Vol. The GeographicalJournal, 167, No. 2, June 2001, pp.

125-138

On

the

convergence
from the

of

myth

and

reality:

examples

Pacific

Islands

D PATRICK NUNN
of Departmentof Geography,The University the South Pacific,Suva,Fiji nunn_p@,usp.ac.fj E-mail: 2001 Thispaper was accepted for publicationin February Various (groups of) myths from the Pacific Islands are discussed. Generic groups considered are diluvianmyths, myths involvingabrupt subsidence, abrupt uplift,and simultaneousabruptsubsidence and uplift.Specific myths,recentlyvalidated,illustrate of the superiority the mythicexplanationfor recent volcanismover availablegeological and the possibilityof myth recallinga migrationwhich took place nearly information, of of 3000 years ago. The implications the correct interpretation the geographicalbasis of myths for an understandingof environmentalchange in the Pacific are explored. recent, mythshave the potential in Particularly a regionwhere writtenhistoryis relatively phenomena and allow consideration for extending availablechronologies of particular of issues such as the role of infrequentcatastrophicevents in landscape evolution and to the role of (rapid)environmentalchange in culturaltransformation be considered more fully.
KEYWORDS:

change PacificBasin,myth,flood, subsidence, uplift,environmental

The

issue as to what extent certain myths, defined here as 'traditionaloral tales' (Kirk 1973), recall reality is unclear yet even its partialresolution might have implicationsfor the historyin particular of understanding environmental regions of the world. For example, debates about events in catastrophic the significanceof infrequent landscape evolution or, more widely, the role of (rapid)environmentalchange in culturaltransformation might benefit from an enhanced understandingof the correspondence between particular myths and reality.This paper examines selected (groups of) myths concerned with environmental change in the Pacific Islandswhich appear to be founded in reality, before commenting on the broaderimplicationsof this. Myths and oral tradition in the Pacific Islands Pacific Island peoples have strong oral traditions and (Finnegan Orbell1995) althoughsince the time of Europeaninfluence on their cultures alien elements have been incorporated into certain traditions(e.g. the diluvianaccount of Hawaitian Nutu [Noah] reported by Spence 1933) and some
ISSN 001 6-7398/01/0002-01 25/$00.20/0

have been (re-) invented (e.g. the fictitious yet originatedin East widely-believedstory that Fijians Africaexposed by Geraghty 1977). Compared to 100 years ago, far fewer people in the Pacific Islands today are aware of their oral traditions integrity which has compounded the loss of cultural and identity that underpins many contemporary The expressionsof indigenousfrustration. rediscovery of authentic cultural traditions could help restoreself-esteemto such peoples, manyof whom and economically. geographically are marginalized Humans occupied most Pacific Islands only within the past 3000 years (Figure1); the earliest groups in the South Pacificand west of Samoa and Tonga decorated their pottery in a distinctive style which makes theirpresence compara(Lapita) tivelyeasy to trace throughthis region. Most indigenous peoples in the Pacific Islandshave resided there for several hundred years and, although certain myths may have been passed down orally for generations,it is not generallythought that oral traditionscan survivefor even close to 1000 years in this region. This paper treats six groups of myths: diluvian (flood) myths, those in which islands subside
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rapidly,those in which they rise rapidly,those in which abrupt subsidence and uplift occur simultaneously, and then two examples for which specific analogues withinthe PacificIslandsregion are unknown. Although the first four themes are global, the lattertwo are local and their inclusion arbitrary,based on the author's geological and archaeologicalfieldwork.

