Demon Girls of Ujae

Demon Girls of Ujae

(A Legend from the Marshall Islands)

The iroij (chief) of Rongerik atoll owned a tree with the most beautiful yellow flowers, the kio. Every morning his flower-pickers draped the flowers about his head and neck. The people of Rongerik danced as the flowers were placed on him.

Rongerik Atoll

Not far from Rongerik atoll is the atoll of Ujae, an island of demons. One morning, two demon sisters from Ujae smelled the beauty of the flowers. Their desire for the beauty grew until one night the two flew to Rongerik Atoll.

The demon girls chanted as they draped themselves with the iroij’s kio:             

Beauty collected in woven baskets,

We hook flowers behind our ears.

Decorating each other,

We fly, fly far away.

When the new morning dawned on Rongerik, the people danced. But the iroij flew into a rage. His flowers were gone. He ordered the flower-pickers to be killed.

For each of three nights, the Ujae sisters flew to the iroij’s beautiful tree. For each of three mornings, the iroij killed his flower-pickers for not delivering his precious flowers.

On the fourth morning Bwilbilinlokerem, the iroij’s assistant, pleaded with him to stop the killing. “Someone must be stealing your flowers. Let me try to catch them tonight.”

That very night Bwilbilinlokerem took several men and hid by the tree. Just as they were nodding off to sleep, they heard the demon girl’s chant:

Beauty collected in woven baskets,

We hook flowers behind our ears.

Decorating each other,

We fly, fly far away.

As the Ujae sisters leapt away from the tree, the men grabbed them. They hauled the demon girls to the iroij’s house.

The iroij didn’t even bother to look at the two of them as he ordered Bwilbilinlokerem to kill them. The men dragged the sisters away. “Let us go, iroij.” The demon girls cried out, “We will go straight home and never come back.”

The iroij glanced down at them. “Stop,” he told his men, then turned to the two. “You are very beautiful.” Touching each girl tenderly on the cheek, he continued. “Instead of killing you, I’ll take you as my wives.”

A great wedding ceremony was held. The people of Rongerik welcomed the girls to the clan. From that day forth the sisters lived with the iroij as wives and the iroij once again got his morning flowers.

In time, however, the girls missed their parents. They begged to return, but the iroij refused to let them go. The girls persisted, promising to return. The iroij finally relented. He ordered a canoe made ready. Together, they sailed to Ujae. They landed near the place called Menkaru.

The oldest of the girls flew off immediately as they landed. The iroij grabbed the younger one and held tight. He ordered the men to go and search for his other wife. He, his young wife and Bwilbilinlokerem went off to find the demon parents.

The demon people crept out of the bushes as the Rongerik group left. They pulled the iroij’s canoe onto the shore. They took it apart and buried it, piece by piece, in the sand.

“We’ll catch them and we’ll eat them,” the demon leader told his people, “we’ll cook them with breadfruit and taro.”

The demons danced about and sang their demon song. They sang to alert the demons in the nearby islands.

The iroij’s company couldn’t find the older girl or the parents. They returned to the beach and couldn’t find the iroij’s canoe either.

“What did you do with it?” the iroij yelled at Bwilbilinlokerem.

“We left it…” he tried to answer but was interrupted by a sound.

“Kaibad O Kaibad,” the demons sang to each other, gathering for their feast.

The iroij’s men jumped. “What’s there in the bushes?”

“Kaibad O Kaibad,” the demons kept singing. Drums rumbled beneath the call.

“That’s my family,” the young girl told the chief.

“What do we do?” asked the iroij.

The young wife called to a karuk, a tiny crab.

Dig, dig into the sand.

Find what’s hidden there.

“Kaibad O Kaibad,” the demons sang to each other, gathering for their feast, echoed under her chant. The demons gathered beyond the bushes. The karuk dug up one part of the canoe. The girl called to it again.

Dig, dig into the sand.

Find what’s hidden there.

“Kaibad O Kaibad,” grew in strength and numbers. The men saw shadows of the demons dancing in the bushes.

The karuk dug quickly, bringing up different parts of the canoe. As it dug, the men built it again.

“Kaibad O Kaibad,” sang the demons as they gathered at the edge of the jungle carrying baskets of taro and breadfruit.

The canoe was finished. The demon girl told the iroij’s men to bring two long sticks from the wut ilomar, a special tree.

