A RAROTONGA WEDDING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5425, 17 May 1929, Page 3

A RAROTONGA WEDDING.

(Written for the “Hauraki Plains Gazette” by D. Brown, Rarotonga, late of Paeroa.)

A wedding in Rarotonga is quite a complicated affair, or, rather, the preliminaries to the actual ceremony are long drawn out, certain forms of timehonoured customs having to be gone through beforehand. In the wedding here described one party of guests had a distance of some seven miles bound the island to traverse before reaching the venue. Seven miles through the most glorious scenery of a South Sea island paradise, a riot of exotic tropical blossoms with the beautiful flamboyant, a flowering tree, in full blossom, predominating. The scent of these, a gentle cool zephyr of breeze, and the languid perfumes of the South Seas combining with a perfect day to make life ideally pleasant. The Calling. The village itself was reached just as the proceedings were about to commence. These preliminaries to the marriage took the form of an elaborate piece of acting on the part of the closest friends of the contracting ones, and centred round the “calling” for the bride. This is common of all Tongan weddings, and takes much time and much talking. In this particular case, as in others, the groom in the first place appointed a man friend and several of his lady friends to call for the bride and take her to his home. It was their duty by soft words and alluringly held out prospects of the groom’s- wealth and manly beauty to inveigle her to leave the house of her parents and sally forth to the home of her prospective swain. These most necessary participants arrived in a gaily decorated car, covered with flowers, the male caller shouting at the top of his voice all the way through the village, "Here we are cdming, coming for the Bride , coming to take her to the home of -—, to get ready to be married.” The party arrived at the home of the bride only to be met with coldness, the whole house being shuttered and tightly barred, with a male friend of the bride’s standing on the verandah demanding in stentorian tones, “What is all the noise about ?” The groom’s caller in reply stated the purpose of the visit, only to be countered by another question : “What reason has —— to expect he can have —— for a bride ?” “Because,” replied the grbom’s henchman, “he has much land, has a certain quantity of kumeras, taro, and bananas growing, and can amply afford to keep a wife.” Not at all impressed, the doorkeeper shouted an insulting “We don’t believe it, and you will certainly not get for bride,” and then entered the house and slammed the door be-' hind him. The callers, temporarily checked, returned to the groom’s home, only to return in a short while with wild shrieks of victory on the part of the best man. He would get her this time, he has thought of some great inducement'he had forgotten to mention in the fil’st parley. The same procedure is goiie through, with the added information that “ has got a wonderful house, full of wonderful furniture.’’ All*to no purpose. Backwards and. forwards the best man wept, 1 , each time approaching the house with some additional inducement. “He has money in the bank” evoked only temporary interest; but the “piece de resistance” reserved for the last onslaught, “There is an enormous feast waiting, piping hot, ready to eat, and all the bride’s relations and friends are invited to come,” brought final capitulation. No Cook Island native can refuse a feast. Permission granted, the party entered the house to bear away .the bride,: whilst sounds of weeping and wailing emanated from the interior. Formalities exchanged, the bride was bathed and dressed and escorted to the awaiting car and borne away to the groom’s home, while all the way through the village the best man shouted in exultation, “He has got the bride,' she is a glorious bride,” and similar tributes to her fascination. Arrival at Groom’s Home. When the bride reached the home of the groom she was unrobed and bathed again by the maids, and t dressed throughout in garments furnished by him ih order to prove to the world at large that she came to him with nothing. The Wedding. At last, when all was ready, the wedding party and all the guests marched to the church, where the marriage was duly solemnised by a London Missionary Society missionary. Returning to the house, much congratulating and kissing took place. Later, the bride adjourned inside, to return in a few moments adorned in a new hat and dress. After sitting on the verandah a little while, receiving the admiration of the onlookers, she again disappeared, to reappear shortly afterwards in . a fresh change of clothing. This went on until the bride had exhausted her wardrobe. It is quite a common thing for a bride to have forty dresses to show off, dresses provided for the most part by relations. The Feast. At mid-day all the guests assembled at the feast. And what a feast ! Several head of cattle, some 70 huge pigs, and several hundred head of poultry, accompanied by taro, kumera, and cocoanut water galore. The white guests were provided with cutlery, and, after grace, they set to, doing ample justice to the feast, which took place in a large whare roofed with cocoanut matting, but open at the sides, the tables being beautifully adorned with flowers and coloured leaves. Meantime a native orchestra, comprising an accordion, steel guitar, mandolin, and several ukuleles, played the haunting sweet music that belongs to the South Seas alone. The Festivities. V After the repast the guests adjourned and the festivities proper began. The bridal couple sat in chairs

in front of the house to receive the presents. These were presented by the men and women who could talk best and loudest—mostly women. As is the rule on these occasions, each side of the family competed with the other to see who could give the largest number of presents in cash and kind. A basin to receive the monetary offerings was placed in front of the two central figures of the day, and competition began, the groom’s friends first. As each giver approached to deposit a present he or she would, in a loud voice, mention, if it were a sum of money, the total, and to what purpose it was to be devoted, and who it was from. If some dress material or other article of general use, its magnificence would be extolled in glowing terms by the donor. The groom’s friends having apparently finished theii’ store, the bride’s friends had their turn. Thus, in a very short space of time the ground around the bridal pair was covered with piles of hats, calicos, bedspreads, mats, lava-lavas, various kinds of dress materials, and all manner of things that go to delight the heart of a Tongan native. In some cases whole bolts of cloth were wound round and round the bride and groom. As a rule the bride’s friends give more than the groom’s, and so it was in this case. At the end the real rivalry started, and both parties simultaneously endeavoured to outbid each other until their cash and material were utterly exhausted. The present-giving over, the remains of the feast were distributed among the guests, European and native alike, the former receiving, for the most part, the beef as their share of the spoils. Later in the evening a wedding dance was held in an adjoining hall, where, after the native hulas of the afternoon, it was surprising to see the couples take the floor to fox-trot, twostep, etc., to the latest jazz tunes. At midhight the party broke up, dead tired, but happily content with the memory of a most enjoyable and entertaining day.