The Shark God (36 page)
Authors: Charles Montgomery
Do thou draw the canoe, that it may reach the land; speed my canoe, grandfather, that I may quickly reach the shore whither I am bound. Do thou, Daula, lighten the canoe, that it may quickly gain the land, and rise upon the shore.
âFlorida Islanders' invocation of a frigate-bird
tindalo
, in R. H. C
ODRINGTON
,
The Melanesians
By dawn the storm had engulfed Makalom. The scrub oaks groaned in the wind. Palms hissed. The surface of the lagoon vibrated with exploding raindrops. The wall of surf that marked the fringe of the reef had grown, and so had the swell in the open ocean beyond. The sandbar that trailed from my side of the island had been consumed. I stood knee-deep in the water and scanned the blackened swell for boats, but the world had disappeared.
The fishermen's sons yelled at me from shore. “Nobody will leave Nukapu until the storm has passed. Nobody will rescue you!” The boys were drenched, grinning. “You will stay on Makalom many, many days, unless!” bellowed the elder of the two above the roar of the storm.
“Unless what?” I shouted back. I wanted to get as far as I could from Nukapu.
“Unless
yumi padel long
Pileni,” shouted the younger. There was a village on Pileni, and a longboat with an outboard engine that could ferry me back to the trading post at Pigeon Island, then on to Santa Cruz.
“But how will we find Pileni?” I asked. “We can't even see past the edge of your reef.”
The boys shifted in the sand, conferred with each other, considered the sky, then clapped their hands. “The waves will tell us which way to go!”
We pushed the fisherman's dugout canoe out into the shallows. I jammed my pack into the bow, and the boys passed me a crude, hand-carved paddle.
The surf had now wrapped itself around Makalom, rendering even the sheltered lee side treacherous. Each approaching wave sucked the reef plateau almost bare before rising to curl and collapse across the exposed coral. We measured the rhythm of the wave sets.
Three rollers, then two calves, then a set of seven.
A lull.
We charged, paddling for all we were worth across a sheet of foam, cutting diagonally over the collapsing shoulder of the next wave and high along the crevassed edge off the reef; on over the abyss, rising, falling, rising again through the foothills of the Pacific. We left the scant shelter of Makalom's wind shadow. The first gust hit us like an explosion, transforming the ocean into a confused stampede of chop, whitecaps, and spindrift.
“Pull, Charlie!” yelled the elder. “Pull!”
I pulled. So did the elder, and his exhalations were like the snorting of a bull. The younger, wide-eyed and delirious with the excitement of the moment, held his paddle like a rudder at the stern. The wind came from the southeast. The waves came
from the east. They peeled over the bow, filling the canoe with warm water. It rolled, but it did not tip.
We pulled until my shoulders ached, until blisters rose on my hands and knees. We pulled until Makalom became a silhouette behind us, then a phantom, then nothing but a memory pressed into vapor. The sky collapsed. The line of the horizon disappeared. The universe beyond the veil of mist and spray became formless, malleable, a thing of conjecture. The world was reduced to the roll of the canoe, the plunging of our paddles and also the swell, which existed to guide us. We pulled through the folds, keeping them at an angle, trusting the message they brought from the edge of the world. We pulled, knowing our faith would conjure an island from the mystery of the sea.
Most conversations relayed in this book were conducted in Bislama or Solomon Islands pidgin. Many of those exchanges have been translated into English to avoid confusion. I was assisted in the translation, and also in correcting the spelling and syntax of Bislama and Solomons pidgin, by Helen Tamtam of the University of the South Pacific and Richard Carter of the Melanesian Brotherhood. However, I have deviated from their advice in several respects and have certainly introduced errors along the way.
I have generally used the most common (and mostly phonetic) modern spelling for Bislama and Solomons pidgin words, but in some cases I have fallen back on the spellings used by earlier traders and travelers. For example, I use
rubbish
instead of
rabis
or
ravis
, to mean “of bad character,” to reflect that word's metaphorical origin. I use
savve
to mean “to know/to be able to” rather than the now more popularâyet confusing for English speakersâ
save
.
