110
GAMES.
1.
TE VELOVELO KALEUTO
(Spearing kaleuto).
The small undeveloped nuts (about the size of hen’s
eggs) which have fallen from the coconut-tree, are gathered.
When a considerable number of these have been obtained,
a hole is scraped in the sand and they are buried. Four
or five young people stand around, each holding the midrib
of a dead coconut-leaf which has been sharpened to a point
at the hard rounded exterior near the base. This is used
as a spear, and each player drives his spear point into
the pit of kaleuto in the endeavour to make one adhere to
the point. Each player keeps all the kaleuto which he thus
retrieves from the pit and when the pit is empty a count
is made and he who has retrieved most wins.
The game is played by both boys and girls about the
age of adolescence.
2.
TUKITUKI TUA (Thumping the back).
Two players sit down face to face and close together.
By arrangement, one turns his back and the other plays on
it, in the dorsal region, a light tattoo with his two clenched
fists beating alternately. After a few beats, he allows one
fist to remain touching the back of his adversary, whose
part it is now to turn his head round to the side corres­
ponding to the hand of the beater which is then resting on
his back, in order to see. Should he turn to the side corres­
ponding to that hand of the beater which is drawn away, the
beater receives one point (kai) and the tattoo begins again.
Should the person who is presenting his back turn to the
side corresponding to the hand of his adversary which is
resting on his back, the point goes to himself and the posi­
tions are reversed, he then becoming the beater. A careful
tally of points is kept.
This game is played by all people of both sexes except
the very old.
Gam es .
3.
TE FA FA
TUA
Ill
(Carry on the back).
Two teams of equal numbers, 10 or more players. One
team constitutes itself the standers to open the game. The
others become the jumpers. The standing team selects a
sturdy player to be the post (te pou). He stands with his
legs planted firmly in the sand. One player seizes him
firmly round the waist from the front with both arms, hug­
ging him tightly. The others of the same team fasten them­
selves one at a time each with the upper part of his chest
resting on the buttocks of the player in front of him. They
thus form a long line of backs tapering from the sturdy
post who is facing them and controlling their positions to
the smallest player at the tail of the line. Each player
spreads his feet to make the line as solid as possible and
places his head tightly against the upper part of one thigh
of the player to whose waist he is holding tightly with both
arms.
When all are in position the other team is notified.
These retire to a distance of about ten paces directly behind
the tail of the line of backs. It is their part now to jump
one at a time leapfrog fashion astraddle the line of backs,
leaping from behind the tail and attempting to land as far
forward as possible on top of the backs. Each jumper, as
he lands astraddle a back clings there and they pile up one
behind (and sometimes on top of) the other in an endeavour
to break the line of backs. If the line of backs breaks, or
if one member falls the jumpers claim a point and they
retire to jump again. If, however, one or more of the
jumpers makes a bad “ seat ” and falls, or in any other way
fails to cling to the top of the line of backs after his jump,
his team becomes the standers and the others take their
turn at jumping.
This game is played by young children of both sexes
and by young men.
4.
TE UKUUKU A VA
(Diving in the ava).
At low tide two teams proceed to the edge of the reef
and select an ava (i.e. a V-shaped indentation in the reef)
the bottom of which is about two fathoms deep.
One team stands on one side of the indentation (ngutu
o te ava) and the other team on the other side. A mark,
such as a coloured piece of coral, is pointed out on the bottom
112
Culture of V aitupu , E llice I slands .
and is called te umu (lit. the oven). One side, by arrange­
ment, becomes te kau leoleo o te umu (the team to guard
the oven) and the other side, te kau e muli (the hiding side),
so called because of the resemblance this game bears to that
of hide and seek (tumuli) played ashore.
All dive in at once and swim to the bottom. The guards
of the oven take up a position on one side of te umu and
near to it. The other team take up a position on the other
side but further off. Members of this team now wait until
some of the weaker guards have been forced to ascend for
air. They then attempt to touch and cling to te umu. It
is the duty of the guards to seize any arm reaching towards
te umu, and a player who has been so seized by a guard
must ascend and consider himself out of the game until the
next general dive (uku) . If one or more players of the kau
e muli succeed in evading the guards and manage to touch
te umu, they all ascend to their respective positions above on
the edge, and the kau e muli team claims a point. On the
next general dive the same guards must again do duty. If,
however, the guards succeed in preventing any member of
the kau e muli from touching te umu, their team changes
position with the other and on the next dive they have their
opportunity of making a point.
