When we lived in Papua New Guinea, many of the Papuan girls wanted to have a white wedding, rather than a traditional Papuan wedding. However the bishop urged us to discourage this. We were relieved when our house girl shyly told us she was getting married in Papuan dress. Winifred scraped the flesh out of a coconut and dried it. Then she polished her coconut shell bracelets until they shone.
The wedding day finally arrived. Winifred looked so beautiful in her tapa cloth skirt, bare top and necklaces of shells, no doubt kept in her family from the days they traded with shells only. Her short tight black curls were covered with dyed coconut. As we waited for the ceremony to begin, I thought of the first day Winifred had arrived at our home. She had walked so regally towards our house, balancing a large bunch of bananas on her head. Evan had hurried to her, offering to carry them. He had no idea of their weight and staggered under this huge bunch, but Winifred was too polite to laugh.
When the Papuan minister asked, “Who gives this woman to be married to David?” I heard no response, but the bride’s father elbowed her with a strong shove towards the bridegroom. We were too polite to laugh!