Legend of Kiribati woman who drifted to Kapingamarangi

Ms. Meria Kuamud (b. 1944, 72 years old) narrates the legend of Kiribati woman who drifted to Kapingamarangi Atoll. This video was filmed by NGO Pasifika Renaissance Executive Director Takuya Nagaoka. Please subscribe, share, and "like" the video!

[@crookedsmile.]

As a native Tongan speaker, I didn't understand much. Sounds closer to Maori to my ears than anything Tongan. I only heard her say "kai tangata" which refers to cannibalism. Literal translation "kai=eat tangata=man/human" in Tongan. Very much appreciate this segment of elders telling our ancestral stories

[@PasiRena]

Thank you for your interesting comment!

[@alohatic]

What an awesome Grandma telling a story from so many centuries ago. We are all related to one another in the Pacific islands basin. I've heard words like "lalanga" in Tonga and then "raranga" in Kiribati so dialects may have evolved over the centuries but the similarities can still be noticed. We are all brothers and sisters. Thanks for uploading this video.

[@peterbwareta8834]

that would be nice if you put up a subtitle .. it must be an interesting story

[@PasiRena]

Yes, very true and we hope to do it one day. At this moment, due to financial constraint, our main objectives are to document disappearing old stories and to pass them down to young generation...

[@tokanang3353]

I am hella curious lol. Can someone give a rough short translation of what happened?

[@TM686K]

Story of a Kiribati woman who was a castaway in Kapingamarangi. After a while they noticed people disappearing. It was found out that she was kidnapping, killing and eating people in the bush and was expelled from the island. There are many versions to this story. The main one is that she came in a canoe full of starving men and women and all the men were killed and she was spared to live as was custom in Polynesia. They noticed afterwards that when some men went fishing they never returned and when they found out she was killing them and eating them in the bush they made it customary to kill both women and men castaways as it was their first time to ever come across women who were capable of murdering men. In the past, Kiribati men and women were equally engaged in warfare and equally as capable of fighting but especially on Tarawa where it was customary for wives to follow their husbands to battle known as "Te Iiran Taanga" or "Following your Spouse". Even during the Christian Wars of Abaiang and Tarawa in the 1860s, Rev. Bingham recorded both men and women casualties of war.

[@nantereeko8414]

I think this Rarotonga somewhere about

[@shenglongisback4688]

Nope its, Kapingamarangi atoll Micronesia

[@nantereeko8414]

@@shenglongisback4688 the language sounds like it's from somewhere there. amazed to learn this esp. me being Micronesian myself.

[@shenglongisback4688]

Most of the ppl living aboard, states or pohepei But you not too far off with the sound the tone of language does have a Rarotongan or eastern poly sound bt their roots are from Mainly Tuvalu and abit of Tokelau too a certain point from some sources.

[@nantereeko8414]

syllables are very much like Kiribati too.

[@mokadkad]

Kiribatese were always drifting to places. The Marshall Islands probably had the most drifters from Kiribati since it's the closest to Kiribati. lots of Kiribatese descendants ppl in the Marshalls. Islands

[@teemwaiten5743]

if it sounds tuvaluan, then there should be a "fa,fe,fi,fo,fu" somewhere in there, I'm hearing Arau, ngarere, Tangirei ko ngare, sound so similar to Kiribati! would love to visit your country someday hehe

[@omahawarrior1]

It's related to Tuvaluan but it's not the same. They replace F with H, di henua is te fenua, di dangata nei is te tangata nei etc

[@KTom-ui6pi]

Lol when the child says "what is that for?" Grandma replies with shhhhh stop talking Joey! 😹 But interesting story. Heard variations of this story before but never in detail.

[@vnbchtfhhhftv5ryrfrt133]

care to translate?

[@teitiraketeanoa8286]

where is this island? just wanna know..thanks

[@PasiRena]

+Teitirake, Kapingamarangi Atoll is located in Micronesia but is inhabited by Polynesian people.

[@namathjoe799]

Name of the island. Kapingamarangi Atoll which is 500 miles south of Pohnpei

[@rotaukilifi]

Very interesting story

[@PasiRena]

Dimo polo goe for your comment!

[@taekolaeaadoom5212]

Can anyone help with translations please?

[@toanibenson6283]

Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia

[@omggiiirl2077]

Almost sounds like Hawaiian...

[@PasiRena]

Yes, probably, as the Kapingamarangi people are Polynesians like Hawaiians... Their language is most close to the Tuvaluan language.

[@sinadum5324]

Koau we digi modongoohia loo...maeaha be niaa buakai e lua gu hagapuni...Anyways, what I learned from Bahba Karadi e hai bolo di ahina denei diahina Darawa...gau Darawa gau gai dangada....so this woman was punished by drowning to death i Heika.

[@shenglongisback4688]

Sina Dum if i look at your writtem language looks different to polynesian but i can understand it when spoken.. this how it look too us down in polynesia koau we tiki motongoohia lo'o maeaha pe nia'a puakai e lua ku hagapuni ...e hai polo ti ahina tenei tiahina tarawa...kau tarawa kai tangata man we polys knew how to sail from polynesia to micronesian

[@taatibarao3764]

Would be nice if there's a translation. No idea what she's saying.

[@sem3d2]

Kapingamarangi language @paul R

[@TemaCoolServiceKiribati]

What language is this

[@PasiRena]

+Paul R, as sem3d2 answered your question, it is Kapingamarangi language, which is a Polynesian language. Kapingamarangi Atoll is located in Micronesia but is inhabited by Polynesian people.

[@TemaCoolServiceKiribati]

Cool..mauri from Kiribati,,,Mauri means hello ...I wish I can understand what this old lady was saying ...are there any Kiribati people on your Island.

[@PasiRena]

Humalia goe! (Kapingamarangi greeting) Sorry about your inconvenience. Because we have only limited funding and our first priority is to document those stories and passing them down to younger generation, we need to wait for English translations of those narrations in the future. Yes, many Kiribati descendants on those islands of FSM, because many Kiribati people drifted to those islands (including Kapingamarangi) long time ago and moved there on whaling ships during the nineteenth century. They founded such matrilineal clans as Dipakwa ("shark clan") and Sounmaraki (said to be originated from Marakei Atoll) there...

[@JacksonHalm]

how can I find the research that Kiribati people landed on various islands?

[@PasiRena]

Paul: Many Kiribati people drifted to Micronesian islands before the western contact and were also taken there by whaling ships during the 19th century. On the islands of Pohnpei, FSM, many of them still claim that they belong to Dipwakwa clan. Jackson: The best one is the following study, which is based on both oral traditions and historical documents: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4461.1965.tb00283.x/abstract. Please send your email address to [e-mail], so we'll send you a pdf copy.

[@romyec]

sounds a bit like Japanese?

[@trisjorge2900]

Hahah you're funny

[@tekinaititaberaueataam2599]

She speak in ??

[@PasiRena]

In Kapingamarangi language, a Polynesian language closely related to Tuvaluan language.