Lily Rose Atu, 19, is proud of her Rotuman heritage and is working hard to learn and maintain the language of her forefathers.
Lily Rose Atu, 19, is proud of her Rotuman heritage and is working hard to learn and maintain the language of her forefathers.
Ever since she was a little girl, Lily Rose Atu has wanted to learn the unique language of her Rotuman forefathers.
But growing up in New Zealand - and on Waiheke Island - meant a lack of exposure to the already very small community and a language that is officially classified as endangered by international standards.
“We didn’t speak it growing up or in the house. But I always wanted to learn, since I was little, and I was really keen to. It was just a little bit hard.
“When I was growing up, there were no Rotuman resources anywhere to be found. There [were] no phrases, no dictionaries I could find.
“I’d keep trying, but then I’d just give up because there are only like, two videos online...and that’s not going to happen, realistically.”
Rotuman Language Week kicks off this week and is the first of the Pacific Language Weeks celebrated in New Zealand throughout the year.
An endangered language: ‘The need to learn it is so intense for me’
This year’s theme - Vetḁkia ‘os Fäega ma Ag fak hanua - is Sustaining our Language and Culture; taking into account that UNESCO has categorised the Rotuman language as one of the world’s endangered languages.
Rotuma, a Fijian dependency, is a group of volcanic islands north of Fiji and shares the same national flag. There is a population of just over 1500 in Rotuma, according to the 2017 Census.
In Aotearoa, about 1000 people can hold a conversation in Fäeag Rotuạm.
Lily Rose Atu, 19, with her mum, Taieri MP Ingrid Leary.
Atu is the daughter of former journalist and now Taieri MP Ingrid Leary.
The 19-year-old is a proud Kiwi on her mother’s side; but has made it a life goal to learn and maintain the language of her Rotuman roots, which come from her father, former Fijian boxer Frank Atu.
“I didn’t know anyone who spoke fluent [Rotuman] other than my dad. But it was kind of hard to learn from him.”
While in high school, she enrolled in a Pacific language course.
By 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in more online courses being offered - including language courses - and Atu enrolled in one teaching the basics of Rotuman through the Centre for Pacific Languages, based in South Auckland.
When the introductory course finished, she enrolled in the next and when that one finished, she sought a tutor so she could continue to get weekly lessons. She credits those tutors for how far she has come.
In search of more Rotuman speakers in NZ
“I’m really passionate about it, for sure. Any opportunity I’m given to learn anything more, I’m like: ‘Oh, I need to do that’.”
Atu recently moved to Wellington, where she is studying performance jazz, and is set to perform a special cultural dance - tautoga - at Te Papa, as part of this week’s celebrations.
Being around people who have an understanding of the language and culture and were from Rotuma had been an amazing experience for her, Atu said.
“It definitely brings forth the relevance of learning the language; because you have somewhere where it’s applicable to use it and somewhere where you’re inspired to want to learn it. So that’s been a very big development for me.
“It being such an endangered language - it’s a nervous thing. Knowing there’s only us - a few thousand people in the world can speak it - it’s like the need to learn it is so intense for me.
Lily Rose Atu and her brother, Marli Atu, are proud of their Rotuman roots.
“I really, really want to be able to contribute something back to the language and back to the community. It’s such a cool language and I’m so inspired - even just listening to it and hearing people speak it is just: ‘Wow’.”
Atu is planning to travel to Rotuma to visit the place her family hails from - Motusa, in the district of Ituti’u - later this year.
For now, she will continue her lessons and studies. She does, however, wish she could converse with more people who can speak Rotuman.
“It’s been hard to apply it. For me, the only way to really learn is to speak as much as you can. But for Rotuman, it’s hard, because of just the resources and the knowledge holders...
“I do put so much time into it, but I’m hoping to really look out there and say: ‘Does anyone want to speak with me’?”
There are a number of events happening around the country this week, in celebration of Rotuman Language Week. Check the full list here: Ministry for Pacific Peoples
