THE ISLANDER'S PERSPECTIVE
Today the world is fraught with many challenges and I address here some of those issues from the perspective of the Pacific Islander. You may be surprised and even find a solution to some of our most complex issues. Be warned, however, the information on this page is based on personal experiences that mostly took place in Melanesia and specifically in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. No one should think this information is meant by me to be from scholarly research.
Racial Purity and Prejudice
Melanesians are very inclusive, at least that has been my experience. To support that viewpoint, I have also heard it from others who visited the region. In contrast, however, I have found some Polynesians, namely Samoans, to be exclusionary. At least it seems so to me.
Outside of the Pacific there is such a thing as the belief in racial purity. That is, people should stay within their own racial group ... no inter-marring outside their own group. That belief has been with us for a very long time. One terrible example is of course the history of Nazi Germany. Even today there are some who continue to believe in racial purity - that a person marrying outside his own race is terrible. But evidence suggests the more varied the ancestry and bloodline, the stronger are the people.
The people I got to know in the islands adopted the reverse practice, however. That is, no one was allowed to marry within their own clan. The doctrine of racial purity holds the opposite practice, namely no one is allowed to marry outside. Of course the practice in the islands was not based on race per se. It might have been originally meant to guard against incest. Nevertheless clans were not family units. They were huge. I doubt that anyone could connect the members of a clan with a single family. Nevertheless, you had to get a spouse from elsewhere.
Therefore, marrying across racial lines, while not practiced regularly, is not the problem it has been in the west. My initial experience totally disarmed me. I was welcomed not because I was the same but because I was different! There was no "We want to include you because you are like us.", but rather "We want to include you because you are unlike us!"
Outside of the Pacific there is such a thing as the belief in racial purity. That is, people should stay within their own racial group ... no inter-marring outside their own group. That belief has been with us for a very long time. One terrible example is of course the history of Nazi Germany. Even today there are some who continue to believe in racial purity - that a person marrying outside his own race is terrible. But evidence suggests the more varied the ancestry and bloodline, the stronger are the people.
The people I got to know in the islands adopted the reverse practice, however. That is, no one was allowed to marry within their own clan. The doctrine of racial purity holds the opposite practice, namely no one is allowed to marry outside. Of course the practice in the islands was not based on race per se. It might have been originally meant to guard against incest. Nevertheless clans were not family units. They were huge. I doubt that anyone could connect the members of a clan with a single family. Nevertheless, you had to get a spouse from elsewhere.
Therefore, marrying across racial lines, while not practiced regularly, is not the problem it has been in the west. My initial experience totally disarmed me. I was welcomed not because I was the same but because I was different! There was no "We want to include you because you are like us.", but rather "We want to include you because you are unlike us!"
Understanding and Misunderstanding of the Christian Message
Christianity is the predominate religion of the Pacific Islands - irrespective of the lingering hold of the old religions on the minds and culture of the people. There may be two groups of Christians in the world: those who are Christians because of birth, personal testimony, or culture, and those who are Christians because of Missionaries sent out from the west.
Of course there is no clear division between the two groups, but the significance of this statement is that churches in western nations have become much more liberal, whereas the men and women they send out to be missionaries have a freer hand to remain more conservative. Therefore, the converts from those conservative missionaries tend to be more conservative too, and adhere closer to Biblical instructions. Because of that, one will find a more primitive (closer to the original Biblical message) form of the religion in the islands. I think many of the islanders would be shocked to find out what their European counterparts believe and don't believe.
Of course there is no clear division between the two groups, but the significance of this statement is that churches in western nations have become much more liberal, whereas the men and women they send out to be missionaries have a freer hand to remain more conservative. Therefore, the converts from those conservative missionaries tend to be more conservative too, and adhere closer to Biblical instructions. Because of that, one will find a more primitive (closer to the original Biblical message) form of the religion in the islands. I think many of the islanders would be shocked to find out what their European counterparts believe and don't believe.
Business and Wealth
You've got no idea what strange ideas can swirl around in the mind of the islander with regard to business. It can be linked to superstition as well as standard ideas about how to amass wealth, or even what wealth is.
