisting, Jack was told that this was a god, through which they con trolled the wind. At sea, when the wind was “too much strong”, they took the figure from its box, stroked it and appealed to it, and the wind dropped. When it was too calm, they beat the figure with a copper rod, and the breeze would come.

The figure was roughly in human shape, and made of copper.

Yakoof showed Jack a place in a swamp, near the river, where were some old, rotted timbers. He said that long ago, a ship had been cast away on the coast nearby; and then had apparently been refloated, and was pushed into the estuary by the natives, and into the swamp. Yakoof said nothing about survivors.

Yakoof said the ship had copper on her bottom, and the villagers got some of it and hammered it into the shape of the little figure.

They had great faith in it as a ju-ju, and had cherished it for years, and called it “wind Jesus”.

Summers persuaded the natives that, as they now were Christians, ihey did not need such a thing any more, and he bought it for £2, and put it in his cabin.

BACK on the Warrior Reef, the weather was still bad, and the intake of shell very poor; and the season was passing.

One day, just for something to do, Jack took the little copper figure from the box, stroked it, and

made a plea for better weathen according to the procedure de scribed by Yakoof.

The gales Immediately sub sided, and they got in several day; of successful shell-gathering.

Nearby was Yam Island. Tht lugger crews liked to be allowed t< go ashore there at week-ends. A Miss Smallwood, a mission worker would give them meals and em courage them to attend her churcH services.

The weather remained perfect and shelling went on steadily. Goot Friday approached. The LMS ketcl Goodwill came to anchor off Yan Island; and the Rev. Baxter Rile;: rowed across to Summer’s little shi] and said that no one worked oi Good Friday, and would he let thi crews of the luggers go ashore tv service.

Jack refused the request. He ex: plained that his pearling lugger had been idle for too long; the catcl: was still low; they must work ove?

Easter.

But the crew insisted on a breaj that week-end, and went ashore de? spite Jack Summers, and thr missionaries got their congregation THE following week-end, the again demanded a break, so theE could row ashore to Yam Islano The baffled and angry Jan remembered his ju-ju. He told tlx crew that if they would not worli he would beat the “wind Jesus”, am induce a storm; so that, if the would not work, they could not nr« to Yam Island. The crew—to us a modern expression—gave him raspberry”.

Jack got the heathen idol out o the box, and beat it with the coppe rod. Very shortly afterwards, to hi utter amazement, a howling south! easterly developed, and none of thi workers could row across to Yar Island.

The experiment lost him a dayv work; but he had proved to thi crews the efficacy of the ju-ju.

For the remainder of their stas on Warrior Reef, Jack usually go; what he wanted from the crew men by threatening to bring th “wind Jesus” into operation, fo their discomfort.

BACK at Thursday Island, Jao was due for leave. Before d*i parting on the Changsha . M handed the ju-ju over to one of til toss boys, for safe keeping.

Some time later, a collector < curios was at TI. and Tedo McNulty told him about Summeir:

marvellous ju-ju. The collector in terviewed the boss boy, and some how induced him to sell it, for a considerable sum.

When Summers returned, Tommy Farquhar had the old job waiting for him. But when Jack learned that his “wind Jesus” had disappeared, he refused to go pearling again. He argued that, having lost his ju-ju, he never would be able to control the lugger crews. * * * Jack went across to Daru, and be came store manager for William Henry Luff. One evening, on the ver andah of the Customs House, Jack told this story, and the Rev. Baxter Riley and I were in his little audi ence. The missionary expressed his great resentment at Jack’s use of the name “wind Jesus”. But Jack defended himself by saying that it was not his idea—that was the name by which it was known among the Mawatta villagers, and the name adopted later by his simple-minded lugger crews. He said he never could have gained his prestige—and his cargo of shell—if he had not used that name.