(e.g. Moerenhout1837; Churchward 1934). Unless specified, the following account cites only myths consideredto be authenticindigenousproducts. Aside from the persistentcreation myth in many parts of the Pacific islands (includingHawaitiand New Zealand)involvinga cataclysmicflood engulfing the world necessitating its re-creationby the ancestral god Tagaloa (Tangaroa),the origins of which are uncertain(Reed 1974; Savill1978; Flood et al. 1999), flood myths among Pacific Island Diluvianmyths peoples appear to recall inundationof (groups of) Diluvian myths have been recorded from most islands, commonly rapid, which only a small parts of the world and have generic attributes number of people survive by retreating to the suggesting to many commentatorsthat they recall highest ground. In many the waters recede only events of (near-) global extent or incidence. when a small area of dry land remains. They Although attention focused on global floods typicallyinvolve and their mechanisms duringthe development of a huge wave of water[which]rushedover the landand diluvialism, most field evidence came from contitore trees up by their roots.The expanding swept sea nental areas, particularly Europe and western in everyonefar,faraway Asia and was supportedby accounts such as those Floodet al. 1999, 89 in the Book of Genesis and the Epicof Gilgamesh (Huggett 1989). Indeed it has been noted that authentic diluvian myths are generally far fewer Examples come from Hawaiti(Beckwith1940, 170 among oceanic island peoples (Andersen 1928), 215 223; Reed 1974, 15) the LauIslandsof eastern many of those myths sometimes claimed to be Fiji(Hocart 1929, 201-3), the Marquesas(Palmer authentic being actually of European derivation 1876-7; Handy 1930, 110), New Guinea (Flood

Theconvergence mythand reality of

et al. 1 999,

127

Traditional conflict withthe location Atlantis history on PukapukaAtoll in the elements of here. thereare analogues the storyof of northernCook Islandsis divided into periods In the Pacific whichhavenot,to the author's knowledge, beforeandafter hugewavesweptoverthe island; Atlantis a the event is referred as te mate wolo (the great yet been employedin the interpretation Plato's to of account. death;Beaglehole Beaglehole and 1938,378). is Thereis no particular mysteryin the environ- The best-documented of the island Burotu whichfeatures manymythsamongthe mental in interpretation these myths. the island (Pulotu) of All groupsfromwhich they come are vulnerable peoplesof Fiji, to SamoaandTonga is probably and a of Maoriand tsunami,particularly those traversing Pacific homeland some nativeHawaitians, the from the Peru-Chile Trenchor Aleutian Trench. other PacificIslandpeoples (once) locatedat or 1993). Somefloodmyths refer periods torrential close to MatukuIslandin Fiji(Geraghty also to of mentionits subsidence. rainand/orstormswhichaccompany highwaves Manyaccountsof Burotu Islandin the suggestingthat they recall storm rather than Forexample,the people of Kabara Lau tsunami events. Tsunami storm or surges associated southern groupsay 'thatin the olden days it with Pacific tropicalcyclones commonlyreach was above the water but now is submerged' several metres in height and wash across low (Thompson1940, 116). Some accounts from talk subsiding following earthan islands; they regularly affectall the islandgroups Matuku of Burotu from which rapid flood myths are known quake(Geraghty 1993).The authorhas recorded (e.g.French whichreportedly Polynesia Vitousek sank 1963; Hawaitian storiesof other Fijiislands Islands Macdonald abruptly; was locatedat Davetalevu one 1947). between Considerably higher waves sometimes affect Caqalai Leleuvia and Islands, another Davetatabu at smaller areasof the Pacific. (Nunn2001). Locally-generated on TotoyaIsland tsunamiassociated withmega-landslides caused Mythsdescribing have islandsor groupsof islands waves as high as 516 metresin confinedfiords whichonce existedbut are now submerged are (Pararas-Carayannis andareimplicated the known from many parts of the Pacificinclud1999) in deposition coralgravels of foundover 300 metres ing Hawaiti(Rice 1923, 31), Banabain Kiribati above sea level on Lanati Molokati 1972. 50-51; Maudeand Maude1994, and islandsin (Grimble Hawaiti (Mooreand Moore 1984; Moore et al. 14ff),the Marquesas (Handy1930, 19-20 119), 1994). SolomonIslands (Sanga1989, 17), the Tuamotus Floodmythswhichlackmotifanalogues the (Stimson1937, 39-41), Yap (Ashby 1978, 10, in Pacific Islands region alsoknown. rapid are A flood 18-20), and more generallywithin Micronesia myth from Vitilevu island Fiji beeninterpreted (Grimble in has 1972, 130) and Polynesia (Smith1910; 1940, 250). as recallingthe breachingof a landslidedam Beckwith (Anonymous and Rodda 1995). A myth from Otherislandsinkings the Pacifichave been in New Guinearecollects more recentlyand might be conhow an old woman,realiz- corroborated ing the worldwas in dangerof beingsubmerged, sidered borderline between myth and fact. In planted a line of 'twigs' along the beach and the southernCook Islands,the islandTuanahe was thusconfinedthe ocean (Myth fromOceania, (Tuanaki) comparatively knownto indigwell 124 Savill 1978): a recollection a traditional of method enous sailors,foreign whalersand government of shoreline protection (Mimura Nunn1998). officersuntil it disappeared and sometimeafter AD 1842 (Crocombe 1974).A similar report existsfor the volcanicislandVictoria the Cooks which in Islands whichsubsided rapidly withinhuman disappearedsometime after the early 1880s memory (Percival 1964).An oraltradition recounted the to Theideathatan island disappear itsentirety author can in recalls sinking an island, the of provisionally within shortperiodof timeis one whichhas,for namedLingland, of Pentecost a north Island east and manyscientists, been consignedto the realmsof of Ambae Island Vanuatu, bifo yet (very in bifo long fantasy accountof the storyof Atlantis. on Thereis ago). The sinkingwas survivedby people who a widespread suspicion Plato's that original account settledat Baitora southMaewoIsland on when it of Atlantis was allegorical at least wrong in hadonlyone village it;nowit has20. Thesinking or on placingthe sunken island-continent of the of Lingland also notedin the Remark west was Bookof Straits Gibraltar, view borne out in recent USS Narragansett, kept by Commander of a Meade decadesby the absenceof evidencewhichwould between 1872 and 1873 (Stommel1984). A

