Vanuatu is about 1000 miles north of New Zealand. This group of islands was formally the British/French protectorate called New Hebrides. About 130,000 people live here divided into about 100 different tribal cultures each speaking their own language. During World War 2, a young American soldier named James Michener was stationed on Espiritu Santo Island. He was inspired by his experiences to write Tales of the South Pacific.
On remote Pentecost Island, one tribe has done a ritual called The Nagol for over 1000 years. Carefully chosen men and boys plunge from a 75 foot high tower with vines tied to their ankles to stop their fall at the instant their head touches the ground. This is done once a year to celebrate the yam harvest and the replanting of the yam crop. The ritual is also a fertility ceremony and a way of psychologically cleansing oneself.
In the first photo I am speaking with a village chief. He is wearing a penis sheath, the traditional male outfit. His necklace consists of two boars' tusks which symbolize his rank. Among other things he expressed anger that white people have made a sport (bungee jumping) out of his tribe's special ceremony. Other men wondered how white people would like it if they made a sport out of tossing a bible around.
The second photo shows the tower. Barely visible are the men dancing to its left and women dancing to its right. If you look closely, you can see a man preparing to jump from the sixth platform from the top on the left side. There is also a close-up photo of men making last minute preparations to a diving platform.
This photo sequence illustrates the courage it takes to plunge towards the ground to be stopped by the ankle vines ONLY AFTER the head lightly brushes the soil.
Links:
http://www.vanuatutourism.com/
http://www.vanuatugovernment.gov.vu/