Tribal Names

The tribal people have some pretty unique and interesting names. Many of their names are material objects such as “Ax,” “Pandanus Root,” or “Ayu Bird.” Some people are named for a specific trait, like a little boy whose name is “Hungry for Tree Kangaroo.” Other people’s names are specific to a story. One such little boy here in the village is named “Elimiton,” which is the tribal way of saying “Helimission.” Here is his story.

Many women here live hard lives. They are often neglected by husbands who have more than one wife, and their husbands are often away, leaving the jobs of gardening and caring for young children to them alone. Elimiton’s mom was one of these women, and after a very hard delivery she just didn’t have the will to live. At Elimiton’s birth she said she chose a young barren woman to care for her sons, including the one she had just birthed, and then she died shortly after. The barren woman took little Elimiton to raise him, but she could not nurse him. She passed him around to other nursing mothers for awhile, but little Elimiton was not getting enough milk and he started wasting away. There came a point when we saw that if we did not do something to help, little Elimiton would die, and so for the first time we made the call to bring in some formula to give to him.

The Helimission helicopter brought in some supplies and also brought along a bunch of formula for little Elimiton. Well, to make a long story short, he ended up surviving and is quite a chubby little boy today. His new mother is so proud to finally have a son. She named him “Elimiton” (Helimission) since the helicopter is what brought in his food for the first time.