Being here is like living on the movie set of Bali Hai. White sand beaches lined with coconut palms lie at the base of shark fin fidges which break up the verdent walls of 3500 foot mountains shrouded in cloudy mists. A handful of lazy looking sailboats swinging at anchor are awaked occationally by the splashing of a school of 6 to 8 foot manta rays grazing on the currents of plankton. And the sun highlights each sceen individually as it filters through the steady flow of puffy clouds passing by.

This is the view that surrounds me as I sit on the aft deck and begin to read Herman Melville's book Typee, in which he describes the experience of being captive by the natives on the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas the year 1842. His discriptions of the Polynesean people, their culture and taboos, their lifestyle, their values, the flora and fauna are fascinating to read about and compare with what we are seeing and experiencing here today.

After jumping ship from the whaler he was on, Melville made his way inland to avoid capture only to stumble into the valley of Typee, feared for it's reputation for cannibalism. Rather than making a meal of him, the inhabitants embraced him as an honored quest, free to roam the valley as long has he did not try to escape. He eventually spent 4 months in what he called the Happy Valley before managing to slip away.

As we have now spent weeks ourselves in his exact location it's easy to imagine what it was like for him, even though very little still exists as he describes. Melville describes life on the islands as being very simple, slow and easy, with no real stress except for the pesky neighboring tribes who occasionally cross into the valley and provoke little skirmishes. He attributes the village Shangri La to the consistent perfect weather, an abundance of uncultivated food that literally grew on trees, and the absence of money or accumulated wealth. According to Melville no one really worked.  Breadfruit was the main staple along with coconuts and bananas which were plentiful and available for the picking in the valley. When they hunted boar or fished it was a special event, done as a special feast for ceremonies and festivals. All their material possessions were made from the natural resources around them, Tapa cloth out of bark, calabasa gourds as cups and bowls, pigments from
plants
for tattoo dyes, jewelry out of bones and shells, soaps and fragrant oils from the nectar of flowers. Their activities being more like hobbies and recreation, done at their leisure for pleasure and according to their needs. Because there were more men than women they were polygamous, where women would have more than one husband, but Melville notes that, in general, relationships were very causal and open.  Men were still the head of tribe, as chiefs, religious shaman and as warriors. The high chief determined what was taboo and off limits to women, but the restrictions were few, being primarily to the holy sites (the men's club) and religious ceremonies, which if it was me I would totally be ok with not participating in anyway. According to Melville, everyone had equal opportunity to all the resources, so there was no real need for laws or law enforcement, open relationships relieved most of the jealousy and angry competition and there was no caste or class system. Melville saw
the last days of that civilization because it was at that very time the French were colonizing the island tribe by tribe throwing everything off balance with the intrusion of guns, alcohol, disease and religion.The population on Nuku Hiva went from around 18,000 in 1842 to 2,096 in 1926 and still remains pretty sparsely populated today.

From our observation and generally speaking it appears that the simple, easy going lifestyle is inherent to the Marquesan people. There seems to be a sense of contentment with less. Material wealth doesn’t appear to be a driving force and the only fashion trend of any kind  we noticed was the bleached tuffs of hair all the teenage boys were sporting. Other than that it is t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops for all, year round. Outrigger canoes are the popular activity for the boys and men and polynesian dancing for the girls and women. We hear the drumbeats and dodge the canoes everytime we enter a harbor or walk through a village  What is most remarkable to us is the sense of community and family in each village. As the sun wanes in the late afternoon everyone, young and old, gather together outside to visit, play bocci ball, volleyball or just hang out. Also noticable is the cleanliness of the towns, roadsides, beaches and trails. 

There still is an abundance of fruit available for the picking on the islands, mostly uncultivated but on private property now so as a guest you don’t just pick it off the trees, but no noticeable commercial agriculture of any kind. As mentioned before every island in the Marquesas has an over abundance of feral goats, pigs and chickens which are available for the taking which also provide the activity of the day. We’ve seen a handful of fishermen per village but not what you’d expect being on the coast. Each village has 1-3 tiny little stores with the bare essentials at exhorbitant prices, a post office and government building, a clinic, a catholic and a protestant church, a school and a community gathering spot. Which raises the question, what generates income in the Marquesas, how do people make money? Tourism is very minor and low key, there is no manufacturing of goods, no commercial agriculture, except for copra, not a big money maker. Everything is imported twice
, first
to Tahiti and then via local cargo ship to the outer islands. A can of beer is 4 dollars and bag of Cheetos to go with it is 18 dollars. 

The Marquesas are composed of 10 islands over an area of 1,418 square miles and is off the beaten path from anywhere. Visiting the Marquesas is seeing a lifestyle and culture untouched by commerialism, consumerism, big business or industry. The outside world does not seem to have much influence on the daily lives of the Marquesan people, and from what we can tell they are ok with that. From an outsiders point of view it does appear like the islands of Smiles and Happy Valley’s, very little to get upset or stressed about.