All young people of both sexes play this game.
5.
TE SEKE (Surf-riding).
There are two methods:—
(a) Faka-tua-fonu (turtle-back fashion). With arms
outstretched and legs spread or with hands pressed down
between the thighs.
(b) Using the puke (the puke is really the shaped bow­
covering of the canoe, which is often used for surf riding,
but the same name is applied to any board so used.)
6.
TU KIMOA (After the fashion of rats).
Played in two or more fathoms of water in an ava at
the edge of the outer reef, or in the lagoon.
One player dives down and places his feet on the papa
(rock bottom). Another player dives and sets his feet on
the shoulders of the first player, who steadies him by grasp­
ing the ankles and holding the feet firmly on his shoulders.
The next player takes a similar position on the shoulders
Ga m e s .
113
of the second player and so on until one player is standing
with his head above water. When the bottom section of
this human ladder is out of breath, he lowers the feet from
his shoulders to the bottom in front of him and, ascending,
takes his place as top section where he can breathe. The
next player does likewise and so on, the sections continually
circulating after the manner of rats running round a room,
hence the name tu kimoa.
This game is played by young people of both sexes.
7.
F A I TINO.
Small children often have competitions moulding the
human figure in the wet sand on the reef at low tide. This
seems to be a recognised game, and when all have finished
they usually indicate their choice as to the most perfect
model, and the proud maker is called the winner.
8.
TUKU ULU NGASU.
A band of children is often to be seen prancing along
about a fathom or more above the ground riding over the
springy heads of a thicket of ngasu (Scaevola Koenigii).
They exhort one another not to let their feet touch ground,
and when a player is unlucky enough to go down with a
broken branch they shout, “ Ah! he’s o ut ” (mate).
9.
TE FULI (The grand circle).
A horizontal bar is erected and the members of oppos­
ing teams take turns at swinging round it by the arms.
That team wins, one of whose players made the greatest
number of turns at one attempt.
10.
TE-U-PENU.
A chewed section of a pandanus fruit (genu) is teed up
to a height of about 6 ins. Two opposing teams stand
around. A player from one team hops on one leg up to the
tee, bends forward, and, bending the knee of the leg on
which he is standing, attempts to lift the penu from the
tee with his teeth. He must not allow either of his hands
or his other leg to touch the ground but he may keep his
balance by hopping. On seizing the penu, he must stand up
again still without the aid of his other limbs, and if he
succeeds in this, he hops round the tee and back to the
114
C ulture
of
V a i t u p u , E l l ic e I s l a n d s .
place from which he seized the penu. Meanwhile, another
of the players lowers the tee by brushing olf (sepe) an inch
or more of the top. The player with the penu then bends
down again as before, and replaces the penu on the tee
with his teeth. He then stands up again as before and
repeats the performance as often as he is able, the tee
getting lower and lower in the meantime. Victory goes to
the team, one of whose players made the best record.
This game is played by young men and also by young
women.
11.
TE L AFO .
This game required a specially prepared mat (papa)
about three fathoms long by one foot wide, and two sets
of lafo. The lafo was a concave coconut-shell disk well
polished with oil. A set of lafo comprised five of these
disks graduated in size from about
ins. to 6 ins. in dia­
meter. Of the two sets used in a game the units of one had
usually a much darker tint than those of the other in order
to distinguish them easily when mixed up in the game. The
game was played by four players, partners (valanga) versus
partners.
The arrangement of the players is best shown by dia­
gram, text Fig. 2.
x
o'
te papa
O
X'
T ext F ig . 2.
X and X ' denote tino e nofo i tanga (i.e. free people,
free to rest one leg on the end of the mat. These used the
lighter coloured lafo.
0 and O' denote tino e nofo i tapu (i.e. people for whom
it was tapu to sit on the mat. These used the dark coloured
set of lafo.
X and O' were partners, and the game was thus X and
O' versus 0 and X'.
X would begin by casting a disk, concave side down,
upon the mat in such a manner that it would go as far as
possible without falling off. 0 would then cast a disk and
attempt either to hit X ’s disk so as to make it fall from
the mat or to cover X ’s disk or pass it.
