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Section VI Multilingualism in French : Past and future

Multilingualism is in its very essence unstable, as it make it possible to perceive major tendencies for involves living languages whose dynamics depend the next 20 to 30 years, with regard to multi- above all on extra-linguistic factors. This funda- lingualism in . The future of lan- mental instability renders virtually impossible any guages in the country as a whole can only be un- prediction beyond two generations. derstood through an analysis -by- However, the six years of field research that archipelago, and language-by-language. As we will Jean-Michel Charpentier has just carried out in see, knowledge of the recent history of each French Polynesia in over twenty different locations will enable us to draw up their future perspectives.

The Marquesas

In the Marquesas , Marquesan remains the As for the third , , it was essen- daily language for the majority of islanders. The tially depopulated in the 19th century, before being existence of two dialects, with their lexical and repopulated by both northern and southern Mar- phonetic specificities for each island, does not quesans. This is why the island itself is known un- hinder this fundamental linguistic unity. der two different names, Ua Huka (with a /k/ The 2012 census (ISPF 2012) gave a population typical of the northern dialect) and Ua Huna (with of 9,261 for the archipelago, among which two an /n/ typical of southern Marquesan).63 thirds lived in the Northern Marquesas ( 2,967; 2,175; Ua Huka 621), and one third The island of , in southern Marquesas, (3,498 inhabitants) lived in the southern part. has Atuona as its capital, with two colleges and an Nuku Hiva, both the largest and most populated administrative centre. As in Taiohae, external in- of the northern islands, has Taiohae as its capital, fluences are numerous; however, the lack of rapid where both tahitianization and francization are in land communications maintains certain villages progress. Thanks to a good road network, it is fairly isolated. Similarly, the absence of landing common to work in the capital and continue to live strips in and in Fatu Hiva maintains a kind in the villages situated in the island’s valleys. This of geographical isolation favourable to the daily explains how outside linguistic influences have use of local dialects alone. This current situation recently penetrated into the heart of the island of helps to slow down the linguistic erosion that can Nuku Hiva, to such an extent that they have re- be observed in other parts of the territory. placed the local varieties. Thus, the speech of the The vitality of the two main dialects in the Mar- Taipivai valley disappeared a few decades ago; and quesas – north and south – is almost identical. The even the main Marquesan vernacular on the island number of active speakers in these two groups, for is now under threat. Conversely, Ua Pou is without doubt the island of 63 Table 6 p.38 showed that Northern Marquesan /k/ regu- the northern group where the ancient Marquesan larly corresponds with Southern Marquesan /n/, when dialect has been best preserved. they reflect the proto-phoneme *ŋ. 112 — Multilingualism in French Polynesia: Past and future example, is no doubt very similar. In addition, this sively in French and Tahitian, the phonetics of Ta- equilibrium is maintained by all the speakers by hitian have become more familiar, and are begin- virtue of an egalitarian bilingualism:64 two people ning to influence the speech of younger genera- coming from different islands can have a conversa- tions. Thus in the southern islands, where the tion in which each speaks his or her dialect, with- glottal stop /৯/ showed an earlier tendency to fade out feeling forced to speak the dialect of the other. out or even disappear, it is once more becoming Two radios with daily broadcasts in Marquesan, very distinct among the younger generations, no a very dynamic academy, and an art festival whose doubt under the the influence of Tahitian, heard on reputation goes largely beyond the frontiers of television as well as in Tahitian classes at school. French Polynesia, combine to maintain the Mar- Even if is not threatened in the short term, the quesan language. For the past twenty years, a new future of the is a cause for pride, shared by all generations, has resulted in a concern. Because the many Marquesans living in cultural rebirth, and this self-confidence reflects on are gradually blending in with the popula- the use of the language. tion of the capital, the preservation of this rich In sum, tahitianization remains more limited in heritage depends entirely on the 9,300 native the Marquesas than in other . Mixed speakers who still live in the Marquesas. As eve- marriages (Tahitians/Marquesans) are still rela- rywhere in French Polynesia, the vernacular is es- tively rare in the Marquesas, and often result in the sentially used by the elders: thus, when it became use of French between the couples, rather than necessary to recruit teachers to give classes in Tahitian. Marquesan, almost all the potential candidates had The influence of Tahitian in the Marquesas is felt reached retirement age. Only the setting up of in- especially in the media and the administration. All dustries to transform local products might slow documents coming from Papeete are written in down the exodus of the younger generation. The French and Tahitian, and some of the administra- opening of an upper secondary school would keep tive vocabulary is of Tahitian origin. As the coun- them longer on their islands. If nothing is done to try’s television channels broadcast almost exclu- stop the erosion of Marquesan, within just a few decades the two processes of tahitanization and of 64 About this notion – used in a Melanesian context – see francization will have seen the disappearance of a Haudricourt (1961) and François (2012). language.

