For the first time, he wore his father & # 39; s sacred headdress, he walked proudly with his first time, he walked proudly with his kinsmen. and felt entitled to do so. He had never joined in any of the singing sings in the village with the other men, since he had never been initially into the clans of the people of Dagar. Now, he led his mother and his uncles , with all their families, as they drummed and sang their way down the road to St. Louis. Xavier '.
All his life, he had been constantly reminded of his low status by the sound of his own name, but now the people sang it out with pride and energy, and he joined them with his own deep voice.
"Shaku", mean half-caste in Kairiru language, and truly he had been only half a person to the others in the village until now. Today, he hoped he would be a man.
I had noticed him several times in the village market that was held near the airstrip at St. Louis. Xavier & # 39; s. He always came with his mother, carrying her Kau Kau or Taro in a big basket, and sat quietly beside her When was soldered or more fine. He was taller than the other village men, and slightly lighter skinned, with wavy, rather than neatly curled hair, as the others did. He was also quite handsome, with chiseled features and a fine physique, but he rarely looked up or smiled at anyone. This was what made me notice him at first.
Shaku was shy it seemed, but he was interesting. I wanted to know where I was from, and what the girls were like in my country!
It was a tropical paradise of a South Pacific island, that teemed with wartime and ancient history.
We had learned of Shaku 's story during a meeting held in the village a few weeks before. The men had been discussing what to do about the Japanese delegation that had come to retrieve the remains of soldiers from the war.
For details on how we found the bodies of these men, please refer to my article, "Muschu Island - Paradise or Japanese Hell".
Only men of Kragur, on the North side of the Island, had not wanted any compensation from the Japanese, as they felt they had killed many after the war, and were satisfied. Only Shaku had stood, with his father 's ancient walking stick raised, and waited to be heard.
A story became complicated when he was told how it was was his own father, a Japanese soldier, than had been the killer! Now, he demanded justice for his mother, and for himself, both have suffered much since then.
The meeting had decided that Shaku should meet the Japanese when they came, and have his day in court to make his claim.
That day had finally come, and as I watched him come up the airstrip, dancing and beating his Kundu, I could see that his was not longer content to remain in the background. Shaku remained in the lead of the processon, and as they got closer, I could hear his voice ringing out clearly. The court was about to begin.
The previous day, the Japanese delegation, had cremated the remnants of their fallen soldiers, and then made a large presentation to the school in appreciation for the respect we had given their men. One of the men who had come to Kairiru for this purpose, He had recounted a tale of horror that had left behind on numb with shame and sorrow.
He had been a doctor on Vokeo Island, some 40 kilometers to the North East, and later transferred to Kairiru. He had been captured with many others, and sent to Muschu at the end of the war. enemies, but they never anticipated that the Americans would just leave them to starve to death.
There are no guards on the island, but boat patrols around it constantly pretended any escape to Kairiru or the mainland 20 kilometers away.
Normalally, about 4 or 5 hundred people live on the island, surviving on subsistence agriculture and fishing. They grow Kau Kau (sweet potato), Taro, The coral reefs are very picturesque and unspoiled. There are no springs on the island, but a small stream drains down to the sea from a coral depression that collects rainwater in the wet season. , and house some of the most spectacular species of life you will see any any.
I have heard from a sobbing old man, how they had struggled uncomfortably to survive, until it had Every plant, every coconut palm, every creature, and everything in reach around the reef had been consumed, until only bare coral remained. Then the real horror began.
As a doctor, he had somehow been able to keep himself alive, and had returned with the delegation to honor his fallen comrades.
There were more than 100 people in the group, and as they entered the school grounds near the airstrip, they stopped for a few minutes to finish their sing-sing. As a quiet settled on the assembly, Shaku stepped forward and walked toward the area that had been chosen for the court.
The old Japanese Man had asked that the hearing be held in the shade of a huge Mango tree that stood near the school. He said, through the translator, that it was the only thing he could see that was the same on Kairiru. He recalled eating some of its fruit more than 30 years before, and we had offered him some of it, to which he declared, "it had gotten much sweeter!"
