Vanua

{{Short description|Austronesian cultural concept}} {{italic title}} __NOTOC__ The word '''''banua''''' or '''''vanua''''' (the latter from Fijian, as well as various languages of Melanesia, see below) – meaning 'land', 'home', or 'village' – occurs in several Austronesian languages. It derives from the Proto-Austronesian reconstructed form *''banua''.<ref>[http://www.trussel2.com/ACD/acd-s_b.htm#631 Entry *banua] — Robert Blust. 2010. ''Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD)''. Honolulu: University of Hawai{{okina}}i at Mānoa.</ref><ref>Thomas Anton Reuter, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=oP0s2861LqUC&pg=PA29 Custodians of the Sacred Mountains: Culture and Society in the Highlands of Bali]'', University of Hawaii Press, 2002, p.29</ref><ref>Thomas Anton Reuter, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y43gLk8IyeEC&pg=PA326 Sharing the Earth, Dividing the Land: Land and Territory in the Austronesian World]'', ANU E Press, 2006, p. 326.</ref> The word has particular significance in several countries.

==Western Malayo-Polynesian languages== ===Philippines=== ;Kapampangan In the Kapampangan language, ''banwa'' or ''banua'' means "sky" or "year". ;Visayan In the Hiligaynon Visayan language, ''banwa'' means "people", "nation" or "country."

===Malaysia and Indonesia=== ;Malay In the Malay language (the lingua franca of both Malaysia and Indonesia), ''benua'' means "landmass" or "continent". The word for "land" in these languages and nearby Austronesian languages — e.g., in Tana Toraja, Tana Tidung or Tanö Niha – are ''tanah'' or ''tana''.<ref>From PAN [http://www.trussel2.com/acd/acd-s_t.htm#30607 *taneq] ‘earth, soil, land’. — Robert Blust. 2010. ''Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD)''. Honolulu: University of Hawai{{okina}}i at Mānoa.</ref> ;Banjar In the Banjar language, ''banua'' means "village" or "homeland". ;Old Javanese In the Old Javanese language, ''wanwa'' or ''wanua'' means "village", "inhabited place" or "settlement". ;Buginese In the Buginese language, ''banua'' means "village", "country", "land" or "homeland". ;Toraja In the Toraja language, ''banua'' means "home". ;Old Sundanese In the Old Sundanese language, ''banua'' or ''wano'' means "area" or "place". ;Minahasa In all Minahasan languages, ''wanua'' means "village", "country", or "land". The word ''Kawanua'' means land of the Minahasan people. ;Dayak In Iban (used by the Dayak people), ''menua'' or ''menoa'' means "place", "country", "land" or "homeland". In many other Dayak languages, the word has the form ''binua''.

===Palau=== In Palauan, which is a non-Oceanic Austronesian language, ''beluu'' means "village" or "country", as can be seen in the native name of the country, ''Beluu er a Belau''.

==Melanesian languages== In some Oceanic languages of Melanesia, the root *banua has sometimes become ''vanua'', via Proto-Oceanic *''panua''.

===In Papua New Guinea=== In Motu, the word ''hanua'' means "village". The name of a village near Port Moresby is called Hanuabada, meaning "big village". In Uneapa, the word ''vanua'' means "island".

===In Vanuatu=== In Vanuatu, ''vanua'' also means "land", "island" or "home."<ref>Sabine C. Hess, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hY80OTx2KuMC&pg=PA115 Person and Place: Ideas, Ideals and the Practice of Sociality on Vanua Lava, Vanuatu]'', Berghahn Books, 2009, p. 115.</ref> The name of the Vanua'aku Pati literally means "The party of My Land". Hence also the name of Vanuatu itself, and the place name Vanua Lava (literally ‘big island’ in Mota language). ;Lo-Toga In the Lo-Toga language, the word ''venie'' means "village", "island" or "country".<ref>Entry [https://marama.huma-num.fr/Lex/Lo-Toga/v.htm#%E2%93%94venie%E2%93%972 ''venie''] — A. François, 2021, [https://marama.huma-num.fr/AF-dict-Lo-Toga_e.htm ''Lo-Toga – English online dictionary'']. Paris.</ref> ;Mwotlap In Mwotlap, the word ''vōnō'' means "village", "district", "island" or "country".<ref>Entry [https://marama.huma-num.fr/Lex/Mwotlap/v.htm#%E2%93%94v[%C5%8D]n%C5%8D ''v[ō]nō''] — A. François, 2021, [https://marama.huma-num.fr/AF-dict-Mwotlap_e.htm ''A Mwotlap–English–French cultural dictionary'']. Paris.</ref>