When the same words appear in both Bislama and Solomons pidgin, I have stuck with the first Bislama spelling, rather than switching to the Solomons standard, for consistency. For example, the word
you
is spelt
yu
throughout the book, rather than switching to
iu
once we reach the Solomons.
My apologies to those who are working to standardize both languages.
I owe first thanks to my mother and my favorite storyteller, Frances Montgomery, for keeping the old myths alive, and to my family and friends for encouraging, forgiving, and supporting me through my geographical and emotional absences.
Many people shared their homes and their lives with me in the United Kingdom, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. I hope this story respects their truths. In the Solomons, thanks go especially to the members of the Melanesian Brotherhood, and in particular: Brothers Harry Gereniu, Albert Wasimae, Clement Leonard, John Blythe, and, for help with pidgin and other mysteries, Brother Richard Carter. Thanks also to Bishop Terry Brown and his household, David MacLaren, Geri and Alvin Gaines, Roni Butala and his
wantoks
, John Palmer, Grant and Jill Kelly, John Roughan, Ben Hepworth, Robert Iroga, Henry Isa of the National Museum, Johnson Honimae, Morris Otto Namoga, and Andrew Nihopara at the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau. In Vanuatu, I was assisted by the Anglican Diocese of Banks and Torres, Jirus Karabani, Alfred of Mota, Sabina Hess, Don Fockler, Rona Dini, Eli Field, Ralph Regenvanu at the Vanuatu Kaljoral Senta, and Linda Kalpoi and Natasha Motoutorua at the Vanuatu Tourism Office. The wise and patient Helen Tamtam of the University of the South Pacific taught me Bislama and performed triage on my translations. Laura Palmer and Alex Wolf offered refuge in Fiji.
Alastair Macaulay saved me from the wilds of North London. Catherine Fitzpatrick and Paul Hatton provided shelter and surf lessons in Sydney.
I was assisted in research by the shining Catherine Wakeling, archivist for the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, John Pinfold at Rhodes House Library, Richard Palmer at Lambeth Palace Library, Allan Anderson at the University of Birmingham, Fergus King, Ben Burt, David Hilliard, Robert Withycombe, Thorgeir Storesund Kolshus, Viscount David Montgomery, Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka, Manfred Ernst, Adele Plummer, and Pierre Maranda.
Support from the following magazine editors opened doors for me across the Pacific: Jim Sutherland at
Western Living
, Matthew Mallon at
Vancouver Magazine
, Chantal Tranchemontagne at
enRoute
, James Little at
Explore
, Anne Rose at
WestWorld
, Ian Hanington at the
Georgia Straight,
and Aryn Baker at
Time Asia
. Crucial support also came from Air Pacific, Solomon Airlines, Air Vanuatu, and VanAir.
Friends, family, and colleagues read and critiqued my early proposal and various chapters of the book. Thanks to Michael Scott, Carol Toller, Daffyd Roderick, Erik and Kathi Lees, Andrew Mayer, Colin Thomas, Michael Prokopow, Edward Bergman, Kevin Griffin, Jeff Hoover, Deborah Campbell, James MacKinnon, Brian Payton, Alisa Smith, and in particular Chris Tenove, who offered regular doses of savage and necessary criticism. The Vancouver FCC kept the creative fires stoked. Jorge Rivero-Vallado showed me new ways to imagine language and stories.
I am grateful to Scott McIntyre for giving me the means. My editors, first Saeko Usukawa at Douglas & McIntyre, then Christopher Potter, Courtney Hodell, and Catherine Heaney at HarperCollins, led me to an infinitely stronger manuscript. My agent, Anne McDermid, worked miracles for me on two conti
nents with the help of her team, Rebecca Weinfeld, Jane Warren, and Martha Magor. The journey was kick-started with financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the B.C. Arts Council, but I would never have considered it without constant encouragement and badgering from Michael Scott, who was the first to believe.
M
ANUSCRIPT
S
OURCES
Harold Turner Collection on New Religious Movements, University of Birmingham, Selly Oak, England. Essays and papers on Pacific cults and millenarian movements, missiology, and religious syncretism.