In Vanuatu, another Melanesian country in the South Pacific, some men had decided to start a local shipping company. There was a very great potential for success because there are a lot of small islands that need goods and services. Therefore, they easily got a loan from the bank, purchased a nice boat and started in business. It was great. There were so may customers. But ... they couldn't charge the priest because he was a missionary, and they couldn't be heartless and charge the poor women and men who needed to get their produce to market either. And, of course, there were the numerous friends who didn't have the money today but would pay them later. And of course they couldn't charge their brothers and sisters, cousins and aunties and uncles. Well you get the idea. The business did not last and they lost their boat.
I was on an airplane sitting next to an Indian salesman. We struck up a conversation. He flew around the islands filling orders and arranging shipments from China into the islands. "But," he said, "My customers are totally different from others outside the area." How so," I asked. And he said, "If I lower the price of an item they think its low quality so they tend to only buy those things that are higher priced!"
Finally, the people who are most respected are not those who have money and property, but those who give it away. There seems to be no lusting after stuff. It does not seem to be the mark of success as it is here in the west. I've met highly educated men going home to their village living in the most humble circumstances. How could I know the bare-chested man, living in a bush house, and wearing only a loin cloth down to his bare feet was a successful doctor who had been educated in New Zealand, Australia or England. He sure didn't look successful. And of course there was no Mercedes in the garage ... well there was no garage, or any roads either for that matter.
In Vanuatu, another Melanesian country in the South Pacific, some men had decided to start a local shipping company. There was a very great potential for success because there are a lot of small islands that need goods and services. Therefore, they easily got a loan from the bank, purchased a nice boat and started in business. It was great. There were so may customers. But ... they couldn't charge the priest because he was a missionary, and they couldn't be heartless and charge the poor women and men who needed to get their produce to market either. And, of course, there were the numerous friends who didn't have the money today but would pay them later. And of course they couldn't charge their brothers and sisters, cousins and aunties and uncles. Well you get the idea. The business did not last and they lost their boat.
I was on an airplane sitting next to an Indian salesman. We struck up a conversation. He flew around the islands filling orders and arranging shipments from China into the islands. "But," he said, "My customers are totally different from others outside the area." How so," I asked. And he said, "If I lower the price of an item they think its low quality so they tend to only buy those things that are higher priced!"
Finally, the people who are most respected are not those who have money and property, but those who give it away. There seems to be no lusting after stuff. It does not seem to be the mark of success as it is here in the west. I've met highly educated men going home to their village living in the most humble circumstances. How could I know the bare-chested man, living in a bush house, and wearing only a loin cloth down to his bare feet was a successful doctor who had been educated in New Zealand, Australia or England. He sure didn't look successful. And of course there was no Mercedes in the garage ... well there was no garage, or any roads either for that matter.
Life and Death
Westerners could learn a thing or two about life and death from the islander. I think they have a connection to something that is missing in the soul of the more modern man. Their concept about reality can be strange, but profound too. I learned a few things and came away asking myself, "How'd they do that?"
The church had a new attendee. He was a tall handsome man in maybe his sixties. What stood out, however, was his friendliness. Everyone was his friend. He'd grab your hand and pump it up and down, smiling from ear to ear, as if you were a relative ... a favorite one he hadn't seen in years. Everyone just loved the guy. You couldn't help it, his personal warmth was so infectious. Every time the church was having a service, John was present. But he lived in the village and so during the week would fellowship in the village Bible study gathering. One night he got up and walked around the Bible study circle shaking hands with every one telling them goodbye with his usual effusive good will. Then he sat down, laid down and died. No fear, just like going home I guess.
He was my father-in-law. He had been sick for two weeks and his wife sat by his side the whole time as was their custom. One day he got up, went outside and bathed. Put clean clothes on, went back in the house, and tried to shake is wife's hand. Many islanders are not romantic like we see on the tube. She was very tired and did not acquiesce. Later she said she wished she had. Well, it was time. He went back to bed and later just died. Again no fear, just like going home I guess.
These two stories are true. I think I got the details right. But of course what stands out is how did they know and why was there no fear. Death is often not feared like here in the west. It is just part of the total life experience. And of course, if there is strong faith, as there often is, well going home is not a problem ... is it?
