Bunlap
| Bunlap | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
 Bunlap
|
|
| Coordinates: 15°58′S 168°16′E / 15.967°S 168.267°ECoordinates: 15°58′S 168°16′E / 15.967°S 168.267°E | |
| Country |
 Vanuatu
|
| Province | Penama Province |
| Island | Pentecost Island |
| Time zone | VUT (UTC+11) |
Bunlap is a village in the south-east of Pentecost Island in the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. It is the most well-known of a number of local kastom (custom) villages whose people aspire to retain a traditional lifestyle with minimal Western influences.
Unlike some other kastom villages, which remain strictly closed off to foreigners, Bunlap has profited extensively from tourism in recent years.
Traditional clothing is still worn by many (though not all) villagers. For females this consists of knee-length skirts made out of fiber strips. For ceremonial occasions, ankle-length skirts are worn. Men wear only a wide belt around the waist, to which a cloth or leaf tube is attached. The tube is worn around the penis (reminiscent of a penile gourd), while the remainder of the genitals and buttocks are exposed. These garments are distinct from the similar, but still differing nambas, which are worn by other indigenous peoples of Vanuatu.
Villagers form Bunlap generally put on Western clothing when travelling outside the area.
The Bunlap people perform an ancient ritual called the Gol (Bislama nanggol) or "land diving", in which men tie vines to their ankles and jump headfirst from platforms jutting out from a tower. The jumper's fall is broken by the vines, the other end of which is tied to the tower. A sloping surface of softened earth at the base of the tower provides some protection from injury in case of a broken vine, a vine of incorrect length, or a poor jump. The Gol inspired the modern sport of bungee jumping, though the vines used are far less elastic than bungee cords, and the Gol jumper does not bounce up at the end of the fall. The Gol legend says that in the village Bunlap a man called Tamalie had a quarrel with his wife and she ran away and climbed a banyan tree, where she wrapped her ankles with liana vines. When Tamalie came up to her, the woman jumped from the tree and so did her husband not knowing what his wife had done. He died but the woman survived. The men of Bunlap were very impressed by this performance and they began to practise such jumps in case they got in a similar situation. This practice transformed into a ritual for rich yam harvest and also for proving manhood.
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Wikipedia