The

Of the five archipelagos that make up French longer controlled their linguistic and cultural des- Polynesia, the Tuamotus are linguistically the most tiny. The north-western linguistic area, Mihiroa, complex, due to the number and history of its dia- and the north-west of Tapuhoe (Map 3 p.75) are lectal variants. It follows that any policy of safe- already tahitianized. guarding and teaching the languages is more diffi- The eastern Tuamotus, which are composed of cult to implement here than elsewhere. groups of isolated , show linguistic peculiari- Of all the dialects of Polynesia, those of the ties which beg the question of the actual origin of Tuamotus have the smallest numbers of speakers. their settlement. The -, - The 2012 census reveals a total population of and - atolls often present 15,410 for the whole archipelago. The sheer im- their own specific vocabulary, unknown elsewhere mensity of this territory and dispersion of settle- in French Polynesia. Several hypotheses may be ments make it necessary to distinguish between put forward to explain these specificities. In some geographical zones. cases this originality may reflect some local inno- The north-western part of this archipelago, vation, which may have occurred at some stage in where the largest number of farms is to be this region. Conversely, it may happen that some of found, has been largely influenced by Tahitian, at the local linguistic peculiarities are in fact conser- least until the beginning of the crisis which hit this vative of earlier specificities of these languages. If activity a few years ago. The depopulation due to such is the case, then it implies that settlement in this economic activity entailed a drastic demo- the Tuamotus occurred in successive waves: the graphic drain on the atolls. These minorities no differences between east and west do not stem

The Tuamotus — 113 from any hypothetical (proto-) Pa’umotu cultural tion of vanquished populations, who would have source, but rather from distinct waves which suc- fled from their native valley. At least this is what cessively populated these islands. This hypothesis certain myths and legends tend to suggest, and seems confirmed by the fact that some of the vo- such legends are known to sometimes show his- cabulary unknown in western Tuamotus and in torical accuracy.66 Tahitian can be found in Marquesan and occasion- ally in Mangarevan: this would support the hypo- The Fangatau-Fakahina atolls thesis of a settlement of this eastern zone coming from the Marquesas. Archaeological excavation or The language of Fangatau-Fakahina offers less historical research may one day allow us to know lexical singularities than that of Napuka-Tepoto. It whether these commonalities found between the is true that these atolls (300 inhabitants) are eastern Tuamotus and the neighbouring Marque- closer to the dialects of central Tuamotus, which sas reflect a common origin, or whether they are has always facilitated exchanges between these more recent borrowings, which may be explained populations. by the geographical position of these atolls half The economic potential of these atolls is quite way between the Marquesas and the Is- substantial, through copra. However, its exploita- lands: stopovers in the trading networks, the east- tion is subject to a concentration of land owner- ern islands of the Tuamotus may have borrowed ship with the obligation to prepare copra belong- 65 part of their vocabulary from passing travellers. ing to others, a form of tenant farming which Today, each group of atolls presents a specific leaves the worker with only 50 percent of the re- sociolinguistic situation – even if tahitianization tail price. These requirements impeded the devel- and francization are progressing everywhere. We opment of this sector for many years, to such an propose to review them here one after the other. extent that emigration to was massive. In Fangatau for example, the number of men of The Napuka-Tepoto atolls working age is extremely low. However, it is true that the is not completely depopulated. Here, The Napuka-Tepoto group (360 inhabitants), widows and single women come back to their which has been isolated for a long time, uses a lo- place of birth, after working all their life in Pa- cal dialect daily, even if there are significant dif- peete, to spend their retirement. Often their chil- ferences between the language spoken by the dren, born and working in Papeete, leave the younger generation and that of their elders. grandchildren with them, who therefore attend Although Tahitian is understood by many in- primary school on the atoll. As only a few seniors habitants of Napuka, French is only understood by aged over 60, who have remained on the island, the young generation, who do not often speak it. are still able to speak the dialect without innu- Emigration to the capital, Papeete, is today quite merable interferences from Tahitian, the language limited, and is compensated by the natural growth seems doomed to die out. Moreover, because chil- of the population. A balance seems to have been dren returning from Tahiti have often only heard struck between resources (copra, fish, giant French or Tahitian from their parents, these are clams…) and the population. The mid-term future often the two languages which the grandparents of the dialect is therefore ensured. will resign themselves to speaking with them. As Numerous lexical items shared with Marquesan for the local language, it will die out within a few present in the language may easily be explained if generations. we consider the hypothesis suggested earlier of contact between the eastern Tuamotus and the The atoll Marquesas. The Napuka-Tepoto people would have later massively borrowed from Pa’umotu Although not all the Tuamotu atolls present such a dialects from further west. Another possibility worrying sociolinguistic situation with regard to which may explain the numerous points in com- the fate of these dialects, similar forces are pushing mon between the Marquesas and Napuka, is the in the same direction. hypothesis whereby internal historical conflicts in the Marquesas may have given rise to the migra- 66 This is how the archaeologist José Garanger, based on a