Ga m e s .
115
The remaining disks were cast alternately until each
had cast five. A point was then counted by X for every
disk of his on the mat exceeding in distance the furthermost
of O’s disks, and vice versa in the event of one of O’s disks
covering or exceeding the farthest of X ’s disks. A disk
on the edge of the mat was “ counted ” provided it did not
slip off when the edge of the mat was raised slightly to
test it.
The points having been counted, X ' and O' gathered
the disks and proceeded in a similar manner. X ' would
add his points to those of 0, and 0 ' to those of X.
This game was played only by middle-aged and old men.
12.
TE PUNGASU (Pop-guns).
Pop-guns are made from the ngasu (Scaevola Koenigii)
which has a core of easily-removed pith. Chewed-up husk
of the green drinking-nut makes efficient pellets. The
method of use is almost identical with that common to
European children.
The oldest men declare that this game was not intro­
duced by Europeans but was played in ancient times. The
game is played by boys up to the age of puberty.
13.
SANA PENU (Pelting penu).
This game was played on the beach at night by two
teams. Each team had a fire and a heap of penu (the
chewed and discarded fibrous remainder of a section of the
Pandanus fruit). The teams pelted each other with penu
which had been lighted at the fires. It was forbidden to
throw a penu which was not alight. The pelting continued
until one team succeeded in putting the other to flight.
This game was played by boys and young men.
14.
FAKALONGOLONGO MALANGA.
The children are bathing on the lagoon beach. One of
the larger ones puts out his leg for a small one to hold and
says “ Faitali ake i te au ka fano o fakalongo ake me isi te
malanga.” ( “ Wait till I go and see (lit. listen) if there is
a food-gathering expedition.” ) He dives down and then
comes to the surface again and says. “ E isi te malanga.
Se malanga pulaka.” ( “ There is a malanga going out for
pulaka (? Arum cardifolium). And then he says, “ Faitali
116
Culture of V aitupu , E llice I slands .
ake i te au ka fano o ta pulakii.” ( “ Wait till I go and cut
some pulaka”). And he dives again and so on, continuing
his monologue on successive reappearances thus.
“ Wait till I pare the pulaka.”
“ Wait till I scrape the pulaka.”
“ Wait till I prepare the oven.”
“ Wait till I open the oven.”
Then he comes up with hands full of sand which he
deals out to the waiting audience amid great bursts of laugh­
ter, after which for his diversion he becomes a shark and
causes consternation among the smaller children.
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
15. A CHANT WITH HAND MOTIONS
(For the amusement of very small children).
fdka tasi pulele— e puleleki— e puleleki— e pulele
faka lua pulele
„
„
„
faka tolu pulele
„
„
„
faka fa pulele
„
„
„
faka lima pulele
„
„
„
faka ono pulele
„
„
„
faka fitu pulele
„
„
„
faka valu pulele
„
„
„
faka iva pulele
„
„
„
faka angafulu pulele „
„
„
The beats as indicated in the first line are the same for
the succeeding lines. The hand beats the mat on all beats
except those ending in “— ki ” when it beats the child’s
breast.
16. F A I TAPAPA
(Pretending to be a tapapa—a fierce species of shark).
The children go on the reef at high tide. One goes
out in front (seawards). The others nearer the shore call
out to him.
“ Tapapa—e, Tapapa— e
Seke lung a koe
Seke lalo au."
“ Tapapa, tapapa
You swim (glide) above
I shall swim below.”
The tapapa replies, “ Solosoloki mai la ko.” (Creep out
there) indicating the place they are to come to by dashing
a shower of spray with his hand.
Ga m e s.
117
The tapapa backs away and the performance is repeated
again and again until the tapapa thinks they are far enough
out to enable him to catch one before they can make the
shore. He dashes after them without warning. Any child
so caught is said to be eaten by the shark.
17. TUKUTAPUE (Declaring forbidden).
A number of children sit in a ring. Some action is
declared forbidden, such as moving the hands or blinking
the eyelids. When a player inadvertently makes a forbidden
movement all laugh and he is declared out. The game goes
on until only one player is left.
18.
TUKUTUKU KAVIK1 (Crab-fighting).
