MYTHS, ORAL TRADITION, AND MODERN SOCIETAL RESPONSE TO VOLCANIC DISASTERS

Volcanic eruptions can be overwhelming in their violence and spectacle. When they are catastrophic or unexpected, neither individuals nor communities can easily assimilate the event into their daily lives, or their world view. Psychological studies of disaster aftermaths show that the ability to rapidly comprehend a traumatic event by “accepting” the catastrophe represents an important component of community resilience to the impacts of natural hazards. Communal perceptions are influenced by both prior knowledge (particularly relationship to the landscape) and by reactions of friends, family, and, increasingly, the media. These perceptions may be transformed into stories that provide a context for the event within the framework of the community. We examine ways in which the language, imagery and metaphor used to describe volcanic events may link disparate societies (both present and past) in their search for understanding of volcanic catastrophes. This includes aspects such as apportioning blame for impacts, establishing the new normality of life with a destructive volcanic neighbour, and transmitting learned lessons to the next generation. Responses to modern eruptions (1980 Mount St Helens, USA, and 1995-present Soufriere Hills, Montserrat) provide a baseline for examining the progression to older historic events that have developed both oral and written histories (1886 Tarawera, New Zealand, plus various historic events in the SW Pacific) and finally to oral traditions that originate many hundreds of years ago in both the Pacific Northwest US and New Zealand. In both regions, cosmologies and mythologies not only document the attempts of past cultures to respond to the impacts of volcanic disasters, but also provide a means by which following generations can understand, contextualize, and therefore recover from, future volcanic catastrophes. We suggest that such local traditions aid both community education and the psychosocial recovery of individuals and communities after volcanic disasters. Particularly important for the latter goal is developing methods and new research approaches to monitor changes in ‘new’ traditional knowledge that accompany readjustments in the relationship between communities and their landscape caused by catastrophic events such as volcanism.