Pentecost & Maewo Islands in Vanuatu
Pentecost Island is an island that has become famous throughout the modern world for a particular ritual to celebrate the Yam harvest. But not all Pentecost islanders have kept their traditions alive. In the north of the island, where Vanuatu's first Prime Minister comes from (Father Walter Lini) the people are Anglican. In the centre, around Melsisi, they are all Catholics.
To the south, custom and culture are totally different, for it is here where the ritual of the Nagol (or N'gol) has been practiced for centuries. The ritual of the N'gol is an extraordinary event, filled with a dignity and mystique - and real risk to life and limb. It bears no more resemblance to bungy jumping (the New Zealand sport invented by AJ Hackett after watching a N'gol ceremony) than abseiling down a sixty foot cliff does to catching a lift down a six story building. It began centuries, perhaps millennia ago, when a beaten woman ran away from her husband, Tamale. He found her hiding in a tall tree and called to her that if she came down he might beat her - but only a little. However if he had to get her she would be sorry. She refused. He climbed the tree and as he made his final grab, she leaped. In anguish at her death (or anger that he had missed her) Tamale jumped after her, not realising his wife had tied liana vines around her ankles and survived the fall.
Tamalie perished. The ritual evolved over the years, to stripping a tall tree of it's surrounding branches and building a tower of sticks to support the trunk. The platform is made of wood and covered with leaves purposely to protect the platform from the sun drying it out before the ceremony. The leaves are removed by the jumper before the jump. The liana vines which are tied to the ankel and very elastic following the wet season, are shredded and the other end tied to the tower. Men and boys, some as young as seven years, climb the tower and leap from the platforms in a show of strength and a statement to women that they can never be tricked again....
It is also a fertility rite. Every year in April, when the first yam crop is ready, the islanders on the south of the island start building a huge tower for the land diving. It will take about 5 weeks to build, all materials come from the forest: lianas, branches, trunks.... Eventually a wooden tower between 20 to 30 meters high is erected. Each diver must select his own vine. Its size is of utmost importance and if it is only 10 cm too long, the diver could hit the ground and possibly break his neck. As the vines stretch at the end of the dive, the land diver's heads curl under and their shoulders touch the earth, making it fertile for the following year's yam crop.
But the story of the N'Gol does not portray the extraordinary feeling of power during this event. No picture can capture the feel of dozens of villagers dancing and stomping the earth during the entire ceremony. No words can express the awe of sitting beneath the tower and listening to the diver's last words - for he knows they may be his last if the vines break or are too long. Today, only a limited number of people each year may witness this unique event. Here are the N'gol dates for this year.
Maewo Island is very thin and rugged island stretching 56 km, the mountainous central chain and the south eastern coast are good places for bird-watching. Both coastlines are covered with black sand beaches. Most of the islanders live on the sheltered west coast. Maewo receives the largest amount of rain in Vanuatu and has some of the most beautiful waterfalls.
Maewo is famous for its ancient secret societies. Magic is performed almost as much as in Ambrym and the sorcerers claim to be even more skilled. Some traditional dances performed by men are tabu for women. They must not see any of the dances and the dancing ground will remain forbidden for some time after the dance. In return, the women have their own dances which cannot be seen by men. Please note that visitors will face the same restrictions.
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