Gen: Bungee Jumping and History

[edward nizalowski <enizalowski@NVCS.STIER.ORG>]

Hello,
        Well, here's my candidate for most unusual listserv topics.  I just =
purchased a series from Capstone Press on Extreme Sports.  Bungee =
jumping certainly falls into that category.  The history of this sport =
is very fascinating.  It's origins can be traced to Pentecost Island in =
the South Pacific, specifically the Bunlap tribe of Vanutu.  The men tie =
vines to their ankles, jump from homemade towers and call it "land =
diving".  [No, I'm not making this up]

        So, how was this sport introduced to Westerners?  Soldiers during the =
Second World War II saw this sport and reported it back to the states.  =
Then National Geographic came in 1955 and 1970.  The first jumps in the =
west were made in Bristol, England, on April 1, 1979. [What an =
appropriate date!!]

        The folklore of "land diving" adds another twist.  According to Bunlap =
legend, a man chases his wife up a tree and both of them fall.  The man =
dies, but the wife falls safely because she has tied vines around her =
ankles.  They practice land diving so that other women won't trick them. =
 They also have no competitors for the Darwin awards.

        I photocopied some pictures from the Bungee Jumping book for my library =
windows.  It just so happens that I have National Geographics going back =
to 1955.  [Now you can justify hanging on to old magazines].  I couldn't =
find the issue for 1955, but I had the one for 1970: "Land Diving With =
the Pentecost Islanders" by Kal Muller.  December, 1970, pp. 799-816.  =
Talk about strange!!  These towers look like something out of Rube =
Goldberg and they are tall.  I photocopied some of these pages next to =
the modern day practitioners.  And for an added touch, there's a picture =
of a boy with an insect called a walking stick climbing up the side of =
his face.  This is something that you would typically see in the =
tropics, except that this walking stick is the size of the kid's head.  =
[I can't believe I get paid to do these things].

Ed Nizalowski, SMS
Newark Valley High School
Newark Valley, NY
enizalowski@nvcs.stier.org

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