The church had a new attendee. He was a tall handsome man in maybe his sixties. What stood out, however, was his friendliness. Everyone was his friend. He'd grab your hand and pump it up and down, smiling from ear to ear, as if you were a relative ... a favorite one he hadn't seen in years. Everyone just loved the guy. You couldn't help it, his personal warmth was so infectious. Every time the church was having a service, John was present. But he lived in the village and so during the week would fellowship in the village Bible study gathering. One night he got up and walked around the Bible study circle shaking hands with every one telling them goodbye with his usual effusive good will. Then he sat down, laid down and died. No fear, just like going home I guess.
He was my father-in-law. He had been sick for two weeks and his wife sat by his side the whole time as was their custom. One day he got up, went outside and bathed. Put clean clothes on, went back in the house, and tried to shake is wife's hand. Many islanders are not romantic like we see on the tube. She was very tired and did not acquiesce. Later she said she wished she had. Well, it was time. He went back to bed and later just died. Again no fear, just like going home I guess.
These two stories are true. I think I got the details right. But of course what stands out is how did they know and why was there no fear. Death is often not feared like here in the west. It is just part of the total life experience. And of course, if there is strong faith, as there often is, well going home is not a problem ... is it?
Generational Prejudice
This is a fact in the culture that disarms the westerner who arrives with his age prejudices.
There are youth associations of course but there is not that wall between the age groups that we see in the west. Everyone is treated as an equal! A young man may, if the old man wants him to, sit down and wait on him or just sit and talk. He will laugh and talk and talk and listen to him and the old man will tell the young man things that only the aged know. He will learn lessons and finally walk away a wiser young man. It will happen too with the young woman and the old woman. Advice will be given, support offered and good friendships developed.
I knew an American woman who spent a few months in Papua New Guinea and never got over the fact that the young people spent time with her as they would a friend. Every time she spoke about her experiences, it always ended up on that subject.
There are youth associations of course but there is not that wall between the age groups that we see in the west. Everyone is treated as an equal! A young man may, if the old man wants him to, sit down and wait on him or just sit and talk. He will laugh and talk and talk and listen to him and the old man will tell the young man things that only the aged know. He will learn lessons and finally walk away a wiser young man. It will happen too with the young woman and the old woman. Advice will be given, support offered and good friendships developed.
I knew an American woman who spent a few months in Papua New Guinea and never got over the fact that the young people spent time with her as they would a friend. Every time she spoke about her experiences, it always ended up on that subject.
Respect
For me this may be the most profound subject of all. It pervades the Melanesian islander's whole being in one way or another. It enters into his religion, his relationship with people of different races, genders, age groups and cultures.
Compassion / The Good Samaritan Spirit
I was walking, not standing by the road looking helpless, but simply walking along and a pickup truck stopped. The young Melanesian man inside said, "Do you need a ride sir?"
I had just been discharged from the hospital, and walked to my little car that had been in the parking lot for several days. Next to my car was a van full of young people waiting on something. I saw that my little car had a flat. I was too weak to fix it. "Excuse me," I said to all the young people in the van. "I'm really weak, could someone help me change this tire?" They piled out immediately and would not let me do anything and changed the tire.
I was on my way to church with my daughter, rounded the corner and blew out a tire. I pulled off the road, got out and stood there looking at it. Just then a pickup truck came up, stopped and everyone in the back jumped out. "We will change your tire for you," they said. I started to explain who I was and they cut me off saying, "We know who you are. We want to help you. You are in a bad area and want to help you so you can leave right away."
MY wife, daughter and I were walking through a mall. Some guy in the crowd touched my daughter inappropriately and I yelled at him. When everyone found out why I yelled twenty people took off running after him.
I had just been discharged from the hospital, and walked to my little car that had been in the parking lot for several days. Next to my car was a van full of young people waiting on something. I saw that my little car had a flat. I was too weak to fix it. "Excuse me," I said to all the young people in the van. "I'm really weak, could someone help me change this tire?" They piled out immediately and would not let me do anything and changed the tire.
I was on my way to church with my daughter, rounded the corner and blew out a tire. I pulled off the road, got out and stood there looking at it. Just then a pickup truck came up, stopped and everyone in the back jumped out. "We will change your tire for you," they said. I started to explain who I was and they cut me off saying, "We know who you are. We want to help you. You are in a bad area and want to help you so you can leave right away."
MY wife, daughter and I were walking through a mall. Some guy in the crowd touched my daughter inappropriately and I yelled at him. When everyone found out why I yelled twenty people took off running after him.