legend recorded in the mid 20th century in Vanuatu, dis- 65 See Elbert (1982) on the issue of lexical borrowings in covered the grave of the great chief Roi Mata dating back the area. to the 13th century. 114 — Multilingualism in French Polynesia: Past and future

In the Tatakoto atoll (287 inhabitants), the elder the atoll’s isolation. He puts forward the idea of a generation is sufficiently large in number to ensure settlement, of course Polynesian, but separate: daily or widespread use of the local language. "in contrast with most , the people of Contact with other atolls of the region, especially Reao are short, stocky, very strong in the arms rather with those of the so-called Marangai area (Nuku- than legs, and unusually dark in color. The face has a tavake, , ), have been intense at vertically "compressed" appearance that is very dis- least over the past fifty years. Stimson, who was tinctive". the only one to propose a map of Pa’umotu dialects The physical appearance of an isolated population, (a map which has never been updated nor ques- however, is not enough to justify a separate set- tioned), had included Tatakoto in the Marangai tlement. Prolonged isolation may however explain area. This could explain why, despite obvious dif- shared somatic characteristics within a human ferences between communalects, several of my group. In South Malakula (Vanuatu), in the small elderly informants from Tureia assured me they islands Akhamb and Tomman where endogenous had no difficulty in communicating with the in- marriages have taken place for centuries, physical habitants of Tatakoto. human variations may have occurred, resulting in However, the inhabitants of the three aforemen- natives of these islands being recognisable in an tioned atolls (Tureia, Vahitahi, ) agree urban environment. that understanding the Pukarua-Reao dialect is Formerly, the population of Reao was large problematic (even) to this day. enough – approximately 900 inhabitants at the be- ginning of the 20th century – to allow for marriages The Pukarua and Reao atolls without leading to consanguinity. However, about one century ago, two huge cyclones forced many of The Pukarua and Reao atolls (606 inhabitants) its inhabitants to migrate to atolls situated further have shared the same language, as well as part of west (Nukutavake, Vahitahi). their local history for the past century. However, The development of the language of Reao- outside influences have been stronger in Reao. Pukarua was quite disrupted by the presence of For a very long time, Pukarua/Reao was home to the leper hospital, a source of many outside influ- a leper colony, to which a very well kept cemetery ences. More recently, the setting up of a military reserved for them bears witness today. The lepers base in Reao during the nuclear test period, as well came from such far-flung places as the Marquesas, as a firing observation centre in Pukarua, naturally and of course other atolls of the had an influence on the language. During those Tuamotus. These sick people were not all affected thirty years, the Reao dialect was in contact with to the same extent and men from Reao married other Pa’umotu dialects, with Tahitian and above some of the less-affected women. One of my in- all, French. However, very few natives of the atoll formants had a grandmother from Mangareva who can today speak French without numerous inter- suffered from leprosy. This influx of people from ferences. different linguistic areas led to massive borrow- Admittedly, the Pukarua-Reao language is not ings, which often replaced the original vocabulary. threatened, because the rapid francization process During my fieldwork, my consultants often gave ceased when the nuclear tests ended in 1995. me a spontaneous answer, before retracting and However, this dialect does tend to blend into a explaining: "No, this is Mangarevan" or "This is pan-Pa’umotu mixture of Tahitian and French, and Pa’umotu". The ancient language of Reao, even probably very different from the original dialect of though it is not totally forgotten, is really losing these atolls. ground, to say the least, against vocabulary and expressions from elsewhere. This linguistic blend The dialect and the ‘marangai’ zone is largely commented by Hatanaka & Shibata In the western Tuamotus, the Anaa language – (1982), according to whom Reao must have been sometimes referred to as Parata – is an exception. very different a century ago. The linguistic diversity of this region has under- The language of Reao, as well as the inhabitants gone extensive erosion, especially being so close to who speak it, have long been presented as Tahiti, whereas Anaa resists. Many of the elderly "strange", or "uncommon". For Stimson, the origi- speakers among the 898 inhabitants of this atoll nality of Reao lies as much in its lexicon as in its try hard to pass on the dialect to the younger gen- morphology and syntax, and can be explained by eration. During our surveys, this language turned

