The rushing cold air brushed onto our faces as a shimmering light coming from the fire place nearby pierced through the blanket of the dark space before our eyes. This was all we could least expect at that time. Although the night was cold, the stories of the past and the slow burning heat from the fire place, a few feet from us, kept us warm. There we were, my brother and I, reliving our past with much mixed emotions on the shore of this New Guinea island. He had just returned from a never ending conflict with a  neighboring, yet influential, tribe from afar and so the stories kept coming. The tribe, he claims with much ferocity, had continued to trespass on his island with no recognition of his rights over what is of value to us, which, he claims, to be of his and his kinsmen. I was getting a little uncomfortable as he went on with this tale, which by now, had caught my undivided attention.

I thought to myself “Did Tangisot travel through the rough seas in this evening’s storm just to tell me about this tribal fight story? This must really be worth the journey” I thought for a moment to  myself. “This should not leave my mind, I must listen all throughout”, and so I allowed him to proceed without any interjection. He went on saying “There, beyond the horizon, lies my island home. Its terrains and the turquoise waters surrounding it protects my life. Our ancestors journeyed through these waters a long time ago. You and I, my brother, are no different. The only difference we have is we live on different islands, however, our sea god mother feeds us both the same”.

At that very moment, I heard my wife calling my name “Malik, dinner is ready!” and she approached us. Standing behind me, she leaned forward and gave me a woven basket made out of coconut  leaves. The basket had inside it, cooked and steaming sea shells with pure saltwater scent, hot fish and potatoes that had been grilled over a naked fire and prepared to perfection, all in one basket, and enough for two. She added long dices of matured coconut flesh at the side as an appetizer. She then came back with two young coconuts called “Kulau” to quench our thirst. By now, I was already starving and that was all I needed to pause Tangisot from his exciting, yet patriotic tale.

I then told Tangisot, “I think we should eat first then continue with the story”. It seemed from his facial expression that he did not want to leave this opportunity to waste, and so we ate and went on with what is now becoming a grand tale.

“The fight was long and bloody”, he carried on. He wanted to continue before I exclaimed, without thinking, “What fight? Bloody?!” Tangisot went on, “the fight with that other tribe, they came onshore”, he continued “……..with clubs and spears. I had to gunner support from everyone. We had no time to prepare, but boy oh boy, we had the spiritual strength of our forbearers with us, and that was all we needed. The bloody fight lasted for so long, many nights and days. I cannot really recall now how long it has been!”.

I then asked him, “Is that why you’ve been gone for so long brother?” “I have not seen you for many nights and days as well”. You really have been in a bloody conflict and to which we have heard very little of. Please go on!” I insisted, and so he went on with the striking tale.

Tangisot described how the land was ripped off from them, like a baby’s umbilical cord, cut  suddenly, by a foreign sharp entity. The baby cry, loud and shrill. I could see the pain in his eyes, a life lived through the turmoil, all in the quest of protecting his motherland. His courage, all throughout, remained staunch. He spoke of the children, the men and the community’s unity and the sense of ownership of their land. “These are my people, Malik” he said in a firm voice. “I will not leave them to fight on their own”, he said.

When recounting the story, he took me on a journey and through tumultuous seas I had never taversed before. I was so in tune with the words that were coming out of his mouth. I felt like a spell had been cast on me to feel remorseful for what has happened, even though I was not there and had never committed those atrocities. Despite that, I was there with him in those moments of difficulty, which was what it felt like. I felt hopeless that I could not help him and that I was just a recipient of what had transpired. He spoke with much sadness in his heart. He spoke of the courage of his people and that they had to fight above their weight when it mattered. I thought to myself “My brother is my hero!” A teary water gathered in my eye lids. I fought to hold it back but it drifted and came down my right cheek. This was truly a grand tale for the generations.

As if that was not all, Tangisot, in a very confronting gesture, pointed to me and said “You must be warned of this my brother Malik. You must be ready when your time comes. My people and I have lived through this conflict and to which I dare not want the same to happen to you”.

And so, I asked: “What makes you think the same will happen on this island as well, brother?” and he said, “We have made a choice to take control of what is ours, which has been granted to us by mother earth itself since time immemorial”. He went on, “I must tell you my brother, there, in the distant horizon, lies the island of fire”.

He went on, “our island together with all our neighboring islands are now under immense threat of having our valued goods given to us by mother earth and our sea god removed from all of us. I heard this tribal clan has found a rare stone on our island called “copper”. They refer to it as a resource, something of extreme value. It is even more expensive than the head of a warring clan chief after being detached from his body, I heard”. “Quite a story, don’t you think? “ He asked and I said, “Yes, it is very fascinating”.

He went on and emphasized the need for an alliance with the people in the neighboring islands. He went back again to describe the island of fire which he was fortunate to visit during his youthful years. As a sea voyager himself, he had visited these islands and so I placed much of my trust in his words. He explained that the island of fire is quite huge and stretches far west with its own inhabitants.

I would soon realize his knowledge of the other outer islands such as that of the north. The northern island, he claims were sea voyages. They had all sailed from somewhere unknown to men to inhabit those islands. We must join our  forces, was his message. Join our forces? For what, I only had that in my mind. By then our eyes were trembling with uncontrollable slackness and it was bound to shut any moment soon. The message was clear though, that our resources, no matter how small it could be, must be protected at all cost. It is the duty of every men to protect their resources and need be, to lay down their lives for what they treasure paramount, above all else. I guess after that night, I finally knew where my brother was going, and for sure, he was not going to make it back without reward.