Kaviki crabs are obtained on the tidal flats by thrusting
coconut-leaflets into the holes which they make in the mud.
The crab seizes the leaf and may be drawn gently out of
his hole.
A shallow basin is then scraped out in the sand and two
crabs are set to fight. The game is played by young men,
the endeavour of each of whom is to capture an invincible
crab.
19.
TUMULI (Hide and Seek).
This game is played by two sides. First the sand on
the beach is built up into a large heap. This is called te umu
(the oven). The players on one side remain by te umu to
guard it. Those of the other side retire to hide in the bush
which, all round the island, grows thickly right down to
the sand of the beach. When those in hiding are ready,
they whistle severally from their places of concealment.
Those guarding te umu proceed cautiously to search for
those in hiding. A hider, when discovered, makes a dash
for te umu. The guards endeavour to intercept and “ tag ”
him. A hider may dash for te umu at any favourable oppor­
tunity, whether discovered or not. If one or more hiders
succeed in touching te umu without being “ tagged,” their
side counts one point, and they have the privilege of again
going to hide. If, however, none of the hiding side succeeds
in touching te umu (Sue te umu, lit. open the oven) they
must become the guards while the others go into hiding and
attempt to gain points (lau kai) for their side. Only the
hiding side may count points.
All young people play Tumuli.
118
Culture of V aitupu , E llice I slands .
20.
TOLOTOLO UNGA (Creeping Hermit-crab).
Two teams sit some distance apart in such positions
that it is impossible for the players in one team to see what
is happening in the other team.
One team begins by setting a man to carry a child
“ pick-a-back.” A mat is placed round them so that the child
is completely hidden. The man holds the two ends of the
mat in front of him. He approaches the other team and
calls out “ Mate mai” (Guess). The other team chooses
one of its players to guess the name of the hidden child.
The player so chosen calls out the name of the child he
supposes to be in the mat. The guessing team then calls
out “ Faka-tu ifo ki lalo” (Set him down). The child is
then allowed to slip to the ground. If the guess is wrong
(seke), the child and his carrier return to their own team,
which counts one point. If the guess is right, the guessing
team counts a point, and the order of the teams is reversed,
the tolotolo unga team now becoming the guessers.
This game was played by all people except the very old.
21.
KI-KI-VETE
(Lit. Squeaking kaivete, a fish which emits a squeak when caught
in the hand).
Two teams of children having six or seven players in
each take up positions a short distance apart on the beach.
On the word being given to begin, the players of each team
squat on their haunches in the sand and each proceeds to
make impressions in the sand with the tips of all ten digits.
Each player works fast with both hands moving about and
trying to make as many impressions as he can in his imme­
diate vicinity.
Of a sudden one team will raise the cry “ Ki-ki-vete,
ki-ki-vete.” The other team replies “ Ki-ki-vete, ki-ki-vete,”
All immediately stand and each team rushes to obliterate
the impressions made by the opposing team. Again the cry
of “ Ki-ki-vete ” goes up and all return to their original
positions. A count is then made of the impressions remain­
ing unobliterated. The team which has most unobliterated
impressions wins.
This game is played by children of both sexes.
Gam es .
119
22. TAF1T1 KETU (Wrestling, hopping on one leg).
The opponents hop towards each other with one leg
held up off the ground. Each endeavours to make his adver­
sary touch ground with his other leg or his hands.
Both men and women play this game and a man may
have a woman for his opponent.
Usually it is played by teams who send in their players
one at a time and count points for their victories.
23.
SUA TI (See-saw).
It is not clear whether this game, which closely resem­
bles that played by European children, was played in ancient
times or introduced last century by runaway whalers who
took up their abode on the island at different times.
24.
TE TIU (Casting).
This game was much the same as Te lafo, previously
described.
The mat used, however, was the ordinary pakau
(rough coconut sleeping-mat made from four whole leaves).
The kai were smooth round stones slightly flattened and
about the size of pigeons’ eggs. Each side had ten of these.
Those of one side bore a distinctive mark made with the
gum of the fetau tree (Calophyllum inophyllum). The
positions of the players and the method of counting points
was the same as for those described in Te lafo.
The game was played in the tausoa (meeting house)
by middle-aged and old men.
25.
