Why did some Melanesian communities attribute illness and death to sorcery or witchcraft?

In many Melanesian societies, illness and death were frequently attributed to sorcery or witchcraft because religion was not viewed as a separate sphere of life but as an integral part of everyday existence. Melanesians believed that human success in uncertain endeavors—such as health, prosperity, or food production—depended on the support of invisible forces, including ancestral ghosts and spirits.1

When disaster, illness, or death occurred, these events were often interpreted as manifestations of these invisible forces or the result of malevolent human intervention. In some areas, sorcery was considered the primary cause of illness and death, and accusations of such practices often triggered vengeance murders or fueled endemic feuds between kin groups. Additionally, some highland peoples believed that witches—humans acting under the influence of agencies beyond their conscious control—preyed upon the living by taking possession of them or draining their bodily substances. This worldview reflected a belief system where the boundary between the natural and supernatural was fluid, and misfortune was rarely seen as a purely random or biological event.12