To the Ends of the Earth and Back

When I read about visiting the outer islands, I read that visitors are supposed to bring some kind of tobacco cake with them for a ritual that is performed in some places on the islands. I wasn't too sure what that meant, or where these places were, but I remembered just in time before I left that I needed to take some with me. I went to a store and the proprietor had a couple left, which he sold to me. The second morning I was in Abaiang, one of the new teachers, Ioane, was asked to take me around the island to do my arrival ritual. This was even though I had arrived some time earlier. But it still needed to be done. (The teacher later told me that it was a new custom and he didn't think it was real.) So we hopped on a motorbike and headed out to both ends of the island. We first went to the far end from where the school was located. (And from the setting sun, I guess that was the north end.)

We travelled through a number of little villages on the way and it was more scenes of typical island living, grass huts and open living areas. There weren't many people about, and Ioane told me it was because it was warm and people were resting. He also said though that many people had gone to Tarawa because that's where jobs and money are.

When we arrived at the end of the island, there were a couple more little islands off to the west that were only accessible during low tide.

We then searched around for the man who would perform the little ceremony that visitors participate in to get the protection of some sort of island spirit. I had been told about this ritual and that I would have to bring little tobacco cakes of some sort with me to the island to offer as a token for the protection. I had gotten hold of two of the cakes, but Eric (the man at the school who was looking out for me, more on him later) said that the people who performed the ceremonies often took the cakes for their own personal use. So he cut one in half and told me to only use that much for the offering.

Ioane found the man eventually and he came to end of the island. He dipped the tobacco cake into the water and got some sand. He put the tobacco cake on the altar and had me dab some of the sand on my cheeks. He said a few words to the altar and then gave me this wreath thing to wear on my head. Then, when he thought we weren't looking, he took the tobacco cake. (I actually hadn't been looking and so didn't notice, but Ioane did see him take and he was somewhat offended.)

Then we headed back to the school for lunch. On the way, we passed this somewhat devastated area. At some point in the recent past, the water's edge was breached on the lagoon side of the island. The salt water of the lagoon swept inland to make a new swampy, salty lake-like spot that grows and shrinks with the tides. As a result, all the palm trees in the area have died, not being able to deal with salt water. There was a little village there, but not it is kind of cut off from the main road, and the resources they had there are not available any longer. I gather that climate change/global warming scientists and writers are making grand claims about how this is evidence of how we are changing the climate, the seas are rising, and the catastrophe is upon us, and that Kiribati is about to bear the brunt of what is coming. Eric says it's all bunk. He says that what really happened is that nearby someone built a new sea wall out into the currents of the lagoon. The currents all changed, water backed up against the sea wall, which raised its level enough that it breached the shore and caused the change in the area. (Another man I met later, upon hearing about the sea wall, understood exactly the same thing.) It would seem that climate change advocates have got the cause wrong, debunking their claims (at least in this instance) wrong, if they do have the ultimate culprit, human action, right.

Further along the way back, we passed the largest maneaba on the island. It is where large-scale meetings are held, mostly for the big religious festivals, like Easter and Christmas. It was built on the lands of one of the churches. Its size is quite impressive. There are a number of the structures around it, one for each village on the island.

We also passed the main island council buildings in the central town of the island.

And then it was a spot of lunch before heading to the other end of the island.

The other end of the island was much closer. Where it had taken well over an hour to get to the north end of Abaiang, it only took about a half hour to reach the south end. It actually took a bit longer because it began to rain quite heavily. But when we got there, the man who was performing the ceremony (visitors need to go to both ends of the island to be fully protected) took the tobacco cake and threw it into the ocean. So I guess nobody uses those ones for their personal use down at that end.

Then he took us to the very end of the island. From that point it is possible to see North Tarawa. It was here that the man told a story about the beings who protect the islanders of Abaiang. There was a man on North Tarawa, Naoboika. He was either looking out at Abaiang, or maybe he was travelling there, when he saw a woman bathing in a natural bathtub there. Her name was Nikuau. They fell in love and got married and had three children, two girls and one boy. (I don't remember their names.) Somehow, they became stones that are inside this ring on the end of the island, and they protect visitors to the island. They also help with people trying to catch fish, if the people ask for help.

After this ceremony, we returned to the school (St. Joseph's College) for dinner. It was a long day, taking the whole day pretty much to get end to end, but it was interesting to see how people live their lives on the island of Abaiang.