Head‐hunting in the Christianization of Bugotu 1861–1900

Abstract

the social, psychological and religious aspects of head-hunting and the nature of its origins and dissemination are subjects too broad to be discussed thoroughly in this paper. Briefly, head-hunting in the Solomons was con fined to the western islands; primarily New Georgia, Choiseul and Isabel. It is known from the journals of the trader Andrew Cheyne that head hunting was well entrenched in New Georgia society in the early 1840s. Between this time and i860 the practice was imported to Santa Isabel. D'Urville's account of Bugotu in 1838 indicates that head-hunting, at least in the form of later years, was not then practised. However, by the 1850s it was well under way, and in these years the people of Gau and Bugotu raided the coast around Isabel and made expeditions to Malaita for heads.2 In the 1860s there was an upsurge in head-hunting on the island, resulting in the construction of tree houses and village fortifications. In early 1865 the village of Mahaga had been attacked by head-hunters from a place called 'Higata', who had left in their wake 100 headless bodies. This raid led the people to build tree houses for protection, and by September of the same year these 'were dotted about in all directions'. To visiting Europeans

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