The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-06-02
THE SHARKS|
South Sea islanders Fear Them
as the Abode of Ghosts.
HOLD SOULS OF THEIR DEAD.
The Natives Offer Gifts and Food,
Sometimes Human, 70 Appeass the
Man Eaters-The Hawaiians Used to
Feed Their Dead to the Monsters.

Man Eaters-Ths Hawaiians Used to
Feed Their Dead to the Monsters.
In view of the wide distribution Of
sharks and their strength and fer6city,
qualities which appealed to the savage
mind, it ia not strange that the cult Of
shark worship should have arisen. This
worship is especially common in the
south seas, where sharks are very nu-
merous, says the Detroit Free Press.
In the Solomon islands living sacred
objects are chiefly sharks, ~alligators,
snakes, etc. Sharks are In all these is
lands very often thought to be the
abode Of ghosts, as natives will at
times before their death announce that
they will appear as sharks. Afterward
any shark remarkable for size or color
| which is observed to haunt a certain
| shore or rock is taken to be some ones
| ghost, and the name Of the deceased Is
given to It.
Such a n was Sautahimatawa at
| Ulawa, a dreaded mar eater, to which
offerings of porpoise teeth were made.
At Saa certain food, such as cocoanuts
from certain trees, is reserved to feed
such a ghost shark, and there are Ger
| tain men Of whom it Il known that
| after death they will be in sharks.
| These, therefore, are allowed to eat
such food in the sacred place. In Saa
| and Ulawa If q sacred shark had at
tempted to seize a man and he had
| escaped the people would be so much
| afraid of the sharks anger that they
| would throw the man back in the sea
to be drowned. These sharks also We're
| thought to aid in catching the bonito,
| for taking which supernatural power
was necessary.
In the Banks islands a shark may
be a kangaroo, a sort Of familiar spirit
or the abode Of n Some years ago
| Manurwar, son Of Mala, the chief man
in Vanua Lava, had such a shark. He
had given money to a Manwo man to
send it to him. 1t was very tame and
would come up to him when he went
down to the beach at Nawono and
follow along in the surf as he walked
along the shore. In. the New Hebrides
some men have the power, the natives
believe, Of changing themselves into
sharks.
The Samoan native believed that his
gods appeared in some visible incar-
nation, and the particular thing in
which it was in the habit Of appear
ing was to him an object of venera-
ton. Many worshiped the shark in
this way, and while they would freely
partake Of the gods Of others they
felt that death would be the penalty
should they eat their wi god. The
god was supposed to avenge the in
suit by taking up his abode in the
offenders body and causing to gen
crate there the very thing which be
had eaten until it produced death. In
one village Taema, the war god, was
present in a bundle Of sharks teeth
These curiosities were done up in q
piece Of native cloth and consulted be-
fore going to battle. If the bundle
felt heavy that was a bad omen, but
If light the sign was good, and off they
went to the fight.
In the Fiji islands, Viavia and othe'
gods claim the shark as their abode
and their devotees must new eat o.
that fish, for If they did they would b
p~artaking Of the god himself.
1t was in the Hawaiian Islands, how
;. ever, that shark worship reached 1T
greatest perfection. Its worship wa
! quite common on the islands, each ON
having a special shark as his ances
trail god. The worship Of sharks wa
due largely to the fact that the belle
in the transmigration Of souls is quit
. general among the Polynesians, an
the Hawaiians would feed their dea'
to the sharks under the %suppositio'
that in this way the soul Of the dea'
e would enter the sharks and SO animal
the latter as to incline them to respec
I the bodies Of the living.
Several Of the African coast tribe
e worship the shark. Three or four time
, in the year they celebrate the festive
n Of the shark, which is done in thl
wise: They all row out in their boat
to the middle Of the river, where the
invoke, with the strangest ceremonie
q the protection Of the great shark. The
q offer to him poultry and goats In ord<
l. to satisfy his sacred appetite. But tn.
II nothing. An infant Is every yea
y