Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-04-25
Cannibals Not Yet
an Extinct People

" ~ you
may have exclaimed when you read re-
Gently of naval force sent to Malekula
Island, of the New Hebrides, to quell
attacks of the man-eaters upon white
planters. "I thought cannibals had dis
appeared long ago"
Contrary to general belief the can
nibal still is with us, says a bulletin
from the National Geographic Society
And cannibalism is practiced regularly
by some tribes of the numerous South
Sea Islands. In other places it is re-
current. Missionaries and agents re-
port it stamped out. and they speak
truly, save for occasional lapses into
barbarism of these primitive peoples
just emerging into the kindergarten
stage of their civilization.
OF all the peoples of the vast South
Pacific eXpanse where the white mans
influence has been felt at all, the Male
kula islanders perhaps are the most
murderous. treacherous and savage. Not
many years ago ethnologists who saw
some egg-shaped skulls brought from
the island held high hopes that there,
at least. might be found the missing
link which marked the evolutionary step
from monkey to man.
Investigation soon disproved any such
theory. For the cone-shaped heads of
many Malekula ISLANDERS is a deformity
deliberately produced by wrapping cord
about the heads of babies. If the child
survives the treatment it's egg-shaped
head. point upward is Malekulan dis
tinction akin to the tiny foot of q
Chinese woman.
Another custom of Malekula seems
equally narrowing. If a woman dis
closes gap in the rows Of her gleam-
ing white teeth it means that she is
married. and that the older women have
performed this operation in something
of the playful spirit in which the rice
throwing sometimes is indulged in at an
American ceremony.
The male Malekulan is a crack Marks
man with the bow and poisoned arrow
and as inveterate a clubman as a veal
thy American bachelor. In many islands
of the New Hebrides each village has
its club house, and upon his standing
among his club fellows, depends his
rank in the community.
Moreover there is a combination COM
munity forum, public dance hall, and
children's playground under the ban
yam tree of nearly every native village.
There are many differences between
the Malekulan and the natives of other
islands, though most of them are OBJ
vously Malanesian. from their thick.
woolly hair, coal black skin, fiat noses
and heavy lips. The Malekulans are
accorded the palm for feroety and
cruelty by many travellers. though they
are not unique among the Hebrides
natives in these respects. On some
islands the women expect to be buried
alive with their husbands bodies
redeeming feature of the Male
kulans is their scrupulous honesty. A
travellers life may not be worth much
If he irritates a native. hut his property
is absolutely safe. Another Malekula
distinction inheres in the wooden an
cestor images found there. These eff
sies display n resemblance to human
beings and attest latent artistic taste
in their crude coloring.
Trouble in the New Hebrides is
nothing new. In 1904 an Anglo French
expedition was needed to check a native
uprising and nearly two decades earlier
the French intervened to suppress a
vigorous outbreak.
The New Hebrides were discovered
by Portuguese sailor early in the
seventeenth century; explored some
what and named by Captain Cook
century and half later. and were de-
cla'e cd neutral by France and Great
Britain in 1873. Later agreements pro-
vided joint control and administration
The New Hebrides lie about 1870
miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.
Maiekula is one of the largest islands
Cf the group. The largest is Marina.
'rhe scat of government is on the Sand
wich Islands.