1889,9-13), Samoa(Powell1887), Tahiti whichdestroyed (Henry effectsof the 1500-BCeruption 1928,445-8; Beckwith940,319), Tonga(Gifford much of TheraIslandin the Aegean may have 1 1924, 201) and the Tuamotus into (Montiton1874). been incorporated Plato'saccountbut other

105), New Zealand (Eley1861; White be expectedto have been found by now. Some

128

Theconvergence mythand reality of

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Figure 2 The coastline of Hawai'i Island around Keauhou Bay showing the new shoreline formed following rapid subsidence during an earthquake on 29 November 1975 Source: Nunn 1994, after Henderson 1980

comparablemyth, partlycorroboratedby geological investigations, concerns Yomba Islandin Papua New Guinea (Mennis 1981 ). The disappearanceof the volcanicislandKuwaein southernVanuatuas a resultof its AD-1452 eruptionwas documented by Monzieret al. (1994). Althoughsand cays may be either washed away or formon islandreefs duringstorms,all the stories mentioned above involve larger, higher islands and it is probable that the islands themselves did actually sink abruptly either wholly or in part. Well-documentedanalogues come from the island Hawaitiwhere, for example, duringan earthquake on 29 November 1975 parts of the south coast

sankas much as 4.5 metres (Figure Similar 2). rapid subsidence occurred along the Alaskancoast during the 1964 Prince William Sound earthquake (Plafker and Rubin19 78). Not all such subsidence is coseismic (coincident with earthquakes).Some appears to be aseismic, resultingfrom mass movement down the flanksof oceanic islands. Prodigious submarine landslides along the HawaitianRidge are believed to have come largely fromsubaerial volcanoes (Mooreet al. 1989); the giant cliffs (pali) on many Hawaitian islandsare likelyto be landslidescars.A largeflank landslideaffected Niue Islandcausing materialto pile up on the ocean floor off the south-westof the

