Natives in Vanuatu / Bungee

Natives in Vanuatu / Bungee

The Early History of Bungee Jumping talk about a serious leap of faith. The first land divers plunged head first toward hard soil, all in the name of agriculture.

The Jump and Grind
If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too? Chances are, if you’re a Vanuatan male and hoping for a really spectacular yam crop this year, the answer’s yes.

N A G H O L – (Naghol)
Vanuatu, an archipelago in the Southern Pacific perhaps best known for its starring role in 2004’s Survivor: Vanuatu, also has another claim to fame. Its Pentecost Island is the home of a death-defying religious ceremony known as naghol (a.k.a. land diving) that inspired modern-day bungee jumping.

To be fair, land divers don’t really jump off cliffs. Instead, they construct 75-foot-tall wooden towers in their village centers, tilling the ground below the towers by removing any rocks or debris. Then, they tie long, elastic vines around their ankles. And then, on one or two days in late spring, they jump. The islanders believe that as the men’s hair brushes against the ground at the nadir of their fall, it fertilizes the soil and helps ensure a bountiful yam crop.

Naghol is also a great excuse for village-wide parties; as the men line up to dive, crowds dance and sing below. Before they jump, they raise their arms in a signal that silences the cheering throng, and – as if acknowledging that their next act may be their last – they reveal their most private thoughts. Then they clap their hands, cross their arms in a corpse pose, and take the plunge.

At the bottom, assuming the diver survives, male relatives untie his ankles and flip him right-side up, to the cheers of adoring crowds. (We’d like to see the well-coiffed Survivor contestants try that.)

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH - (naturalist - 1950)
When legendary naturalist David Attenborough visited Pentecost Island with a BBC camera crew in 1950, the world got its first glimpse of land diving. Naturally, it was only a matter of years (29, to be exact) before thrill-seeking westerners followed suit. - MONSIEUR CARREFOUR