The Tuamotus — 115 out to be surprisingly close to Marangai, both the most affected by the changes brought about by phonetically and lexically, which is spoken more to the CEP (the Pacific nuclear test centre), since this in the east. is exactly where the explosions took place, in the An explanation is necessary here regarding the heart of this region. Various migrations, intermin- term Marangai, sometimes used when referring to gling of populations, and the presence of numerous certain spoken dialects in south-east Tuamotus. military personnel who knew nothing of the local For any person with a critical eye reading Stim- dialect, led to the region’s tahitianization and, es- son’s voluminous dictionary (623 pages) in ex- pecially, to its francization. The end of the nuclear tenso, the term is problematic. Cited in the intro- tests sparked massive emigration to Papeete. With duction on page 22, and reappearing as an entry the gradual disappearance of the elders who had on page 286, the meanings given for this word are learned the local language and culture before this not the same. In his introduction, Stimson quotes upheaval, one can only predict a dark future for the major dialectal groups that the Pa’umotu re- this dialect in the very short term. ported to him; among these is the "Marangai" dia- lect of south-eastern Tuamotus, which apparently Northwest and central Tuamotus is spoken in the region of Tatakoto, Vahitahi, Nu- The northwest of the Tuamotus is either fully Ta- kutavake and in the atolls situated to the north- hitianized – as in the area called "Mihiroa": Rangi- east of Mangareva (Map 3 p.75). According to roa, , … – or about to be – as in the Stimson, the term Marangai initially designated area known as "Vahitu": Manihii, , , the inhabitants of this region, rather than their . The proximity of Tahiti, the pearl indus- language. The origin of the name is attributed to an try and that of are detrimental to the assimilation made by the first navigators with the weaker languages – in this case, the Pa’umotu dia- name of the wind which carried them there: lects. “The name of the fourth division (marangai) is that Admittedly, central Tuamotus – an area known of the Southeast tradewind, and is said by informants as Tapuhoe – remains one of the where a of neighboring islands to have been given to the peo- local Pa’umotu dialect is still spoken. This “central ple because they entered the area upon the southeast Pa’umotu” is certainly the dialectal variant with wind.” the smallest number of lexical singularities: it Again, Stimson’s same dictionary contains a single shares a large part of its lexicon with Pa’umotu entry for PDUDQJDL – a term supposedly unique to dialects, and is understood almost everywhere. Parata, the dialect of Anaa: During the last forty years, this vast area has “A survivor; one left alive, spared from death; a de- been largely depopulated. During the CEP period, rogatory epithet applied to those spared following a people went to work in , a secondary base for defeat in war.” nuclear testing, and from there to Tahiti. Today barely four thousand people live in this region, half The word marangai would therefore suggest a of whom live on and Hao, atolls whose surviving enemy whose life has been spared after a populations are dialectally highly diverse. This last battle: no reference is made to any dialect or dia- factor encourages the use of a lingua franca, Tahi- lectal zone. Stimson’s work is too thorough for this tian. Betting on the survival of this dialect mid- to be an oversight. term is quite a challenge. Nothing seems to favour In fact, the very precise definition given by its maintenance, not even the attachment to the Stimson, and limited to Parata (the language of language of the ancestors: contrary to other re- Anaa), is the only one which should be retained. It gions, Tahitian is not perceived here to be a dan- is probable that this term only recently began to gerous competitor. designate a language (dialectal area) and its speakers, possibly due to the insistence of west- The Tuamotus: Summary erners for whom all languages must have a name. Although the speakers of Parata (the language of It is often said that all Pa’umotu dialects really Anaa and ) are successful in their at- form together a single Pa’umotu language. How- tempts to preserve their language, the task ap- ever, there is no good reason to come up with the pears far more difficult for the inhabitants of the fiction of such linguistic unity. The Pa’umotu world so-called Marangai region. Firstly, it is a vast geo- is fragmented linguistically, perhaps ever since the graphical area, composed of increasingly sparsely early migrants settled on the atolls. In promoting a populated atolls. This zone of the Tuamotus was fictitious “Pa’umotu language”, the risk would be to 116 — Multilingualism in French Polynesia: Past and future neglect the need to actually protect the various receive is in French, through the media and school. dialects in their diversity. The use of French as first language is more and This pitfall must be carefully avoided by the more common among those Pa’umotu aged under Pa’umotu Academy, which was created in 2008. Of twenty. Recently, other initiatives, unfortunately course, the existence of such an academy will dispersed and of limited impact, tend to reinforce strengthen the populations’ pride at still being able the pride felt by the Pa’umotu regarding their to use their original dialects, and at seeing them identity: for instance, a radio station on benefitting from official recognition. But it will un- broadcasts in Pa’umotu. Also, the CRDP (Centre de fortunately not be able to curb the ebb in terms of Documentation et de Recherche Pédagogique, a everyday use of these languages: no academy has scheme in distance education) now provides ever saved a language. classes in Pa’umotu dialects, plus a few hours’ ba- More crucially, the teaching of these Pa’umotu sic tuition on the national television channel dialects in situ since 2004 has been beneficial in (TNTV). slowing down their decline. One important step Although the Tuamotus do not present linguistic towards helping the children forge a cultural iden- unity, it is quite a different matter where culture is tity for themselves would be to reinforce the concerned. Being Pa’umotu means sharing the teaching of these languages. Today’s young gen- same culture, the same environment and a tradi- erations in the Tuamotus do not really speak Tahi- tion of social contact among atolls. While this - tian, and are exposed to an impoverished kind of servation is true of the Tuamotus, it cannot be ap- Pa’umotu – a blend of the ancestral dialect, Tahi- plied to the Austral archipelago, which is far more tian and French. The only structured tuition they diversified.