Brother Patrick Howley, as Head master of St. Louis Xavier & # 39; s High School, made the introductions while honoring both traditions of formality .
First, he presented Mr. Tamura, the senior member of the delegation, who had related to sad tale to the evening before. Then, after introducing the translator, and all the other members the Japanese delegation, he turned to Shaku and his people.
In order to do this, he had to tell Shaku 's story, and he had to tell it properly, so that no loss of face occurred, on either side.
Pat at Pat. At Br. Pat had visited Shaku several times over the previous few weeks, and talked with him about his life, and what he wanted from the Japanese. first, Shaku soon began to trust him, as he saw that he was a man who understood the people of Papua New Guinea.
The whole multitude sat spell bound, as if he were talking to each one of them personally, and he told a story that touched every one.
I have learned many of the details that Br. Pat was unable to tell, from Shaku himself, who I am am pleased to call a friend, albeit a distant one. I will try to describe his life as best I can, from what he told me.
He had been born in that terrible time after the war, when not have done done done to help the villagers in their recovery. been the product of that assault.
With her husband dead, Shakus & # 39; s mother, Umari, had lost her claim to most of her husband & # 39; s land, and as a widow, she had to live on the charity of her brother and Uncle.
They have had hunting in the bush with his earliest recollections in the bush with his mother to find the sago grubs that great in the rotting starchy Sago stumps. The bush for food, and he spent with bitterness of how he had resented the other boys running to tease him with morsels of food their mother & # 39; s had given them.
"Shaku, Shaku, bus Kanaka, kai kai knat knat!" They chanted, calling him a wild man who ate mosquitoes.
As he grew up to understand why he treated it differently in the village, he began to keep to himself, and spent many hours alone hunting in the bush on Kairiru 's mountainous slopes with his dogs. He had explored every nook and cranny He knew they must be from the white men, but why had they left everything?
Once he had even I have hered killed more pigs than any man on the island, and he had done it alone. killed a crocodile with his spear when he cornered it in the swamp with his dogs. Still, no one praised him as they did the other men, usually they accepted the meat.
Suffer so much time alone, he sometimes brooded over his condition, and searched in his mind for a way out for himself and his mother.
He was hid in the bush and watched them build it. He was fascinated by the many unusual things he saw the white men doing, and for several weeks he observed them unnoticed.
One day, he had been coming down his little private path to see what they were doing, when he came around a bend in the trail and came face to face with one of the white men.
They were both startled, and Shaku had an overpowering ___ ___ ___ ___ 0 ___ ___ ___ 0 The man had a studio sweating and puffing in the heat. The man had a broad smile, and before Shaku had more than a moment to think, the man extended his hand for the universal hand shake.
Unable to refuse, he accepted the hand, and was surprised to find it was firm and strong. The man
immediately began talking in Pidgin, which Shaku understood, and was again surprised to hear a "masta" speak like a village man.
When he asked for his name, Shaku was afraid to give his true name (Father Andrew, and he had come from Wirui mission in Wewak to build a new mission on Kairiru, at St John. , smoking, and blurted out, "Shaku". This, the man accepted without question, and motioned that they might might be sit down and talk along the path.
Uncertain what to do, Shaku had moved to cut some leaves from the bush so that the man could sit on them, but was pleased to see him squat and sit like any other village man.
Joining him, he was astounded to be offered Buai (betel nut) from a bag the man carried.
Coastal New Guinean people all chew Betel nut, and men almost never start a conversation with another man until they have sat down and chewed "Buai pas taim". Still, it was surprising to find a "masta" That would be so so, as I had also found from the reactions of the people when I tried it first.
It grows on a tree that looks very much like a tall, skinny Coconut palm, and produces its fruit at the top as they do.
The nut inside is usually chewed with accompanied by fresh male pepper fronds and "Kambang" (dry lime). It is stimulates the salivary glands to produce vast amounts of saliva, and the juice turns a startingling blood-red .
