This is a continuation of the story about iTaukei missionaries in Papua New Guinea that was published last week.
Please read on.
Setoki Galuvakadua is finally a happy man to see that the very first Fijians who went as missionaries to Papua New Guinea in the late 19th century have had their story being told.
Galuvakadua, a former civil servant, could not contain his excitement as he shared his story about these missionaries, who left Fiji in 1875 to spread the Gospel in New Ireland and New Britain areas of PNG.
“My name is Setoki Galuvakadua from Samale Village, Nukuni on Ono-i-Lau. Daniel Johnson and I were the first people sent to PNG by the Fiji Government to establish the Fiji Embassy in late September in 1992. Dan returned to Fiji in December 1992 and I was appointed as the first secretary. I worked there for four years and I was privileged to meet some people and also knew the history on the early missionaries to PNG,” Galuvakadua said.
He confirmed that some of the very first Fijian missionaries were killed and eaten by some people in New Britain and to this day, the profound impact of these missionaries can still be seen in that area of PNG.
The missionary who met this gruesome fate was Sailasa Naucukidi, two teachers named Peni Luvu and Livai Naboro and a youth called Timoti, who was brought over by Sailasa to be his helper.
This was recorded by Brown in his diary which was later used by Australian biographer Margaret Reeson in her book about George Brown, Mission in the Pacific George Brown 1893-1917.
Reeson tells us that Brown chaired the meeting on Palm Sunday in 1878 where he gave permission for the Fijian missionaries and their Samoan brethren to go to war against the locals for the deaths of their fellow missionaries.
Brown described how difficult a decision to make for him as it means going against the very principle of the Gospel he was trying to preach to the locals.
“To say that I felt deeply the responsibility of my position is to say but little … I felt that I alone was answerable for it and that if we failed or if any more of the teachers were killed on me alone would rest the blame … I considered also that I should probably be accused of trying to force Christianity by war on the people and that I must be quite prepared for some not very complimentary remarks on ‘fighting missionaries’.… All these things were fully considered and the conviction was forced upon me that we must endeavour to punish the murderers if only for the protection of our own lives,” Brown wrote in his diary.
Above all, he feared the retribution he could get from his fellow London Missionary Society members in Australia and from the rest of the Christian world.
On Easter of 1878, while the rest of the world was celebrating the resurrection, the Fijians, the Samoans and along with a few European traders already settled there, launched their revenge.
They burned villages and killed people who were alleged to have murdered and ate Sailasa, the teachers Luvu and Naboro as well as Sailasa’s helper Timoti.
Though the figure had always been disputed, it is said that 50 people were killed and numerous villages were burned.
These were recorded by Reeson in her book but according to Galuvakadua, the villages in New Britain and New Ireland, the places where these Fijian missionaries carried out their mission, do have an undocumented version of how the three Fijians were killed and eaten.
“Sometimes later when they had been allocated to the respective villages, one of the chiefs saw a Fijian cutting a coconut with his cane knife that he had brought in from Fiji. It was the first time that the chief had seen the cane knife and he asked the Fijian, presumably Sakiusa as mentioned in the book, to give it to him.
“Sakiusa knew very well that the chief would use it as weapon to wage war among other chiefs. Sakuisa kindly responded that when he went back to Fiji, he would bring a knife for him.
“On that night he went to his people and told them that the Fijian missionary had a dangerous weapon and could cut coconuts into half without any problem, so they decided to kill Sakiusa and steal his cane knife. Sadly Sakiusa was killed and the lovo pit where he was cooked still remains at Rabaul today,” he said.
Galuvakadua said he visited the lovo pit in 1993 with Joe Ratuvuku, the late JD Maharaj and Luke Ratuvuki, when they were on a scoping mission to establish an embassy there.
He added that another version of the original landing of the missionaries, which was not recorded by Brown or Reeson had always been dramatised by the people of the New Britain area who received the missionaries.
“The story is not included in the book by Margret Reeson and there is no written documents but translated either orally or drama. The stories which were usually dramatised by Tolai women of the province of Rabaul.