TI-TI ATULE (Scrambling for—lit. throwing—atule).
Atule are small bivalves found in the sand on the lagoon
beach. They are collected and thrown into a group of
children, who scramble for them. A count is afterwards
made to discover the winner.
26. TUITUI KAI
Recording beats (lit. points) by making impressions with the index
finger (in the sand).
A group of children sit in a ring enclosing a surface
of smooth sand. They chant a verse (te lau) with a decided
rhythm. On each accented syllable of the metre, each child
makes an impression in the sand before him with his index
finger. These impressions are made in lines left to right
and right to left alternately. The lines do not correspond
120
Cu l tu r e
of
V a i t u p u , E l l ic e I s l a n d s .
with the lines of the chant. On being completed, the chant
is begun again and the lines of holes are retraced with the
index finger from the end to the beginning. Any child,
whose finger is not in the first hole he made on the last
accented syllable of the chant, is “ out.” Missing a hole and
counting more than one beat in a hole are strictly forbidden.
Those who remain in continue playing, and the game goes on
till only one or a few players are left.
The traditional chant for this game on the island of
Vaitupu is given below.
E a toutou potu
E te kai te matapoto
Ne ngalulu tena ulu tuki
Folasia e Kapakilangi
Founuku ki te Muli-o-te-Fala
Ka fua solo i aliki
Langa soko langa vale
Ka vau i te po e masei
Ka vau i te ao e tango mai tena lima
Muna muna mo se faele
Ka ne olo ei ko matou
0 tutu mai tena uto
Tena uto mai Kalevave
Iku mata ki Te Asinga
E totolo ana manu tai
E kalupe ifo tena futi
Tena futi fā-teatea
Tea-tea, kaitu, manaia
Tosuna -e, toto, ue!
The meaning of many of the above lines seems to be
lost, while the meanings of those which are readily trans­
latable seem to have little connection, the one with the
other.
Another chant used for the same game has some lines
of obviously recent origin.
Te lupe e tu i te ofanga
E mau te selu i tena ulu
E ngali! e ngali!
Ki mai tuli
Angi Afelika
Nako mai a koe
Funā sau a moe
Te teu lou loto
Au e le tiapolo— 0 ! 0 !
Ga m e s .
27.
121
TIKA.
This game was played on the open malae. It was a
competition between two teams of an equal number of
players, each of whom had a specially prepared throwing
stick (tika— see photograph).
The shaft of this stick was made of the light ngasu
(Scaevola Koenigii) while the head was of heavy ngie
(Pemphis acidula). The new shaft was given a spiral design
by cutting spiral lines on the new stick and peeling out
strips of bark between these, after which the stick would
be hung in the kitchen until the peeled portion became dark
with the smoke of the cooking fires. The remainder of the
bark was then peeled off, leaving spiral bands of brown
on the white stick. After the first game played with a new
tika, its owner would scrape off this design with a shell
scraper and for subsequent games it would have no design.
The players stood behind a mark and, beginning with
those of one team, each in turn, holding his tika like a
javelin, cast it with an underarm swing in such a manner
as to cause the head to strike the ground some little distance
in front of him, whence the tika would ricochet and either
travel in a low trajectory or continue to ricochet along the
ground until it lost its momentum.
About twenty yards from the throwing point a bull'seye (mata-tika) was set up. This was sometimes an openended cylinder, such as the amidships portion of the hull
of an old canoe, about one fathom long, and aligned on the
throwing point.
Any tika which struck or fell short of the mata-tika
was not counted and had to be removed. Only those tika
which entered the mata-tika and either lay there or passed
through it according to their momentum and the skill with
which they were thrown, were considered to have a potential
scoring position. The endeavour of each player was to
make his tika glide through the mata-tika and travel as far
as possible beyond.
As each thrower took his place, a referee sitting by
the throwing point would call “ Tuku tuku lua iaeae!” the
meaning of which is obscure.
Beyond the mata-tika stood a scrutineer who indicated
the tapulanga (the dividing line, i.e. the position of shortest
throw of the five leading tika). He would call encouraging
122
Culture op V aitupu , E llice I slands .
remarks to the succeeding players, “ E— E— E—Ke sau se
too, i kina ke na suengina te tika tenei.” ( “ E— E— E— let
a warrior come there that he may take the place of this
[the fifth] tika.” )
Of all the tika lying in potential scoring positions, after
all players had thrown, only the leading five were counted
for points. These were identified, and five points were
divided between the two teams according to the number
of tika which each had in the leading five.
