Pentecost Island
Pentecost Island is one of
the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu
.
It lies
due north of capital Port
Vila
. Pentecost Island is known as Pentecôte in
French.
Geography
Pentecost is a lush, mountainous island which stretches North to
South over some . It has an area of 490 km² and a population
of 12,000 as of 1999. The
chain of
mountains, dominated by
Mount
Vulmat ( ) marks the dividing line between the humid, rainy
eastern coast and the more temperate western coast. The coastal
plains, cross-cut by small
torrents, are
generally very green and ideally suited for
plantations and
livestock.
Pentecost's population centres are concentrated along the west
coast, although a number of people also live inland. Major villages
along the west coast include (from north to south): Laone, Loltong,
Bwatnapne, Melsisi, Waterfall (Vanu), Baravet, Lonorore, Hotwata,
Panas, Wali, Pangi and Salap. Away from the coast, there are major
settlements at Nazareth in the north, and at Ena, Wutsumel, Hubiku
and Tansip in the centre of the island. Most of these places have
village
telephones and one or two
inhabitants who own '
trucks' (
4WD vehicle)
or '
speedboats' (small
motorboats), which the villagers use for
transport. A couple of these villages also have
small
banks and
post
offices.
The east coast is wild and inaccessible, with relatively few
inhabitants, although people are moving into previously-uninhabited
areas as the island's population increases. Major villages on the
eastern side of the island include Ranwas, Bunlap and Baie Barrier
(Ranon) in the south-east, and Vanrasini further north.
History and customs
Pentecost was discovered by
European explorer on the day of
Pentecost,
22 May 1768, by
Louis
Antoine de Bougainville.
It was also sighted by Captain James Cook, during his voyage
through the New
Hebrides
(now
Vanuatu) in 1774. It was influenced by various successive
Christian missionaries but traditional
customs there remain strong.
Pentecost Island is most famous for being the spiritual birthplace
of the
extreme sport of
bungee jumping, originating in an ages old
ritual called the naghol, or
Land
Diving. Between April and June every year, men in the southern
part of the island jump from tall towers (around 20 to 30 metres)
with
vines tied to their feet, in a ritual
believed to ensure a good
yam
harvest. The ritual is also now used to show
acceptance into manhood. Land diving
was first given international exposure when
David Attenborough and a
BBC film crew brought back
footage of the ritual during the 1950s.
Queen Elizabeth II of
the United Kingdom visited Pentecost in 1974 and witnessed a
land diving ceremony, during which one unfortunate islander died
because the jump was performed during a
dry
season, when the vines were much less
elastic.
Nowadays, tourists pay
large sums of money to witness the ceremony, often during day trips
from Port
Vila.
The south
Pentecost village of Bunlap
, a kastom (custom) village in which people choose to
maintain an extremely traditional
lifestyle, was the subject of a recent TV
documentary.
The north Pentecost village of Laone was the birthplace of
Walter Lini, who led Vanuatu to independence in
1980. Today, the '
father of the
nation' is commemorated by a
statue at
the nearby Lini Memorial College.
Land diving images by documentary photographer Michael
Craig
More Land diving, N'gol ceremony, images
Lifestyle and economy
There are no real towns on Pentecost. Most islanders live in small
rural villages, surviving by
subsistence agriculture and growing
cash crops.
Taro, a
root vegetable
well-suited to Pentecost's wet climate, is the
staple food. Manioc (
cassava),
yam,
bananas, kumara (
sweet potato),
coconuts,
island
cabbage, pawpaw (
papaya), nakavika (
rose
apples),
citrus,
sugar cane,
cacao,
mangoes,
pineapples,
nut, and
European
vegetables are also grown for local consumption.
Vegetables are often grated into a
paste,
wrapped in large leaves,
baked in an
earthen oven and covered with
coconut cream to create '
laplap', a
savoury pudding.
Villagers keep '
bullocks' (
cattle),
pigs and
chickens, which are
slaughtered for food, usually on special
occasions such as
marriages and
'grade-taking ceremonies' (at which aspiring
chieftains rise through the ranks). Wild
pigeons,
flying foxes
(
fruit bats),
crabs
and
fish are also caught and eaten.
Dogs and
cats roam the villages, and
these too may occasionally end up in the cooking pot.
Imported
rice and
tinned
meat form an increasing part of the diet in
more developed areas of the island.
Pigs are highly important in Pentecost
society, not only as food but as a traditional
item of value, which may be given as
payment during marriage ceremonies or as
compensation for
transgressions.
Boars with
long, curved
tusks are particularly prized.
Woven, red-
dyed mats are also used as a traditional form of
currency.
Traditionally,
copra (dried coconut meat) was
Pentecost's main export, but this has now been overtaken by
kava, a
narcotic root
used to prepare a traditional
drink. Kava is
grown and drunk on many islands in the
South
Pacific, but Pentecost is particularly well known for it, and
much of the kava drunk in Vanuatu's towns and abroad originates on
Pentecost.
Cattle
were once exported from Pentecost to the meat-processing factory at
Luganville
on neighbouring Santo
island. However, most are now slaughtered locally instead,
to feed Pentecost's growing population.
Houses are traditionally constructed from
local
wood and
bamboo,
and
thatched with leaves of natangura (a
variety of
palm). However, wealthier
islanders now build their houses instead using imported
cement and
corrugated
metal.
Transport and communications
Pentecost has two
airfields, at Lonorore in
the south-west and Sara in the north, at which small
airplanes land three or four times a week.
Cargo ships travelling between Port Vila and Luganville ply the island's west coast, although few ships
visit the east coast, where sea conditions are rough and the
population is sparse.
A
rut dirt road
runs from the north to the south-west of the island, and another
road connects Salap in the south-west to Ranwas in the south-east.
However, many villages are accessible only by steep mountain
footpaths.
Pentecost Island receives regular visits from
yachties, who
anchor at the
villages of Loltong, Waterfall and Pangi. Pangi also has a
jetty capable of receiving
cruise ships, although visits are rare.
Language
Pentecost Island has five
indigenous
languages:
Raga (North Pentecost
language),
Abma or Apma (Central
Pentecost language),
Sowa (a
nearly-extinct language once spoken in south-central Pentecost),
Seke (a language now spoken only in
the village of Baravet), and
Sa (South
Pentecost language). Abma, which has three distinct dialects, is
the most widely-spoken. It is the native language of about half of
Pentecost's population (around 8,000 speakers), and is understood
by many people from other areas. In recent times, Abma has spread
at the expense of the island's other native languages.
In addition, most people on Pentecost speak
Bislama, the form of
pidgin
English that is Vanuatu's
national language. Educated islanders also
know English or French, which are taught in
schools.
See also
External links