The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1922-06-01

Some of the tapus for the guild
ance Of the ONE would probably in
cite a suffragette to spectacular wrath.
Without exception on any island, wom-
en- might not eat long pig" nor brown
pig, a delicacy much enjoyed by the
men folks In the absence of the longer
variety.
Nor daily with bonita or squid, the
w fishes most In favor with the
Marquesan palate.
Nor, except o special occasions, eat
fresh %breadfruit, bananas, or coconut.
Nor could they go In canoes. a pro-
vision TO keep them from being cap
tured by enemies lurking outside the
bay.
And, a tapu savoring of Solomon In
its wisdom, women could not weepl
1t would be a grave error to con-
clude from the taboos mentioned that
the life Of the Marquesan woman was
a hard one.
They Had No Agriculture.
Agriculture In any form was IN.
known. The natives took the bounti-
full variety Of fora the islands provid-
ed, But to assist nature in any way
by tilling or replanting never occurred
to them. Content with their gratiica-
ton of the desires of the day, the
Marquesans took literally no thought
for the morrow.
The most favored intoxicant In the
Marquesas Is namu-ehi, or, as 1t is
more commonly known, koko. Ehi is
Marquesan for %coconut, and 1t is from
the coco palm that this most lnsidious
and delectable of drinks is made. A
tall COCO palm that has been wind
blown so that Its pluIny top leans far
of the perpendicular, Is chosen.
The buds, from which eventually fifty
or sixty nuts would be produced, grow
in a compact, oblong cluster near the
top Of the palm. The native climbs
the tree and, using Tong strips of
bark or fiber, binds the cluster OF
blossoms tightly round and round, until
the result resembles a huge, fat cigar
protruding from the fronds. Under
meath the point Of this a bowl is sus-
pended and the tip end of the wrap
ping sliced of.
After the second day It begins to
drip freely, but the end must be sliced
every twenty-four hours to stim-
ulate the fiow. In this manner a tree
win furnish n or more gallons a day
several weeks.
When fresh from the tree the bev-
erage resembles a delicious lemonade.
with q flavor which would make the
OF a soft-drfhk manufacturer
who could reproduce 1t. Fermentation
takes place speedily, however, and In
a few hours your soft drink has ''hard-
ened" into a vicious man-killer that
a savage al 60 against with
impunity.
Captain Cooks report placed tha
literally and fguratively
ION the map" That was 145 years
ago, and since then the history Of the
is the tragic story Of a losing
fight by a race of sayages against a
represented In this instance
BY the whaler, the missionary, the
the ''blackbirder," and finally
their conquest and subjugation by a
power.
In 1912 Admiral Du Petit houars
took possession of the entire group In
tise name of France. ~ostenslbly to pro-
ect the missionaries In their lsbors for
Christianity. Forts were built on sew
sral Of the islands and troops installed
enforce French authority.
The ensuing fifty years 10 4 record
II desultory warfare between the
French soldiers and the MarquszanI
warriors. In which the latter. always
It war with each other and poorly
lrned. were constantly defeated: Of
'hleckbirdersr from North and South
America. who railsd the weakened
and sold the men and women
aso slavery In far-off lands. and u
frightful ~ravat;es Of smallpox.
tuberculosis. leprosy, and other con-
agious.