Lambeth Palace Library, London, England. Archbishops' Papers (Benson, Davidson, Tait, Frederick Temple);
Church Times
, 1895â1901; and other miscellaneous papers.
Mitchell Library, Sydney, Australia. Western Pacific High Commission Archives, Patteson Memorial Endowment Fund of the Melanesian Mission, Papers, 1871â1906.
Rhodes House Library, Oxford, England. United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Archives, Codrington Papers, Patteson Papers, reports from missionaries, Wilson letters to Montgomery, 1894â1906.
Viscount David Montgomery Private Collection. Notes and diaries of Bishop H. H. Montgomery.
S
OUTH
P
ACIFIC
J
OURNEYS
Amherst of Hackney, Lord, and Basil Thompson, eds.
The Discovery of the Solomon Islands by Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568
. Vol. 2. London: Hakluyt Society, 1901.
Coates, Austin.
Western Pacific Islands.
London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1970. 365
Davidson, J. W.
Peter Dillon of Vanikoro.
Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Edwards, Philip, ed.
Journals of Captain Cook
. Abridged. London: Penguin, 1999.
Jack-Hinton, Colin.
The Search for the Islands of Solomon, 1567â1838
. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1969.
London, Jack.
Cruise of the Snark
. New York: Macmillan, 1919.
McAuley, James. “Captain Quirós.” In
Collected Poems
. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1971.
Markam, Sir Clements, trans. and ed.
Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quirós, 1595 to 1606
. Vol. 2. London: Hakluyt Society, 1904.
Montgomery, H. H.
The Light of Melanesia
. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1896.
Shineberg, Dorothy, ed.
The Trading Voyages of Andrew Cheyne, 1841â1844
. Canberra: Australian National University, 1971.
Theroux, Paul.
The Happy Isles of Oceania
. New York: Ballantine, 1992.
H
ISTORY OF THE
M
ELANESIAN
M
ISSION
Hilliard, David.
God's Gentlemen: A History of the Melanesian Mission, 1849â1942
. St. Lucia, Australia: University of Queensland Press, 1978.
Macdonald-Milne, Brian.
The True Way of Service: The Pacific Story of the Melanesian Brotherhood, 1925â2000
. Leicester, England: Christians Aware and the Melanesian Brotherhood, 2003.
Sarawia, George.
They Came to My Island
. Sioata, Solomon Islands: St. Peter's College, 1996.
Whiteman, Darrell.
Melanesians and Missionaries
. Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, 1983.
Williams, C. P. S.
From Eton to the South Seas
. London: Melanesian Mission, n.d.
S
OLOMON
I
SLANDS
Bennett, Judith.
The Wealth of the Solomons
. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987.
Honan, Mark, and David Harcombe.
Lonely Planet: Solomon Islands.
3d ed. Hawthorne, Calif.: Lonely Planet, 1997.
Hviding, Edvard.
Guardians of Marovo Lagoon: Practice, Place, and Politics in Maritime Melanesia
. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996.
Kabutaulaka, Tarcisius Tara.
Beyond Ethnicity: The Political Economy of the Guadalcanal Crisis in Solomon Islands
. Suva: Australian National University, 2001.
Keesing, R. M., and Peter Corris.
Lightning Meets the West Wind
. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Tippett, A. R.
Solomon Islands Christianity: A Study in Growth and Obstruction
. London: Lutterworth Press, 1896.
V
ANUATU
Adams, Ron.
In the Land of Strangers: A Century of European Contact with Tanna, 1774â1874
. Canberra: Australian National University, 1984.
McClancy, Jeremy.
To Kill a Bird with Two Stones: A Short History of Vanuatu
. Port Vila: Vanuatu Cultural Centre, 1985.
Paton, J. G.
John G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides: An Autobiography
. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1893.
Rice, Edward.
John Frum He Come: A Polemic Work about a Black Tragedy
. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1974.
Rush, John, with Abbe Anderson.
The Man with the Bird on His Head: The Amazing Fulfillment of a Mysterious Island Prophesy
. Seattle: YWAM Publishing, 1997.
Tryon, Darrell.
Bislama: An Introduction to the National Language of Vanuatu
. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 1987.
