Evening star., 1942-07-12
Strange Pacific
Peoples
BIZ Frederic J. Hdskin.

| will have some strange tales to tell about
| the natives, their habits and complex
| tiles of life. At least that is the opin-
ion of experts of the Smithsonian In
stitution, which has possibly the largest
collection of information on the peoples
of the world of any agency Of its kind.
It's work in the field of pioneering in the
| history of the human race is outstanding.
For more than SO years ethnologists OF
| the Smithsonian have been collecting
| data on peoples everywhere. They have
made a speciality of delving into the
past and present of the least known
! races, and have come to the conclusion
that the inhabitants of New Caledonia
could we'll be classed as the enigma OF
| mankind. These experts do not confess
that they have learned all about this
| curious mixture of character and color
| but their findings are not without in
terest.
| Capt. James Cook discovered the
island of New Caledonia in 1774, and 1t
lies we'll within the area which includes
so many dark people. short and stocky,
and among the least advanced of the
human race. Living there for unknown
| centuries they have mixed with other
races and today the blood strain is
| condemnation too difficult to classify.
The natives are of the black, small
statured primitive Melanesian and the
brown, robust, relatively advanced Poly
nesian of the Maori type.
AS an evidence of this complicated
| uhi oh ho
New Caledonians came, there are more
than 20 separate and distinct languages
spoken on the island. How much of these
languages, if any, American soldiers will
| learn is only conjecture, but 1t seems
| sure that they will more fully appreciate
| the simplicity of their own language, for
| it is conceded the world over that the
Roman alphabet is the simplest Of all.
| New Caledonia is a tumble Of high
mountains, deep valleys and vast
stretches of coastal lands. Swift rivers
make their way to the sea. and these.
together with other natural barriers,
evidently have kept the various tribes
separated to such extent that in time
many tribes have developed an entirely
new language. In addition to these
natural barriers Of separation. great
hostility exists between the tribes and
this has been further means of pre-
venting unified people and the develop
ment of unified language. France has
done a good job in its colonial efforts,
but it has never been thought wise to
consolidate or change the language Of
the natives. The ways OF the white man
have not been forced on the natives and
apparently the program is to go along so
as to avoid resistance. However, while
these barriers remain and no changes
are introduced, the general observation
is that many of the languages are dis
appearing and in their stead there is
appearing type Of extremely degener-
/ ate French.
Not only strange languages are heard
in New Caledonia, but life itself is ex-
tremely primitive. Families live in grass
covered huts coming to conical point,
scores Of these huts making up single
village. Each village usually has large
| hut or group of huts, somewhat removed,
which serves the community as a sort of
social center. An interesting provision
OF each community Is retreat in some
nearby mountain where villagers may
find shelter in time of danger or attack.
They seemed to have provided afr shell
tiers while modern man felt himself we'll
protected by the advance of civilization,
The gold standard, silver coinage and
other forms OF money value and money
content play no part in the life of the
/ n Tn ~
for money curious styles of shells are
used for that purpose. The shells are
ground with great care, always labori-
ously, and the work required to make
a piece Of money of this type often de-
termines its value. The highest in value
Is the so-called black pearl, so fine and
delicate that 1t can be moved by blowing
the breath against it. Up to the out
break OF the war French merchants
would accept these pearls at a standard
rate of exchange.
The religious life Of these people is
complex and somewhat secretive A basic
feature consists of great ceremonies of
Precipitation in which all members of
tribe take part and which continue
for days. There are a great number of
native gods and they differ from tribe
to tribe Each village has its own pro-
tecting divinity whose dwelling is well
known, Enthusiastically shaped stone or
some other prominent natural object.
Like many other primitives, the New
Caledonian believes in personal spirit
which dwells in his body but which
can act Independently, sometimes to tho
| great peril or embarrassment of tho
| physical partner. When a native Is ac-
cused of crime he never can plead
| innocent with an entirely clear con.
| science, for he never knows what hts
| spirit has been doing while he was un-
conscious.
One of the most rigid taboos is against
waking a sleeper. for the spirit may not
be able to find its way back If the per-
sen moves and this might well be fatal.
One Interpretation of serious illness is
that the spirit has wandered away to-
ward the tomb, and the job of the medi-
cine man is to lure 1t back.
Notable curiosities of the island are
the stone works, found especially on the
east coast. There are stone walls
which may have been intended as forti-
ficstions. There are also grotesque cary
ings OF animals, trees and gigantic hu.
man forms which recall the statues Of
Easter Island.
All kinds of things evan oood th;ns.