The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-11-06
MANAHlkI SOUL sNARERs.
How the South Pacific Islanders Get
Even with Their Enemies.

Even with Their Enemies.
Pail Mall Gazette: A little while
ago, while turning over some memen-
tos of many years spent in the Pa
Icific islands, 1 came across a small
circle of fine cane about two inches in
diameter: from the side toward the
~icenter a delicate network of the fbers
tof some plant was constructed, cav
ing a small hole in the center large
enough for, say, a bee to crawl through.
The article weighed less than a quar-
ter or an ounce, yet, small and harm
less as it appeared, 1t is not so very
many years g that 1t and others like
1T were objects of deadly terror to the
natives of many Of the Pacific islands.
particularly those Of Manahiki (Hum-
phrey island), for the simple looking
thing was a soul catcher'-that is, a
destroyer Of human life.
Manahiki. is one of a group Of low
lying atoll islands to the north north
west of Samoa. and it's people today
are about the best educated of all the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. people. They elect
a king and parliament, have one of the
most beautifully adorned churches in
the Pacific islands, and nearly all the
younger members of the community
can now not only speak, but read and
write English. The island is-for an
atOll-unusually fertile, and the peo-
t'S - iii1p "a Oil l ., lidIllSOIlle COpDeT-
colored race. The main industries are
the making of "copra" (dried %cocoanut)
and diving for pearl shell.
Soul catching in the heather days,
prior to 1868, could be and was prac-
ticed by any one who desired revenge
or the life of an enemy. Indeed, al
though the people We're nominally
Christians in 1873, it was still in vogue.
The modus operandi is very simple:
Say that two men, Rika and Tetoro,
quarrel, Rika accuses Tetoro of 60
Ing out into the lagoon at night time,
lifting his QRika's) fish traps and alb
stracting the contents. He therefore
demands compensation. Tetoro denies
the theft. The relatives of both men
take sides, and the quarrel assumes ali
the elements of a feud. with bloodshed.
II may be that Tctoro is a man of
means. or chiefly RAM and influence.
and treats his accuser with scorn.
Very we'll" the injured Rika cries.
III cannot get justice from you l sha
snare your soul, and you will die of
a wasting sickness"
Tetoro, even if he is innocent, be-
gins to feel uneasy at this threat, and.
while vigorously denying the theft, Of
fers Rdka a present of a pig to end the
matter. Rika's relatives at once clam
or, not only for their original de-
mands, but for the pig as we'll. Pos
slDly a free fight ensues, and Rika's
people get badly used, and threats of
soul sharing" are heard on all sides.
Then Rika's wife makes the snare
FOR Tetoro's soul. Taking her mat out
into the village square, or upon a we'll
f~requented o or path, she suspands
the snare from he branches Of trees,
or sticks placed In the ground in such
a position that she can closely watch
the orfice in the center of the square,
Rika's friends-male n female-come
with her. They bring food and eat it
and throw fragments under the snare
to attract the flies, with which the
Island is infested. If but one fly crawls
through the hole Tetoro is a dead man,
unless he suddenly gives in and al
lows himself to be bled For not only
40 Rika's people watch the snare, but
MS own as well. No one Of them would
dare to attempt to destroy the snare
the death of the Interfere by occult
power would certainly follow.
And so for hours and hours-some-
tlmes Tor days-many pairs of eyes
watch the little circle of cane, and Te-
toro and his* friends are now ready to
yield, but feel that still more extor-
Tomato demands may be made. Then
at last a fly is seen to crawl through.
ana a shout goes through the village.
q hope tie lago! Ia hopo tie lago!"
"a fly has passed through.) Tetoro
hears the cries, and Immediately i'm
AGNES he feels i'll. His wife and rela-
lives crowd about him and try to
cheer him up, but his face assumes a
melancholy look, and as the time
passes on he refuses his food. Perhaps
he may confess that he did steal Rika's
fish and tremblingly offer to make
full restitution if Rika will catch a
fly and make it so through the circle
from the reverse side through which
the first one entered VOLUNTARILY, Usu-
ally this is done, and what might have
become a lasting family feud had Te-
toro dled OF funk" through being be-
witched, ends up by the payment Of 81
much property to Rika, and a feast for
which both parties provide the viands,