Prince Philip: The Vanuatu tribes mourning the death of their ‘god’

As Britain mourns the death of Prince Philip, they are joined by a tribal community on a Pacific island half a world away.

For decades, two villages on the Vanuatuan island of Tanna have revered the Duke of Edinburgh as a god-like spiritual figure.

A formal mourning period is now under way, and scores of tribespeople are gathering on Monday in a ceremony to remember Prince Philip.

“The connection between the people on the island of Tanna and the English people is very strong… We are sending condolence messages to the royal family and the people of England,” said tribal leader Chief Yapa, according to Reuters news agency.

For the next few weeks, villagers will periodically meet to conduct rites for the Duke, who is seen as a “recycled descendant of a very powerful spirit or god that lives on one of their mountains”, says anthropologist Kirk Huffman who has studied the tribes since the 1970s.

They will likely conduct ritualistic dance, hold a procession, and display memorabilia of Prince Philip, while the men will drink kava, a ceremonial drink made from the roots of the kava plant.

This will culminate with a “significant gathering” as a final act of mourning. “There will be a great deal of wealth on display” which would mean yams and kava plants, says Vanuatu-based journalist Dan McGarry.

“And also pigs, because they are a primary source of protein. I would expect numerous pigs to be killed for the ceremonial event.”

‘A hero’s journey’
For half a century, the Prince Philip Movement thrived in the villages of Yakel and Yaohnanen – at its height, it had several thousand followers, though numbers are thought to have dwindled to a few hundred.

The villagers live a simple life in Tanna’s jungles, much as their ancestors did. Wearing traditional dress is still common, while money and modern technology such as mobile phones are seldom used within their own community.

Though they live only several kilometres from the nearest airport, “they just made an active choice to disavow the modern world. It’s not a physical distance, it’s a metaphysical distance. They’re just 3,000 years away,” says Mr McGarry, who has frequently met the villagers.

The villagers’ centuries-old “kastom”, or culture and way of life, sees Tanna as the origin of the world and aims to promote peace – and this is where Prince Philip has played a central role.

Over time, the villagers have come to believe he is one of them – the fulfilment of a prophecy of a tribesman who has “left the island, in his original spiritual form, to find a powerful wife overseas,” says Mr Huffman.

“Ruling the UK with the help of the Queen, he was trying to bring peace and respect for tradition to England and other parts of the world. If he was successful, then he could return to Tanna – though one thing preventing him was, as they saw it, white people’s stupidity, jealousy, greed and perpetual fighting.”

With his “mission to literally plant the seed of Tanna kastom at the heart of the Commonwealth and empire”, the Duke was thus seen as the living embodiment of their culture, says Mr McGarry.

“It’s a hero’s journey, a person who sets off on a quest and literally wins the princess and the kingdom.”

Agencies