of Theconvergence mythand reality

129

which during an collapseof each stampmayrecall earthquake island(Hill 1996). Massivelandslide rose 1-2 metres. by Ocean)wasdocumented the island (Indian Island Reunion Many other Pacific Islandgroups experience AtoSl in of Gillotet al. (1994).A portion Johnston events (Nunn 1994 the centralPacificwas removedby a landslide recurringcoseismic-uplift 1987) and there 1998). These include the limestone islands of flank(Keating alongits southern god of wherethe messenger the ancestral of have been calls to recognizethe recurrence Tonga, issue Tagaloaone day observeda new island.On a research applied sucheventsas an important and higher, on it he secondViSitf observed hadrisen 1998;Nunn1999). (Keating and this is the originof the of The better-authenticated these accountsall a thirdeven higher, high island conspicuously-terraced coral-reeflimestone involvepartof the flanksof a still-existing 1907, 443-8; Reed 1974, 11). by This abruptly. is explicable deep-seated island'Eua(Reiter sinking suchan Another example comes from the high limealthough Yet landslides. it is also possible, of Islands New that formally, deep- stone islandOuveain the Loyalty event has not been recorded It the couldremove top of an island Caledonia. concernsa youthwho fled into the seatedlandslides to Wishing get on and interior rested a rock. thanjust partof its flanksthereby island's edifice rather of explainingthe abrupt disappearance entire a betterview thanthe rockafforded, in as islands recalled myths. to the he commanded rockon whichhe was sitting, raise The only mythknownto the authorfromthe the whichit did.Theyouth,enjoying links whichspecifically earthquakes itselfa littlehigher, PacificIslands when the rock with abruptsubsidencecomes from the Loyalty sensation,said 'Go higher,rock,higher', obeyed himas before.The people of a villageclose byr are whereearthquakes of Islands New Caledonia off observingthe ascent of the boy, hurried in a body linkedto both upliftand subsidence,the latter elevated to try and rescue him from his dangerously being explainedas attemptsby demons to pull (Hadfield position.The youth,seeing the people comingtowards domain subterranean yamsdownto their him, and realisinghis wonderful power, called out 1920, 113). withinhumanmemory upliftedrapidly Islands rose how recalling islands are There farfewermyths but in rapidly the Pacific, they do exist and their are locations instructive of settlement the high One concernsthe initial limestoneislandNiue in the (<70 m) coral-reef and centralPacificand recallshow Huanaki Fao, Tonga swamto Niuefrom two menwhoapparently (450 km away),found it to be just above the surfaceof the ocean. So they climbedup on the feet.Up with on and island stamped itssurface their and rose the island, the waterranoff and dryland againandup sprang Thentheystamped appeared. 1861). (Turner treesandothervegetation the grass, muchas it is today was the Actually island probably when firstsettledby humans(about 1900 years for ago) but it has been rising around2.3 million of yearsand it is possiblethat manifestations the upliftprocesswere witnessedand theirmemory preservedin myth by the island'searly human researchby the Recent unpublished inhabitants. the authorsought to understand late Cenozoic the whether island of history Niue,particularly uplift jerks)or (in coseismically periodic has been rising Whilemostgeophysi(monotonically). aseismically some field evidence cal modelsfavourthe latter, which 3), (Figure a conclusion suggeststhe former and maybe borneout by the storyof Huanaki Fao no though suchevents Even on stamping the island. history Niue, of in have been recorded the formal
and higher, higher', awayhe shot rockt 'Higher, excitedly, up farbeyondhumanreach. 1 Hadfield 920r225

