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Kaivalagi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kaivalagi is a Fijian word meaning someone "from the land of the foreigners".[1] Its antonym, kaiviti, means "someone from Fiji". It is often used instead of the word vulagi, meaning foreigner or stranger.[2] In practice, kaivalagi usually means "white person" or "European" (which in Fiji English also includes white people from America and Australasia), whilst vulagi can include all non-Fijians.

Similar words for "white man" exist in most Melanesian, Polynesian and Micronesian languages: For example, in the Cook Islands - "Papa'a"; New Zealand - Pākehā; New Caledonian slang - "poken" (although this is used only for English speaking foreigners); Hawaii - "Haole"; Samoa - "Palagi"; Tonga - "Papalagi"; Marshall Islands - "ri-Likin" etc.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Fraenkel, Jonathan; Firth, Stewart (2007-06-01). From Election to Coup in Fiji: The 2006 Campaign and Its Aftermath. ANU E Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-921313-36-3.
  2. ^ Narsey, Wadan (2023-08-13). "Fiji's hidden racisms | Fijian versus Indo-Fijian racisms". The Fiji Times. Retrieved 2024-11-09.