A 27-YEAR VANUATU FEUD ENDS WITH THE GIFT OF A BOY

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

A 27-YEAR VANUATU FEUD ENDS WITH THE GIFT OF A BOY

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (Vanuatu Daily Post, Aug. 22, 2011) – In Vanuatu, it is normal to "swap" or "exchange" girls in a marriage arrangement between villages but it is not often that a boy is offered for reconciliation.

A rare reconciliation ceremony in North Tanna one week ago today, involving the handing over of a healthy little boy by one village to another, is understood to be the highest form of reconciliation among the people of Tanna.

The people of Laketam Village in North Tanna have demonstrated the ultimate form of reconciliation by offering one of their very own, a little boy as the highest symbol of peace to Loanpakel Village also in North Tanna.

Police Media Officer Jane Borenga said the exceptional ceremony ended 27 years of clashes over land dispute between the Musa and Lopas Family of Laketam and Moses Iaruel of Loanpakel.

The differences between the two families boiled over in late June when extensive damage was caused to gardens, people were threatened, animals were killed and ten houses were destroyed.

Thirteen police officers were rushed to Tanna on August 12 to calm the situation. They arrested 52 people, now on bail, to appear in the Magistrate Court at Isangel on August 25.

"They have taken control of the situation warning the two parties and the community around North Tanna to stay calm and let justice take its course", the Media Officer said.

We spoke to a number of people from Tanna concerning the ceremony and while some confirmed, "It is the highest form of reconciliation in Tanna and you cannot go beyond that", others admitted, "We have heard of such a ceremony from our parents but we have not seen one yet".

According to the Police Media Officer, the boy was handed over by the family from Laketam Village who live on the land in question.

"The main reason for handing over a child instead of reconciling in the usual traditional way is that all the suffering they have been going through as a result of the dispute must come to an end. If any conflicts should arise in the future, the presence of the boy would immediately remind both parties of the importance of peace to prevail at all times."

The two parties also exchanged food crops and animals in the reconciliation ceremony.

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