Bishop Selwyn appointed John Coleridge Patteson as the first Bishop of Melanesia. He was well loved and respected, but got caught up and killed in a dispute over the practice of ‘blackbirding’, stealing or coercing young men from Pacific islands into forced labour on plantations in Australia—a practice that continued well into the 20th Century. The island where Patteson was killed, Nukapu, still carries the shame of that mistake.

Out in the Pacific there’s a tiny coral island where
A hundred strong community all live off the abundance of the reef
The soil is fertile here and has been for three thousand years
The fruit hangs heavy on the trees, Nukapu giving everything they need

And the waters rise under endless skies
And the blackbirds fly and steal the future away
And the waters swirl as the outside world
Comes crashing in, what will it bring?

Back in 1871 a trading vessel came along
At gunpoint stole five men away and sold them in Australia as slaves
When this cruel deed was done came peaceful bishop Patteson
Mistaking them for slavers too they killed the bishop and two of his crew

And the waters rise under endless skies
And the blackbirds fly and steal the future away
And the waters swirl as the outside world
Comes crashing in, what will it bring?

But when they realised what they had done
They did their best to make amends
‘cos if the violent cycle carries on
Where will it end?

I met a man named Patrick whose Grandfather ran the island school
He told me “we are peaceful men,
Don’t judge us by the worst thing we have done”
But now the rising seas are ending this community
I said to him “forgive me too, this is the worst thing we will ever do”

And the waters rise under endless skies
And the blackbirds fly and steal the future away
And the waters swirl as the outside world
Comes crashing through, what will we do?

(c) Rich Clarkson 2025