With Tolala

Territories TALK-TALK

When one considers that in Papua and New Guinea there are some 30-odd different sects and denominations of the Christian religion, each one fiat out seeking adherents amongst the native people, it is really surprising that there are not more sectional clashes than there are.

|N the mainland of NG in the " mid-thirties, I remember an open ish between two denominations, lich led to a court case. Animosity i so high between the native parti is that arson was resorted to. And it at a time when there were only If-a-dozen sects operating through t NG.

Whether it is that there is greater rmony prevailing amongst the 30d sects these days, or whether the iding has gone underground, it is rd to judge; suffice it to say, certain janisations in the Rabaul area re itly have registered disapproval of ; more or less recently-organised dy in the Territory known as the lovah’s Witnesses, it being de ibed as “subversive” and “disloyal” various individual members of the

mplaining organisations.

This animosity towards this sect ninds me of the mid-thirties in baul when in the evenings the »rld and his wife attended the Re al Theatre Pictures, with Bob Ken ly as manager and “Squizzy” atch as monitor.

On certain nights there was one rticular young chap in the audience io would stolidly remain seated die the National Anthem was being lyed. (And that at a time when triotism rated fairly high.) It turned out that he was a Jehovah itness and there were many dis raging remarks on his behaviour, t he suffered none of the physical alence with which he was reatened; he was generally ostra ;ed and as he seemed to like it at way, he was classed as a “bit of ratbag”, and there the matter ded.

Religious Freedom: We must not rget that New Guinea, being a ust Territory, is pledged to allow digious freedom” (Article 76 (c)), d we should also not forget that g word “religion” does not only Per to the Christian group.

What’s going to happen in the future if such faiths as Islamism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any of the other non-Christian “isms” try to get a toe-hold in the Territory? I don’t see that officialdom, under the pre sent Trusteeship, can do a thing about it.

The next thing we’ll be hearing about will be native cults in Manus, Buka and New Hanover (for in stance) being registered under the Act as religions. And where will we be then? Probably the Law Depart ment will have an answer.

Old-Time Fanatics

Talking of religion in this year of Grace, 1964, together with the urge for mass hysteria, takes me back to my first year in New Guinea as a lay missionary in the Duke of York Group and the May meetings or waratabaras (Blanche Bay dialect: “act of giving”; tabar —to give, with the prefix wara transforms the verb into a noun), which were held an nually for the purpose of allowing the native people to show their ap preciation of Lotu (the Christian re ligion) which was brought to them in 1875 by Dr. George Brown, He was not the first missionary in this part of New Guinea; that distinction be longs to a couple of Roman Catholic Fathers of the Utrecht Mission who established themselves on Rook Island in 1852, stayed for three years and then, owing to native hostility, retired to Geelvink Bay, Dutch New Guinea.

Although the Duke of York Islanders were looked on as the least intelligent of the natives thereabouts, they were, by no means, the least in demonstrating (50 years ago, any way) the same hysteric qualities which have been shown in religious gatherings in the US Southern States or the more recent emotionalism dis played by teenage fans for their popular songsters. (Over)

Fhe general plan, mapped out by ; missionary, was for several yil ;es to concentrate at a given point hold their feasts and sing-sings and vings”, where a white missionary iuld be present to praise the lount of food gathered, listen to the g-sings and eventually watch each [itributor drop his/her “marks” into ; big enamel wash basin placed on table. Each giver then received a iling ll boina” from the missionary. oina, which really means “good” the Blanche Bay dialect, is also ;d for “thank you”, as there is no jcific term for gratitude in the iguage.) Village Rivalry: Inter-village rivalry, jether with prolonged dancing, lich also means much chewing of tel-nut, also added to the enthu sm of the occasion, until some of ; more competive villagers had iched a stage of near-hysteria, and en the missionary, naturally fol ving a non-alignment policy, was led upon to intervene and restore ace as best he could.

The keener the rivalry between vil ;ers the greater the enthusiasm of j dances and impulse to exceed ;ir rivals in the amount of dona ns—a reflex by no means dis uraged by the missionary.

I still have vivid recollections of : time I was allotted an area of a zen villages or so in which to carry t this work: the seething mass of ncers, vying with each other for and and action; the energetic chiefs ging on their respective teams and entually the ardour of their giving they dropped their silver coins in j basin.

I was more than happy to have a ilwart Samoan teacher, well ex rienced in the game, seated beside j, reassuring me that all was well.

Whether these high-tensed meetings II prevail in these districts, I would

not know. With the Winds of Change it may be customary now for the lululai (chief) to sit down in his prefabricated house and write out a cheque for the mission and let it go at that.

If so, I expect there are still a few of the lapoons (old men) who hanker for the days of the wara tabaras, the old rivalry, excitement and the satisfaction of having given a few more “marks” than their neigh bouring village.

Not the least interesting part of these gatherings for me was the final counting of the thousands of one

mark pieces brought back to the mis sion headquarters in canvas bags from the villages; the rolling of them into “fuses” of 100 marks and, at the same time, separating the English shillings and the old Neu Guinea Compagnie’s bird-of-paradise marks which, even at that early date, were considered curios.

Eventually the total amounts re ceived from the villages were re corded in A Nila ra Dowot (“The Voice of Truth”), the monthly publi cation of the mission, which it was amongst my various duties, to turn out from the Watnabara Press.