The Name Game

I hand wrote this blog a few months ago and just came across it as I was tidying up the other day...

I was pretty good at learning everyone's names in the village, which wasn't too difficult of a task because of the small size of the village (only about 100 people permanently live in the village). However, during the holidays, when all family members flocked back to the village and all the secondary school students returned home, I was a little overwhelmed with all the new faces all expecting me to know who they were!

Here, names aren't that easy to learn, because people usually have many of them! A single person may be referred to by their first name, last name, or nickname (and many people have several nicknames, often not at all related to any of their real names). In addition, parents are called the mother/father of the name of their eldest child (my mom would be "Rachel's mother" or "Tinai Raijeli"). So you've got to know who everyone's kids are too. If a son is named after his father, he can be called Jr. and if after is grandfather he is Tukai (old man), and girls have the equivalents.

There aren't that many names here either, so many people have the same name (if things weren't complicated enough)! If someone (whether they were purposely named after you or whether you met them yesterday) shares the same name as you, they are your namesake, and you call them "my namesake" when talking to them and about them.

There's one old lady in the village who's name is Ana. Even though my sister in America is Hannah, she considers that close enough and often asks me how her namesake in the states is! It took me a while to figure it out the first time she asked!

Once you've got the names down, you've got to figure out how they're related to you. It is disrespectful to refer to elders by their name alone, so all of my elders are a grandmother/grandfather, aunt/uncle, or mother/father, which doesn't sound too complicated. However, in Fiji, sisters of your mother and brothers of your father are also considered your parents, and their children are your brothers and sisters. Likewise, same sex siblings of your grandparents or aunts and uncles are also referred to as those relations. Different sexed siblings of your mother/father are your aunts/uncles and their children your cousins, just like we do in the western world.

And, even if you are not related to someone, you still refer to them as aunt/uncle grandma/grandpa if they are older than you. During training, it was funny that our language instructor was calling one of the older volunteers, who was one of her students, "Uncle Larry!"

So, where do I come in in the family? I know for sure who my parents are, as they pretty much adopted me from day one. As for the rest, I'm still not really sure. I usually just refer to people as aunt/uncle if they have kids in my generation and grandma/grandpa if they have enough gray hair! And then there are all the special people who also claim to have adopted me and want me to call them mom/dad! This actually is so important to people that it was an item in a village meeting- who are my real parents and who are my aunties and uncles!

Several official titles also exist in the village (chief, village headman, their messengers or spokespeople, reverend, preacher, teacher, etc.). They all have their Fijian titles that they can be referred to and their wives are recognized as wives of their position. And, they are often mixed and matched with their names or relations. For example, the wife of the preacher, is referred to as "Bu Randini Vakatawa," or "Grandma wife of the preacher!"

All the houses in the village also have names. Mine is Miami, to add to the worldliness of the village, along with Niyoka (New York), Kweensilandi (Queensland), Malivani (Melbourne), and Veranise (France)!

So, if you are confused by someone referring to someone by one name, another name will be given, and then they can also be identified by the house they live in.

I, for example, may be referred to by any of these names:

-Raijeli, Jeli, Rai, Ray, and most recently Rayji (which sounds like Reggie)!
-Gase ni vuli (teacher)
-Peace Corps (and here, corps is pronounced like corpse, which I've tried correcting to no avail)!
-Kai Valagi (the European)
-Luve Turaga ni koro (child of the village headman)
-Vale Miami (lives in Miami house)
-Yalewa ni Viwa (the girl who lives in Viwa)
-Kai Merica (the American)
-and then, depending on my village's historic relationship with other villages, I can be called many names by other villagers like kalavo (rat), gata (snake), naita (knight), etc.

Many people in my area of Fiji and beyond would be able to identify me (and know a lot about me, or tell you they do) if you mention one of these names. So, if you are planning a surprise visit, just show up, and I guarantee you could locate me within one day without notifying me. It's a very small country with lots of very friendly (and nosy) people!