Aneityum

v. remove skin of coconut using a stick

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. to collect raw food, as sugarcane taro, for a feast of uncooked food

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[amŋi inɣaɣen] phr. drink kava (traditional)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[an] pro. him

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v.n. go over, as a hill

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. to go

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[arinʤi tarinʤia] adj. very strong (?)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

v. lay down

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

inter. where

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. wander, walk around

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. plant shoots; also "ehcohodaig"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 183

n. green (color)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. last quarter of moon

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 78

[et apanan amlep aθamoʧ] phr. he went there and he came back

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. coconut basket

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

phr. on this side

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

phr. on that side

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

n. tree. Acting as a fence post. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #24)

Example: 1. For vomiting/uneasyness - remove the bark of a stem and take the inner bark (this should be white). Smash the white bark with about 150ml of cold water and drink. The bark can also be boiled and cooled down to drink cold. Believes when you vomit a lot this will restore your body and give you energy again. Take after vomiting but can use even when not sick. 2. For stomache ache - Can also be prepare and taken as in part 1. 3. For painful urination, also prepared as in part 1. 4. The fruits are sticky and used as a type of local “glue.” Collect the fruits when ripe, hold the outside of the fruit in the hand, and put the end of the fruit that has the sticky sap on paper or anything else needing to be glued. In ancient times, this sticky glue helped join the strings together that were used to make a long fishing line. 5. In ancient times this sticky glue helped join the strings together when making a long one for fishing. 6. During the heat of the day, in the hot season, take inner bark from 1 stick, scrape bark into 1 liter water and drink all day to help prevent a person from getting urinary infection, resulting in painful urination from being in the sun too much. 7. If you put the leaves of this plant in a bag with your fishing gear – it will help catch a lot of fish – magic. 8. Cut a 1-2 m long branch in each of 4 corners of the garden which is a rectangle, place it in an “X” at each corner, this will cleanse people who have not been cleansed who come in the garden. 9. If a person is not cleansed e.g. has not fasted from certain foods, the crops will not bear good fruits. So when gardening, people believe it is best not to eat coconut, shellfish, fish, stay away from sex, and no fermented food like breadfruit and bananas, OR if you have a visitor overnight and then you heal to cleanse yourself before going to the garden. After a woman finishes her period, she will stay out of garden for 10 days, this is specifically for kava, water taro, sugarcane and yam in the garden. Other crops – cassava, sweet potato, and taro Fiji are okay. Different Kastom for N, S, W, E people – so this Kastom is for South and Eastern people.

Scientific name: Cordia dichotoma, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree to 8 m, dbh 5 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4896)

Example: The young stems of this tree are used to make spears, either by sharpening the end or attaching several wires to the tip.

Scientific name: Alangium vitiense, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3547)

Example: This plant is for medicine to treat a spiritual condition related to the coral snake that is the seawater spirit. When a woman is pregnant, some times she gets sick, so use this leaf with 2-3 other unspecified leaves and mash them together, squeeze the juice into a small cup (bamboo), wave around the woman’s body, and then put a few drops onto her head and body, then she drinks the rest. This will help heal her sickness. This treatment can be used for men who have a toothache from eating too much fish--the seawater spirit of the coral snake makes the tooth hurt. It is used in the same way as for a pregnant woman. If the pain from the toothache is really from the seawater spirit, then this will cure it; if not, it will not help.

Scientific name: Sophora tomentosa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. shrub, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3560)

Example: In ancient times this plant was used as a fiber to make skirts and rope. Take the stems, remove the leaves, rett the stems in sea water for a few weeks, sun dry the stems and then weave into rope or skirts. This plant is not much used for this purpose at the present time. This plant is used to make a medicine with an unspecified use.

Scientific name: Abutilon indicum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

[inhɛlʤa] n. our penis’

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. Blue sea chub, snubnose chub, topsail drummer

Example: Photo by ANFC, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Kyphosus cinerascens via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. Titan triggerfish

Example: Photo by Leonard Low, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Balistoides viridescens via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

[inʤupara] n. evening (late afternoon)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. a bolt of pandanus leaf

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 86

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

[inmerahi] n. kind of breadfruit (white)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. broom

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, Dec. 2018, Aneityum island.