The demons stepped from the bushes. The men threw the branches into the canoe. They set sail. The girl took the sticks and stood at the front of the canoe.

The demons leapt into the water, swimming after the iroij’s canoe. As the demons reached the canoe, they climbed aboard.

The youngest demon girl chanted:

The stick floats on the ocean,

It drops from the canoe and all are eaten by the sharks.

She swept every demon from the canoe. Then she saw her parents and older sister fly to the canoe. The young girl lay down the sticks.

“Come with us now,” her parents called to her.

“I wish to stay with my husband.” She told them and called, “Older sister, come back with me.”

The parents turned to the iroij, “If you take our daughters, keep them with you all the time. If you climb the coconut tree or if you go fishing, they must always be there beside you.”

“Agreed,” the iroij said. Together the demon sisters and the iroij sailed back to Rongerik.

One day, much later, the iroij went fishing by himself. Black clouds gathered above him as a big wind swooped in. The iroij paddled hard against the wind and waves, but to no avail. Right then he remembered his promise. “I didn’t take the girls with me.”

He was blown away, away, away until he disappeared. Up to this very day no one has seen the iroij. The demon sisters returned to Ujae.

That’s the end of the story.

Sources:

http://spiritoftrees.org/demon-girls-of-ujae-2

http://mh.geoview.info/rongerik_or_pescadores_spanish_micronesia_spain_espana,102879174p

Make-Make

Make-Make

(A Legend from Rapa Nui)

The Rapa Nui creation myth tells the story that once the earth was created, Make-Make the creation God, realized that something was missing and decided to populate the planet. He took a pumpkin full of water and could see his own reflection in it at the same time that a bird perched on his shoulder. By putting together the bird’s silhouette and his own, he gave life to his first son.

Make-Make

He continued with the feeling that he wanted to created someone similar to himself, that could talk and also think. He tried to impregnate the ocean, but fishes were born out of this. In a second try, he impregnated a big stone made of red earth, and this is how a man was born.

Glad with his creation, Make-Make realized that this man was alone and decided to create also a woman.

This is why Make-take is not only considered to be the creator of the world, but he is also strongly tied to the idea of fertility and above all, to food abundance; which was and is still mainly based on sea products.

Sources:

https://www.thisischile.cl/mythology-of-easter-island/?lang=en

http://www.icarito.cl/2009/12/53-7055-9-4-mitos-y-leyendas-chilenas.shtml/

The Story of the Half Man and Half God

The Story of the Half Man and Half God

(A Legend from Tokelau)

Long long ago, there lived a great man on a beautiful islet of one of the islands of Tokelau, also called Tokelau.

This great man was well known to Tuiwhiti, Tuitonga and Tuimanua as a half man and half god because of his immense mana and strength.

These great chiefs or kings called him Tuimingimingi because of the way he appeared when the strangers visited his island. He often visited his best friend, Tuimanua because they enjoyed playing their favourite game called “utu lupe” catching pigeons by trickery.

Nukunonu Atoll, Tokelau

One day two Pacific Chiefs Atuainuava and Atua’aitele decided to sail to the Tokelau islet to challenge Tuimingimingi’s mana and strength. The Chiefs sailed with their orators named Ulupo’o and Fe’e. They brought with them the “Fale’ula”, the distributing houses.

Tuimingimingi had a rule about anyone entering the islet or crossing the reef. They had to first ask permission to cross the islet or reef. Atuainuava and Atua’aitele arrived at Tuimingimingi’s islet and tried to cross the reef channel without first seeking permission. Their canoe got stuck on the “whotu” the God of the coral heads and the canoe was broken into pieces by the strong waves. The two Chiefs with their orators had to swim to the beach shore to safety.

When they arrived on the sandy white beach they were so tired because of the strong currents they faced. They did not humble themselves before Tuimingimingi to seek permission once they arrived on the beach. They walked over to Tuimingimingi who was lying on the sand as a shrunk coconut husk. Tuiminigimingi ordered them to go back into the sea to kneel before him and to kneel-walk out of the sea and say “tulou”, excuse me! They listened and did exactly what Tuimingimingi told them. They kneel-walked out of the sea to the “malae”, the meeting house.

