ESPIRITU SANTO

KLEVA : SOME HEALERS IN CENTRAL
ESPIRITU SANTO, VANUATU

by

Dr Tom Ludvigson
Copyright © 2005
All rights reserved

ABSTRACT

This work is an ethnographic account of the kleva of central Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu - a handful of healers credited with powers beyond those of their neighbours. Their concerns include matters like illness, sorcery, witchcraft, spirits and dreaming. The account is based on seventeen months field research among the Kiai-speaking population on the south-east side of the upper Ari valley in south central Santo.

My method is primarily descriptive. In the main body of the work I give accounts of face-to-face encounters and conversations with the kleva and their neighbours, attempting to build up a picture of the kleva that takes into consideration not only what they do, but also the meaning of their activities for themselves and for their neighbours.

In the conclusion I discuss the relevance of my material to some problems in the ethnography of Melanesian religions. I also raise issues of interpretation, seen to lie at the core of both topic and method in ethnographic pursuits.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research on which this study is based was carried out with the aid of a scholarship from the New Zealand University Grants Committee. Additional funding was provided by the Swedish National Council for Social Research, the Lars Hierta Memorial Trust, and the University of Auckland Research Committee. The Research Committee also funded a three months visit to New Zealand for one of my informants from my field area. For all this financial support I am most grateful.

The people of central Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu allowed me to live among them, and provided ethnographic information and companionship during my seventeen months in their area. I thank them all for their patience and generosity. My hosts at Truvos, on the south-east side of the upper Ari valley, deserve a special mention, in particular Lisa of Kuvutana, who made me a member of his household for most of my time there. Ku meze! Kamalai komororo iniku.

I owe a special debt to my supervisors at the Department of Anthropology, Dr Nancy Bowers, Professor Ralph Bulmer and Dr Anne Salmond. Without their encouragement and untiring assistance this work would never have been completed.

Several people read and commented on earlier drafts of some of the chapters: Susan Freeman, Patricia Kinloch, Phoebe Look, Marjorie Sprecher, Claudia Tattersfield, Steven Webster, Barbara Wilkie and Julie Viviariae. Mike Goldsmith edited the manuscript, Nigel Baumber and Robert Mann assisted with proofreading, and Sue Stenner typed it. Drs Orchard and Gowers helped with identification of plant specimens. I owe them all great thanks for their interest and help. Mary Ludvigson re-typed the manuscript for electrronic publication. Thank you all very much!