“During our church services they told the story on how the early missionaries led by George Brown and some Fijian and Tongans first arrived at a location at East New Britain, now called Namatanai.
“The Tolai mistook the Samoans for Tongans as no Tongans were part of the mission because during Brown’s recruitment drive in 1875, Tonga was under strict guarantine because of the measles epidemic in Fiji and the John Wesley didn’t sail there.
“When they arrived and anchored out at the sea they saw that the islanders were very hostile and were ready for war. George Brown was reluctant to lead the first party to the shore but three people volunteered to go, two Fijians and a Tongan.
“On the way to the shore they decided among themselves that as soon they reached the beach they would kneel and sing a hymn before they prayed. They had decided that they should sing in their own language the hymn, Cavu tu na lotu nei Karisito or Onward Christian soldiers.
“The islanders were ready for war and to kill them with their weapons of spear and bows and arrows. As soon as the three reached the beach they sang the hymn, Cavu tu na lotu nei Karisto and had their prayer.
“An amazing thing happened, the chief of the tribe commanded his people to lay down their weapons as the sound of the hymn was so sweet and touched his heart. It was the first time he had heard such a melodious sound of a song. After they had made the contact and signaled that they brought good news, George Brown and his entourage came ashore,” Galuvakadua said.
He commended these missionaries for their hard work and for their positive impact on the people of New Britain and New Ireland even though the cannibalism incident tarnished their otherwise noble mission.
“Today there is still a lot of Fijian influence on the people of New Britain province, like their hymns which are sung similar to ours but in the Tolai language, mats and baskets are also similar to ours. We have to remember that those that taught the art of basket and mat weaving were men hence were not as fine or as detailed as ours.
“They also wear jiki dua (one piece cloth) to church like what we used to see those at Davuilevu in the colonial days,” Galuvakadua said.
“They are also a very God-fearing people and it was through their appreciation for the work of our missionaries that the Fiji mission in PNG was able to be established quickly as they helped us in many ways,” he said.
Prominent Tolai people who have served their country are Sir Ronald Tovue, Sir Alkan Tololo, former PNG prime minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu, Sir Paulias Matane, Sir Henry ToRobert and Sir John Kaputin. He said many of those who served as missionaries in the rural areas of PNG did not return home as many just settled down there, married and had children.
“Some had children like the missionary from Saumakia in Naitasiri. The grandchildren have visited Saumakia to see their grandfather’s village. I was told this missionary wrote the names of his children in the Vola ni Kawa Bula (VKB).
“One of the Fijian missionaries from Nayau sent his young daughter, Olive Vakaloloma, back but the other children had settled and lived in PNG. They had been trying to locate their relatives back in Fiji with the help of the Methodist Church.
“I am hoping that they will read this story and perhaps come forward because I had met and talked to some of their relatives in PNG,” Galuvakadua said.
The Fijian missionaries have kept their mission in PNG right to this day and many have distinguished themselves in their mission like the Reverend Sergeant Usaia Sotutu during World War II.
“Other very influential missionaries who had each served for more than 20 years in PNG that I met were, the late Reverend Jone Moce from Kadavu, Bishop Serupepeli Beiraki from Rewa and Reverend Jione Kami from Tonga,” Galuvakadua said.
He said the late Reverend Moce faced a similar situation the pioneering missionaries faced as he was held up by armed ruffians more than once during his stay in Port Moresby.
“As a Fiji citizen I was concerned for him because I was with the embassy and he was a Fiji citizen but he would just brush me aside and say that he had God as his protector,” Galuvakadua said.
He added Fiji owed a lot to those brave and committed missionaries as they served in a difficult and harsh environment.
And on August 15, 2007, 132 years after the incident, the people of New East Britain formally asked for forgiveness for the death of these four missionaries.
The apology was accepted by the then Fiji High Commissioner to PNG, Ratu Isoa Tikoca, on behalf of the Methodist Church in Fiji and the Fijian people.
And it brought to a close this historic piece of Fijian and PNG history.