A
NTHROPOLOGY,
M
YTHOLOGY,
T
HEOLOGY
Arens, William. “Rethinking Anthropophagy.” In
Cannibalism and the Colonial World
, edited by F. Barker, P. Hulme, and M. Iversen. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Bidney, David. “Myth, Symbolism and Truth.” In
Myth: A Symposium
, edited by T. Sebeok. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974.
Brunton, Ron.
The Abandoned Narcotic: Kava and Cultural Instability in Melanesia
. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Campbell, Joseph.
Myths to Live By
. New York: Bantam, 1972.
Carter, Richard.
Liturgy beyond Words: Symbolic Exchange with the Transcendent God
. Leeds, England: University of Leeds, 2001.
Codrington, R. H.
The Melanesians: Studies in Their Anthropology and Folklore
. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1891.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E.
Theories of Primitive Religion
. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1965.
Frazer, James.
The Golden Bough: Abridged Edition
. New York: Macmillan, 1940.
Frye, Northrop.
The Double Vision: Language and Meaning in Religion
. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.
Kulick, Don, and Margaret Willson, eds.
Taboo: Sex, Identity and Erotic Subjectivity in Anthropological Fieldwork
. London: Routledge, 1995.
Leenhardt, Maurice.
Do Kamo: Person and Myth in the Melanesian World
. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. “The Structural Study of Myth.” In
Myth: A Symposium
, edited by T. Sebeok. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974.
Loeliger, Carl, and Garry Trompf, eds.
New Religious Movements in Melanesia
. Suva, Fiji: University of the South Pacific and the University of Papua New Guinea, 1985.
Michaud, Jean. “Ethnological Tourism in the Solomon Islands: An Experience in Applied Anthropology.”
Anthropologica
36, no. 1 (1994).
Obeyesekere, Gananath.
The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific
. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992.
âââ. “Cannibal Feasts in Nineteenth-Century Fiji: Seamen's Yarns and the Ethnographic Imagination.” In
Cannibalism and the Colonial World
, edited by F. Barker, P. Hulme, and M. Iversen. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Rivers, W. H. R., ed.
Essays on the Depopulation of Melanesia
. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1922.
Sahlins, Marshall.
Islands of History
. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Spong, John Shelby.
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture.
San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
Worsley, Peter.
The Trumpet Shall Sound: A Study of “Cargo” Cults in Melanesia
. London: Schocken, 1968.
H
ENRY
M
ONTGOMERY AND
F
AMILY
de Montgomery, B. G.
Origin and History of the Montgomerys
. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1948.
Hamilton, Nigel.
The Full Monty
. Vol. 1,
Montgomery of Alamein, 1887â1942
. London: Penguin, 2001.
M. M.
Bishop Montgomery: A Memoir
. Westminster, England: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1933.
Montgomery, Brian.
A Field-Marshal in the Family
. London: Constable, 1973.
Montgomery, H. H.
Foreign Missions: Handbooks for the Clergy
. London: Longmans, Green, 1904.
âââ.
Life's Journey
. London: Longmans, Green, 1916.
âââ.
Mankind and the Church: Being an Attempt to Estimate the Contribution of the Great Races to the Fulness of the Church of God
. London: Longmans, Green, 1907.
âââ.
Visions
. Westminster, England: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1910.
âââ.
Visions
. 3d ser. Westminster, England: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1915.
O
THER
S
OURCES
Conrad, Joseph.
Heart of Darkness, with The Congo Diary
. London: Penguin, 1995.
The Holy Bible, Authorized King James Version
. London: Collins' Clear-Type Press, 1928.
Honigsbaum, Mark.
The Fever Trail: In Search of the Cure for Malaria
. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002.
Hyam, Ronald.
Empire and Sexuality
. New York: Manchester University Press, 1990.
A Melanesian English Prayer Book with Hymns
. Honiara, Solomon Islands: Church of Melanesia, 1965.
Niutestamen: The New Testament in Solomon Islands Pijin
. Suva, Fiji: Bible Society of the South Pacific, 1993.
Said, Edward.
Culture and Imperialism
. New York: Knopf, 1993.