The

The Austral archipelago is made up of five islands: each time I asked for confirmation of these pho- , , Tupua’i, Ra’ivavae, and . nemes, speakers would correct themselves, and It is not a unified geographical entity (only Tupua’i replace the consonants with glottal consonants /৯/ and Ra’ivavae are surrounded by a reef); like in Tahitian. Surveys among the most elderly, much in the same way, the Australs’ linguistic combined with toponymic studies, might tell us unity is questionable. Due to the quite large dis- more about what Tupua’i used to sound like. tances between islands, variations in geographical We shall see that the Austral archipelago in- configuration, and their respective positions at cludes three distinct varieties: Rurutu, Rimatara, different latitudes, the diversity of flora and fauna and Rapa (or Oparo). These are sometimes unduly is in correlation with a wide diversity both in the considered as three dialects of a single language, islands’ cultures and lexicons. The current appar- called “Austral”. In reality, Rapa is different enough ent unity of the Austral archipelago is relatively to be considered a language in its own right. recent, and somewhat artificial: essentially an in- Independent of this issue, it is to be noted that vention of Europeans, primarily in terms of relig- the language(s) of the Austral area still lack any of- ion, through Protestantism – and later through the ficial recognition. Thus, this archipelago was left administration, since the five islands were grouped out of the 2004 “loi organique”, which stipulates:67 together into a single constituency: Tuha’a Pae. “French, Tahitian, Marquesan, Paumotu and Man- All these islands were converted to Protestant- garevan are the languages of French Polynesia.” ism in the 19th century, which entailed a massive It is hoped that the near future brings to the lan- process of tahitianization. Some languages were guages of the Austral archipelago the recognition then almost wiped out, as happened on Tupua’i they deserve. and – to a lesser degree – on Ra’ivavae (see Map 3 p.75). In both these islands, the oldest inhabitants recall having heard their grandparents use a lan- 67 “Le français, le tahitien, le marquisien, le paumotu et le – /غ/ guage in which the velar consonants /N/ et mangarévien sont les langues de la Polynésie française.” no longer present in Tahitian – were still frequent. Article 57 of the Loi organique n°2004-192 du 27 février During my surveys on Ra’ivavae, these consonants 2004 portant statut d’autonomie de la Polynésie française. were sometimes pronounced spontaneously; but