They had the meeting and before Atuainuava and Atua’aitele challenged Tuimingimingi, one the orators, Fee, challenged Tuiminigmingi with the game known as the Taua uku, to see who can stay under water the longest.

Fee and Tuimingimingi started before the cocks crowed the following morning and stopped just before the sunset. Two days passed and before noon on the third day Fee gave up and Tuimingimingi had won the first game. Tuimingimingi penalised him for challenging him as he was not yet a Chief. He told him off, changed him into an octopus and ordered him to live in holes, “kaoa”.

Atuainuava then challenged Tuimingimingi in the game of Taua inu kava, who can drink the most kava. Atuainuava thought it was going to be the same kava he used to drink, but unluckily it was niumata, the Tokelauan kava, the very fully and matured coconut.

The same rule applied to this game, it started just before the cock crowed and stopped just before the sunset.

A new rule was added, that no-one was allowed to go to the toilet during the whole game. The same thing happened. Before noon the third day, Atuainuava could not carry on. He vomited and had a very sore and sick stomach. Tuimingimingi ordered him to wait until he finished a game with Atua’aitele.

Atua’aitele challenged Tuiminigimingi in the game called Taua kai, who could eat the most. Atua’aitele thought they were going to have pork, chicken, taro, luau, and breadfruit, but unluckily they had raw lu, the terminal buds of the laumea (a fern). Atua’aitele tried his best on the third day because he knew, Tuimingimingi would give up that day. He was in a very sick state as he longed to go to the toilet. He tried his best to keep holding on but the same thing happened. Before noon, Atua’aitele started vomiting and had a very bad stomach ache. He had pain all over his body and dropped down half dead. Tuimingimingi saved his life because he tried his best. They then went to the malae at Te Mati and Tuimingimingi said to them, “The Faleula will remain here. One of my puikainga will be called the “Whaleula”. This islet, Tokelau, will be divided into a brother and his sister. The titles are omitted and I will take you back to where you came from and warn you not to come back.

I am going to see my best friend Tuimanaua for the last time and I will tell him to announce that I am no longer Tuimingimingi. The future generations of Tokelau will call me Tuitokelau. I will look after and care for them and I will distribute the Tapuvae whenua (landmarks) and Tapua whenua (mana or sacred power) for them.

My people will live in peace and harmony.

No more warriors or strangers can challenge them because the whole island has already been ‘mokotia’ or blessed.”

Sources:

http://www.learntokelau.co.nz/myths/viewmyth/?villageid=2&id=4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nukunonu

The Spider God Teaches Natural Childbirth

The Spider God Teaches Natural Childbirth

(A Legend from Palau)

Palauans of today say that long, long ago, as the time of pregnancy became complete, the family and village began preparations for both a funeral and a birthing. Childbirth meant a bloody cutting, a slicing open of the woman’s abdomen. It was believed that a child must be cut out of the womb. Midwives were skilled in the knowledge of healing herbs and blood-clotting ointments. They also were skilled in the making of sharp knives from bamboo. Once the labour pains began and the woman moaned for help, a midwife would come with her bamboo knives.

Such it was for the women of Palau until one day, not so very long ago, the spider demigod, Mengidabrutkoel, fell in love with a human, a beautiful Palauan maiden.

Mengidabrutkoel was a magnificent spider, a wise spider. He spun a web between the long grey limbs of a breadfruit tree and there he caught many flies to eat. His long arching legs climbed quickly from one leaf to another. His body shimmered as he passed from shadow to sunshine. But today Mengidabrutkoel was not satisfied. He was hungry for a new taste. But what? This hunger kept him restless and so he left, looking for another tree that could offer a different taste.

The mountain apple! Tart and juicy fruit, so good after so many days of eating bugs. Mengidabrutkoel changed into a young man with long legs and hurried to a valley where mountain apple trees grew along a jungle stream.

Mengidabrutkoel, now a man and no longer a spider god, was climbing up the tallest tree to pick the ripest apple when he heard someone laughing. A group of young women were bathing in the stream. They were busy talking and hadn't noticed the intruder.

He watched as one of the maidens turned her head. Her eyes widened. But she did not scream or yell. She smiled. The young man felt warmth and tingling that he had never felt before. He stared at the beauty of her long hair, which cascaded like water down her back. Her dark eyes sparkled and showed no fear. Something about her invited the young man to stare back, offering and accepting friendship.

