The Story of Lajeto as described by Jacob Johnson to Jack Niedenthal, May 1990 [picture: Jacob Johnson, deceased, June 19, 2001]
JACOB JOHNSON: "When I was a little boy I remember that once many of us had sailed to Rongelap Atoll on one of our larger outriggers to visit our friends there; the Bikinians and the Rongelapese people are
interrelated and we often traveled to their atoll to talk story with them. We had been there for some time. Finally, one day, Jurilik, an elder who happened to be the captain on this particular trip, approached us and said that we had to set sail immediately for Bikini because, though the sea then looked right for our journey, he could tell by the sky that it might not stay that way very much longer. He told the younger men to quickly prepare the outrigger. It was a fairly large vessel that was balanced with a rig on each side. He explained to us that the next day we would depart just before sunrise. Jurilik told Kalowa, Lajeto and Jurilik's son, Lokiar, to make sure that the canoe was loaded down with food for the trip, and to secure all the lines to the mast.
"The next morning, while it was still dark, we departed for Bikini with many people on board the canoe, including some women and children. After we had sailed out of Rongelap's lagoon, Kalowa and Lajeto asked Jurilik if they could take charge and set the course for Bikini, but old Jurilik replied harshly that they were still too young to navigate an outrigger of this size on a trip with so many people aboard. Kalowa and Lajeto shouted back at Jurilik saying that they had the ability to commandeer the vessel and to sail it back to Bikini. These were two young men who thought that they knew everything. Jurilik submitted to their complaints because they were so obnoxiously overconfident. He allowed them to take over even though he knew it was a foolish thing for him to do. Before finding another place to sit, however, he did offhandedly mention to them that they should make sure that the course be set for the southern pass of Bikini.
"Kalowa smiled proudly as he took control of the sail lines, and Lajeto, now with a pride-expanded chest, began to steer the outrigger with the rudder from the stern of the canoe. Jurilik simply went to sleep in the middle of the boat without comment or further instruction to the younger men. Jurilik's son, Lokiar, set the course carefully so the other two young men could head the craft straight for the southern channel in Bikini, and then he too retired.
"The walap, right from the beginning of the journey slowly strayed off its intended course. Lajeto, who was in the stern, sang loudly in order to drown out the noise that was being created by the hard slapping of the waves against the sides of the boat [Jacob sung out in a very young man's voice, causing everyone in the room to laugh]:
'Lajeto is an expert,
He knows what he is doing,
Lajeto never makes a mistake
And here we go!
Wooooooooooo!'
"Even when some of the more knowledgeable men in the vessel commented that they should not still be surrounded by open ocean, and that by this time, should have sighted Eneu Island, Lajeto would continue to sing out defiantly,
'Lajeto is an expert,
He knows what he is doing,
Lajeto never makes a mistake
And here we go!
Wooooooooooo!'
"A few of the men began calmly to suggest a different course to Lajeto, but he kept telling them that he knew where they were and that the channel of Eneu was certainly near. All of a sudden the wind picked up, shifted, and then began coming from a totally different direction. Wow! The canoe starting heading further and further northward and the sail began to bend in reverse of the way it had previously been blowing. At this point, most of us knew that we were rushing right by the channel and onward to the north of Bikini, where the waves are huge and the current strong.
"Jurilik awoke, and while remaining relaxed, began stretching his legs and arms as if he were not the least bit concerned-though even I knew he understood instantly that we were way off course! The two young men kept right on sailing confidently without realizing that they were going right past Bikini, even when it began to get very windy and the waves became unbelievably rough. To Jurilik it was incomprehensible that these two men could sail blindly into the wind and yet fail to understand that they were traveling in the wrong direction. Finally, Jurilik asked out loud, 'Well men, when do we get to Bikini?' Lajeto and Kalowa, who were now very worried and embarrassed, answered in a duo of shaky voices, 'We don't know where we are!'
"Jurilik glared at them with his intense eyes and said to them in a very steady but gruff tone, 'You two have for sure missed Bikini. And now, thanks to you, our craft is heading for Ene Kio [Wake Island] in the north and I know that you are sensitive enough to feel the canoe rocking and shaking because of these giant waves. You two have put us all in grave danger!' Jurilik wanted to ask his son, Lokiar, to change the sail from the rear of the canoe to the front, but he worried that perhaps his son was still too young to perform this task. When Lokiar heard his father express his doubts, he replied proudly that he would try anyway and thereupon he tied a length of rope around his waist for safety. Jurilik explained to them that he would count the waves like this: Juon, ruo, and then, when he shouted jilu, they were all to help Lokiar move the sail forward. And so Jurilik slowly counted while timing the waves: 'Juon.......... Ruo.......... JILU!' On this command Lokiar jumped to the front of the canoe with the sail, and while Jurilik helped him push it towards the front of the boat, the other men steadied the sails. The heavy drama had the women on board bickering and whimpering because of their fear of a horrible death at sea.
"Lokiar was energetically tying one of the mast lines to the canoe, while Jurilik secured the other, when the outrigger began to sail steadily back on course. Jurilik professed that he would like to set the course for the Bukor channel, but now we had a new obstacle: a giant whale could be seen trailing behind us. The monster was bobbing up and down and blasting mightily the air and water from his blow hole! When they saw the whale approaching, the women again renewed their crying with a fervor. Jurilik took a coconut, cut it open, extracted some of the meat, ground it up, cast a spell on the white mush and then threw it into the sea. This was a form of Marshallese seamen's magic that was made to ward off a whale's attack and send the beast back down into the depths of the ocean. That is exactly what happened. When the whale plunged beneath the sea, the panic that had overtaken those of us on the boat subsided.
"Jurilik smiled at everyone. He told them to be calm. He said that now we should relax and eat our jankwun (preserved pandanus) because he was in command and had set our course for Bikini. The trouble was over for us. As he stood in the stern, and expertly guided our canoe back to Bikini, Jurilik started singing Lajeto's little song in a child's voice (in order to poke fun at him):
'Lajeto is an expert,
He knows what he is doing,
Lajeto never makes a mistake
And here we go!
Wooooooooooo!'
"After several choruses, and after our laughter had subsided, Jurilik turned and shouted at Lajeto and Kalowa saying, 'You two just stay back with those children and dine with them as they sip on their coconuts and their mama's breasts! Don't ever say to me you know what you are doing when it comes to sailing canoes.' He then told them to hoist the sail a little to make the outrigger glide smoother over the water in the direction of our islands now visible on the horizon.
"When our people on Bikini saw us coming towards the island they were surprised because, instead of approaching from the south like we normally do when we sail in from Rongelap, we were now arriving from the north. I remember well how happy they were to see us and how they loved hearing this story of the young expert sailors.
"To this day, when our youth get cocky, we elders confidently remind them of Lajeto's song."
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