of Otherexamples mythswhichmayrecallrecur(Barker eventscome fromFiji rentcoseismic-uplift 1926), Papua New Guinea (Myth 115 from in 1978),elsewhere Tonga(Gifford Savill Oceania, by corroborated myths 1924, 15) andare possibly islandsas up' the involving 'fishing of (limestone) 1940, (Beckwith Islands in recorded the Hawaitian (Ashby1978, 22-23), 308-9 372-3), Micronesia 1989, 17),andmanyother (Sanga Islands Solomon groups. Island Pacific and subsided uplifted simultaneously Islands rapidly plateboundat large earthquakes convergent Many abrupt aries in the Pacificinvolvesimultaneous from and uplift subsidence thereareexamples and islandsbeing such locationsof myths involving whichcould upsidedown,an interpretation turned of havebeen placeduponthe uplift one partof an with islandsimultaneously subsidenceof another 1972, (Grimble come fromKiribati part.Examples 51), the Marquesas(Tahiaoteaa1921, 496), 1938, (Churchward 362), Islands in Rotuma the Fiji uatu 1 ( the TuamotusBeckwith 940r3 18), and Van in 1891, 168). On Rennell Solomon (Codrington the tried the Islands, god Mautikitiki raising island

130

Theconvergence mythand reality of

Alofi Wharf
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Theconvergence mythand reality of with his fishhookbut it slippedso thatonly partwas raised while part was submerged to form the lake which still exists (Text 39 in Elbertand Monberg 1965). On Efate Island in Vanuatu,oral traditions state that,afterthe demigod Mauiand his grandson fished up the island,'it rocked and tipped crazilyin the ocean' (Luomala1949,122); Efateis an island prone to regularcoseismic uplift and subsidence (Howorth 1985). Simultaneousabruptupliftand subsidence have been recordedmore recentlyfromseveralplaces in the Pacific. For example, during the 1964 Prince WilliamSound earthquake,maximumupliftof 11.3 metres on Montague Island occurred simultaneouslywith maximumsubsidence of 2.3 metres on KodiakIsland,300 kilometresaway (Plafker and Rubin1978). Duringthe Christmas 1853 earthEve quake on TongatapuIslandin Tonga,the north-east partof the island
was tilted down to an inclinationsufficient to produce an encroachment of the sea for nearly two miles inland, graduallydiminishingto the south-eastern shore as far as Nuku'alofa,where it now washes the roots of a tree that grew within a garden adjoining a house that has been entirely destroyed. The western coast has visibly risen some feet and a spring of water has sunk below the surface Sawkins 1856, 383

131

Such instances strengthenthe interpretation the of various myths cited as recallingsimultaneousuplift and subsidence. The specific tectonic process involving (rapid) uplift,slow subsidence and then (rapid)uplift,characteristicof areas in the Pacific prone to recurrent coseismic uplift (e.g. Ota 1991; Nunn 1998), is recalled by a myth from the high limestone island Rennell in Solomon Islands(Text 31 in Elbertand Monberg 1965).

Specific myths validated Two mythswhich appear unique withinthe Pacific Islandshave recentlybeen validatedby the author, much against expectations, and are recounted briefly here to further illustratethe potential of mythsfor decipheringlandscapeand humanhistory A myth recallingearlyhumanmigration paths: in this region. Naigani-Moturiki-Ovalau, centralFiji The firstpeople to colonize the islandgroupsof the A myth recalling post-settlementvolcanism: western South Pacific were part of the Lapita Kadavu, southernFiji Cultural Complex, identifiedprincipally the disby The island Kadavuand its outliers in the south of tinctive style of pottery decoration (Kirch1997). the Fijigroup (Figure4) formed from the coalesc- One of the firstLapita settlementsdiscovered in Fiji ence of a series of late Cenozoic volcanoes, one of was at Matanamuanion Naigani Island in the the youngest and most conspicuous of which central part of the group (Best 1981; Kay 1984). occurs at its westernmost extremity(Nunn 1998; This settlement is believed to have been occupied

