A volcano story

Thanks to Shirley Spycalla for the following:

[In] March 2000 when new guests arrived at our guesthouse to stay for a few days. The husband, John, was a full-blooded Native-American. Actually he looked as if he had just walked off a wild-wild-west movie set with his shiny long braid, high cheekbones, slightly hooked nose and honey-brown skin. All that was needed to complete the picture was a feathered headdress, moccasins and a tomahawk!!
As John and his wife sat at breakfast on their first morning at Erindell, John said to me that he sensed an angry spirit on the island. To this I replied that that must be the volcano, and explained about the tragedy of the deaths in 1997. He said, no, that he knew about the volcano, but that it was more than that. He asked me if I’d noticed an increase in crime, serious accidents and deaths involving young people on Montserrat. To this I replied that Lou and I had indeed noticed this, especially deaths of people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. I added that there were also a number of island residents who were simply disappearing – never to be found (about 10 within the last few years)! In a small society such as ours, it had become noticeable, and the police had so far not been able to solve the problem.
Seeing a mystery unfolding and a possible link, I told him about the archaeological dig at Trant’s Estate in the east of the island early in 1995, led by Dr David Watters, a curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the United States. I also told him that two of the Amerindian remains had been shipped off to the museum for further research, along with several cases of pottery shards, stone tools and arrowheads. At this point, John became very agitated. He said that it was a big mistake to have removed the remains from their resting place, and that as long as they were off the island, the volcano would never go back to sleep!
Before John and his wife left the island, he asked me to lend him a red ballpoint pen, which I did. On the last morning of their stay, he presented Lou and me with a watercolour painting he had done using blue, black and red ballpoint pens. Staring at the figure in the drawing for a moment, I said that it looked like an Anasazi (pronounced “Anasahzi”) medicine man doing a ceremonial dance. Anasazis are an extinct tribe, so John was astonished that I knew, but he agreed that it was indeed so. He then said that as long as we kept the painting in our house, we would be free from the troubles of the island, and that we would always have peace and love in our home.
Immediately upon returning home, John reported the matter of the disturbed burial ground to the Native-American Association. In no time, two Indian Chiefs came down to Montserrat and visited with the Chief Minister of the day, David Brandt, and the Governor, Anthony Abbott. The Chiefs then returned home, satisfied that every effort would be made to return the Amerindian remains to Montserrat for re-interment.
Up until today, the remains are still at the Carnegie Museum and the volcano is still erupting, now in its 11th year, more than twice as long as the average length of the eruption periods of andesite volcanoes (3 – 5 years). I have followed up constantly with the National Trust and have been assured that as soon as a new museum is built, the entire shipment, including the remains, would be brought back home to Montserrat.

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Meanwhile, strange things continue to happen. On the morning following the huge dome collapse in July 2003, when the island was covered by 12” or more of thick, concrete-like ash, four young men came up our road with shovels. They bypassed every house along the way, came straight to our house and asked if they could help us clean. I had never seen them before in my life. Earlier, Lou and I had started to clear away the ash, which was about 6 - 8 inches thick on the patio and walkway, and it had taken us one hour just to clear away an area about 3’ in diameter. Needless to say, we were happy for the help. The young men worked all day, and I truly believe that our house was the first to be cleaned on the island that day!
We have also seen huge ash clouds drop ash on houses to our immediate right and left, but no ash at all would fall on our house! Our neighbours also remarked on this phenomenon.
In September 2005, I was interviewed as part of the radio programme, “Volcano Stories”, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the start of the eruption. During the interview, the interviewer asked me if I would allow him to make a photocopy of the Indian painting and I agreed to it.
When the hour-long programme ended, there was a telephone call waiting for me in the outer office. A man whom I did not know (he wouldn’t give his name) begged me not to give anyone a copy of the painting or it would lose its protective power. He kept repeating this for at least 40 minutes, so that the interviewer grew impatient and left the compound without getting a copy. Over the years, two other guests at our guesthouse asked if they could take a digital photograph of the painting. I agreed, but something always came up to intervene, including a camera that simply wouldn’t work. The guests got distracted and the photographs were never taken. Weird!
I do wish those Indian remains would come back home!

Contact Shirley at Erindell Villa Guesthouse, Gros Michel Drive, Woodlands, MONTSERRAT West Indies Tel: (664) 491-3655 Email: erindell04@yahoo.com