and hit us w i t h them if y o u want to . T hen the shame w i l l be y o u r s . *
Sawa an d T e o s i n on this occa s i o n are repo r t e d to have ag r e e d that all tax— defaulters w o u l d give
themselves up on 12 F e b r u a r y but there w o u l d seem to be little point in the i n v i t a t i o n to the police to
resolve the s i t u ation b y vio l e n c e if a simple surrender h a d b e e n g e n u i n e l y contemplated. The g o v e r n m e n t indeed learned the next day that the people did no t intend to follow their gesture w i t h su b m i s s i o n to arrest. On
10 F e b r u a r y the people b e g a n to move d own to an encampment on the beach at Sohiena a n d in the next few days supporters a r r i v e d from the n o r t h coast
b r i n g i n g provisions. H a s l u c k reports that * the women were s t rongly o p p o s i n g a n y change in the stand taken up to that time. * The leaders r e f u s e d to talk w i t h
the k i a p s .
The 75 extra police u n d e r three white officers a r r i v e d on l6 F e b r u a r y b r i n g i n g the n u m b e r to about
l60. *After a conference of A d m i n i s t r a t i o n officers, it was decided that a Police S u p e r i n t e n d a n t should take charge* (Hasluck 1962:4).
The small stretch of b e a c h at Sohiena to w h i c h the people w ithdrew measures o n l y about 60 feet at its
w idest point and is p r o tected by a steep 200 ft cliff. It was the most natural defensive p o s i t i o n in the area, a n d was accessible to the r e i n f o r c e m e n t s a n d provisions
1
H a s l u c k (l962:4) and W i l l e y (1965:102) b o t h note that on this o ccasion m a n y carr i e d * clubs shaped like police b a t o n s . * W i l l e y says that they lay down their weapons under threat f r o m the police. Some of the batons ended up as court exhibits, d e s c ribed b y R y a n (1969:298).
a r r i v i n g by canoe from the north. A.t 10 a.m. on 19 February, the police, led by the Superintendent a n d w i t h a rifle squad of ten, m a r c h e d from their camp down to Sohiena. There they confronted a crowd of perhaps 1000 men and a similar number of women. The men h a d formed themselves into a solid square w i t h one side against the cliff. The front ranks, a g a i n m a i n l y old men, are v a r i o u s l y r e p o r t e d to have stood p l a c i d l y with arms folded or clasped behind their backs — defiant but unarmed.
The police officer called for Teosin, all tax defaulters and those involved in the earlier melee to present themselves for arrest. None did so. W h e n J o h n T e o s i n was called for hundreds of voices cried
’We are all J o h n .... Where are the l e a d e r s ?....We are all l e a d e r s . ’ The Inspector then made an a p p a r e n t l y a r b i t r a r y choice of a man to arrest. W h e n the police
seized h i m and others rushed to his defense the violence started. The police laid in w i t h b atons and the Welfare tried to disarm them, pinion their arms or hold them to the ground. The police were soon in danger of b e i n g over w h e l m e d and, as they tried to retreat, the o f f i c e r in charge of the rifle squad fired two shots to seawards an d the engagement was broken off.
The many stories w h ich have a p p e a r e d in the press telling of the vicious armory of the Welfare in this
engagement are misleading, to say the least. Bushknives, axes, lethal spears and arrows, clubs and slingshots
have all been mentioned. Yet the police o u t n u m b e r e d about ten to one sustained only minor injuries compared
1
R y a n (1969 :295) asserts that the a r e a was chosen because it was ‘alongside the c e metery of their a n c e s t o r s 1 who were expected ’to leap out [of their graves] to their assistance carrying rifles and s h o t g u n s ’. He says that they later a d m i t t e d that this was T e o s i n ’s tactic but the Welfare reject the story.
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w i t h the Welfare casualties. Moreover it must be n o t e d