Nunn and Omura 1999). Thisvolcano is known as Nabukelevu(Plate1) and its currentstate of activity has long been of concern to the people living around it and farming its fertile slopes. Surveys between 1988 and 1998 by the authorand others suggested that the last eruption had probably occurred around 50 000 years ago and that the danger of Nabukelevuerupting in the future was remote. While in the Kadavuisland group, the author visited the island Ono off the eastern end of the main island (Figure4) and was told a myth, two versionsof which also appearedin printin the early twentieth century (Beauclerc 1909; Deane 1909). The salientpartof this mythstates that, a long time ago, the chief of Ono (Tanovo)was accustomed to walk down to the beach in the late afternoon to view the setting sun. One day he walked to the beach but found that his view of the sun had become obscured by a mountain (Nabukelevu) which had risen at the western end of the main island.Enraged this,Tanovowove giantcoconutat fibre baskets and went duringthe nightto remove earth from the mountain.The chief of Nabukelevu (Tautaumolau) caught Tanovo one night and chased him away, in the course of which he dropped earth at the islands Dravuni (ash) and Galoa (Figure4). This myth could be interpretedas recallingan eruption of Nabukelevu(and possibly Galoa) with associated ash falls within the period of human occupation of Kadavu(<3000 years), which conflicts markedly with the resultsof earliergeological surveys (Nunn 1999a). Recent geological investigations of western Kadavu (Shane Cronin, personal communication 1999) utilized newly-exposed roadcuts in one of which a palaeosol containingpotsherdswas found overlain by several feet of in situ tephra, demonstrating that at least one eruption must have occurredin this area withinthe period of its human occupation. The conclusion is that the myth was correct and the earlier scientific surveys were wrong in theirattribution a pre-human to the of age most recent eruptionof Nabukelevu.

132

The convergence of myth and reality

Plate 1 The volcano Nabukelevu which dominates the western extremity of Kadavu Island in southern Fiji

2900-2700 yearsago, making one of the earli- The coincidence between the only Lapitasettleit with the exact est sites in Fiji(Anderson Clark1999). The ment sites on Naiganiand Moturiki and only other Lapita discoveredin centralFiji, places mentioned in the oral traditionas having site travelledis following extensive surveys on Naigani and been those between which Laginiwasa and of age Moturiki islands, at Saulevu Moturiki is on Island remarkable may recalla migration Lapita between these islands. If this is the case, then it (Nunn1999b). Anoraltradition Naigani from Island, known would demonstratethe potentialof mythsto illumiwell historyin this context (comamongitspeopleandthoseof neighbouring islands nate ancient migration and first told to the authora decade ago (Eci parable situations were described by Terrelland Kikau, personalcommunication 1990), concerns Irwin [1972] and Shutler and Evrard[1991]). If its earlysettlement (Ramoli Nunn2001).This traces of Lapitasettlementwere also to be uncovand was a time when resources were scarceand the ered at Rukuruku Lovoni,it would lend credence or myth has a factual coconutwas valuedso highly thattwo cousins- to the idea that this particular Laginiwasa Rakavonowere banishedfrom basis which is of extraordinary and antiquity. Naigani uprooting for youngcoconutsand eating their tender flesh at the place called Niucavu. Laginiwasa, Chief'sson, sailed for Moturiki Discussion the Island, landing Saulevu, northof Nasesara The four generic groups of mythsdiscussed above at just village. Rakavonowas compelled to swim to demonstratethat to varyingdegrees the types of Ovalau wherehe landedat Rukuruku thence infrequentlarge-magnitude and environmental changes travelledinlandto Lovoni(Plate 2). Today the which have been recorded as having affected peopleof Naigani Island recognize theirtraditional Pacific Islands during the period of their written relationship with those of Nasesaraand Lovoni historyalso affected them in the times before this, (Figure 5). after humans had settled the various islands and