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. well branched tree, 6 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3202)

Example: 1. Young shoots are peeled and made into grass skirts. Scrape the stem and take the green part off, tie strips together and put under stones in the sea for retting, let sit 5 days in sea, but check these on a daily basis. When the fiber becomes soft, that is the time to take it from under the stones, clean off the excess materials, and hang it in the sun to dry for 3 days--this will bleach it and give it a whitish color, at which point it can be woven into a skirt. 2. The fiber can be used to make a small rope that is tied with shells and used for custom dances. 3. When the stems of this tree are older, the wood is very hard and it can be used to make the main frame that is arched for a cyclone house. According to Reuben these houses are not made much anymore on Aneityum Island. 4. To cook the intestines of fish that are eaten, take several leaves and put them in a small pile, making a wrapping, then use a local fiber to tie this together and cook on charcoal for as long as needed to prepare the fish parts. 5. In this area, sometimes knowledge of the plants and flowering are used as a calendar to indicate the time for planting of specific crops. Reuben will provide more details on a future trip. 6a. This species is an important "message plant." If a person is not home and you are visiting from the East--e.g. an Eastern part of the Island--that person can leave a 12 inch piece of stick in front of the door of the house so that the inhabitant knows that an eastern visitor (from Anawonjei district) has come by your home. The reason that person has come to visit is to pass an important message to you--good or bad "luck". The bad luck message might be a death, and is not told directly to the person. The good luck message might be a birth, or conflict that has been resolved. These messages are communicated using sticks--each district has a different species of plant. Reuben’s is the hibiscus. 6b. Message plant for Eastern people. If someone dies, use this plant, clip it in front of hem, in front of home, they ask “who” and you can tell them. In Eastern culture you cannot tell them directly. 7. When a person is too drunk with kava, take a branch of this and brush him with it to help make the effects go away. 8. Traditional plates for food.

Scientific name: Hibiscus tiliaceus, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. herb. Grows on the coast. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #18)

Example: 1. For painful urination - The first way to prepare this it to take four big leaves and pound them with some water to get out the juices and squeeze this into a cup and drink. This can also be given to babies and children. The second way is to take two small leaf tops and two that are slightly larger tops. Chew these leaves and try to swallow all of it, if you can’t swallow the leaves then spit out the fibers and only drink the juice. 2. Calendar plant – when it flowers, turtle has fat in them, hang turtle to dry, fat melts, and can collect and eat it. Past practice – not eaten now. 3. Young parts of leaves can be cooked as a cabbage with coconut milk. 4. Wrap fish, especially those from the sea, with this leaf – first take lap lap leaf, then layer with this leaf, then wrap fish tie with pandanus for cooking on charcoals. Also with reef fish can wrap and cook directly on charcoal. Then eat leaf with the fish. 5. Medicine – top unrolled leaf tips, – new baby put this in his mouth and then take it out again – believe that it will make the baby talkative – 1x only when 1-2 days old. Put tip on tongue – shut mouth for a few seconds then pull it out. 6. Tips of leaves for diarrhea – remove old leaves, take 1 tip for baby, adults 2-3 tips, chew it, swallow juice and spit out fiber. 1x day, 3 days.

Scientific name: Wollastonia biflora, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree, 14 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3586)

Example: To make a fire, take a 1-2 cm diameter stick, sharpen it and rub it against a larger piece, ca. 6 cm in diameter. As a person rubs, the stick will start smoking and then start a fire, especially if there are a few small slivers of stem on the stick that can catch fire. People use other types of sticks to rub against the larger piece as well, and this will make a fire.

Scientific name: Aceratium oppositifolium, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the Milky Way

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. tree to 15 m, 15 cm dbh (collection: Michael J. Balick #4931)

Example: Use the wood of this tree for firewood.