Every day for several months the two young people met at the mountain stream. And then they were married. Soon the woman conceived and her pregnancy became known. Only then did the spider god husband learn that childbirth meant death for most women. As the birthing time grew near, his despair deepened. He had never felt such pain.

The spider god left his wife. He walked and walked, not knowing or caring where he was going. When he stopped and looked up, he realized he was standing under an ancient tree, the breadfruit tree that once was his home. He climbed to the tallest branch, changed back to his spider form and called out to his mother. He told her the reason for his grief.

“Do not weep, my son,” replied his mother. “There is no reason for this cutting of the womb and killing of the mother. Listen to my directions. Follow them and your wife will not die. There is no need to slice open her belly. The child can be born between her legs. Listen and remember. When her labour pains begin, help her to bear them in silence. Let no one know that the child is coming. Let no one interfere. Keep the women and their knives away from her.” She smiled. “Fill your human web. Hold your child after the long struggle into this world . . . and hold your wife.”

And thus he did. The spider once again forsook his lofty home. He swung down from his web and ran back to the village. Only one thought possessed his mind. His wife. She was so full with a child when he had left. Was he already too late to save her life?

The hot sun was high above. The village was quiet. Children were sitting under shade trees weaving pandanus. Women were working in nearby taro patches, weeding and digging. The men and boys were paddling along the reef, throwing and pulling in fishing nets. Faster he ran, for as he neared his wife’s hut, he could hear her soft moans.

The spider god hurried to his wife and saw the pain and fear on her face. “Let us do what my mother instructed. She promises that you and the child will live.” The spider god carefully arranged the birthing mats and held his wife as the pains grew stronger and stronger. “Do not cry. Let your screams stay silent. We must not let the women know your birthing time has begun. I will not let their sharp knives touch you. You don't need to die. Our child shall have his mother and I shall have my wife.”

Not until the final moments of birth did his wife cry out, pleading for relief. Immediately the calls of the women were heard like echoes around the village. “Come. Hurry, run! Chant away dark spirits hungry for young life. Chase the spirits who wait as the cut is made. Hurry, soon a new one shall be pulled free.”

The spider god husband stood defiantly next to his wife. No one dared touch her without risking her own life. All fell silent. Anger filled the air; stares cut with hate like knives poised to fight. And then a new sound softened the stillness. A baby’s first cry.

Anger turned to confusion and then amazement. A child had been born. The child was fine and so was the mother.

The spider god beckoned to the women. “Come, the cord must be out.” And then he knelt beside his wife and watched as the cord binding child to mother was severed. He waited for the final birthing to finish. The women of his wife's clan took the cord and afterbirth to plant with a sapling tree to mark this place forever as the child’s home.

As the women left they murmured, “We have done as his mother goddess directed. We will use our bamboo knives to cut the cord. We have seen that a woman can give birth without them.”

Sources:

Micronesian Legends

Nancy Bo Flood, Beret E. Strong, William Flood

2002

Pages: 44-46

The Island of the Dolphin Girls

The Island of the Dolphin Girls

(A Legend from Losap Atoll, Chuuk)

There was once a chief’s son named Anoun Farrang. He was of the Lugenfanu clan, from Farrang, near Chuuk. He liked to sail with adult men from Losap to Chuuk. The ends of the sailing canoe were beautiful, like swans' necks reaching up toward the sky. The navigator was teaching him how to steer the canoe. Soon he would know enough and would become a man like them. He was practising with the tiller when a group of playful dolphins swam up to the canoe.

Losap Atoll, Chuuk State, Caroline Islands 

Ah, but they only appeared to be dolphins-they were really girls! They were quite taken with the chief’s son. “He’s so handsome,” they cried to one another. One very bold girl swam straight at the canoe. She leapt up, lashed her strong, grey tail, and knocked the boy overheard! The men didn't hear the splash or see the brown legs of the boy disappear into the dark blue water. And because the sea was gentle that day, they didn’t even notice that no one was steering the canoe.

The boy wasn't frightened. He said a chant to ask his magic powers to show him which direction to swim-north, south, east, or west. But his magic powers didn't answer. Then he said the chant again. His magic told him to dive straight down into the sea.

