The sea surrounding the island abutting the village was an important part of their religion and mythology, called Mal in their native tongue. According to local folklore, Mal or the sea brought villagers to this island on the backs of an enormous fish. Also, whenever a villager passes on, their body is never buried on land, but is instead sent out to sea to be reunited with Mal.
Father Ted, the abbot of the missionaries acted nice in front of the villagers, but behind the scenes he and his henchmen (fellow priests and missionaries) made decisions on behalf of the village which more often than not harmed rather than helped their vulnerable community. For example, on a daily basis, he disrupted village rituals to impose Christian values on non-Christian villagers or oft attempted to proselytize the youth of the village without their family's consent or approval. Also, most of the people of the village wore boots made of plant products. The missionaries pushed the villagers to switch to leather shoes, in exchange for cash-crops, of course. Naturally, the missionaries and especially the priests disapproved and tried to abolish the practice of burying the dead at sea, but the villagers were resistant to change this particular custom. (to be cont'd)
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