The history of Fiji, a rising island nation in the South Pacific, is intricately connected to the legacies of colonialism that transformed the region in the 1800s.
During that time, sandalwood, cotton, and sugar cane thrived as major exports. A time indentured ships carried marginalised Indians to work on plantations, while Melanesians faced the brutal realities of blackbirding — the deceptive recruitment of labourers that resulted in many being uprooted from their homes and families. Major ports such as Levuka became the sites where early European merchants sought to fulfil their labour needs, marking a time when human rights were virtually non-existent, and laws favoured the powerful.
Amid these historical contexts, the recent celebration of Solomon Islands Pidgin Language Week in Aotearoa, New Zealand, emerged as an important event for many attending.
With the theme ‘Protektim langguis an kalsa blong yumi’ (“Protect our language and culture”), the week underscored the crucial effort to preserve the Solomon Islands’ rich linguistic and cultural heritage for future generations.
The week-long festivities brought together Melanesians last month, including Jennifer Khan-Janif, whose family background is deeply rooted in the Fiji Islands, tracing back to the dislocating experiences of blackbirding in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Jennifer attended the event with her cousin Doreen Kuper from the Solomon Islands and her mother, Hajirah Khan, reflecting on their shared ancestry.
“In 1883, our maternal great-grandfather Reginald Koi, along with his uncle Tumultai, were blackbirded from Buka Island to Fiji,” Jennifer shared.
“Buka Island is part of what is now the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
Buka Island was then part of a cluster of islands in Northern Solomons.
“Upon arrival in Levuka, Reginald was assigned as a home helper to the Griffiths family, founders of The Fiji Times. He married Satina Koi, who had arrived in Fiji as a little girl from British Guiana through the Indenture Girmit system.”
“We pay homage and tribute to two pioneering and trailblasing individuals, Reginald Koi, a Melanesian and Satina Koi, an Indian who raised their family of 5 boys and 4 girls whilst contributing to Fiji’s nation building.
“Their descendants in Fiji have made and continue to contribute to Fiji through their various roles in heath, education, defence, media, aviation, hospitality, retail and sports.
“In contemporary times with migration from Fiji, some of Reginald and Satina Koi’s descendants and their families have set-up residence in Solomon Islands and in the Fijian diaspora around the globe.”
Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, Secretary for Pacific Peoples, highlighted the importance of language in fostering community and belonging — website www.mpp.govt reports.
“Our languages are more than just words — they are a connection to our history, traditions, and our people,” she noted.
The Solomon Islands Pidgin Language Week serves as a crucial reminder that learning the language is intertwined with preserving their identity.
This year’s language week was enriched with various events designed to cultivate pride in the Solomon Islands’ language and culture, allowing for both online and in-person participation.
Gerardine encouraged widespread involvement, stating, “I urge everyone to learn a few words in Solomon Aelan Pijin, connect with others, and celebrate our heritage together.”
NZ is second home
On the National Indigenous Times website, Dr. Kerryn Sogha Galokale, hailing from Bareho in the Solomon Islands, shared her childhood experiences that have shaped her view on preserving her cultural heritage.
The website reports that like many others, she faces the challenge of instilling her native languages in her daughter while living in New Zealand. Despite the dominance of English, she persistently teaches her daughter through everyday language use, songs, and counting.
Dr. Galokale emphasises the communal responsibility involved in protecting languages as revered vessels of cultural values, identities, and traditions. In a world increasingly leaning towards globalisation, her determination echoes the broader movement to maintain the unique languages and identities within the diverse communities of the Pacific.
Dr Galokale said preserving and passing on her two languages (Marovo and Sengga) to her daughter is” challenging, especially as my daughter grew up in Australia and New Zealand, and English became the dominant language at home”
“However, I am not giving up on her,” she said.
“I taught her to count one to 20 in both languages and I need to keep doing it so that counting in our languages becomes deeply rooted in her heart. Also, I try to teach her the lullaby songs in our languages and often use languages for simple verbs like, eat, sleep, come, go, bath, etc.
“She is catching up pretty fast and I hope that I will continue to pass on our languages so that the languages are preserved and maintained in the next generations.”Dr Galokale does her best to use the Sengga language when she speaks with her parents or aunites.
“I think protecting our language and culture should be everybody’s business every day. Our local languages breathe into us our cultural values, practices and indigenous knowledge. When we protect our languages and cultures, we are protecting and respecting our cultural spaces, identity, values, practices, customs and indigenous knowledge systems.
“We may just be dots on the world map, but our diversity is our rich resource and heritage, which makes me proud to be from Solomon Islands. We have nine provinces and between 60-70 indigenous languages.
“On top of our multilingual languages, we have the Solomon Islands Pijin, which connects all nine provinces. Also, we are unique because our nation is made up of Melanesians, Polynesians and Micronesians.
“We are a nation of unique skin colours and natural beauty gifted from God to us. Most of all, our Solomon Islands people are very friendly, and people will always greet you with our island smiles. We love to crack jokes and share good laughs.”
2024 Pacific language weeks
Solomon Aelan Pijin Langguis Wik is the second of two new Pacific language weeks this year, the first being Papua New Guinea Pidgin Language Week, November 10- 16.
They join Rotuma, Samoa, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Fiji, Niue and Tokelau to make a total of 11 Pacific language weeks across the year.
The theme for the Pacific Language Weeks 2024 is sustainability, and AUT’s videos are a celebration of the power of language and culture featuring our Pacific staff, students and alumni who are sharing their experiences and journey with sustaining their Pacific language.
The videos feature Pacific stories of the significance of heritage languages, from the perspectives of business leaders to educators, community leaders and more, who are all passionate about sustaining languages for future generations.
Through their stories, it will be evident the many ways in which language is a vital component of cultural identity and the ways our alumni have implemented it into their daily lives. For video go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKkKW7dJswdsb2uq3FYc0kg.