If it so happened that all five leading tika belonged to
the members of one team, that team was immediately con­
sidered to have won. If on the other hand the points were
divided the game had to be continued until one team won
by making a total of ten points before their opponents. To
continue the game a new throwing point was made on that
side of the matortika on which the tika were lying, and the
throws were made again through the mata-tika in the direc­
tion of the original starting point; and so on from side
to side.
When one team had won, the referee (tino pule i
tafaonga) would call, “ Oti— e!” “ It is finished.” Then
the supporters of the side which had won would go mad
with excitement. It was the proper thing for the sisters
of those men whose tika passed the tapulanga to undo their
skirts and stand naked waving them about before the
assembled people.*
28.
PA ANO.
Te ano is a plaited cube of pandanus leaf. For the
game of pa ano (which, in the form I am about to describe,
has long been forbidden) it had a side of from 4 to 6 ins.
square.
Pa ano (striking ano) means keeping the cubes bouncing
into the air by striking them as they drop, with any part
of the body.
* It was probably to quell such indecorous exhibitions that the
respectable Native Samoan Missionaries took the easy method of
putting a religious tapu on all the competitive games of olden times.
It seems, however, to have proved a short-sighted policy, for the
enforced idleness at times which would otherwise be taken up with
communal sports cannot but be considered an important contributing
factor to the increasing degeneracy of the race,
123
Ga m e s .
The game was a competition between two teams who
took up their positions on the malae facing each other with
an interval between them of about ten fathoms. In front
of each team a long coconut leaf was spread on the ground.
Behind its coconut leaf, each team took up its position in
three parallel ranks of players, in file at a distance of several
paces, and a similar interval between ranks. These ranks
were called vaka— canoes. If there were many players, it
was the custom to make four vaka in each team. There
was no stated number of men in a vaka, but for any particu­
lar game, the vaka of opposing teams were required to be
equal in strength.
The schematic diagram below illustrates the arrangem e n t :—
0 Striker
0
0
0
0
/ °
0
0
o
0
\ o
0
0
0
o
Vaka { — 0
—Coconut—
leaves
0
0
0
0
o
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Striker O
T e xt F ig . 3.
The game was played with two cmo. To begin, the
foremost man in one of the vaka in each team would toss
the cube towards a “ striker ” who stood stood slightly to
one side and on the opposite side of the coconut leaf from
the other players of his team. This man would strike it
with his hand, endeavouring to make it fly quickly into the
other team to any player of any vaka whom he thought
to be weak.
When all was ready, the cubes would fly simultaneously
on the word “ Apapai oulua lima ” given by some old man
among the spectators sitting nearby, and, crossing in mid­
air, would drop among the players. In each team, the
player nearest to the point where the ano dropped would
strike it straight upward with any part of his body, and,
on its dropping again, would play it with his hand to the
player immediately behind him in his own rank. This
124
Cultu re
of
V a i t u p u , E l l ic e I s l a n d s .
person would do likewise, and so on until it reached the
rear end of the rank, whence it would be returned from
player to player back to the front player of the same rank.
This person would toss it to the striker, who would return
it, as before, to the opposing team.
If a player in either team allowed the ano to drop to
the ground, the ‘ bout ’ would stop, and a point (kai) would
be counted (by knotting the pinnules of a coconut-leaf)
by the supporters of the other team. A new bout would
then begin as before.
If the cube should drop in the space between the teams,
or on a coconut leaf, or beyond the uttermost reach of the
rear players or of the outside ranks, no point would be
counted by either team.
No player might catch the ano in his fingers, except
the front man of a rank when beginning the game, or when
ready to toss it to the striker after a successful play.
The game continued until a team won by scoring a total
of ten points before their opponents.
In olden times the game was played by people of both
sexes.
There is a modern adaptation of pa ano which consists in
two bands of young men having a competition to see which
can keep the cube in play the longer. There appear to be
neither ranks nor rules, and the game is not of communal
importance as was the form described above which, it is
said, created intense interest and drew many spectators.