It was late May when I embarked on my journey to the Polynesian Islands to do exploratory research. I was operating under a grant issued the previous year to study the culture of native people who lived on several Eastern Polynesian islands. This was an attempt to document language and cultural similarities to native Australian tribes. The work was both an exciting opportunity to see the world and learn a great deal about other societies at the same time.
I originally flew to Hawaii and then flew from there to American Samoa, which became a home base of sorts. I had set up a small, but comfortable office and proceeded to examine island charts for the South Pacific, especially looking at wind and ocean current patterns while trying to figure out which islands were more than likely the best candidates for early seagoing migrations.
By June, I was fully prepared and was equipped with a radio, GPS, notebooks, a camera, digital recorder and other items designed to carefully document each culture in a 300 mile swath between Australia and South America. On June 16th I had my pilot fly me to a small island in the Cook chain, which at first seemed uninhabited, however wanting to be thorough, I thought it would be best to spend a day or two hiking to verify this.
The seaplane pilot dropped me off in a lagoon with a broad sandy beach and informed me that he would be back as soon as he received my radio transmission. If he didn't hear anything from me in two days, he would come back and search for me himself.
Upon hitting shore, I found a medium-sized tree and fashioned a small lean-to from poles, line and a very small tarp, which I had managed to stow into my pack.
After venturing for approximately 1 hour into the climate and topography of this wonderful little jungle paradise, I stumbled upon my first signs of human life - footprints. The footprints were small, but sunk deep into the sandy soil.
I followed the footprints for what seemed like a few hours but felt like I was being watched. Despite the fact that I turned to look several times, in each case, the path was clear and I saw no one.
Suddenly I was startled to find two islanders standing side-by-side in front of me, each holding a long spear and wearing nothing more than a small colorful band on their heads. As I took a couple more steps towards them, they turned their spears horizontally to block my path and motioned with their open palms for me to stop. As I stood there, they said a few words in a dialect I was unfamiliar with and then indicated to me that I was to follow them. One positioned himself directly in front of me, while the other was directly behind, with his spear pointed at my back.
I walked for approximately one mile and we started to climb a hill. The surrounding terrain became rocky as the dark volcanic soil became sharp and apparent. After a while we came upon a cave and they quickly ushered me inside. The cave was very large and was well lit thanks to several chimneys and vents, which appeared above and to the sides, allowing sunlight and air to readily stream inside. As we ventured deeper and deeper into this cavern, numerous people appeared, standing on each side of us, as if to greet us during a formal procession. I was not surprised to find that these people were also completely naked and bore no clothing of any kind. Women were fully exposed, as were the men and this was not unusual for primitive people along many of these island chains. Their complexions were dark and their skin was smooth. They had only a few tattoos of rings around their wrists and ankles, something I would have to learn more about later.
As I neared the back of the cave, I noticed what appeared to be a large seat or chair, akin to a throne, and in that seat was a very large obese woman who wore a head dress, which was much larger and more ornate than the ones the others in this tribe were wearing. I was brought directly before her and was forced to kneel. I assumed that because of the respect and position this woman appeared to have, that she was probably the tribal queen or elder, and was accustomed to having her orders followed.
She spoke a few foreign words to her male warriors, who stood flanking my sides and then she spoke to me in very broken English. This was a little startling, but also not uncommon, remembering that Cook visited many of these islands himself, bringing gifts and some western influence. Although it was difficult to understand at times, she clearly stated that I was to remove all my clothing. Although I wasn't prepared to do this, I willingly complied and didn't feel too badly about it, since the entire population was devoid of clothing anyways. So I stripped off my shirt, boots and shorts until I was standing there completely nude before her. She then ordered me to kneel directly before her throne.