Where crocs won’t harm humans

By FRANK TAUNAKEKEI
IN PNG just like any other place in the world, there are certain locations such as rivers, lakes, swamps and mangroves where crocodiles have made their habitat.
Humans and animals alike fear this eerie creature and with the introduction of guns and other firearms, many communities have got rid of this gruesome reptile whose sturdy hide is very valuable to crocodile hunters.
Despite all the adverse reports regarding this uncanny creature, there are some narratives which are not so hideous.
One such story originates from Paugolo Village, now known as Babaka, an inland village some four kilometers from the beach in the Hula area of Rigo District in Central.
Alu Numa, direct descendant of Velapo Vanua the chief of Alaurokuna clan at the time of the following story attests that the crocodiles that occupy Totoga Waina (Totoga River) are not ordinary beasts.
I had heard this story from a number of other Babaka villagers but on approaching Alu Numa, I decided to use his account of this strange saga that has been passed down from generation to generation.
It was an eventful day, as very early in the morning the eldest of Chief Velapo Vanua’s 10 daughters went out to relieve herself, but to her surprise she could not because the whole house was surrounded by crocodiles. She very quickly went back into the house and pretended to go back to sleep. Likewise three other sisters also went out to answer nature’s call but on seeing the unexpected visitors, all went back in just like what their eldest sister had done and pretended to sleep as if nothing had happened. But when the youngest daughter came out she immediately went back in and told her father that they had visitors.
Wondering why the crocodiles had appeared, the chief came out onto the verandah of his grass thatched house on stilts and asked the crocodiles why they had come so early in the morning and surrounded his house. Firstly he asked if they wanted anything from him, and the biggest crocodile which looked like their leader wagged his tail showing his agreement.
So the chief started naming his riches beginning with his pigs, but the leader of the burly creatures did not move. So he named everything he owned, still there was no response until the chief mentioned his daughters and immediately the huge reptile wagged his tail approvingly.
So Chief Vanua reluctantly turned to his daughters, but before he could say anything to them, the eldest very quickly stated to her father that, it was her youngest sister who had first reported the presence of the crocodiles therefore she should be the one to marry off to one of the creatures.
When all the other eight sisters agreed with their eldest sister, the last born realised her misfortune.
Faced with an insurmountable problem and with a heavy heart, the chief told the crocodiles that he would bring his beloved daughter to them the next day. Later that day after he had settled down from the shock of happenings that morning, the chief gathered all his clansmen and the neighbouring clans and after relating to them what had happened, they killed their prized pigs and made a feast to bid farewell to the chief’s youngest daughter.
The very next day Chief Velapo and his clansmen brought baskets filled with food to the river with the unfortunate daughter. There was a lot of confusion in the air but not only had the chief made his decision, no one was willing to argue with a crowd of cold blooded creatures.
Something like this had never happened before, so after some time of uneasiness, the leader of the crocodiles approached his bride and breathed into her nostrils, she then climbed onto the reptiles back and they both dived into the clear waters followed by all his fellow crocodiles. As the water settled, the silence that followed was broken by a chorus of wailing and cries of loss and misery as when someone dies and has just been buried.
As the sun set that evening, Babaka Village was an environment of deep sorrow as the whole village mourned the loss of Chief Velapo’s youngest daughter. Though a seasoned warrior and warlord, the chief grieved for many weeks and it was very difficult for his sons and remaining daughters to console him.
After time had healed his pain and anguish, Velapo led his tribesmen to the riverside to cut posts to build new houses. Being tired after carrying mangrove posts, he sat on the sandbank where his daughter had submerged with the chief crocodile and wished aloud that someone would bring him a riu (wooden bowl) filled with hot vapuli (purple yams). Having said that, he reclined to relax but a few minutes later he felt water being splashed onto him. Looking around and to his surprise, he saw two hands sticking out of the water holding two riu filled with hot steaming vapuli. The two arms submerged immediately after the two bowls were taken from them. After eating their fill, the tribesmen returned home with yet another incredibly anomalous experience.
And of course the news spread very quickly and before long all the neighbouring villages had heard about the strange events. And so anyone who went fishing or to cut posts for their houses near or around the place where Chief Velapo’s daughter was taken down (now called Vapuli Turagena of place where purple yams were given) would just ask for a bowl of yams and sometime later a pair of arms would just appear holding up the fool for them to eat.
After some time, someone (not a family member) decided it was not good enough that one should wish for food and hot food is offered to you by an unseen face. So he planned that he must see the face of the person giving the food. On the particular day he asked for the food and waited and when the hands appeared with the riu of vapuli, instead of getting the yams he grabbed hold of the arms and hoisted them up. Out of the water came the body that was attached to the arms, but to his horror, only the arms were human but the rest of the body was that of a crocodile.
The man very quickly let go of the arms, but before Chief Velapo’s transformed daughter submerged she uttered her disappointment saying; because she had been shamed by being seen in the form of a crocodile, she would never again give food to anyone but promised that her new family and their descendants would never ever harm any humans.
Surprisingly, true to her words, to this very day, no crocodile from Totoga Waina has ever attacked or harmed anyone from Babaka Village.
Stray dogs and pigs have been attacked and eaten by these fearsome creatures but no one since the days of Chief Velapo Vanua has had any problems with these crocodiles. When the villagers go fishing, collect shellfish or do other things where the crocodiles live, they get very close to these creatures and talk to them as if they are talking to other persons and there seems to be a feeling of understanding that there is no danger of being attacked.
A huge one-eyed crocodile, believed to be the leader, very quickly disposes of any strange or unfamiliar crocodile that intrudes into Totoga Waina. Being so close to these uncanny creatures for so long, when they surface in great numbers at the same time, the Alaurokuna tribesmen see this as a sign that someone from their clan is about to die.
Alu Numa who is now recognised as the chief of Alaurokuna tribe is the son of Numa Gure, the son of Gure Kila, the son of Mega Velapo, the son of Velapo Vanua, the son of Vanua Kila the founder and father of Alaurokuna clan.
In the late 1970s, an Indonesian crocodile hunter came to Babaka Village hoping to convince the villagers to help him kill crocodiles for their valuable skins. Alu Numa’s father, the late Numa Gure asked him to leave after explaining to him that the crocodiles in Totoga Waina were no ordinary crocodiles but descendants of a human lady, so the Indonesian had no choice but to leave.
Alu Numa, like his father, is very protective of the Totoga river and its surrounding environment, and has asked the current Member for Rigo District, Lekwa Gure (who is also from Babaka Village) to make it a nature reserve and have it promoted as a tourist attraction.
As time slowly moves on and you contemplate this unique story, Totoga Waina probably remains the only place in PNG and maybe the whole world where crocodiles don’t attack human beings.

•  Frank Taunakekei is a freelance writer.