Made in Marokau

Made in Marokau By O. B. Peterson INGENUITY and civilization! To associate the word ingenuity with eminent inventors, discoverers, scientists, is natural to our trend of thought; — but what of associating it with the na- tives of a little coral atol four thousand miles from civilization? Ingenuity may well be numbered among the virtues of South Sea Islanders. They are not "over-read," at least not to the extent of being unable to think for themselves; and when a problem arises in their daily routine, they set about immediately to solve it. On the island of Marokau, Tuamotu Archipelago, the "mother of invention" — necessity — recently made one of her frequent de- mands, and a new brand of article was produced, which, were it really possible to trade mark, .might appropriately have been labeled "Made in Marokau;" just as manufacturers in other lands adopt the happy expedient of marking their goods with "Made in Ger- many," "Made in Japan" or "Made in the United States." Pahoa a Tahiaroa, branch president of the L. D. S. Church at that island, had just been made local governor, and he wanted to convey the good news to his old friend Toma (Thomas L. Woodbury), of Salt Lake City, who was a missionary on that island more than thirty years ago, but he found that he had no ink with which to write the letter. There was no store there, and ships during that particular season were very infrequent; but Pahoa needed ink, and he began to display his ingenuity. "I thought of the octopus," he writes. (In the body of the octopus is a bag of dark fluid which it emits when in danger, and which results in coloring the water for many feet around, losing the octopus to an enemy, and permitting it to escape before the water clears.) "I got my spear, went to the lagoon and sallied forth in my canoe," he continues, "and it was not long before I had bagged my quarry. Upon returning to the shore, I extracted the much-needed fluid and tried to write with it. I found, however, that it would not adhere to the paper; so I tried mixing it with rain water, then with sea water, but with no better result. I then conceived the idea of an entirely new experiment. I took the juice from a cocoanut and boiled it, and then mixed it with the fluid from the octopus. Inaha! (Behold!) A beautiful brown ink was the result! It flowed freely, looked neat and adhered sufficiently to suit the most particular. In fact, I soaked the paper in water to determine whether the new ink would thereby be diluted and ef- faced, but, to my surprise, when the paper dried the writing was as

TOP (LEFT) : TANE A TANE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MAROKAU. AND BROTHER OF PAHOA A TAHIAROA, PRESENT GOVERNOR; (RIGHT), PAHOA'S LETTER AS IT WAS ADDRESSED TO THOMAS L. WOODBURY. BOTTOM: VIEW OF MAROKAU, SHOWING THE GOVERNOR'S HOME. legible as ever. So I have continued thus to make ink, and I furnish it without cost to all the missionaries who come to this island.'' The letter to Thomas L. Woodbury, mailed from that far- off coral atol, was directed merely "Thomas W., Roto Miti, Utaha. Amerika." It arrived in America all right, but was returned to the islands for "better address." By a coincidence, Elder W. Harrison Conover, now serving in the Tahitian mission, was in the post office at Tahiti when the letter, returned from San Francisco, was received and laid aside. The address, "Roto Miti," (Salt Lake) aroused Elder Conover's curiosity and interest, — it reminded him of

560 IMPROVEMENT ERA May. 1929 home. He claimed the letter, and his claim was recognized. It was an easy matter to find the name and address of Elder Woodbury in the mission records, and the letter was soon re-directed and sent again on its way to Utah. This letter from Pahoa to Toma, however, did more than de- pict the ingenuity of the island native; it also portrayed the fact that he likes to view himself as having a keen sense of right and wrong. Pahoa had been made governor of Marokau, and he was proud to tell Toma about it, and especially just why he was the one appointed, by the French governor, in that solemn assembly of native chiefs. In explaining the reason for his choice, the French officer said: "I have chosen Pahoa a Tahiaroa to fill this im- portant office because he does not drink liquor." This desirable trait of character, recognized and appreciated by the government officer, and which is peculiar to but a few on that particular island, had its inception when Toma and other missionaries first took the message of the restored Gospel to those people and endeavored to teach them the value of its precepts. Pahoa was then but a young boy, but he loved Toma and the others and was impressed with their teachings. Among the many truths taught by them and subsequent elders was that liquor injures both body and mind and hinders the attainment of prosperity and happiness. "From my youth to the present time," said Pahoa, in this interesting octopus-ink letter, "I have always determined to oppose liquor. The French governor knows something of 'Mormonism ; ' — that its teachings have made the island people better; that its adherents abstain from liquor and obey the laws of the land. He knows also that at islands at which he calls in the course of his duties, where the local governor belongs to some church that does not place such stress upon the evils of liquor, etc., there is much trouble caused by intoxication and licentiousness; and the native governor himself, the very person who is expected to maintain law and order, becomes a helping hand in the breaking of law and the commission of sin. Therefore," he concluded, "in my office of governor, I will not permit liquor to be brought to this island, that my people may not waste their money on things that injure them." Newton gained fame from watching an apple fall; Watt is known for having experimented with the steam from his mother's teakettle; but Pahoa has made a new brand of ink, — to him quite as important. And we find in this native islander of Marokau. not only the ingenuity to supply from nature's storehouse what he lacks and cannot purchase, but also the strength of character to assume responsibility and to obey law. The Gospel and his native en- vironment have taught him to think for himself, and to act accord- ing to fundamental principles of right.