Legends from Vanuatu
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I didnt really know what category to put this article on. So i thought, maybe just put it on blogging, i hope it's not a big deal.
Anyway here goes:
We have a custom here in Vanuatu that European people "borrowed" and turned into a very lucrative hobbi: Bungee jumping.
In the Island of Pentecost, this custom is called Nangol Jump. Young boys and men have to perform this land diving ritual to prove their courage to the rest of the tribe. It can only take place during the months of April and May, the time when the yam (a nutritious root used in many of our traditional dishes) is ready. The islanders then build this 20 to 30m high tower totally made out of lianas(that are particulary strong but still flexible at that time of the year), branches, and trunks. The day of the jumps dances are performed before each jump. The Yam Laplap (the most popular local dish) is in the menu and men can enjoy a good shell of kava (a relaxing drink made out of a root that numbs the body and that is served in a dried half splited coconut shell) after the day's excitement.
The men who jump chose their vines attached to their feet themselves. If they're too long they could break their neck... A perfect jump although wants the jumper to caress the ground with their shoulders in order to ensure a good yam harvest the following year.
But the origins of the jump came from a domestic fight, or so says the legend. This couple really didnt get along. The husband would come home and beat his wife up over nothing. One day the woman got enough, and started to run into the bushes to flee from her enraged husband. She eventually got to this big banyan tree and climbed it in despair as her husband was getting closer. She arrived to the highest branch of the tree. When her husband got there he was so mad he said he would kill her. So she dived into the emptiness and her husband followed shipishly, not knowing that she had tied vines to her ankles before taking the big plunge. Of course, he broke his neck in the operation, while she made it without a scratch.
So to this day, men will do the Nagol jump to show the women they got their lesson.
But they kinda like to say that it'll help the harvests as well, hehe,
Anyway here goes:
We have a custom here in Vanuatu that European people "borrowed" and turned into a very lucrative hobbi: Bungee jumping.
In the Island of Pentecost, this custom is called Nangol Jump. Young boys and men have to perform this land diving ritual to prove their courage to the rest of the tribe. It can only take place during the months of April and May, the time when the yam (a nutritious root used in many of our traditional dishes) is ready. The islanders then build this 20 to 30m high tower totally made out of lianas(that are particulary strong but still flexible at that time of the year), branches, and trunks. The day of the jumps dances are performed before each jump. The Yam Laplap (the most popular local dish) is in the menu and men can enjoy a good shell of kava (a relaxing drink made out of a root that numbs the body and that is served in a dried half splited coconut shell) after the day's excitement.
The men who jump chose their vines attached to their feet themselves. If they're too long they could break their neck... A perfect jump although wants the jumper to caress the ground with their shoulders in order to ensure a good yam harvest the following year.
But the origins of the jump came from a domestic fight, or so says the legend. This couple really didnt get along. The husband would come home and beat his wife up over nothing. One day the woman got enough, and started to run into the bushes to flee from her enraged husband. She eventually got to this big banyan tree and climbed it in despair as her husband was getting closer. She arrived to the highest branch of the tree. When her husband got there he was so mad he said he would kill her. So she dived into the emptiness and her husband followed shipishly, not knowing that she had tied vines to her ankles before taking the big plunge. Of course, he broke his neck in the operation, while she made it without a scratch.
So to this day, men will do the Nagol jump to show the women they got their lesson.
But they kinda like to say that it'll help the harvests as well, hehe,
