The Ni-Vanuatu (informally abbreviated Ni-Van) are a large group of closely related Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu. As such, ni-Vanuatu are a mixed ethnolinguistic group with a shared ethnogenesis that speak a multitude of languages."Ni-Vanuatu arrested NZ", Radio Vanuatu, 10 March 2009"Des Ni-Vanuatu en final des Masters", Agence universitaire francophone, 31 July 2008
The ni-Vanuatu or ni-Van is usually restricted to the indigenous population of Vanuatu. It contrasts with the demonym Vanuatuan, which in principle refers to any citizen of Vanuatu, regardless of their origin or ethnicity. (The form Vanuatuan is regarded as incorrect by some authors and style guides.)
Due to the history of British and French colonialism, indigenous people of Vanuatu generally speak English and French, as well as Bislama.
The cultural aspects of ni-Vanuatu society have been instilled on the indigenous community and are expressed through clothing, rituals, ceremonies, music, performing and fine arts, and cuisine. The spiritual ties ni-Vanuatu have with their land and ancestors are conveyed through these traditions and some of these remaining artefacts have been preserved and displayed in the galleries of Vanuatu.
Etymology Ni-Vanuatu is a recent coinage. It combines the name of the country (Vanuatu, etymologically "land that stands [by itself]", i.e. ‘independent country’) with a particle ni, which encodes the genitive in indigenous languages such as North Efate similar to "of" in English. Etymologically, the particle descends from Proto-Oceanic, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian and Proto-Austronesian *ni. The word ni-Vanuatu thus simply means "of Vanuatu".
The Bislama dictionary defines ni-Vanuatu as a "Vanuatu citizen (especially someone of Melanesian descent rather than a naturalised expatriate)".
The term is mostly used in English and French, and is rarely used in Bislama, the country's lingua franca.Bislama more commonly uses phrases such as man Vanuatu ("V. person" or "V. people") or blong Vanuatu ("of V."). The term is never used in the indigenous languages of the archipelago.
The form ni-Van is a colloquial abbreviation of ni-Vanuatu. This form was pejorative in its original usage in the 1980s by Anglophone European expatriates, similar to its French equivalent , but according to New Zealand linguist Terry Crowley, by the 2000s the term ni-Van saw increasing usage among ni-Vanuatu.
History
The indigenous population of Vanuatu The first inhabitants of Vanuatu were Austronesian people, carriers of the Lapita culture, who settled the archipelago about 1200-1300BC. They were later followed by Melanesians around 500BC.
European settlement Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós visited Vanuatu in 1606. However, settlement did not occur until Captain James Cook charted the islands, naming it the New Hebrides. At the end of the 19th century, ni-Vanuatu were regularly kidnapped and forced to work in plantations in Fiji and Australia, a practice now known as "blackbirding".
In 1906, France and Britain established the New Hebrides Condominium. During the joint rule of the two countries, the ni-Vanuatu lived under both French and British authority. On 30 July 1980, the New Hebrides gained independence as the Republic of Vanuatu.
Land and nationalism During the Condominium period, European regulations sometimes resulted in land disputes, particularly around plantations.Vanuatu Country Report for The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources Food and Agricultural Organisation, Forestry Department; 2012.
Upon independence, the new constitution determined that land ownership would belong to native ni-Vanuatus: the land rights were given to the traditional owners and community to make decisions.
Society
Economic impact of economy on the people Workers on the copra plantations were generally Melanesian. Melanesian workers were occupied with their own plantations leading to European owners sourcing labour from foreign countries such as French Indochina for general agricultural labour and construction. After World War II, American soldiers introduced Western items such as camp supplies, construction aviation, electricity, and running water. Introducing overseas workers combined with the introduction of modern facilities led to Vanuatu's economic momentum, which helped form the backbone of the island's copra production. Copra production was the main economic focus as other areas such as forestry, fishing, and native crafts were underdeveloped at the time. Food crops, including yams, taro, and cassava, are used for local consumption; copra production such as coconuts and cocoa make up the majority of Vanuatu's exports.
Profiles of labour workers, miners, and construction workers were mainly of Melanesian descent as labour demands rose with the economic boom. In 1953, Vietnamese workers started returning to their home country, most of them having done so by 1963. This caused a shortage in plantation workers which in turn led to recruitment from other islands such as Tahiti.
Temperamental weather strongly impacted plantations, as hurricanes destroyed the main copra of coconut plantations. Competition from overseas in combination with natural disasters led to a solution of sourcing different agricultural mediums such as cattle. Local demands for meat as well as exports welcomed another economic boom in Vanuatu.
