Rediscovering myths from oblivion

Imagine the sweet scent of the trees around you. The firelight is flickering. The wind is clattering through the coconut palms. Listen to the music of the waves and the orchestra of nocturnal creatures.

Now you’re ready to open this book: Pacific Island Legends: Tales from Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia.

Once upon a time, there was a vain young woman who was an absolute whiner. She complains about everything: “The sea is too salty. The food is too fishy. I must have fresh water, fresh fruits.” Her husband tries everything to please her, only to find out later that she has been unfaithful to him. He kills her and throws her body into the water. Her blood curdles to produce mosquitoes.

This, according to a Northern Marianas legend, was the reason why female mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears. They suck human blood in hopes of becoming “human again.”

The legend of the mosquitoes is one of the myths featured in the 266-page Pacific Island Legends: Tales from Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia by Nancy Bo Flood, William Flood, and Beret Strong.

“This book is for children and adults,” Nancy Flood said in an interview during the launching of the book at Coffee Care Restaurant last Saturday.

“The book tells about how the world was made, and what men need to learn about in order to get along,” said Flood, an instructor at the Northern Marianas College and author of another children’s book From the Mouth of the Monster Eel.

Hidden behind the doors

The project began a year and a half ago, when Nancy got a call from Bess Press publishing company in Hawaii, asking her to put together stories from the Marianas. This would be the first collection of island stories for children.

Nancy sat down with her husband William Flood and Beret Strong who, like her, are Pacific culture enthusiasts.

“We thought it would be a great idea to expand the scope of the book to include other regions in the Pacific,” said William Flood, a pediatrician at Saipan Health Clinic and column writer. “I picked Polynesia, Nancy picked Melanesia and Micronesia, and Beret did the Australian region. Our job was to find island stories and rewrite them in a way that kids can enjoy them.”

So the three rummaged through libraries in Guam, University of Hawaii and the Northern Marianas College, and discovered valuable collections and cultural treasures which have been concealed in oblivion.

“We found stories which are about a hundred years old. People were not aware of them because they were hidden behind the doors of these libraries,” Mr. Flood said. “The three of us chose the stories that we liked best; the most humorous, and most exciting for kids. We tried to get a balance of the islands and tried to get as many islands as we could and retold them in the fourth grade level.”

To make the book more appealing to children, the authors had Saipan artist Connie Adams draw culturally-flavored woodcut illustrations.

“What was really exciting was that the three of us share this passion for cultures of the Pacific. We were able to work together, share information [with one another] and had conversations with other people. I think it was one of those experiences in which three heads are better than one,” said Nancy, who won the CNMI Governor’s Award in 1997.

Strong, former principal of the Northern Marianas Academy, is now in Boulder, Colorado. A graduate of Brown University, Strong co-produced and directed Liweila, a documentary film about the Refalawasch (Carolinians) of the Northern Marianas Islands.

Bess Press has just released the Pacific Island Legends. The authors expect it to be used as part of school curriculum in Hawaii. It has guidelines for pronunciations of names and words not likely found in a standard English dictionary.

“This book can also be used by scholars or anyone interested in folk tales and legends. We hope that it will be accessible to children and teachers so that people who live in the region can learn more about the Pacific and become more interested in their own islands,” Nancy said.

How the world came to be

Pacific Island Legends contains 44 myths, which have been part of the islands’ oral tradition. In the earlier times, islanders gathered at night to tell and listen to stories. They told enchanting tales that answered questions about how the world was created; how things became the way they are; and why animals behave the way they do.

A myth from New Caledonia explains that the seagull digs in the sand at low tide to look for the first mussels that hid from her a long time ago.

A Guam legend describes how women saved the island from an island-eating monster.

According to a legend from Caroline Islands, a poor village boy is able to marry the tribal chief’s daughter by stealing the moon.

A scatter-brained warrior from New Zealand goes to the world of spirits to earn his wife’s forgiveness by getting a tattoo. It is because of this man’s forgetfulness that all living are forever blocked from entering the world of spirits.

A Papua New Guinea myth tells about how a young man was punished for loving the moon.

A legend from Cook Islands tells about how an eel’s love for a maiden creates the first coconut trees.

“These stories may be different from other stories you have read. Some are funny and will make you laugh; some are sad; and may make you cry. Some are scary and perhaps should not be read alone in the dark, especially if you can hear the waves and wind outside your window or inside your head,” the authors said.

Pacific Island Legends, according to the authors, could provide a window into the idyllic part of the world. They hope that the book “will bring alive the magic of story telling and the wisdom found within these legends.”