The convergence of myth and reality

133

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Figure 4 Southern Fijishowing Kadavuand Ono islands and other places mentioned in the text

island groups cited. Although this conclusion is unsurprising, author is not aware of it having the been stated explicitlybefore with reference to the PacificIslandsregion. Perhapsits most importantimplicationis that it should encourage a more complete surveyof these environmental changes in both space and time. For example, knowledge of the conditions necessary for mega-landslides occur on the flanksof Pacific to Islandsis based on a few well-studiedsituationsand would benefit from examination of sites where myths(but no studies)exist. Datingmega-landslide events would help predict their future recurrence. Thisalso appliesto coseismic-uplift events, manyof which affect islandsin the Vanuatu-Fiji-Tonga area with recurrencetimes of 400-1000 years. Myths which involve stories of repeated coseismic-uplift events, constrained in time by the human occupation of the particular island(s),have the potential to inform geophysical models. This point is clear

from the account of Huanakiand Fao stamping repeatedlyon the surfaceof Niue for, if this mythis interpretedcorrectly, it means that at least two coseismic-uplift events occurred on this island between 1900 years ago (when the island was colonized) and around200 years ago when written records began to be kept. In terms of evaluatingthe role of catastrophic events in landscape change, the utilityof myths is manifestalthoughthe potential is less because of the tendency of humansto amplifyextreme events relativeto more usual changes. Nevertheless the potentialof largefloods to cause majorchanges is clear,and perhapsadditional detailsof the natureof such changes could be gleaned by the collectionof more focused details from that dwindlingnumber who stillknow their people's oral traditions. Megalandslides, coseismic upliftand subsidence are processes which have played a majorrole in terms of island sculpture but the magnitude of this has

134

The convergence of myth and reality

_E.=$
Plate 2 The view from the beach at Niucavu on Naigani Island across to Ovalau and MoturikiIslands

perhaps gone unrecognized because of the low frequency of these events (Keatingand McGuire 2000). Understandingthe role which extreme events have played in cultural transformation the Pacific in Islandsis an issue which is gatheringmomentum and which could be informedby myth.Most flood mythsdwell on the disruption humancommunito ties; it is no surprise that most also talk about survivors, and one wonders how many floods occurredwhich had none. Long-term chronologies of the frequency of naturalphenomena, such as tsunami or storm recurrence, and coseismic changes, are increasingly being recognized as providinginvaluable insightsnot only to the past at one place but also to teleconnections which help explain change elsewhere. A good example is the record of ElNino events since AD 622 (Anderson 1992) which has been employed in the understanding of the AD-1300 climate deterioration and sealevel fall in the Pacific(Nunn 1999, 2000, 2000a).

The potentialfor myths to corroboratesuch changes should not be underestimated for, although corroboration be tenuous, is of that may it greatvalue particularly when no other data are available. A finalpointconcernsthe antiquity informaof tion interpreted frommyths. Superficiallyseems it unlikely such information that could survivein a form whichcanbe correctly interpreted nearly after 3000 years but this may be possiblein insular societieswhere oraltraditions at the heartof lie cultural integrity. of thisideacouldbe carried Tests out for those specific mythswhich have been validated recently above).Dating the most (see of recenteruption Nabukelevu of Volcano wouldgive an ideaof the antiquity the mythof Tanovo. of The discoveryof Lapita potteryat Rukuruku and/or Lovoni would strengthen case for an age of the morethan2000 yearsfor the mythinvolving the banishment Laginiwasa of and Rakavono from Naigani Island.

of Theconvergence mythand reality

135

Naigani

17850'E

Rukuruku

1740'S

Ovalau
- Lovoni
*-

Moturiki
0 Km
islands otherplaces and Ovalauand Moturiki routesbetween Naigani, showingmigration Figure Partof centralFiji 5 in mentioned the text