===In Fiji=== In Fijian and in Fiji English, ''vanua'' is an essential concept of indigenous Fijian culture and society. It is generally translated in English as "land", but ''vanua'' as a concept encompasses a number of inter-related meanings. When speaking in English, Fijians may use the word ''vanua'' rather than an imprecise English equivalent. According to Fijian academic Asesela Ravuvu, a correct translation would be "land, people and custom". ''Vanua'' means "the land area one is identified with", but also :''"the people, their traditions and customs, beliefs and values, and the various other institutions established for the sake of achieving harmony, solidarity and prosperity within a particular social context. [...] It provides a sense of identity and belonging. [...] The vanua [...] is an extension of the concept of the self."''<ref>Asesela Ravuvu, 1983, quoted in: Stephanie Sienkiewicz, [http://www.anthropology.union.edu/fiji99/sienkiewicz/ssind8.htm "Ethnic relations in Fiji: Peaceful coexistence and the recent shift in the ethnic balance"], Union College Department of Anthropology, June 2000</ref>

An indigenous Fijian person is thus defined through his or her land; the concepts of personhood and land ownership are viewed as inseparable. This is also the case for other indigenous peoples of Oceania, such as Australian Aboriginals (''see: Dreaming'') and New Zealand Māori (''see: iwi'').

A ''vanua'' is also a confederation of several ''yavusa'' ("clans" established through descent from a common ancestor). A ''vanua'' in this sense is associated with its ownership of an area of ''vanua'' in the sense of "land"; the various meanings of ''vanua'' are, here too, interrelated.<ref>Sienkiewicz, ''ibid''</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nltb.com.fj/glossory.html |title=Fiji Native Land Trust Board glossary |access-date=2008-03-22 |archive-date=2007-08-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070812193955/http://www.nltb.com.fj/glossory.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The word ''vanua'' is found in the place names Vanua Levu and Vanua Balavu.

Indigenous land ownership is a key issue in conservative and indigenous nationalistic Fijian politics. Several right-wing, essentially indigenous parties refer to ''vanua'' in their names: *Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party *Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua

==Polynesian languages== ;Māori In Māori language, ''whenua'' means homeland or country. The Māori people also call themselves Tāngata whenua, or people of the land.

The word ''whenua'' also means "placenta". Per ''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', "[a]ll life is seen as being born from the womb of Papatūānuku, under the sea. The lands that appear above water are placentas from her womb". By extension, ''tangata whenua'' refers to Maoris' "deep relationship with [their particular tribal land], through their births and their ancestors’ births. [...] This idea, in turn, underpins the notion of ''mana whenua'' – spiritual authority in a given area".<ref>[https://teara.govt.nz/en/papatuanuku-the-land/page-4 "Whenua – the placenta"], ''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand''</ref> ''Te Aka'' similarly defines ''tangara whenua'' as "local people, hosts, indigenous people - people born of the whenua, i.e. of the placenta and of the land where the people's ancestors have lived and where their placenta are buried".<ref>[https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?&keywords=whenua "Whenua"], ''Te Aka''</ref>

;Tongan In Tongan, ''fonua''<ref>Fonua in Tongan Cosmology, Chapter 15. [http://epress.anu.edu.au/austronesians/sharing/mobile_devices/ch15s02.html ''People and Place in Tonga: The Social Construction of Fonua in Oceania''].</ref> means land or country.

Sione Tu’itahi defines ''fonua'' as "the Tongan concept of humans being one with the environment". As in Maori, ''fonua'' means both "placenta" and "land"; hence "the baby is sustained by her fonua, the placenta. The baby is later born into the fonua (land), where she experiences life and builds relationships with the fonua – the entire ecology, including its human inhabitants. As part of the birth process, the remains of the fonua (placenta) that sustained the baby are returned by burial to the fonua (physical land)".<ref>[https://kanivatonga.co.nz/2018/01/exploring-fonua-tongan-concept-humans-one-environment/ "Exploring Fonua – the Tongan concept of humans being one with the environment"], ''Kaniva Tonga'', 12 January 2018</ref>

'''Samoan'''

In Samoan, ''fanua'' means land.

'''Rapa Nui'''

In the Rapanui language, ''henua'' means land or earth. ;Hawaiian In Hawaiian ''honua'' means land, earth, or foundation, and is usually used in the more literal sense.<ref>Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi [http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?e=q-11000-00---off-0hdict--00-1----0-10-0---0---0direct-10-ED--4--textpukuielbert%2ctextmamaka-----0-1l--11-haw-Zz-1---Zz-1-home-honua--00-4-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-00-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&d=D4148 ''honua''].</ref> Land in the more figurative or spiritual sense is usually represented by the word ''ʻāina'', and locally-born people are referred to as ''kamaʻāina'' (child of the land).<ref>Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi [http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?a=q&r=1&hs=1&m=-1&o=-1&qto=4&e=d-11000-00---off-0hdict--00-1----0-10-0---0---0direct-10-ED--4--textpukuielbert%252ctextmamaka-----0-1l--11-haw-Zz-1---Zz-1-home-aina--00-4-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-00-0utfZz-8-00&q=kama%CA%BB%C4%81ina&fqv=textpukuielbert%252ctextmamaka&af=1&fqf=ED ''kamaʻāina''].</ref> ;Other Polynesian languages Elsewhere, the form of the word is generally ''fenua''.

==References== {{reflist|2}}

Category:Cultural anthropology Category:Culture of Fiji Category:Fijian language