The Austral Islands — 117

Rurutu and Rimatara legends, all in the ancestral language of Rimatara. A true synergy exists between the members of this Contrary to what is often asserted in Papeete – and small community, in order to pass on the cultural even in Rurutu – the native islanders of Rimatara heritage and perpetuate the use of the language. (population 873) and of Rurutu (2,322) do not Nowadays young people from Rimatara seldom share the same dialect. The lexicon of each island, emigrate to Tahiti. in particular, has its own local specificities. The language of Rurutu, although it shares with The linguistic heritage on Rimatara is better pre- Tahitian a fair part of its vocabulary, is quite dis- served and less tahitianized. This island remained tinct in that its consonantal system is reduced to isolated for a long time, due to the absence of a only eight consonants. The phonemes /I/, /K/, /N/, -common to most languages in French Polyne ,/غ/ -landing strip until 2006. Historically, this Polyne sian kingdom was the last to request its attach- sia, most often correspond to a glottal stop /৯/ in ment to the “Établissements français de l’Océanie” Rurutu (Table 6 p.93). This small number of con- (French Settlements in ). It was only on sonants makes Rurutu difficult to understand for September 2, 1901 that Queen Tamaeva V took the any non-native, even for Tahitians. decision to yield her kingdom to – not The mid-term future of the Rurutu dialect is without hesitation, according to her current de- highly uncertain. Although a few young Rurutu na- scendants. Indeed, the Reformed church had been tives attached to their language and culture – present for almost a century, and represented which is particularly rich in the art of weaving, and successively by several English priests; and more associated vocabulary – have started collecting importantly, the queen and her subjects had very lexicon and oral tradition on their own initiative. long standing matrimonial links – and therefore Sadly, without any support or structured frame- land rights – with the Southern . Here, work, nothing concrete has yet come of it. Even just as in many other places in the world, the arbi- more worrying for the future of Rurutu is the in- trary borders created by colonization have split tense social contact with Tahiti, and consequently apart what used to form a social and cultural unity. the growing pressure from the . It would be interesting to compare the specific vo- A majority of the island’s population – familiar cabulary of the Rimatara language to that of the with Tahitian through the Bible and Protestant Southern Cook Islands, if only to confirm or con- church services – do not consider their own tongue tradict the hypothesis that the two areas were set- as a language in its own right, but as a distortion of tled in a single migratory movement stemming Tahitian. For these speakers, making an effort to from the south-west. “speak properly” means speaking the language of Now that means of communication have become prestige, Tahitian. easier with Tahiti (with three weekly flights between Rimatara and the capital, Papeete), Rapa hopes of seeing the language of Rimatara survive are slim. Given its distance from Tahiti, one could think that The only optimistic perspective lies in the new the island of Rapa68 (population 515) would have language education policy set up in 2004, the year preserved its dialect better than the other Austral when the structure “Langues et Cultures Polynési- islands. But the situation is more complex. ennes” (LCP) was created. It was led by Dr Mirose At the beginning of the 19th century, when whal- Paia, a leading educational figure in the field of ers and sandalwood traders sailed around the re- Polynesian language tuition – particularly that of gion, they all stopped over in the bay of Rapa Iti, local vernaculars – and an adviser to the Minister known for its safe anchorage. Men from Rapa Iti of Education. When in 2004 the LCP team came to would sign up as crew members on boats leaving visit schools in Rimatara, this brought back self- for the other archipelagos. The preservation of the confidence to the speakers and local teachers, as cultural and linguistic heritage had already been much as it encouraged children to speak their own jeopardized by the "London Missionary Society", language in schools. The educational materials who often sent men from Rapa Iti to train in Tahiti sent by "Papeete", always written in Tahitian of so that they might convert their fellow islanders course, are now commonly adapted to the local upon their return. The tahitianization process had languages by the teachers. The elders are invited to explain the techniques used for fishing and 68 The island is called Rapa or Rapa Iti in Tahitian, and growing subsistence crops, and to tell myths and Oparo in the local tongue. 