The Religious Transformation from Worejabato the Reef God to Jesus Christ as described by elder Jamore Aitap, December 1989, & Kilon Bauno [deceased] , October 1987 to Jack Niedenthal. [Pictures: Kilon Bauno & Jamore Aitap].
JAMORE AITAP: "In the olden days on Bikini, before the missionaries came to our islands to teach us about the true God, we lived by, and believed in, a totally different religion. In fact, our elders worshiped many different gods during their day-to-day lives and followed fastidiously the beliefs associated with them. They felt strongly that they had no use for any other religion or god. The Bikinians of long ago knew of no deities other than those that they prayed to from time to time. They sacrificed to the spirits of the sea, the wind, the soil, the fire and all the other natural wonders that the earth produced for them to experience. They believed that Worejabato [WAR-itch-sha-bottle], a grassy reef head in Bikini's lagoon, housed the most powerful god who was believed to be superior to all other god-like entities known to swirl mysteriously around Bikini at that time. Our people prayed to Worejabato continually and followed a very precise method of worship. Though our elders would bring all of the spirits offerings of food, and take extreme care in their prayers to them, when it came time to use the power of Worejabato, they were careful to treat him exactly as the legends prescribed."
"What did you have to do to appease this god?"
"Well, the process of gaining access to the power of Worejabato first involved a swim out to the reef head, and once there, it became important that an elder, who knew the correct methods for extracting the sacred grass from the muddy coral, be present to instruct those seeking the magical substances. After one carefully obtained the grass from Worejabato, he would hand it up to others on the canoe and they in turn would put it into a container filled with ocean water that had also been filled from the reef head. Then, they had to return to the island in order to prepare a mixture, the method of which was known only to the most powerful of men. It involved the blending of coconut oil with the sacred water and grass, then saying a chant over the concoction. This compound is what they later would use to conjure up the awesome power, and the god, Worejabato."
"But Jamore, why would anyone want to bring forth this god?"
"Because Worejabato, once contacted, had the ability to ward off any other people, bad spirits, demons or idols who might try to invade Bikini Atoll. If such an attempt did occur, Worejabato had the ability to rise up immediately and either kill off or scare these evil beings from our islands. This actually happened several times, and it was because Worejabato performed so well and indeed warded off the intruders that the Bikinians' belief in him as a god was so immense; foreign spirits were known to be terrified of Worejabato simply because he always managed to conquer them. The Bikinians of those days also held Worejabato in great fear. Our elders thought that he would kill us, too, if we didn't prepare the bottle, and afterward, worship him in the correct manner. They claimed that he was responsible for killing many of our own people for not following his way."
Right: the Worejabato reef-head is the small dark spot in the center of the picture
"What happened to Worejabato when the first Christians came to Bikini?"
"The reign of Worejabato over the Bikinians as a god ended many years ago when a Marshallese man named Lainer, who was from Ebon Atoll and had been schooled by American missionaries about the meaning of the one true God, traveled to Bikini to talk to our people. He went to our elders and spoke with them about God and His son, Jesus Christ, and how He was the savior of the universe."
"But did the people believe in this god? Didn't the new deity appear to them to be some kind of far-out, ridiculous being?"
"Well, the idea of a new god, in the beginning, was hardly tolerated by our elders who loved Worejabato dearly and who thought that his power certainly would smash them for even considering these new divinations--they cried and carried on terribly, resisting the conversion to this god that Lainer was praising as the most powerful lord in the world."
"But they did convert, didn't they?"
"No matter how hard our elders tried to believe this new religion felt very strange. Little by little some of our past leaders began to see the light and started us on the long drawn out task of throwing out the darkness in our lives. They made us, as a community, worship the one true God, Jesus Christ. So, today, we believe that there is a greater, more divine force than those of ancient times. We now follow only Christ and His ways. We now believe only in Worejabato's therapeutic value as a medicine and not in his power to be god. One solitary God rules the earth today and He will be forever in our souls. Yes, God is everlasting, not just for we Bikinians, but for people the world over who are willing to open their minds and hearts to Him."
Above right photo: Uraia Jibas prepares the Worejabato mixture while on Bikini.
KILON BAUNO: "That story is an important one." He shifted his body into a more comfortable sitting position. He rested his old wooden walking cane against a chair. "When I was a young man, we used to spend many afternoons filling bottles with sea water and seaweed from the magic reef head we call Worejabato. The tale about this area of Bikini's lagoon is our ancestors' most treasured story. Indeed, I regard it with warmth and reverence each time that I am called upon to explain it to our younger people. I can still fondly recall my elders taking the time to acquaint me with this important legend."
"Kilon, just exactly who is this reef god? and how did he come to live on Bikini?"
"Well, Worejabato was a man who came from the island of Yap with his sister a long, long time ago. After sailing for several weeks they finally sighted land and, so slowly, approached Bikini from the southwest. Once reaching the southernmost tip of one of the few islands that were then in the atoll, Worejabato asked his sister to get off the outrigger and stay behind because she was not dressed properly and he didn't want to embarrass himself on Bikini by taking her along. After listening to his sister complain, Worejabato then traveled on to Bikini alone. When he arrived on the island he approached a coconut tree above a large, round water well, climbed to the top of the tree and hid there by perching himself upon the palm fronds.
"After some time a pair of male Siamese twins, who were joined at the back of the head and named Kwelik and Kweiar, came along to get some water from the well. Kwelik leaned over and looked into the well and saw Worejabato's reflection from above and mistakenly thought that it was himself that he was actually seeing. He combed his hair admiring what he perceived to be his own beauty and then said to his brother, 'My, aren't I a handsome man? I can see my reflection in the well and it certainly is a sight to behold.'
"His brother Kweiar, jealous because of not being able to also see into the water well, said, 'Hey, let me have a look into that well!' The men switched positions to allow Kweiar to look down into the well, and after seeing what he thought was now his reflection he smiled and said, 'No, no, I am for sure the most extraordinarily gorgeous man on the island. Just look at the beautiful image of my perfect face coming from deep within the well.' Because the twins were acting in such a snobbish and overtly boastful manner, Worejabato jumped down from the tree, picked the twins up, and hurled them over to the ocean side of the island where they fell onto the reef, turned into stone and died. Today you can see those two big rocks there on the ocean side of Bikini. We call them Kwelik and Kweiar.
"Worejabato, who by now was thoroughly disgusted with these people and their vanity, then went to the twins' house on Bikini, and began throwing all their relatives out of the house. Each time a person fell into the sea they formed an additional islet in the atoll. Finally, Worejabato dove into the lagoon and made a house for himself in the form of a reef head. Even today it consists mainly of long seaweed grasses. He tamed a mammoth shark that allegedly measures over twenty feet. He uses it for his canoe and also to guard the reef from evil spirits. Any Bikinian diving on the reef head need not be fearful of being bitten by the shark. It is, along with the power of Worejabato, a benefactor of all the Bikinians and their atoll."
"But what power does Worejabato have now? I know that he is no longer considered a god, but I still hear people talk about him. Is he still of some use to the Bikinians?"
"Well, to this day we use the seaweed of the reef for our local medicine, and even though we spend most of our time on Kili, one of our most important tasks during a short stay on Bikini is to fill our bottles with seaweed and lagoon water from Worejabato. He will be forever sacred to us because his medicinal power reigns supreme here in the Marshall Islands."
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