Down, down he swam. Finally, he came to a lush island covered with shady trees and flowers of every colour. In the middle of the island was a large pool-clean and deep and inviting! The boy hid in the bushes to see if the pool belonged to anyone. For a long time, he waited. Then the dolphins came. They dove from the salt water of the ocean into the clear fresh water of the pool. The boy stayed hidden in the bushes, watching. A dolphin climbed out of the pool and began taking off her skin. She turned into a beautiful girl. Then all the other dolphins did the same. They threw their skins into a big pile.

The box' was full of mischief. When the girls were splashing and laughing, he grabbed a skin. He made sure to grab the skin of the prettiest girl. Later, the girls put their skins back on and once again were dolphins. The prettiest girl looked everywhere but could not find her skin. She ran around and around, looking under every rock, looking up into the trees. She ran her hands down her girl's body over and over as if her precious skin were there. Finally, the other dolphins swam back into the ocean. The poor girl was left all alone.

The boy came out from where he had been hiding in the tall grass. “What's the matter?" he asked her.

“I lost my skin," she said. Tears spilt down her rosy cheeks.

At this, the boy felt such pity he gave her skin back. “Why did you do that?" she cried. "Why did you take it?”

Because I wanted to talk to you.” he said. He was sorry and not sorry.

“Oh," she said, staring at him. “Where did you come from?"

The boy told her about the voyage from Losap to Chuuk. He told how the dolphins had swum by and how one of them had knocked him out of the canoe. And how he had found the undersea island and the pool and the prettiest dolphin-girl.

“Oh dear,” she said. “I knocked you out of the canoe! I guess I’m like you- I wanted to make sure I could talk to you." They looked at each other and laughed.

The girl invited the boy to visit her house. While they were there, they heard the dolphins dive into the freshwater pool. "Uh oh," the girl said. “They’ll come here next. Quick, I'll hide you!" She hid the boy under a pile of woven mats. Soon the girls arrived. “So there you are,” they said. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

Another girl said, “It smells funny here. Like a human.”

The prettiest girl laughed. “Oh, you’re just smelling me. I smell funny because I've been stuck on land all day."

“No,” said the other girls. “It's not you. You're trying to trick us. Tell us who’s here!"

They wouldn't stop asking questions. Finally, the prettiest girl said. “Well then, what If someone is here? What are you going to do?”

“We'll be nice,” said one.

“We'll marry him,” said another.

“We'll take him swimming every day,” said a third.

“All right. He’s under the mats." The group of girls tore off the mats and found the boy.

“He’s so handsome!" they cried out. “Where did you find him?"

“What a good friend to have,” said one.

“Such a handsome husband," said another.

“Let’s take him swimming!” suggested the third.

They decided that the boy should stay in the house and someone should stay with him. The others would gather food. They liked to eat fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables-taro, pineapple, coconut, papaya-but they didn’t know how to cook. They ate everything raw. The boy rubbed sticks together until a spark appeared. Using twigs and dried leaves, he lit a fire. Then he roasted every food and made special mixtures-roasted coconut and mashed banana. He taught them how much better food tasted after it was cooked. This made them even happier they had found him.

Many days went by. When the prettiest girl came again to stay with the boy, he said. “I want to go home. I miss my parents and my island.”

When the other girls heard this, they cried many salty tears. "We want you to live here with us."

“I’m sorry. I need to go. My family is worrying about me. They must think I’m dead. I will try to come back here, but you must let me go home."

They held a farewell feast for the boy. He taught them some medicine especially for dolphins, using plants found near their bathing place. They would know how to cure themselves if they got sick. Then they built a special cage and piled their best foods inside. The boy climbed in and sat among the breadfruits and watermelons, loquats and mangos. How sweet and delicious it smelled! The dolphins lifted the cage onto their backs. Moving their tails up and down, up and down, they pushed the cage upward through the sea. They swam all the way back to Losap with the boy inside the cage.

When they entered Losap's lagoon, the people on that atoll cried. “Look! A great canoe is coming!" The dolphins pushed the cage closer and closer. Finally, the people could see that the canoe was actually a cage. When they saw the chief’s son inside, they yelled with joy. The people of Losap were happy that day. Gladly they accepted the gifts from the dolphin-girls, especially the gift of a human life.

Source

Pacific Island Legends: Tales from Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia.

Nancy Bo Flood, Beret E. Strong, William Flood

1991

Pages: 59 - 63