Taboos That Keep People Away From All Sorts of Different Areas.

While every culture in the world has many different kinds of taboos which cover all sorts of topics, the tropical island of Vanuatu has a very special taboo which is a real deterrent.

Taboos, or prohibitions, come in many different shapes and sizes and can cover every aspect of life. They are often an unwitting phenomenon that has been handed down from one generation to the next. They are the unwritten rules and regulations, which govern a society or group and are thought of in terms of: 'When in polite society you…'

Taboos can cover:
·    Circumcision
·    Diet
·    Sexual activities
·    Body functions
·    Marriage
·    Death
·    Birth
·    Health
·    Forms of greeting
·    Exposure of body parts
·    Illicit drugs
·    Work ethics
·    Offensive language
·    Gestures
·    Relationships

Some taboos began over nothing more than the fear of a demonic force. Over a period of time the taboos evolved through acts of legal, religious or social authority. Some are totally irrational, while others serve a real purpose. Some observers may react with a jaw-dropping emotion of disgust, when observing a foreign taboo, but it is frequently only in the enforcing of the taboos, that protects the safety of the rest of the group.

September 16th is a holiday for people from the Penama province, a small group of tropical islands of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific. It was also the day set aside for a peace ceremony between the Vanuatu Agricultural and Technical Centre and Chief Molbarab. The Chief had counted on the votes from the Centre to reelect him into office in the general election. When the votes did not materialize as promised, tension swiftly built up between the chief's family and the Centre. It was alleged the Chief would place namele leaves at the door of the Centre, effectively closing the operations of the Centre down.

Namele leaves from the Chief's Palm, are a very real threat in ancient culture of Vanuatu. If two namele leaves are crossed over each other and placed on any business, the staff will adamantly refuse to enter the property, no matter what maybe said. The business grinds to halt and will remain that way until such time as the dispute is cleared up.

Namele leaves, which are seen on the Vanuatu flag as a sign of peace, along with the pig tusks, a symbol of wealth, are also used as a very strong sign for taboo. If a senior person, or village family, feel they have the only right to eat the fruit of a particular tree, they can tie a namele leaf on the trunk. Anyone ignoring the leaf and breaking the taboo by partaking of the forbidden fruit is liable to pay a fine, reinforced by the chief of the village.

Namele leaves were crossed over the entrance to a dental clinic in Vanuatu. Even though patients walked miles and turned up for their appointment, the clinic was forced to remain closed until such time as the dispute was cleared up.

In another incident in the Vanuatu islands, a dispute rose over the illegal use of some land as a village garden. The chief owning the property placed several sets of crossed namele leaves around the property, then killed a pig over the top of the leaves, in order to make the taboo of the leaves doubly strong. The offenders, who had been using the land as a vegetable garden, were ordered by the chief, to pay one pig each, for wrongful use of the land. When the six offenders dared to refuse to obey the custom law, they were hauled into white man's court and ended up being banned from using the land, forced to pay the full court costs for the defendant, plus still owing the chief a pig each.

The namele leaves are just one of the many varied taboos which are threaded throughout the exotic and ancient culture of Vanuatu, the 'Must See' adventure travel destination of the South Pacific.

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