The effect of swallowing the juice is a rush of well-being and talkativeness, followed by nausea and dizziness if too much is swallowed, similar to ones first exposure to chewing tobacco. Its secondary effect is to wipe out the epithelial cells in the mouth, and exhaust the salivary glands through their copious production. If people spit in the wrong places in the village, someone could sit in the spot, causing a permanent stain in the clothing, which was difficult to replace.
As they sat in a chewing, the calming effect of the Betel nut motivated him to ask the man where he was had a place called Poland, but he could not go home, as it was gone in the war.
This somehow softened Shaku 's heart towards the man, who had decided to invite him to come up the mountain to his house. This seemed to please Father very much, so they set off up the slippery path with Shaku leading, and the priest. struggling along the faceau where his house lay sheltered in the bush, it was quite hot, and the perspiration was flowing down both their faces.
Clear, cool water gushed out in a natural fissure, and they both gratefully drank their fill.
They had spent the day together, sitting on the veranda of Shaku & # 39; s house, looking out over the strait between the islands, and the mainland beyond. They talked about many things, and Shaku began to feel something with this that that he had not felt before.
All the years of loneliness finally burst the boundaries of his shyness, and he told the man much of his life, and how he had been shunned by most of the villagers on the island.
In the afternoon, he had made tea for them, and while they were in the house the priest had been very interested in the the that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that his many excursions. Over the years, this has become a remarkable collection of war relics and remains.
There are so many things that it was was hard to describe them all, but he had reduced them in such a way as to create quite a pleasant atmosphere of rustic comfort.
After examining many of them, Father Andrew had asked him if anyone else knew that he had had these things, and Shaku had replied that no one had ever been up to his house except him, and he had not told others about what he had found. He knew they would only take it from him, or warn him not to go where "Masalai" would get him.
He had promised to be careful, and asked if he could work for father on the new church. .
He was also very quick at learning how to handle the tools the men used to build the church, and he was happy for the next few months while the church was completed.
It was through Father Andrew, that Shaku had finally understood why he was outcast, even from his own mother. She had not shown him the same affection he had seen with the other mothers and their babies. He felt that he always made his his mother sad when he was around, his he retreated to the mountainside, and only came to bring her food he had gathered from their gardens .
No one had ever explained to him why he was different, and how the death of his father was somehow connected to him.
When he had finally come to understand this, he ran out of the jungle, and not returned for several weeks. When he did, he seemed determined to learn all he could from the books Father had, and also the more people Japanese people that had come to to Kairiru, and caused so much trouble.
Father lent him whatever books he could, and soon their conversations became deaf and more prolonged.
Shaku questioned him for many hours about the Japanese, and what had done done in New Guinea. Father Andrew had been a missionary in Sarawak at the time, and the Japanese had been very harsh to him, as well as other Europeans. He did not disparage them to Shaku however, as he had been an admirer of Japanese culture before the war, and did not bear any hatred against them now.
The Coconut palms had grown up now, but when he was a boy, he was knew the story was true, as he remembered the barren landscape of the island as he was growing up. Only Mangroves and thick vines grew on the island for many years. Muschu people had a difficult time surviving on the island, and now religion on income from the copra plantations begun by the white men.
He had diligently dragged them up to his house on the plateau above the mission, and continued his education alone.
After more wastetuning, he began his own series of explorations, specifically for them. After more than a year, he finally found a cave quite by accident, while he was hunting.
As the dogs circled around the small steep-edged valley searching for the pig, Shaku talked up to them and realized that There was no exit from the little canyon, but the pig was nowhere in sight.
Potting the clues together, he grassed his hunting spear firmly, and climbed up and behind the small waterfall that filled the basin below. and he could smell pig!
Calling his dogs up to the cave entrance, he readied himself for the dogs scrambled into the cave, they began their peculiar howling that told him that they had found their prey. A large boulder had fallen from the roof of the cave and he jumped onto it, just as the dogs succeeded in driving the pig from his lair.
As it darted around the dogs to get out of the cave he caught it behind the left shoulder and used its own momentum to drive the spear home.
One boot was just inside a cave. One boot was just inside a cave. One boot was just inside the cave mouth, and the other was further back. They had obviously been disturbed by the pig.
