“After some time, octopus fishing became popular among the youth. They made a competition. I went to my corner, the other boy to his own corner, and we would see who was going to find the most fe’e [octopus]. It was like a game. I was the champion, the champion of hunting octopus. If you don’t believe me it’s not my fault, but it isn’t a tikoi [lie]. After, there were some kids that came to see me. They were a little younger than me, and they wanted to know how I do it. ‘Well,’ I said to them, ‘There is no secret. The secret that I can give you is to catch your breath. You must have a lot of breath. Do not waste it.’ What I meant was, when you dive, you have to avoid moving too much. If you move too much, you are wasting your breath. Voila. And also, there is a technique – when the octopus comes out, you must catch it quick, pull it in quick. Don’t wait until he grabs hold of a rock, because then it will be difficult. If he holds onto a rock, it is then that you will really need your breath. Pull, pull, pull, pull.” – Tehei of Vaitahu, Age 31.
The Edited Jottings of an Amateur Anthropologist 