An age old tale played out in Monrovia (of loggers, elephants, shamans & the modern world).
Throughout the range states of both species, those we live with and their larger, uglier cousins in Africa, elephants have held naturally large place in the traditional histories, rituals, religions and folk lore of many (though my guess would be all) the different peoples who have had dealings with them, a mixture of reverence, respect, awe & fear.
Their intelligence and human-like qualities have seen them woven into the traditional stories of all who have lived with them & some that haven't, at least one enlightened ancient Arab naturalist held that they could talk if only their tongues weren't in backwards.
Ever since Alexander's armies refused to go up against a Mughal ele-backed battalion for a second time, right up until the pre-mechanised era, we in the West have known that whoever controlled the biggest army of elephants won the day.
The following story caught my eye because it is a threat I often use to get my way in budget meetings or when trying to get the TV channel changed - "do as I say or my army of elephants will sweep you from this earth". I have to admit that once we got to the second installment I wished it hadn't caught my eye, but I'll carry on & bring it to your attention as it is an interesting illustration of the continuing spiritual impact of elephants.
The setting for the drama is Liberia (& it is not often I get hooked to Dateline Monrovia - apologies to Monrovians but the images that flash into my head when I hear that name are not particularly romantic, something to do with a journey without maps & supermodels in court) in a valley that holds (depending on spelling - internet accounts seem to be littered with typos) either the river Cress or the river Cess. The dramatist in me wants it to be the Cess River, but we'll stick to Cress, the story itself is gruesome enough.
It is a tale of ancient wisdom against modern development, one that must have played out across the world a million times in a million places, one where a development company has persuaded local folks to allow logging or mining in their areas with a promise of jobs and infrastructure development, one where they've found themselves either unable or unwilling (I have suspicions as to which based on the nature of these tales worldwide but am not close enough to know for sure) to provide the locals what they thought they'd been promised (you get your own uniform, can have your lunchtimes off, take a monorail to your home etc. etc.) within the time they thought they'd like it.
The headline from the Liberian Daily Observer reads 'Loggers Threatened with Elephants', refreshing you think, usually the other way around, the first paragraph grabs your interest further...
"At least three logging companies in Rivercess County have been given a two-week ultimatum to construct good road networks and provide jobs for the youths in Morweh District or else elephants will destroy their efforts."
It turns out that the Shamans of three villages have threatened to call an attack of wild elephants from the high mountains if the logging companies don't start to live up to the promises that the villagers thought they had received. What kept my attention, though, was not the threat, as I say, I use it often enough myself, but the fact that these shaman had a track record of acting on their threats, a track record serious enough for the local Government Superintendent to call on the President of Liberia to intervene.
Sure enough, a week or so later, after the deadline had passed the very same paper reported that an unfortunate individual came to a sticky end and had his intestines exposed when a elephant pounced on him whilst he was defecating in the bushes. Operations were stopped, a tearful C.E.O. once again called on the Government to intervene, saying that they paid taxes & needed protection against the elders' power, stating that:
"the elder's action to frustrate his effort was in total disregard for established procedures and the forest management laws."
...and pointing out that if they had a problem with the speed of development they could have called him to the table before issuing threats and ultimata.
Everyone called for a peaceful solution and for the elephants to be called off.
The, ever reliable, Associated Press picked up the story, forcing me to reluctantly put down my Liberian Observer, AP added some detail for us, we learn that the (or perhaps an) elephant met with a sticky end between two commercial logging machines, much to everyone's regret and, in an apparent attempt to mollify the villagers the meat was given to them (though it unsure whether they ate it, but given the current problems that the continent is having with the commercial bushmeat trade - we learned yesterday that in some places an elephant's meat may now be worth more than its ivory - we wonder whether this was a good idea on any level).
By process of elimination they worked out that the elephant wasn't possessed by humans (apparently it would take at least two possessors to work an elephant and, after the elephant died, two humans would be expected to die - this did not happen) and we learn that the shamans when they made their original threat did not speak for the whole community.
The leader of 'a local advocacy' group said...
"We are proud and decent people; how could we transform ourselves into an elephant to destroy lives and properties?”