118 — Multilingualism in French Polynesia: Past and future begun. All subsequent clergymen, except one na- opinion of Horatio Hale, who visited the island some tive islander, were to become Tahitian speakers. time around 1840, was that Rapa was “pure Raro- tongan, with a few exceptions”. These three authors These first contacts resulted in the massive de- do not mention the connection between Rapa and population of Rapa Iti. From 2000 inhabitants in Mangarevan, as at that time Mangarevan was not 1826, the population fell to 200 in 1840, and again yet well known in the West. to 192 according to the official census in 1887. Today the population of Rapa Iti is a little over 500. According again to Stokes, “nowadays two dialects It would appear that the linguistic intermingling can be heard in Rapa: neo-Tahitian and the hybrid and various other influences were no doubt Rapa-Tahitian. The official and also religious dialect greater on Rapa Iti than elsewhere in Polynesia. of the island is Tahitian. This is used by the men, and From 1860 to 1887, Rapa Iti was at the heart of a the hybrid by the women and children. Both are un- bitter rivalry between France and England. The derstood by both sexes. When speaking to strangers, “Panama and Australian Company”, a everyone uses Tahitian.” shipping company which transported passengers Eighty years later, the situation is even more com- and freight by train from via the Panama plicated because of the profound influence of French. isthmus, stopped over on Rapa Iti once a month. (…) Rapa, Tahitian and French are heard in various External influences arrived from all around. combinations.” When economic and strategic interests are at stake, no island – however isolated – can remain There is little to add to Paulus Kieviet’s synthe- totally immune to change. The island itself was of sis, apart from the fact that the varying judgments little economic interest, and its only assets were its made on the language of Rapa in the early 19th th people. During the second half of the 19 century, century do not help much: indeed, we do not know frequent incursions by Peruvian slave boats forced how well the authors mastered Tahitian and the inhabitants of the Australs, including those of Rarotongan. Nor do we know who their interlocu- Rapa Iti, to go and work in the Peruvian guano tors were. Imported by strangers, Tahitian was mines. This depopulation contributed to a very without doubt the language chosen for addressing large extent to the disappearance of its cultural newcomers, but this does not tell us which lan- heritage. guage the native islanders were using among What remains of Rapa Iti’s original language? themselves. Today, knowledge of Tahitian and What were the influences or contributions of these French enables many Rapa inhabitants to separate various contacts? According to Stokes (1955), the the contexts in which these languages are used, outside linguistic influences came from as far- and switch codes accordingly. Although rare in reached islands from Rapa Iti as . The Pe- French Polynesia, this code-switching habit pre- ruvians, enjoined by the French government to vents the already very mixed local language from repatriate all of the Polynesian recruits, also had being further distorted by interference. on board natives of Tokelau. After a voyage Even though the earlier process of tahitianiza- marked by the death of most of the hired men, and tion seems to be nowadays fading out, the lan- the crew’s threat to kill the unfortunate survivors, guage with most impact upon Rapa is now French the Rapa Iti took them in. However, this mixing of – especially amongst the young, through school population brought about contagious diseases and television. These young people are able to which led to its further decline. speak standard French when necessary. Besides, many men from Rapa were in the army or have lived in France. At the time of the nuclear test cen- A few years ago, Paulus Kieviet69 wrote: tre (CEP), a military weather station was being run “At the beginning of the 19th century opinion was di- on the island. Several women from Rapa married vided on the subject of the nature of this language. French soldiers; due to the typical age difference in The missionary William Ellis noted that it more the couples, many of these are now widows, and closely resembled Maori of New Zealand than Tahi- have returned to their home islands speaking flu- tian. Jacques Moerenhout, conversely, found in 1834 ent French. that the dialect differed little from Tahitian. The It is reasonable to assume that the trilingualism currently observed on Rapa, in which each lan- 69 Cf. Kieviet et al. (2006). guage has found its place, will continue.

