A living history
Vanuatu's history has many layers. Below is a short summary of how the country came to be, why French and English influence is still strong today, and why kastom (traditional custom and way of life) is still part of everyday life.
The Early Explorers
People have lived on many of Vanuatu's islands for thousands of years. The oldest evidence found so far is about 4,000 years old (2000 BC). Today, about 217,750 people live in Vanuatu, and they speak 113 different languages. Vanuatu is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. This diversity comes from 4,000 years of people arriving from other Pacific countries. Most came from Melanesia, but some Polynesians also settled here. Polynesians are generally taller and lighter-skinned.
In 1605, Pedro Fernández de Quirós, an explorer from Portugal, became the first European to reach the islands. He thought they were part of a large southern land called Terra Australis. More Europeans began to settle in the late 1700s. This was after the British explorer James Cook visited on his second voyage and named the islands the New Hebrides.
In 1887, a French and British naval commission began to manage the islands. In 1906, France and Britain agreed to share power over the New Hebrides. This shared rule was called the Anglo-French Condominium.
The Missionaries
The first two missionaries arrived on Erromango in 1839. One of them was John Williams of the London Missionary Society. He was killed soon after landing. Because of this, mission groups became more careful.
For the next nine years, they sent Christian missionaries from other Polynesian islands instead. The Europeans thought that if these missionaries survived, it would be safe for Europeans to follow. In 1845, teachers from Samoa landed on Efate, but most were killed within a few years. Over the next years, Catholic, Presbyterian and Anglican missionaries came from England, Noumea and France. Many of their attempts were short or failed. But they kept trying, and by the 1860s there were mission stations of different churches across the islands.
The effect on local people was different in different places. Many people who became Christian died from new diseases brought by outsiders. These included measles, dysentery, smallpox, influenza, pneumonia, scarlet fever, mumps, whooping cough and even the common cold. Traditional medicine worked well against local illnesses, and people had some natural protection against them. But it did not work against these new diseases. Some people decided that the new religion and its God were weak against sickness. Others believed that all illness comes from sorcery, so Christianity must be a very harmful religion if it made its own followers so sick. This led to the deaths of several missionaries after disease outbreaks.
Even so, the missionaries kept coming, and over time they had a deep effect on Melanesian society. The Catholic Church was accepted more easily. Its missionaries let converts keep some of their own beliefs and mix them with Catholicism. This mix of old and new would later shape how the country was governed.
World War 2
In World War 2, Germany defeated France. This meant the French side of the Condominium was officially at war with the British side. But in 1940, the French people of the New Hebrides quickly chose to support General de Gaulle and the Free French Forces. They were the first French Pacific colony to do this. It was one of the few times during the Condominium that the French and British agreed.
In early 1942, the Japanese army reached the nearby Solomon Islands. People in the New Hebrides were afraid they would be next. The Americans arrived first, without any warning, in May 1942. Their warships filled Mele Bay. It was so sudden that many people in Vila ran into the hills, because they thought the Japanese had arrived.
The Americans were at war, so they built everything they needed to support their soldiers. This included barracks, hospitals, a road around the whole island, airstrips and wharves. Their aim was to stop the Japanese advance. On Espiritu Santo, 100,000 soldiers arrived quickly. This almost doubled the country's population in a very short time.
All over the islands, the people of the New Hebrides noticed that the Americans treated Black and white soldiers equally. People who worked for the Americans were treated with respect and paid far more than ever before. In many ways, the early 1940s were calm years for local people. Vanuatu was attacked by a Japanese plane only once, and it was shot down. The only death on Santo was a cow named Besse. Other places, such as Japanese-held New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, suffered much more. In the New Hebrides, people were treated fairly and had better living conditions and modern medical care. Many new facilities were also built, and some are still used today.
End of the War
Three years later, the Americans left as quickly as they had come. Under US policy, the American economy could not handle so much war equipment coming home. So the Americans offered to sell the Condominium Government their machinery, bulldozers, cranes and office equipment for only seven cents for every dollar of its real value. The Condominium thought the Americans would leave it all behind anyway, so it said no. The Americans then decided to push everything into the ocean.
Many people saw this as a careless waste. It added to the Cargo Cults that were already growing across the islands. (Cargo Cults were movements that hoped for the return of foreign goods and wealth.) It also increased anger at Condominium rule. Divers can still find much of this equipment around Efate. The most famous place is Million Dollar Point on Espiritu Santo.