136

Theconvergence mythand reality of

Beckwith M 1940 Hawaiianmythology Yale University Press, New Haven Best S 1981 Excavations at site VL 21/5, Naigani Island, Fiji unpublished report Department of Anthropology, Universityof Auckland, New Zealand ChurchwardC M 1938 Rotuman legends Oceania 8 104-16 247-60 351-68 482-97 Churchward J 1934 Cosmic forces of Mu Neville Spearman, London Codrington R H 189 1 The Melanesians Clarendon Press, Oxford Crocombe M T 19 74 Maretu's narrative of Cook Islands history University of Papua New Guinea, Department of History, Port Moresby Deane W 1909 Tanovu - the God of Ono Transactions the of Fiji Society 1909: 39-42. repririted in Domodomo 12: 30-35 Elbert H and Monberg T 1965 From the two S canoes: oral traditions of Rennell and Bellona islands University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu EleyH 186 1 Traditions of the deluge among the Maoris RecreativeScience 2 195 Finnegan R and Orbell M eds 1995 South Pacific oral traditions Indiana University Press, Bloomington Flood Strong, B E and Flood W 1999 Pacific B, island legends Bess Press, Honolulu Geraghty 1977 How a myth is born-the story P of the Kaunitonistory Mana 2 25-29 1993 Pulotu, Polynesian homeland. Journal of the PolynesianSociety 102 343-84 Gifford W 1924 Tongan myths and tales Bulletin E 8 BP Bishop Museum, Honolulu Gillot Y, Lefevre J C and Natival P 1994 P Model for the structural evolution of the volcanoes of Reunion Island EarthPlanet. Science Letters12 2 (3-4 ) 2 9 1-3 0 2 Grimble 1972 Migrations, A myth and magic from the Gilbert Islands Routledge and Kegan Paul, London Hadfield 1920 Among the natives of the Loyalty E group Macmillan,London HandyS C 1930 Marquesanlegends Bulletin69 B E P Bishop Museum, Honolulu Henderson S 1980 Observations on colonization of R subsided shorelines at Halape and Keauhou, Hawaitiin Smith C W ed Proceedings of the third Conference in Natural Sciences, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park University of HawaiiPress, Honolulu 155-63 Henry1928 Ancient Tahiti,based on material T recorded by JM Orsmond Bulletin48 B P Bishop Museum, Honolulu HillJ 1996 Niue and adjacent seamounts in R Meylan M A andGlasby G P eds ManihikiPlateau, Machias and CapricornSeamounts, Niue, and Tonga Trough:results of Tui cruises Technical Bulletin 10 SOPAC, Suva 31-44 Hocart 1929 The LauIslands,FijiBulletin62 B P AM Bishop Museum,.Honolulu Howorth1985 Baseline coastal studies, Port Vila, R Vanuatu: Holoceneupliftrecord and evidence for recurrenceof large earthquakes nical Report 51 SO PAC, Suva Tech

Conclusions This paperhasshownthatbothgeneric unique and myths within Pacific the Islands havethe potential to illuminate issues of landscape history and environmental change.It is hopedthatthis realizationmight the increased see employment myths of in reconstructing scenarios changeand in the of understanding the spatial of distribution various of phenomenain this region. More examplesare needed to test and develop manyof the ideas raisedabove. In particular, compilations of fromthe PacificIslands otherinsular myths and regions have the potentialto illuminate chronologies of extremeevents (such as abrupttectonic movements,mega-landslides phenomenal and waves) which known are onlyincompletely geological from data. Andat a broader scale,it is hoped thatthis study encourages use of information as the such those elements myths of described thispaperby in scientists interested the distant of areas,like in past thetropical Pacific, wherethe formal collection of data beganonlycomparatively recently. Acknowledgements This paperis dedicatedto the memoryof Mary Nunn FRGS. am grateful Dr PaulGeraghty I to for his critical reading an earlier of draft, Professor to JohnLynch for discussions about 'Lingland', andto my research assistantsFrancisAreki, Roselyn Kumar, Tamara Osborne and Wainikiti Waqa-Bogidrau. References
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