It was a beautiful, balmy evening as I stood on our veranda talking with Nauda. He had just finished carving a couple of decorative canoe paddles for us. They were a thank-you gift for the daily treatments Laurie had been giving his daughter’s sore for weeks. He pointed out the designs on the paddles that are unique to his clan. His face lit up with pride as he told me of the two racing canoes prominently displayed on the bank of Kalabali Creek, the main channel to Kotale. Each canoe is colorfully decorated with designs from its respective clan. He explained that the original Gogodala ancestors came to this part of the world by canoe.

“Where did they come from?” I asked.

“From the Middle East, around Israel,” he replied.

“That’s a long way to travel by canoe,” I responded.

A frown crept over his face. I realized I might have come across as questioning the credibility of his story.

“Maybe they traveled across land first and then came by water,” I suggested, trying to backpedal.
Nauda proceeded to tell me the complete story of Gogodala as he had heard it from his grandfather. He has full confidence in the account, which largely corresponds with what I’ve heard from others.

Many years ago, the original Gogodala ancestors were living in or around present-day Israel (some say Ethiopia). The six original clan fathers were giants and possessed spiritual powers that allowed them to travel across water without vessels. They left their home and traveled eastward across the Indian Ocean until they came to the island of New Guinea. They explored the new land and divided it among themselves, marking it out for their descendents; then they returned to the Middle East. Before leaving New Guinea, Bani, the father of the Asipali clan, left giant 10-foot-long footprints that many claim are still visible today in Daru and Balimo.

Years went by, and the fathers had many children. After the fathers died, the children heard a voice instructing them to go to a place called Dogono and establish a village there. They were instructed not to celebrate in any way until they had gone all the way to Dogono. Not having their fathers’ power to travel across water without boats, they went by land to a seaport named Salona and there found two large canoes, named Madulabali and Suliki, ornately carved and colorfully decorated, ready to carry them across to the promised land. Without the aid of paddles, sails or rudders, the canoes transported the people across the Indian Ocean, moved forward by an unseen hand. They stopped briefly at Thursday Island and left some passengers. Then they continued on to Daru and dropped more people.
Their next stops were Isaga, Madila and, finally, Pedaya up the Fly River. The last ones to remain in the canoes were the present-day Gogodala people. At Pedaya, the two canoes parted company. Madulabali went up Akali Creek, and Suliki followed Pedaya Creek. Just south of Dogono, the canoes joined up again.

At this point, one of the sons of the clan fathers who had stayed back when the canoes carried their cargoes across the ocean now mysteriously caught up to the two groups. He tempted them to disobey their divine instructions and suspend their voyage to Dogono to have a party and celebrate. The sky at night glowed with a brilliant light coming from Dogono. Since the promised land was practically in sight, the people felt their reward was secure, so they disobeyed the command and stopped to celebrate. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months as the children of the clan fathers continued to enjoy themselves and settle into life within sight of their promised land. Eventually, the light from Dogono faded from the night sky. When the people finally did move to Dogono, the light was gone, and so were their hopes of material prosperity. Because of their disobedience to the divine command, the Gogodala people were doomed to lives of hardship and poverty. According to the Gogodala story, this is the reason they still live in huts, dress in rags and have very little western technology.

It’s true—the Gogodala are under a curse, but it’s not the one they think. I’m speaking of the curse of sin, which is far worse. Because of Adam’s sin, the whole human race was plunged into darkness, disease and death. But, when Jesus came to our world and lived and died, He gave us a hope far brighter than the lights over Dogono. The Gogodala people dream of obtaining the material wealth of the West. Our challenge as missionaries is to lift their sights higher to the true riches of Christian character, to search for “a city . . . whose Builder and Maker is God” (Heb. 11:10).

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