Vanuatu's villagers cling to the old ways

Vanuatu's Melanesian villagers still live much the same way as generations before, DAVID PAIN discovers.

The little girl tosses the red hibiscus through the van window and it lands in my lap. "Gudmoning, gudmoning!" she calls.

Our guide is driving through the centre of the Melanesian village of Mele near Vila, capital of Vanuatu. He manoeuvres us along rough, narrow roads between unfenced bungalows surrounded by cut grass, colourful gardens and ropes of yams drying in the sun. Men are building an outrigger canoe from local timber, while women are happy to show you their arts and crafts, as children laugh and play with friends and pet dogs.

Mele is a village of 2000 people. It may not be clean by Western standards but most of the litter is Western civilisation's - plastic bags, bottles, packaging, parts of vehicles.

These villagers or their forebears came from one of Vanuatu's northern islands, Ambrym, whose two
volcanoes erupted in 1950, forcing people to settle at Mele. Until their enforced evacuation they lived in surroundings untarnished by man-made commodities.

On another of Vanuatu's volcanic islands, Tanna, the 250 inhabitants of Iohnanen have made a conscious effort to maintain their traditional lifestyle. It is referred to as a "custom village" and its
people are proud of their stance.

When your guide brings you to Iohnanen, always by arrangement, you are immediately struck by the primitiveness.

The women wear grass skirts and are topless. The men wear nothing but penis wrappers made of dried vegetation.

They entertain guests with a dance and then take you for a stroll through their village, which consists of dirt-floored huts made from the surrounding jungle timber and thatch. Pigs, fowls and dogs scamper
freely among the houses.

The only part of western culture the villagers have adopted is tobacco and, occasionally, they wear rubber thongs.

The village chief speaks enough English to tell some traditional legends.

One of these concerns the creation of white men. When Tannese left this island to populate the rest of the world, many lost their boats and were forced to spend a long time in the sea. Thus, they became bleached ... which explains how the white man first came into being.

Drinking of kava is a nightly occupation for the males. Kava, which is prepared from the roots of a shrub of the pepper family, has considerable social and ritual significance and it dulls the senses and is said to enhance meditation.

Throughout the islands, kava is offered to visitors to try. To be really sociable you should always accept the earthy flavoured, dishwater coloured beverage.

Just as towns in our society vary enormously, so do Melanesian villages throughout Vanuatu's 80 islands.

On the republic's largest island, Espiritu Santo, the villagers of Vanafo steadfastly cling to their ancestral customs. But the moment you and your guide are invited to step foot into their fenced village you are amazed at what you see.

Freshly mown grass, cut with large bamboo knives, is surrounded by a lush and colourful garden of hibiscus, wild orchids, native plants and flowers and tall trees.

Vanafo was the village of Jimmy Stevens, who unsuccessfully led a political coup in 1980 to try to secede the island from the rest of the country. In the peaceful garden in an unmarked grave lies his son,
killed during the rebellion.

The people of Vanafo rarely venture beyond their village and live entirely off the surrounding countryside, gathering and cultivating vegetables and hunting with bow and arrow, spear and stone-headed axes.

The men and boys wear only a small rectangular bark or woven apron. The women, quite unlike those of Mele and Iohnanen, are infrequently seen.

As a visitor it's worth remembering that every Melanesian village has its own particular culture. Melanesians are a quiet, often shy, race who value their privacy. For that reason you should never walk into a village without first asking permission - or preferably use a guide who is known to villagers. The same courtesy is necessary before taking photographs.