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Big Mama's Piece of the Rock
View from Nopuko's Japanese Cave


Big Mama and daughter, Sherri. Some of the ingredients don't always smell that great.
by Lee Webber
Pacific Travel News Supplement, Guam Pacific Daily News
June 1997

She speaks quietly explaining why she's moved her family and store to live and work on her family's mountain overlooking the spectacular Chuuk lagoon.  But there was no doubt that Nopuko B. Barker, also known as “Big Mama” to her friends, is a tenacious woman.  Nopuko has set her mind to the task, carving out a new, eco-tourism styled business and life - out of sheer rock - for herself and her family.


Big Mama is a dynamic, bright-eyed Chuukese lady with a smile and charm that can mystify any visitor and a wit that can keep you laughing for hours.  She and her husband James (Dick to his friends) are not your average Chuuk residents.

Nopuko was born in Chuuk and met James when he arrived on island as a teacher in 1965.  They were married and left the island for Tennessee in 1967.  After several more moves which took them to Guam and Yap, in 1987 they returned home to Chuuk.

Their family, similar to their travel history, is spread across the globe. Their children's lives mirror their travels, living in many places around the world.

One son and daughter lives with them in Chuuk.  Another daughter resides in Washington state, a son lives on Guam and their youngest son is serving with the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne.

Since their return to Chuuk in 1987 they have owned and operated a video and handicraft store on Moen, struggling like many other local business people to eke out a living on these small but beautiful islands in the western Pacific.

When Cable TV came to the island a number of years ago their video business fell sharply and they decided to concentrate their efforts on their handicraft operation.

In May in an effort to deal with the multiplicity of Chuuk politics, reclaim her family land and move Chuuk toward eco-tourism “Big Mama” Barker and her husband moved back onto family land.  This land is not your usual plot.  It's a basalt rock mountain with WWII caves, tunnels, guns and relics.  They have turned tunnels in one of the many (manmade during WWII) caves into their handicraft/historical relic store as well as “home sweet home.”

Step into the entrance and you are entranced by the dim light and vision of WWII relics and handicraft lining the hallways and the promise of more as you look at what you think is the end of the hallway.  At what looks like the end of the tunnel you make a right turn and find an eye-popping sight - walls filled with handicraft and a plethora of WWII bottles and relics.  Following down the hall you find the business office with desks, computers and files sitting in front of a backdrop of U.S. and Japanese flags.

You've found the end, right, wrong!

Behind the flags you hook a left and are met by yet another dimly lit hallway leading to living quarters and numerous other hallways that actually can take you to the opposite side of the mountain.

Ironically, in a recent speech to the leaders of PATA Micronesia, Dr. Ansito Walter, governor of Chuuk, said, “As far as I'm concerned, Chuuk's photogenic nature is not only an underwater realm, but also an eco-tourist reality above sea level.  We have a beautiful culture filled with beautiful and humble people doing thins....  Unfortunately, for me, I am not a professional expert who can fully understand and master what eco-tourism means to our economy and to our people.”

Big Mama's is a must visit for anyone who travels to Chuuk.  It is a challenge from the standpoint of setting up residence, and example of what Chuuk's Gov. Walter is looking for in eco-tourism.  
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Note:  About 18 months after this article appeared, Nopuko gave up her attempt at eco-tourism because of the many obstacles - political, financial, and even physical - that the governor of Chuuk, Ansito Walter and his cronies, placed in her path.  She moved to Washington State in late 1998 where she continued to help people with their love life problems.  She recently returned to the islands, now living on Pohnpei, about 500 miles due east of her home island in Chuuk.

Please email Big Mama if you have any questions.

This panoramic view of Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon from Big Mama's caves accompanied the above newspaper article.
This panoramic view of Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon from Big Mama's caves accompanied the above newspaper article.




© 2006 nopukob.com