Pacific Island (1949)

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it is sometimes hard to believe that the Pacific Ocean stretches almost halfway around the world it is vast and vacant looking unless we look closely at the map and then we see hundreds of little islands for this is an island world where 2 and 1/2 million people live they are such a complicated mixture of peoples that scientists have had to divide them up by geography instead of by races the people here are called Polynesians those in this area are called melanesians and last of all there is Micronesia here in Micronesia alone there are at least 100 Island groups one of these groups is the Marshall Islands newest Wards of the United States there are 33 islands in the Marshalls one of them is Bikini another is quadulan a well-known naval station Northeast of quadulan there's a tiny island named Leep from the air leip looks like this a curving strip of tiny caral Islands but if we could get into a diver suit and go below the surface of the sea this is the way the island might look as we faced it islands like leip were probably once volcanos but now the ocean covers everything except the rim of the volcano which has been built up over millions of years by the stone-like skeletons of tiny sea animals which we call Carl leip is a Carl island or atall complete with a shallow Lagoon a Carl Island looks romantic but it has one practical drawback nothing much will grow in Carl sand except coconut trees and men can't live on coconuts alone and so it's not surprising that the inhabitants of liip are expert fishermen they don't fish just now and then for the fun of it or to vary their diet their diet is fish and they go fishing every day in order to live and fishing with the Islanders is not a oneman sport it's a community [Music] undertaking as the fleet ready to sail the women and children come to wave goodbye the breeze blows salty and free over the Lagoon of the Outriggers and the sing men who live in Polynesia micro IIA have long been recognized as experts in the art of navigation the sea captains of early wailing ships recruited them as Sailors because of their great skill in fact even in the last war Allied troops learned a great deal about the sea from these Islanders and came to respect their knowledge and [Music] advice [Music] this is the way an Islander bails out his [Music] boat and now the fleet has arrived at the fishing grounds and the Carl anchor is dropped Islanders don't learn navigation by accident early in life boys must learn the direction of winds and waves to chart movements of sun moon and stars to use strange instruments like this one to read meanings from the flight of birds and from the color of the sky boats are as essential to good fishing as a knowledge of navigation and so naturally boat building is an important Island occupation no blueprints or handbooks are used in building these fragile Outriggers this skill like the art of navigation ation has been handed down from generation to generation women can be as expert at ship building as men this old lady is as skilled as her husband he was a sailor who was Shipwrecked on leip 50 years ago today in their 80s they are still Partners in work as well as marriage but most Island women don't build ships like all women they are most interested in their homes and children their thatched Huts are primitive but they are kept as tidy and clean as homes anywhere in fact the women help clean up the whole village every morning basket weaving is the favorite handicraft of the women on Leia and they're very expert at it [Music] a kitten is a luxury here because all animals are important even the sparse supply of livestock animals seldom choose Coral islands for a home natural food is so scarce that only resourceful human beings can exist on them even these baby albatrosses were captured on a more fertile Island as pets for the children and speaking of human resourcefulness a giant clamshell makes a fine baby's [Music] bathtub United States is taking its guardianship of the Marshall Island seriously andal facilities are being improved American authorities rise that BCS may never be as important to these people as the more basic skills that enable them to survive but education and sanitation and hygiene can greatly improve their health an island boy learns to climb a coconut palm almost as soon as he can walk for coconuts provide both food and drink they're also about the only commodity that the Islanders have for export after the coconut meat has been extracted from its tough shell it is dried in the Sun and is called cpra cpra provides a vegetable oil which is widely used in making soap and medicines its present price is only a few cents a pound and it takes a great many coconuts to produce a pound of [Music] cpra but most Islanders are too busy seeking food to have much time for the unprofitable business of making cpra fishing with a net near the beach doesn't usually bring in very big fish or or very many but it's lots of fun and it calls for real skill [Music] too meanwhile the fishing fleet is still at work baiting the hook is a unique process with the island fisherman first he sh shs the bait with his teeth then he lays the pieces on a flat stone and wraps the hook and line around it the shreds a bait drift loose underwater some fish get a free lunch but one gets the hook catching a giant clam calls for a more personal technique this man is the best diver on Leia in spite of his 60 years he can stay underwater 3 minutes he must work quickly and be careful not to let the clam shut on an arm or leg when that happens the diver is held underwater until he drowns the clam has been caught now and it's just a matter of hauling it on board it's a big one weighing over 250 lb tonight the clam will be cut up and made into a delicious chowder and tomorrow two more Island children will have brand new bathtubs it's Sunset now and the fishermen are go back but the boat cannot be turned around because the Outrigger must always be kept to Windward and so first the position of the masts is reversed [Music] [Music] and then the rudder which is detachable is placed at the opposite end and now the boat like a trolley car which has reached the end of its line is headed in the opposite [Music] [Applause] direction [Music] the fleet's return is always an event to the Islanders the younger boys are especially eager to see the day catch they can hardly wait until they'll be old enough to bring home a tuna or a Bonita fish of Their Own [Music] most people think of south sea Islanders as pagans actually the greater proportion of them are Christians both Catholic and Protestant missionaries began bringing Christianity to the islands over a century ago and it took quick route with these gentle peaceloving people this is how the 23rd psalm looks when it's translated into martial EES the first church on leip was established almost 100 Years Ago by congregational ministers from Boston and today almost all Islanders are very devout although some of the old superstitions and taboos still persist leip has only one contact with the outside world a small trading ship which was built in leip and has no engines about once a month mail and supplies arrive and then the Village Council meets the magistrate is elected by popular vote democracy comes naturally to people with strong Community feeling as a result of the Japanese Occupation there are still many problems of Rehabilitation to be solved and always the problem of trading and getting supplies but while the island councilman hold their meeting the young men have other ideas they go digging for turtle eggs like most Island sports this one is connected with getting food for turtle eggs are good to eat even after boiling the shells remain soft and the content semifluid turtle eggs eaten from the shell are a delicacy to the Islanders Turtles provide the Islanders not only with eggs but with meat as well in fact tur Turtle steak is considered such Fine Food that once only kings were permitted to eat it but today everybody can and turtle hunts are big events in Island [Music] life [Music] [Music] what [Music] [Music] la [Music] when a turtle is caught on liip it's usually somebody's birthday and if it isn't they have a feast anyhow in preparation for the feast the men go out to gather papaya and bread fruit bread fruit is an important item in the diet of the Islanders though it doesn't look much like bread it is very starchy and can be cooked so that it almost tastes like it real bread is baked in Island ovens the heat for the oven comes from hot caral Stones placed in a hole in the ground and the oven works on the same Principle as a fireless cooker wheat flour for the bread has to be imported but the yeast is homemade from fermented coconut sap just before the feast The Village girls play a juggling game with small coconuts the girl who can juggle the longest without letting the coconut drop is the [Music] winner at last the feast begins there's plenty of food and a wide variety of it Turtle stew Royal Turtle steaks clam stew and tuna fish as appetizers there are coconut milk and papaya in the islands even ducks like coconut coconut milk is the children's favorite and only drink fingers are good etiquette here and singing at table is encourage and there are no taboos on appetite talk or laughter for these people enjoy life to the full even when they work they seem to be at play but work they must for their very survival depends on it they have had to make full use of the limited resources that nature gave their Island home and in the process they have learned to live together with a gentleness and Grace and generosity that our Western world may well end it a