Perhaps the most famous war relic, and one of the best dive sites in the world, is the SS President Coolidge. The ship was launched in 1931 and turned into a troop ship in 1941. It was 654 feet (about 200 metres) long. On 26 October 1942, it was carrying 5,092 officers and soldiers to the fighting at Guadalcanal. As it entered the Segond Channel near Espiritu Santo, it hit a mine. A second explosion followed moments later. Captain Nelson steered the badly damaged ship onto the shore and ordered everyone to leave. Fifty-five minutes later, the ship slid backwards into the channel and sank. Two men died.
The loss was a costly mistake for the war effort. But it made Espiritu Santo a top destination for divers from around the world. The Coolidge is the largest, most complete and easiest to reach shipwreck from World War 2. It lies only a few kilometres from Luganville and just a short distance from the shore. Several dive operators in Santo can take you there by boat or from the shore. Visibility is usually about 15 to 25 metres. New divers can safely explore the outer parts of the wreck. It is best to go deeper inside slowly, after a few dives that get you used to the wreck from the outside.
After the war, the Condominium leaders had to run a struggling economy under a weak system of two governments. But a spark had been lit that would not go out. By the 1960s, it was ready to grow into a fire.
Father of Independence
Before independence, ni-Vanuatu (the people of Vanuatu) did not own or sell land. Land was held in trust and passed down through the generations. Europeans saw land very differently. By the mid-1960s, European settlers claimed almost 30% of the country's land. Much of it was cleared to grow coconuts and produce copra (dried coconut flesh used to make oil). Copra prices then fell, and planters started to turn to cattle farming. This led to more land clearing, and villagers in Santo and Malekula protested because more of their custom land was being taken. This anger had been growing since the end of the war. It led to the start of political parties.
Some groups with French support, such as Jimmy Stevens' Nagriamel, said they protected Melanesian land rights. In 1971, Stevens asked the United Nations for early independence. In the same year, Father Walter Lini, an Anglican minister, formed the Vanua'aku Party, which had English-speaking support. As politics became stronger, people mostly took sides along French and English lines. Some people in Santo also wanted their own self-rule, which made things harder. All this led to the first general election.
In November 1979, Lini's Vanua'aku Party won the election. Independence was planned for mid-1980. But in May 1980, an uprising on Tanna split the island in two. On Santo, Stevens took over the airport, forced the police out of their station and declared Santo independent under the name Venerama. The world called this the "Coconut War", although it was not taken fully seriously. It ended when Stevens' son was killed at a roadblock held by soldiers from Papua New Guinea. Stevens gave up soon after.
At midnight in June 1980, the French and British flags were lowered for the last time. The flag of the Republic of Vanuatu was raised in their place. Most French citizens left the islands. Land returned to the ni-Vanuatu landowners, and new leases were limited to 60 years.
Chief Roimata — Ancient King of Vanuatu
In July 2008, Chief Roi Mata's Domain became Vanuatu's first World Heritage site. It is about a 30-minute drive north of Port Vila. The area has beautiful beaches, a stunning harbour and views of Artok, the island shaped like a hat.
Oral tradition (stories passed down by speaking) in the middle and southern islands tells of a great and powerful chief. He brought together warring tribes, some of which practised cannibalism, into one peaceful group. This was the first time this had happened in ancient Vanuatu. The story says that Chief Roi Mata took the title of King and brought lasting peace to the region through his strong personal charm. His own brother ended his life by striking him with a poisoned dart. He died slowly. His grieving family carried him around the island of Efate so he could say goodbye to the people he had united. He finally died at Feles Cave on Lelepa Island.
Tradition says he was carried through the underwater caves of Tukutuku to the nearby island of Retoka. There he was buried. As custom required, his close family and companions were buried with him, and some of them were still alive.
In 1967, José Garanger, a French archaeologist, set out to find out whether Roi Mata was a real person or only a legend. With the blessing of the chiefs of Lelepa, his team found the grave very easily. They dug an area of about 20 by 10 metres and found 47 skeletons. This matched the oral tradition almost exactly. Radiocarbon dating showed that the burial took place between 1250 and 1300 AD. This supported the history that the people of Tongoa had passed down for hundreds of years.
Retoka Island is no longer tabu (forbidden). Its customary owners now offer tours for visitors who want to see the island and hear the story of Roi Mata's grave first-hand.