The — 119

The Gambier Islands

The dramatic social changes which often accom- Life among the Mangarevans in this “kingdom panied the arrival of many Europeans in French of God” is only known to us today through the Polynesia have not spared the Gambier Islands – writings of the missionaries themselves – leaving a and its main island Mangareva. free rein for all kinds of assumptions. For instance, The Gambier archipelago (population 1,421, in- the islanders were reported to have died of ex- cluding 550 locals) is today under the control of haustion, decimated by strenuous work. However, two administrations: one central administration, the comparison with the growing demographics of from Tahiti, and the other making this archipelago the Marquesas and of Rapa over the same period an extension of Tuamotus, as implied by the ad- would indicate that these allegations were proba- ministrative entity entitled "Tuamotu-Gambier". bly exaggerated. Yet at the beginning of the 19th century, this archi- The brutal Christianization led to an almost total pelago was a powerful, independent kingdom, with eradication of the ancestral culture. Whole seman- some 5,000 subjects, and its own language and tic fields disappeared, as the language was used culture. merely for everyday concrete tasks. The acts of The factors which led to the almost total disap- these missionaries somehow managed to discon- pearance of the ancient culture, and the profound nect language from culture: from then on, speaking reshaping of the language, are the same as every- Mangarevan no longer reinforced the Polynesians’ where else in Polynesia – with of course variations cultural identity, because they had been fashioned as to the importance of each factor. into something else – “Christians”. In his introduc- From the beginning of the 19th century, the tion, Karl Rensch (1991) sums up the situation, abundance of mother-of-pearl in the Gambier Is- which is quite unique in French Polynesia: lands’ waters attracted many dealers from all ori- “When the French government finally intervened, the gins; they communicated in Tahitian, then consid- cultural vacuum created by the destruction of local ered by many to be a Polynesian language under- traditions forced the Mangarevans to look to Tahiti stood by everyone. It is hardly likely that these to reclaim their Maohi cultural identity. From this first sporadic contacts directly modified the local point of view, the tahitianization of Mangareva language and culture, but they were probably represents a compensatory reaction.” enough to start an irreversible population decline. In Mangareva, there is therefore no resentment The arrival of illnesses until then unknown re- towards the prevasiveness of Tahitian. Tahitiani- duced the population from 5,000 in 1825 to 2,400 zation took place a long time ago; the language and in 1834 (estimation made by missionaries), then to culture of Tahiti have been integrated into the local 508 by the time of the 1892 census; nowadays, the cultural identity. Being Mangarevan means first population fluctuates around 550. This sudden and foremost belonging to the land of the ances- demographic drop led to a cultural impoverish- tors, and living there. ment of the population, and to the loss of the an- These specific historical circumstances may ex- cient vocabulary associated with it. plain the behaviour of someone like Gaston The singularity of the cultural and linguistic his- Flosse,70 today the most famous of all Mangare- tory of the Gambier archipelago lies in the role vans. Both a local and national political figure, he played by Christianization. This began in 1834, has done very little during more than twenty years with the arrival of three Catholic priests, among to promote the language of his maternal ancestors. whom the still famous and controversial Father In 2008, despite his Mangarevan ascendance, he Laval. These missionaries set up a truly theocratic went as far as claiming the right for elected repre- kingdom, the primary objective of which was to sentatives of the Territorial Parliament of French eradicate "paganism" and all its alleged manifes- tations – a vague notion which de facto included all 70 aspects of traditional culture. Churches, chapels, Born on Mangareva in 1931, Gaston Flosse is a famous politician of the territory; he was the President of French even a cathedral for 2,000 faithful were built to Polynesia several times between 1984 and 2008. glorify God. 120 — Multilingualism in French Polynesia: Past and future

Polynesia to express themselves “in our language, in and Civilizations,71 and a na- Tahitian” (sic). tive of Mangareva. The latter, after having taken The small number of speakers, the tahitianiza- part in the vain attempts to create a "Mangarevan tion which began over a century and a half ago, the academy", became a member of the Tahitian presence of an important pearl industry, and the Academy – this alone says a lot about the tendency lack of interest among the speakers for what re- for Marquesan to give in to the pressure of mains of this rich linguistic past, would hardly be Tahitian. offset by the teaching of Mangarevan once a week and the use of the language during religious ser- vices. The desertion of scholars is yet another difficulty 71 Outline of a study on problems surrounding bilingualism in the maintenance of Mangarevan. In addition to and contact languages involving French spoken in French Polynesia. Thesis, Université Paris III Sorbonne-Nouvelle, the example given of the former president, I may 1987. mention the case of one of the few holders of a PhD

Conclusion

Linguists are adamant: within the next half cen- by the majority, and used as a second language in tury, half of the world’s languages will have disap- certain circumstances. peared from the face of the earth. In this perspec- After much equivocation, Paris has finally – in tive, the fate of the various dialects and languages 2008 – recognized officially of French Polynesia may well be cast. as “regional languages of France”. Sadly, for most In the face of globalization and ever faster and local politicians, the future of these languages is more numerous social mixity, the tendency to- mostly an electoral argument, and their decline wards a linguistic standardization of the planet is will most likely continue. inevitable. This diagnosis clearly applies to French Should French Polynesia become independent Polynesia. Even though it would be an illusion to one day, this would not necessarily guarantee believe that politicians can prevent this evolution, progress with respect to its linguistic diversity. they may be able to at least curb the erosion of Indeed, such an event might as well result in the linguistic diversity through concrete, immediate spread of English, especially considering the terri- measures. For instance, a real step forward could tory’s environment – , Cook, , New consist in decentralizing responsibilities to local Zealand and . Obviously, adding the Eng- authorities – whether of each archipelago or dis- lish language would only further complicate an al- trict – or in setting up truly bilingual programmes ready highly complex multilingual situation. such as those existing in many schools around the Here, just like everywhere else, the future of world. Naturally, such measures would not auto- languages depends above all on the choice made matically give back their mother tongue status to by parents, and on their awareness of the impor- languages that have already lost it, as this depends tance of preserving their ancestral languages by solely upon the individual choice of parents. But at teaching them to the next generations. If parents least the various dialects would acquire the pres- abandon the idea of passing on their linguistic tigious status of languages of tuition – understood heritage to their children, no law will ever do any- thing about it.