Before reading these two chapters, I knew very little about Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and the Marquesas Islands. I find it interesting, yet sad, to discover the Spanish language being involved so deeply in the culture of the islands when Makihara describes that the “Chilean people have become actively engaged in indigenous and political movements”. (Makihara, 50. Combining Spanish and Rapa Nui was a hardship for the indigenous people and they continue to struggle with this problem today. These two languages are in the daily lives of the native people, but most importantly during political debates. This website regarding Rapa Nui language is short yet informative. http://www.k12.hi.us/~rapa/06learn.html
The people of Rapa Nui not only had to strive past the barriers of devastation in 1870, but they also had to stand strong for their culture and land when the Peruvians and Chileans took over their homeland. Not too long ago, the political debates began about which island residents were indigenous. So who do you think the indigenous people of Rapa Nui are? It may seem to be a simple question, yet there have been many heated debates about this. In the future, I hope the native language of Rapa Nui will overcome the disadvantages and yet again bring back its culture in the language.
When we rectify the problem of the Marquesas islands regarding the “youth”, Riley uses the word charabia to describe the ways in which the children speak the language and are too lazy to properly conjugate sentences. The Marquesas islands are similar to Rapa Nui in the sense that the French overtook their homeland. I believe that `Enana should be used more by the children so that the native language will flourish and more and more people will be taught the language of the Marquesan people. With regards to Rapa Nui, the indigenous language of the Marquesas islands are losing, yet at the same time, gaining their native language back by practicing and teaching the languages of the past decades. Here is a website that speaks more about the `Enana language and the correlations that connect themselves to this interesting culture. http://correlator.sandbox.yahoo.net/index.php/people/Enana
Like Robi, I didn't know too much about Rapa Nui before reading the article. I didn't even know people even lived on the islands. Until now, the only thing i thought was there, were the Moai statues. It was interesting to see how Spanish was such a huge part of their language (due to Chile). It found it very interesting when it showed the dialog of the debate and how a lot of it was in Rapa Nui, but a few words and phrases were in Spanish.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter about Marquesas Islands and 'Enana, the way that children were punished for speaking 'Enana surprised me, because of the fact they were being punished for speaking the native language; just as the Hawaiians were suppressed against using their language. Where French is such a big part of the language in the Marquesas Islands, it is inspirational to see that there are people still using 'Enana in order to keep the language alive.
I find it very interesting to know that Spanish was one of the main languages spoken in Rapa Nui. I did not even know about the whole reasoning behind this, such as the Chilean people taking over their homeland. Similar to Rapa Nui, the Marquesas Islands were overtaken by the French. As a result of this, the indigenous people of both Rapa Nui and the Marquesas Islands are striving to keep their language and culture alive. Here in Hawaii, missionaries arrived a few hundred years ago and also attempted to get rid of the Hawaiian language. At one point, Hawaiian language was banned from the schools and children were punished for speaking it. It saddens me to know that all these people who are struggling to keep their native languages are becoming endangered.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the Spanish language being a part of the culture of the islands now that the Chileans have become active in Rapa Nui affairs. From the link you provided it looks like Rapa Nui has similarities to other Austronesian languages which is to be expected. The comparison between Hawaiian words and Rapa Nui words was interesting to look at. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I can see parallels between the Chileans and Rapa Nui with Hawaii and the United States in terms of their situation where Chileans sort of took over Rapa Nui. I can also see parallels between the Rapa Nui and Marquesas people when it comes to "code-switching". I'm curious as to where else this is happening.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a lot of indigenous languages are becoming endangered today. Rapa Nui and Hawaii have similar backgrounds. They both can relate to each other in terms of foreigners taking over their homelands and converting their language into the dominant one. It’s sad to see these languages slip and become devalued by its speakers. According to Makihara, in the 1960s, “the arrival of new civil administration expanded economic opportunities and improved life for most Rapa Nui”. It amazed me how this instantly changed the language to Spanish and became the dominant language in the public. The indigenous people struggled with the two languages and have both Chilean Spanish and Rapa Nui Spanish. Hopefully these indigenous people can continue to try and keep their native languages and culture alive.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that yet again, we see the influence of non-native cultures on the native languages. The takeover of Rapa Nui and the Marquesas by the Chileans and French, respectively, not only changed the culture, but changed the language as well. Instead of the native people speaking their indigenous language, they were forced to speak the language of their oppressors. In doing so, Spanish and French languages were valued above the native languages of the regions, and the ideas expressed in those languages were also valued over the native languages.
ReplyDeleteI too didn't know much about Rapa Nui, their culture, language and people before reading this article. By reading this article, I really learned a lot about Rapa Nui and how it got taken over and heavenly influenced by the Spanish language. In the lead blog, it talks about how the children who does speak the language are too lazy to properly form sentences. I believe that this is currently true for a majority of the children in all society. Children gets more lazier as each generation goes by and the language from generation to generation decline and later dies.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Rapu Nui like many other classmates before this class. It is not surprise to find out how children were punised at school when they wanted to say their indigenous language rather than Spanish. If some country wants to eradicate colonized country's culture and language, they had better work on the children first. But it was too cruel for the indigenous people. I felt very sorry for that and angry at the colonizing countries. Spain, why did not you give Rapu Nui a break?
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