page 4
Cannibals and Converts
All was not paradise
in these times. The Fijian islands were avoided by
many due to warnings by
the Tongans to the first white travelers in the area
of fierce warriors who ate the human flesh of their enemies
in order to capture their mana or soul. Captain Bligh,
one of the first to navigate these waters in the early
1700s under unfortunate circumstances when he was cast
adrift from the H.M.S. Bounty by a group of mutineers,
was left to find cover from the terrors of the Cannibal
Isles as they'd chase them in their huge outrigger canoes
called druas for which the Fijians had become
famous.
The islands had often been missed completely
by European travellers who saw only low heavy mists surround
their boats through the treacherous coral reefs. Many
stories tell of early contact often met with an horrendous
end with incredible tortures and death when the fierce
Fijian warriors would set upon the unwary travellers
who had failed to heed the warnings. Cannibalism, bloodshed
and death were very much a part of stories of everyday
life in the early days of European contact.
But even then, the spiritual powers
of masi was recognized. The priest, or bete as
he was known, was always consulted before the warriors
went
into battle in order for them to determine the possible
outcomes. He would sit in the centre of the dark bure
kalou, a very tall narrow structure with a roof
that seemed to reach up to the heavens. And then
"trembling, siezed in a fit and with eyes rolling,
he would invoke
the powers of the gods whose 'message' reached him
via the trail of white masi" strip that was strung
from the high peak of the roof down to the ground
near
where the
bete sat.2
The masi was recognized as possessing
power or the ability to carry the strength of the gods.
Worn as a turban by priests, or the koroi warrior
dressed in new masi to celebrate his initiation with
his first kill, the masi, either pure in feathery white
or painted in intricate patterns, held an undisputed
power that was utilized in the spiritual life of Fijians.
It is that same power one feels today in the pieces the
craftswomen make for non-commercial, or strictly ceremonial
use.
Such was the power of mystery of the Fijian
Islands that the Christian missionaries found necessary
to overcome, to tame, and to save in the name of their
Lord, Jesus Christ. Now with nearly all Fijians converted
to Christianity, in one form or another, the ancestral
spirit comes forth only under the misty veil of Christianity.
And, even in the patterns of tapa that have survived
from early days of missionary contact, one cannot help
but look at them and wonder about the influence of early
American patchwork quilts, an embroidered doily, or the
lace trim from the dresses of missionary wives.
Much like the Celtic lore of the Lady
of the Lake was absorbed into the description of the
Virgin Mary, the spirit gods of pre-missionary Fiji still
fulfill their needs in the undercurrent of everyday Fijian
life and ritual. But even now, one cannot help but feel
the power of the ancestral spirits as the mists once
again veil the islands from sight many days of the year.
