Try this: get a bunch of coconuts, crack them open with an ax, dig out the meat from the shells and scoop it all into a gunny sack before the other guys. That’s the essence of the coconut husking contest, based on a skill nearly everyone in these islands has, given that their only cash crop is copra, the dried coconut meat. There were events for singles, doubles, women and men, and we cheered the competitors along with the locals.
I’ve been reading historical accounts of these islands in books downloaded from the Gutenberg Project and found a photo of coconut husking from 1919 that could have been from today, so little has changed, except that I can post this via satellite phone.