Unexpected Connections

Of late, I have been obsessed with the value and the difficulties of positive communication. Thoughts go through my mind with no resolution, like a dog worrying a bone.  I think about every person’s connections, to family, friends, and neighbors. Connections with others can be strong, weak, or of little value. Much of our connectivity depends on how we communicate with others, our honesty, and the trust we instill in them. Communication comes in many forms, through words, language, songs, dance, art, special looks, angry stares, and even tattoos. My thoughts led me to research several different and strange, untapped resources which I stumbled upon in my quest.

I learned of Beachcombers. The beachcomber’s era” began in 1783 with the wreck of the East India Packet Antelope. Over the years, more shipwrecks and deserters arrived in these far-off Micronesia South Pacific Islands. Our Florida beachcombers come to love our beaches, treasuring each shell they discover and every sunrise and sunset they witness. Families love the beach, the waves, and the blue sea, as they watch over babies who always eat the sand and older kids who always fight over who's going to bury who. If a Floridian beachcomber is especially fortunate, he or she might witness that rare sunset event, the Green Flash.  

The Beachcombers of the late 1700s and early 1800s were a far different breed.  E.H. Maude described these early beachcombers as, “that motley array of deserters, escaped convicts, castaways and wanderers that gathered on many a Pacific Island…who also brought their interpretation of Western culture to the native (island) populations." Intrigued, I continued to read the history of Beachcombers on the islands of Palau, Ponape, and Pohnpei, where I discovered James F. O’Connell. How exactly did James come to be on this remote island of Pohnpei in the Carolines and survive? 

Around 1823 James was one of seven shipwrecked sailors, including his friend, George Keenan.  After four days at sea only two cabin boys George and James, from Ireland, survived by floating on a life raft from the wrecked ship. Eventually, they ended up in the harbor of Pohnpei, ruled by a King and his subjects. As they entered the harbor they were greeted by threatening screams, howls, and a curtain of rocks and spears erupting from the crystal white beach. Suddenly, tattooed arms reached up and pulled the men from their life raft. Little did the two men know that the King's rule declared that anything that arrived in his Pohnpei harbor immediately became the King’s possessions, including George and James.  No questions asked. That’s the way this dictatorship had ruled for many years prior to James’ and George’s arrival. That is the way the King's rule would continue.

The men were brought to the Pompeian village during a time of the tribe's high celebrations. James and George were not lowly beachcombers, which quickly became evident to the King by their needy, yet friendly, non-threatening demeanor.  The natives danced wildly as George and James watched the festivities. During a pause in the dancing, with the whole village and the King watching the men, James had an idea. He rightly assumed one could either be accepted by the natives of Pohnpei and allowed to live or would be executed. James realized that native dances were a form of communication. James, thinking he had nothing to lose, began dancing an Irish jig. Throughout the festivities, every new native dance was met with a new Irish jig from James. The King recognized that James, at least, was trying to connect with the tribe by sharing his own dance routines. As James stated throughout his life, “The Irish jig saved my life.“ The King was impressed, realizing James and George were not the usual Beachcombers of the past.

On the other hand, George Keenan had no desire to converse or connect through dance or any other manner of hand motions or gestures, believing the natives were lowly and far beneath his esteemed status. George’s disdain, scowls, and disinterest was obvious to the King and the natives. By the end of the dancing and feasting George and James were allowed to remain as guests, although imprisoned in a guarded hut.  

  Within several days the next challenge faced the men: the tattooing ceremony, which would mark the men as becoming ”fully human” and thereby accepted into the tribe. The tattooing ceremony was important for two reasons:. First, it would gauge the men’s bravery as they faced six women with thorns, tiny tat-tat-tatting hammers, and natural dyes who were to decorate their bodies.  Secondly, the tattoos, or pelipel, marked the men as belonging to the King and his tribe, immediately recognizable by other tribes.  During the very painful tattooing ceremony, George screamed, cried, cursed, and acted like a coward.  Only part of his arm was tattooed before the six women, the tribe's “savage printers” disdainfully and disgustedly gave up on George, who was then considered not “fully human.” The "savage printers" turned their full attention to James, who took a different route. He stoically said not a word as he was painfully tattooed over his entire body in bands of stories, over a period of eight days. His stoicism, courage, and dancing gained the King’s respect. James’ tattoos designated him as “fully human,” His 'pelipel' identified him as the property of the King and was his badge of honor. George was viewed as a weak man, although he was allowed to remain in the village. 

Consequently, George Keenan had little status in the clan, while James was invited to sleep in the King’s hut and was gifted with the King’s daughter who was also the comeliest woman in the village. George, in low esteem and with no desire to communicate by gestures or facial expressions was given a woman of the lowest stature.