He had gathered a number of dry palm branches, and tied them into a bundle for a torch. He lit one of the branches with a trade store match that he always carried in the bush, and pushed back further into the cave.
He was able to move easily, almost the crow at all, but rather a tunnel, with regular edges, after the rubble at the entrance. through it in places.
Approaching the boxes, he was a bit started to see another pair of boots, these still attached to their owner. In the Peering further, he found it also, lying beside the boxes.
Lighting another torch, he used his home-made knife to open one of the boxes, and almost jumped back at what he saw. What that box contained was about to change Shaku 's life, but he just did not know how yet .
After checking the contents of the other boxes, the torches were nearly all gone, so he retrieved his pig, and made his way back to his house. He had told no one about this, but he had carefully gone to the tunnel several more times with his battery torch from the trade store, and bought everything to his house and hidden it.
He climbed up high on an old Garamut tree to find the kind he knew she liked, almost she would eat alone in her house.
After he had left them on her veranda to her silent nod, he had gone to the house of Muriu, the canoe maker. He wanted to make an adze from some of the metal he had found, and Muriu was the best tool maker and carver He was also an old man, and had never mention Shaku & # 39; s real father, or teased him, as the others had.
Shaku could hardly believe his ears, and Singing with the smoked, Shaku had he smoked, Shaku had he smoked, Shaku had he smoked, had questioned Muriu a long time before returning to his house on the mountain.
His father & # 39; s death required payback, and he had the right of compensation, and they had accepted it.
He felt no shame as Br. Pat told his story, omitting most of the details told here. He was proud that his mother stood with him, and he forgave her lack of affection, as he saw her shed tears during some parts of the speech.
Br. Pat finished by asking the Magistrate, and all those in the official assembly if you have had any questions of Shaku, or the Japanese delegation.
After listening to the emotional tale of Shaku 's whole audience was somewhat held in silence for a few minutes, until finally the Magistrate from Wewak Provincial court stood up and cleared his throat.
No said evidence here that Mr. Tamura, or any other man alive has committed these crimes "He said," Shaku, the court acknowledges your rightful claim to this made, , and this court has no authority to charge them if it did.
Without hesitation Shaku had spoken up, "give me my honor, and my mother" # 39; s! "With that, he had turned and gone back into the crowd of people that had accompanied him. Lifting a large wooden crate that had been taken by two other men from the village, he set it down in front of Mr. Tamura, who had remained standing at attention through.
Bending to unlock the box with a key around his neck, Shaku opened it and stand back to watch the reaction of the men.
At first the Mr. Tamura seemed to wonder what he was looking at, but when he realized what it was , They are poured over the contents, they are poured over its contents, Shaku had called to a man in the group, who bought him a long bamboo tube that was closed both ends.
Tears unashamedly gushed from Mr. Tamura 's eyes as he bowed deeply and accepted the sword.
Through the translator, he expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the gift, and tried to explain something that soon everyone gathered began to understand.
This was the sword of the Japanese Commanding officer of the Japanese garrison on Kairiru, as his name. It was worth a family fortune, and there was no doubt that Shaku would be richly rewarded for returning it to the family .
They were all pure silver, and they had been used to pay the soldiers. They were all WW II vintage, but they still still worth a lot to collectors.
They were rusted metal were all the proof many families would ever have, that their sons had died an honorable death, and not just disappeared. They were also invaluable.
So, Shaku got his "payback" in ways that he could never have imagined. Several weeks later we received a radio message from Wiriu mission, that Shaku was to come to come to Wewak, as he needed to open a bank account.
Additionally, the Japanese government had had posted a reward for the afternoon of the men who tagged he had found, had organized themselves, and raised over 10,000 Kina, a staggering amount in a country where a whole village may only earn 100 kina year. returned coinage, increasing the prize to 25,000 kina!
But the real surprise was to come a while later, when Shaku received a letter a check from the family of the Japanese Commanding officer. It was for another 50,000 Kina.
Shaku had become the richest man in the whole East Sepik!
