[?]W Hebrideans Still Keen “Jon Frummers"

[?]at Gun Round Up

Although the New Hebrides Administration is at long last trying to round up rifles and guns held by natives, restriction on the sale of firearms and ammunition will hit the public purse as customs duty can be as much as 100 per cent, on ammunition.

1 seems strange that the Con domium Government should begin a drive at this stage. Fully years ago an Australian, A. J. rshall, wrote a book called Black sketeers, which high-lighted the >arently unrestricted sale of fire is to New Hebrideans by traders I others. t is known that the Hebridean sion of Cargo-Cult, the Jon Frum vement, is by no means dead I this may be the purpose behind sudden move, he arms round-up is unlikely to very successful, if only for the t that there is no mention of r compensation to the native lers, who in some cases have ■ked on plantations for six nths earning sufficient to pur se good rifles, which are used inly for shooting wild pigs, lecause the average rifle owner such a poor shot, ammunition been a major import.

OT much is heard about the “Jon Frum” movement these days, but Captain Irving John figured in one of its mani ations when he called at Santo the north in the course of his ;st round-the-world cruise in ikee some months ago. i a letter to the Seven Seas ising Association, Captain John mentioned that, while anchored the island one night a strange kage was tossed aboard Yankee n a canoe which came alongside.

Tie package contained lengthy > of the names of natives who I worked at local American itary bases during the war, and i a long and very mixed-up sage concerning the Jon Frum cement, and a protest that ives should be punished by the irts for molesting European nen when European men so in molested native women, aptain Johnson concluded that i material was thrown aboard so t it would eventually be pub ed in the United States, arlier, in the southern islands, itain Johnson got the impression t most of the 8,000 natives of ma are staunch Jon Frummers. hey have abandoned the istian Missions, taken to ex iingly heavy kava drinking, and awaiting the arrival of huge erican ships loaded with manu red goods to be handed out ;he followers.

Yankee, flying the American flag, caused great excitement in this area, especially when it became known that the captain’s name was John-son.

Captain Johnson writes: “We could have taken orders and col lected all the money on the island with no trouble at all. They con sidered all our protests against the Jon Frum movement as just a cover-up for something big about to happen. . . Since leaving we have heard the wildest rumours concern ing their reconstruction of our visit and what it all meant. A more mixed-up people would be hard to find.

“Their heavy kava drinking is one of the most revolting practices we have come across. Every after noon many boys and men are re quired to chew up kava root, spit ting out the pasty mess onto a leaf until there is quite a pile. Then some water is added and the pithy, fibrous part separated from the muddy looking liquid by hands which get partially washed in the process.

Then the recipient gulps down the whole brown soapy mess on the spot. This procedure repeated a few times in quick order leaves the drinker a shaking, stupified animal unable to rise.”

Kava, of course, is non-alcoholic, although prolonged indulgence can

produce other effects—just as a long betel-nut jag can turn a New Guinea native into a good imitation of a Zombie.

What Captain Johnson has to say about the Tannese bears out what a medical officer reported from

there recently (P7M, October,! 163)—they have not the pleasant habits.

The pre-European method of ms mg kava all over the East* Pacific was to chew it up, but si: the European idea of hygiene ] been grafted onto the Polynesi he now pounds it up, and village-virgins are no longer cal upon to do the job. Such ne tangled ideas have apparently : yet reached Tanna, one of islands of Melanesian New Hebri which group is the Western-m limit of the kava-drinking custoi