...and with that, the story dropped off the radar, but when the Liberian Observer next dropped through my letterbox there was an editorial, presumably written from an air conditioned office in Monrovia itself and not out in the steaming jungle where there is a wild elephant hiding behind every tree, that I'm not sure I entirely agree with (from the safety of the un-airconditioned office-above-the-elephant camp on a completely different continent and in a country who had this debate - which some would say the wild elephants lost - some 30 to 100 years ago and with the additional safety of having been born in a country who faced the debate, which the bears & the wolves lost, some 1,000 years ago), the headline of which read 'Elephants Blocking Progress'. The editorial did, however, advise negotiation and conciliation between the old powers and the new, something that is difficult to disagree with &, who knows, they may develop a model that is good for the people and the wildlife - good luck to them.
On a final note, it is easy here in a quasi-scientific blog to conclude that the wily headmen knew the jungle and the habits of the elephants well and, like astrological chart bearing European explorers of old promising to blot out the sun if their demands for food & water weren't met, timed their demands to coincide with the predictable emergence of wild elephants. But who among us would not sympathise with our Editorial writing friend in being unwilling to entirely disregard the spiritual side - like an old Thai TV commercial where ghosts aren't scary when you have a good, reliable light bulb, it is all very well to call for the old traditions to be dropped in the cold hard glare of rationalism, but it ain't so easy to do that when the electricity fails and the lights go out. From a conservationist's perspective I can't help but feel that that's a good thing.
Me? I'm off to the spirit house to pay my respects & will continue to do so as long as I live in the Spirits' world.
Posted by John Roberts at Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:11:00 GMT 
Categories: Footnotes unworthy of an intelligent internationalist, General Conservation, Public Service Broadcast
Tags: Liberia shaman wild elephant power oral history modern world
Categories: Footnotes unworthy of an intelligent internationalist, General Conservation, Public Service Broadcast
Tags: Liberia shaman wild elephant power oral history modern world
Liberia: Elephant Aggression Displaces Multitude
28 July 2010
Rampaging elephants who launched valiance of attacks against River Cess Citizens a month ago have left many persons displaced, and are reportedly said to be in search of new homes, food and shelter, as well as clothing and medication .
River-Cess County Representative Jerry Masahn made the revelation recently in Monrovia about the destructive nature of the wide elephants who he said, have caused his kinsmen to flee their towns and villages and were displaced in Mass numbers seeking refuge in Nezohn and other nearby surrounding towns in the area, something he said, is troubling and requires urgent attention from the government and its partners to save his people from further disaster.
About a month ago, wide elephants got on the rampage in River-Cess County and attacked facilities of a logging company operating in the area, extending its aggressive conducts on high-Ways, villages as well as impeding ongoing farming activities and sending few persons to their early graves.
Reports gathered from the county at the time revealed that the rampaging elephants merciless attacks against the people of River – Cess was intended to place a stay order on the activities of the logging company operating in the area , who the reports said was refusing to abide by the regulations of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) by not employing citizens of the county, especially the district it was carrying on its logging activities.
Consequently, one of the elephants was killed three weeks ago by hunters, but Representative Jerry Masahn disclosed that the violent conduct of the elephants left behind many problems among which were the massive displacement of citizens of the county, as a result of the destruction of their towns and villages including the destruction of farms in the county.
According to Rep. Masahn, his people whom were affected by the Elephants’ aggression were presently displaced and were sleeping in the open air without food and clothing, something he said, needed prompt intervention from government and other aid agencies to help liberate his people who he said were dying from pneumonia , starvation and other killer diseases from the heavy down pour of rain.
Relevant Links
The River-Cess Lawmaker also revealed that Nezohn was jam packed with hundreds of displaced citizens as a consequence of the brutal and ruthless nature of the wide life, describing their situation as totally unbelievable and unacceptable.
He said as a result of the elephant invasion, currently there is no food for his people to eat, no medication and worst of all, he alarmed, children, women and the elderly people were getting sick, and that if nothing was done to immediately rescue the alarming situation, his citizens stand the risk of dying in mass.
However, Rep. Jerry Masahn felt short of disclosing how many of his kinsmen have died since their displacement, but insisted that many of his people were dying due to the heavy down pour of rain, diarrhea, cholera and other killer diseases.
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