Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1920 — NOT YET FULLY CIVILIZED [ARTICLE]

NOT YET FULLY CIVILIZED

Solomon Islanders at Times Apt to Go Back to Pleasant Diversion of Head Hunting. The Solomon islands are famous as one of the last strongholds of headhunting and cannibalism. Some of the natives have been converted to a civilized respect for human life, but the native taste of the Solomon islander still approves a ceremonial feast once in a while, with several members of a hostile tribe tastily cooked and served. ~ . Head-hunting has for centuries been a part of the islander’s religion and is pursued with great zeal and a kind of ecstatic enjoyment .to all except the victims. Head-hunters from one tribe set out for a hunt to the lands of another tribe. They swoop down on a village, seize as many victims as possible and escape. The trophies of the chase are impaled on posts as evidence of the hunters’ prowess, while the feast which follows consists mainly of the victims. If the attacked tribe knows of the plan beforehand it will retire to Fs tree houses, where it is safe for a while. These houses are built fifty or sixty feet from the' ground in the branches of giant trees. Ladders hang from them and up these the agile natives climb and then pull up the ladder. Usually a hunt is now instituted only for one or two sacrifices, and skulls as decorations in the houses are less fashionable than they once were. This is a favorable sign, but the real Solomon islander is far from tame and it apt to relapse any time into the ways of his fathers.