Education Prior to Vanuatu's independence in 1980, the French government offered additional support to the French population. Free education and buildings were developed whilst the British government required education fees from parents. The competition between the two ruling governments caused a division in the education system, as ni-Vanuatu based their decisions on financial and political reasons. The French system was popular to Melanesians, but the British system was still an option to many. Ni-Vanuatu parents would say "Yumi no save yet se wanem saed bae i win", translating to "We don't know yet which side is going to win out". The rational of many feared the unknown of which ruling government would take over the nation. Tertiary education was often presented with a bias from the French government, based on the fears of higher education presenting ideas of anti-colonialism to the general population. English-medium to French-medium university scholars reflected this concept with a ratio of 120:1 in 1983, three years after the independence of Vanuatu.
The Vanuatu Cultural Centre established a scheme whereby some of its researchers were indigenous; they were called "filwoka" (from Eng. fieldworker).
Ni-Vanuatu women Recognition of ni-Vanuatu women in the political, business and social bubble has been growing recently; however, there are barriers that impede this growth. Social standards of Pacific women heavily emphasize the women's role as nurturers, which consists of domestic tasks such as washing clothes, cooking, gardening, and cleaning the house. Women who went overseas for their tertiary studies and returned have expressed the contrasting differences of Western and Vanuatu lifestyles. Independence was viewed differently in particular, as privacy in Western cultures was looser.
Although there are no laws against women participating in politics, there were no women serving in parliament during the 2016 election. Hilda Lini of the Vanuatu's parliament promoted women participating in politics; however, she predicted that it would take time to convince to public to do so. In October 2020, a "Vote for Women" campaign was coordinated to encourage and support women in the political scene. The municipal council reserves seats for women to represent the community and are encouraged to participate with government training programs readily available.
Population
Demographics
75% of the ni-Vanuatu population live in rural areas, whereas the remaining 25% population live in urban areas. Port Vila and Luganville are the primary urban cities with Port Villa having a population of 35,901. The total land area is 12,189 km2 with a population growth rate of 1.67%. Christianity makes up the majority of the religious community as 93.5% of the population identify as Christian as of 2020.
Languages
Vanuatu is the country with the world's highest language density per capita, with 138 languages for a population of 0.3 million. These 138 indigenous languages are still used today by two-thirds of the country's population, mainly in rural areas. These are Oceanic languages, descended historically from the country's first Austronesian settlers.
Despite the first European contact in Vanuatu in 1606, English was not introduced to ni-Vanuatu until the 1840s when English-speaking missionaries arrived. This was around the same time when European sourcing of sandalwood in the Pacific turned to Vanuatu. During the period of the New Hebrides, French and English competed for the status of main language; the population instead turned to Bislama as used as a tool of unity. Bislama was often essential as the privileged population were educated in English and middle to lower class population were often educated in French. Few people mastered both French and English, hence the use of Bislama as a lingua franca.
Upon the nation's independence in 1980, three languages have become official in Vanuatu: English, French and Bislama. French and English are used mainly for written communication whereas Bislama is widely used for verbal communication.
Bislama serves as the country's lingua franca: it serves as a bridge between citizens educated in French vs. English; and it also allows speakers of different indigenous languages to communicate among themselves.
Official welcoming speeches, opening of parliament, and most official events use Bislama. Ni-Vanuatu of different ethnic backgrounds, such as Chinese and Vietnamese, often use Bislama as greetings and opening introductions as a form of communication.
Culture
Kastom
Indigenous ni-Vanuatu communities describe their traditional values and beliefs using the modern (Bislama) term kastom.
Kastom was expressed through religion, clothing, native arts, indigenous culture and languages. The development of kastom was a symbol of traditional native values compared to foreign Eurocentric concepts and ideals. It represents the unity and national identity of the ni-Vanuatu. In 1979, a year before independence, the Vanua'aku Pati of Parliament vowed to promote the "preservation and promotion of New Hebrides culture and languages", thereby sponsoring a first National Arts Festival in Port Villa to express support of kastom in the community. Parliament faced ongoing pressure from the community to preserve the traditions of ni-Vanuatu, particularly in the post-colonial era, leading to the teaching of indigenous culture being implemented in schools as well as the development of art centres.
Masks called tamate are worn by men during ceremonies and rituals. These masks are used to hide the faces of dancers as ancestral spirits enter the dancer. After the ritual is complete, it is thought that the ancestor's spirit is rebirthed as a tamate spirit. Although the masks are no longer used, the aesthetics and representations of the ancestral world continue to embody the kastoms of ni-vanuatus.
Clothing
Women in particular have a unique perspective in their relationship to traditional customs and colonial ideas. Island dresses represent a national connection to Vanuatu; however, many ni-Vanuatu women consciously choose to adopt modern clothing as attitudes towards convenience, aesthetics, and gender equality are considered. Although modern clothing is preferred on most occasions, the respect for kastom in island dresses are incorporated into special events such as festivals, ceremonies, and church gatherings.