Palmerston Atoll, Cook Islands
This morning we landed at Palmerston Atoll. It was an exciting ride through the surf in the reef passage and into the quiet waters of the lagoon. Palmerston Atoll is home to about 50 souls, most of whom are descended from a British ship’s carpenter and cooper named William Marsters who came to the island with his wife and her sister in 1862. Marsters eventually fathered children with both of these women and a third woman who arrived later. When he died in 1899, he left 60 children and grandchildren. Today the descendants of the three women comprise three clans on the small island, each of which maintains its own property and interests. We brought with us eight Palmerstonians who had been visiting in Roratonga for two months and who had no other way to get home to their remote atoll. When they arrived there was much rejoicing and many happy tears among the reunited family members and friends. We walked freely around the small island and caught a glimpse of life on this isolated piece of land in the middle of the Pacific. Two mainstays of life for the people of Palmerston are the sea and the coconut palm. They are almost completely self-sustaining with these two sources of food and material. In addition, of course, they have chickens and a few pigs and the supply ship that comes from Roratonga every few months brings fuel for the generator and other items to support a modern existence, including a satellite telephone system, but still, on a day to day basis, these wonderful and friendly people rely on the tried and true elements to keep them alive. We could all learn from their independence and self –reliance.
This morning we landed at Palmerston Atoll. It was an exciting ride through the surf in the reef passage and into the quiet waters of the lagoon. Palmerston Atoll is home to about 50 souls, most of whom are descended from a British ship’s carpenter and cooper named William Marsters who came to the island with his wife and her sister in 1862. Marsters eventually fathered children with both of these women and a third woman who arrived later. When he died in 1899, he left 60 children and grandchildren. Today the descendants of the three women comprise three clans on the small island, each of which maintains its own property and interests. We brought with us eight Palmerstonians who had been visiting in Roratonga for two months and who had no other way to get home to their remote atoll. When they arrived there was much rejoicing and many happy tears among the reunited family members and friends. We walked freely around the small island and caught a glimpse of life on this isolated piece of land in the middle of the Pacific. Two mainstays of life for the people of Palmerston are the sea and the coconut palm. They are almost completely self-sustaining with these two sources of food and material. In addition, of course, they have chickens and a few pigs and the supply ship that comes from Roratonga every few months brings fuel for the generator and other items to support a modern existence, including a satellite telephone system, but still, on a day to day basis, these wonderful and friendly people rely on the tried and true elements to keep them alive. We could all learn from their independence and self –reliance.
