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| Bring out the yam! |
"This is Your Yam."
Port Vila, Vanuatu
October 14, 2013
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| The Men... celebrating their ranks and hierarchy with the Rome Dance |
"This is your Yam - Ambryn." Words spoken to Capt. Cook by the Ambryn chief during his visit. Of course, Ambryn is famous for its twin active volcanoes, and it truly is an island deeply connected to the earth. Taking advantage of the Yam Harvest Festival, we anchored on the island's west coast at Nopul (lovely spot) and 4x4'd it to the Northern villages.
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| Two boar tusks: a paramount chief |
For two days, we celebrated the Yam: taro, kumara, giant yam, small yam, purple, white, orange, manioc... all different roots that are Vanuatu's staple.
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| The drummer... quite active today, setting the pace |
Dancers vigorously stomping the ground, women cooking on open fires and peeling the yams with broken glass or tin can lids, more dancing, masks, more yams... the connection to the earth was contagious and suddenly I felt the earth pulsing.
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| Giant yams |
This is a powerful place. I don't regret to have shunned the 8-hour trek to the volcano. We were quite satisfied to partake in this primal celebration.
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| The chief's wife has prepared taro and yam, steamed in banana leaf and served with a leaf of island cabbage (local spinach) |
The Rome Dance: a celebration, a rite of passage for young men. Each one makes or buys his own mask made according to secret tradition. Once the dance is over, the masks are destroyed... supposedly.
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| The Rome dance: leafy garb and secret mask |
In our case, the masks had been made for a celebration a few days before the yam festival, in another village, and were saved for the Yam festival as the dancers were actually hired to perform for the tourists
Vanuatu - grounded. The pride exhibited by the Great Chief was obvious, his joy contagious.
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| The Rome Dancers line up in front of the giant drum totems |
till next time
dominomarie