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| Murdered missionary's relatives in ceremony to lift Fiji cannibal curse
NABUTAUTAU, Fiji, Nov 13 (AFP) - Relatives of an English missionary murdered and eaten in this remote village 137 years ago joined 600 people here Thursday for a ceremony locals hope will lift a curse that has lingered ever since. Ten descendants of Methodist missionary Thomas Baker, joined by Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, made the trek to attend the Christian service and traditional Fijian apology which the villagers believe is the only thing that can absolve them of the cannibalist crime of their ancestors. Serious business, investment and technology intelligence for a serious advantage - BizVantage! In 1867 Baker and eight Fijian followers were clubbed to death here and their bodies eaten in a killing historians suggest was ordered as part of a national power play between chiefs. Since then, the fortunes of Nabutautau's 200 residents have suffered and, today, the village still has no school, no medical facilities and no roads -- daily difficulties the villagers believe are linked to their ancestors' cannibal past. Baker's great-great-grandson, Australian Geoff Lester, was one of those to make it to Fiji for the ceremony. The family had always known about the murder and did not believe the village was cursed as a result. But what mattered was what the villagers believed and the family was ready to help, the practising Baptist said. "I and my family are more than happy to help them in any way they want us to," he told AFP. Starting shortly after day-break, the apology ceremony began in a circle of tents erected on a space of cleared land in the middle of the village with traditional kava drinking rituals. Fifteen stages later on, it culminated in the "symbolic cutting of the chain of curse and bondage" by the Baker family's release of balloons. For the locals the highlight was a play performed by village youth and led by local chief and pentecostalist pastor Thomas Baravilala during which he carried an axe he claimed was used to murder Baker. The ceremony was organised by the fundamentalist Assembly of Christian Churches, which is at loggerheads with the predominant Methodist Church. An American pastor told the crowd "a darkness is lifting from the land". Les Lester, an Australian from Bundaberg in Queensland, said the family was astonished at the size of the event, and the attendance of the prime minister. "It's all a bit dramatic," he said. "They thought it was going to be a small ceremony, instead they find themselves with the prime minister and the Great Council of Chiefs." The family received a ceremonial tabau, or whale's tooth, and Lester, speaking for the family, told the chiefs: "I look forward to this event being of use to the Fiji people and the people of this village". He said his great-great grandfather "came here knowing what the risks were and fully aware of what might happen". Baker's children all moved from Fiji to Australia after his death and the male line of the family died out. Also present was Methodist pastor Iumeleki Susu, a descendant of the sole survivor of Baker's party. In a message to the village, the prime minister said: "Asking forgiveness from the relatives of Thomas Baker and members of his party is a very beautiful act. "Your appreciation of the difficulties your people are facing and your tremendous effort is so critical in trying to solve them through turning to God and seeking his forgiveness for what was done to him and his servant, the Reverend Thomas Baker," Qarase said. However, the premier made no mention of the government granting funding to the impoverished village which some locals say has been cursed more, since the killing, by its treatment by fellow Fijians than by any other-worldly powers. Every request to government for help was rebuffed, village elder Thomas Baravilala told AFP this week. "They insult us. They want us to be punished," he said. The government last week released a national budget in which there was no additional money targeted for this area. mjf/pch Fiji-cannibal
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