This led me to more thought as to the ways in which the two men communicated in a completely unfamiliar, foreign world and the ways in which the local tribes communicated with one another. James succeeded due to his desire to save his life by impressing the King with his respect and peace-loving intentions. George failed as he refused to connect with the king or his tribe in the early days of his captivity. 

James adapted well to the village. He learned the native language, their rituals, celebrations, and daily routines. Many times George and James tried to escape the village only to be returned by other Pohpeian and Palau tribes who read his tattoos and learned his true ownership, much like identification by a modern chip, scanner, or QR code,  They were returned to the King, their rightful owner. The men were beaten severely every time they attempted to escape. James and George continued their lives in the village for eight more years. George gained some respect by playing Irish tunes on a fife he had crafted utilizing the local cane. George seemed to have realized that communication through entertainment, via his fife, would enhance his village life

In  1833  the American schooner, the Spy of Salem, wandered into the Pohnpei Bay. Naturally, they immediately were attacked and became the property of the King.  Battles ensued. Eventually a truce was declared, thanks to James’ intervention. As James could communicate both in Pohnpeian and English, he became an interpreter and negotiator.  James’ communication skills resulted in an agreement allowing the Spy of Salem to depart.  The Spy departed in the middle of the night, with James and George hidden on board.  James’ assistance in saving the Spy, its captain, and crew, led to his freedom and his next career in the United States. 

The trip to the States was not an easy one for the two sailors. First, James was imprisoned in Manilla for not following the Captain’s orders, a definite breach in communication. He was then handed over to Manilan authorities. Charges were never brought forward and James and George reunited and boarded a Chinese ship.  They traveled around China and made their way to Canada during a cholera epidemic. In Halifax, they were both quarantined but James slipped away and headed south. 

In 1835 James O’Connell arrived in New York. He survived through his efforts to connect with strangers by any means of communication he could muster. If he had not connected with the King and his tribe by dancing an Irish jig, learning the native language, became an interpreter and negotiator between the Captain of the Spy of Salem and the King of Pohnpei he never would have returned to civilization.  

Initially in the U.S. James’ tattoos were abhorred by religious groups. Women and children ran from him screaming. James realized he had to change his approach to these American natives. He began entertaining audiences by telling the history and stories behind his tattoos and sharing his life with the Pohnpeians. This brought James to the attention of P.T. Barnum. In 1842 James became part of P.T. Barnum’s “Freak Show” American Museum as “The Tattooed Man.” Coincidentally, many years before, James’ mother traveled with a circus in Ireland. I imagine she would have shared exciting stories

of her circus days with her son.

Throughout the rest of his life "The Tattooed Man” shared the tales each of his tattoos told.  From the South Pacific Caroline Islands to Canada and the United States James connected his past adventures in foreign lands unknown to most, if not all, In 1845 James enlarged his method of communication by writing his memoir, The Life and Adventures of James F. O’Connell, the Tattooed Man, in which he wrote, “The islanders’ tattoo will stand, my body is witness.”  

I know, you’re all scratching your heads, thinking, Jayne’s gone round the bend.  What’s with this long history lesson? My point is how many forms of connecting with one another there are. How many ways can we communicate with one another in faraway places or in our own neighborhoods towards positive communion with others? Speech, familiarity through language, touches, special looks, facial expressions of joy, anger, and puzzlement are all important means of communication, as well as connecting through song, dance, art, and music. James left the Circus and his life in 1854, coincidentally, in the same year the electric tattoo gun was invented.

So many of us have been angry and frustrated by everyday events of late. I am constantly waiting for the other shoe to be dropped by Mother Nature or our government. I try my best to avoid the news but always peek at the headlines online. We all seem to be slouching under a dark cloud, much like Pig Pen in Peanuts. Perhaps it’s time for some whimsy, dancing an Irish jig, or acting foolishly to make a friend, a child, or a co-worker smile. Just saying hello and complimenting a stranger brings me joy, seeing the unexpected happiness on that stranger’s face.  Singing? Most people beg me not to, but I still feel it’s a viable means of communication. 

Perhaps it’s time to do an Irish jig or anything else that strikes your fancy. Joy is contagious. Who knows, if we connect and communicate in a positive, honest manner with others, we might lift this cloud of frustration, anger, and misinformation many of us feel trapped under. 

Just like James O’Connell realized, what have we got to lose? 

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Resources: 

Rhode Island Historical Society,

The Life and Adventures of James F. O’Connell

National Endowment for the Humanities

Public Domain Review

Irish Central

Redditt All Things Tattoo

Wikipedia

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