Scientific name: Arytera neoebudensis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. mandrake

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 164

v. die

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. Roundjaw bonefish

Example: Photo by J.E Randall, Fishbase: CC BY-A-NC 3.0

Scientific name: Albula glossodonta via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. a blossom; the spathe of a coconut used as light; also "nafaketa"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

n. turtle

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

[naɣo aɣo] n. just after sundown, still light

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. kind of plantain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4755)

Scientific name: Pittosporum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[naleθpeɲ] n. Barn Owl

Example: Photo by Matt Knoth, License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr

Scientific name: Tyto alba, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. isle, island

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 160

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. shrub, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3485)

Example: 1. The larger stems of this plant can be used to build houses, for rafters. 2. It is also a good source of firewood. 3. Ancestors, before go to chief’s canal and want to talk about a complicated issue – a person would cut a branch and bring it to the sea and tap the water surface and would say what he wants, ask that he would want that issue to be solved and that others would follow his ideas and then go back to the meeting place and take stick, keep wind at his back, moving stick in all directions and then he will convince the people of his ideas. This is done by the chief’s spokesman. Helps convince the opposition. Helps keep power in hands of parent(??) chief rather than subchiefs who might have other ideas.

Scientific name: Glochidion ramiflorum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. shrub, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3490)

Example: 1. The larger stems of this plant can be used to build houses, for rafters. 2. It is also a good source of firewood. 3. Ancestors, before go to chief’s canal and want to talk about a complicated issue – a person would cut a branch and bring it to the sea and tap the water surface and would say what he wants, ask that he would want that issue to be solved and that others would follow his ideas and then go back to the meeting place and take stick, keep wind at his back, moving stick in all directions and then he will convince the people of his ideas. This is done by the chief’s spokesman. Helps convince the opposition. Helps keep power in hands of parent(??) chief rather than subchiefs who might have other ideas.

Scientific name: Glochidion ramiflorum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4777)

Scientific name: Maesa aneiteensis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. a small whirlwind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. epiphyte on fallen tree branch with abundant mosses, growing in rain forest on the mountain slope. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3291)

Scientific name: Davallia pusilla, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. herb, growing in and along trail in open disturbed area. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3697)

Scientific name: Hedyotis lapeyrousei, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[natʔhat] n. wall

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, April 2016.

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. the east wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 195

n. herb, growing among stones and rocks at edge of river in primary forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3674)

Example: People say it can remove the power of a love potion.

Scientific name: Hemigraphis reptans, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. shrub to 2 m, flowers greenish white turning to brown (collection: Michael J. Balick #4886)

Example: In taller forest, this plant is higher so can use it to make a spear. Sharpen the end or use wires as the tip. Unspecified medicinal use.

Scientific name: Phyllanthus myrianthus, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. treelet, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3622)

Example: People use the leaf of this plant to tie over grated banana, taro or other foods for cooking in an earth oven or boiling in a pot. The root of this species is edible. Cook it for 2-3 nights in an earth oven and then chew and squeeze the juice into your mouth, spitting out the fiber. It is a survival food.

Scientific name: Cordyline fruticosa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. herb, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3280)

Example: A "message plant". In ancient times, this plant was used for communicating. If you go to a person who composes songs and give this to them, they will know to compose a song for you. Name means "flowers on the ground".

Scientific name: Isachne comata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tree to 5 m, dbh 10 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4901)

Scientific name: Plerandra tannae, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[nɛθoʊn] n. foot, leg

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. wind-related term; no definition provided

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. tree, 6 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4140)

Scientific name: Pittosporum aneityense, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[nɛlʝo] n. canoe

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

[nɛlpon nohop a nelɣo] n. front of a canoe

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, April 2016.

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. nellet tree (RPV #116)

Scientific name: Dendrocnide latifolia, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[iɲom] n. house

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[neplaroʊ] n. April (lit. between good and bad weather month)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. tree 10 m tall, dbh 15 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4909)

Example: The stems of this plant make a good digging stick for planting kava. Kava planted with this digging stick will be stronger in effect.

Scientific name: Alstonia vitiensis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. Pacific litchee (RPV #114)

Scientific name: Pometia pinnata, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. the center sprout of the banana plant

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 100

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. tree, 8-10 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3481)

Example: 1a. This plant is a "message plant." If a person goes to another village with a leaf of this species in their hand, then people know that someone is coming, and this is reflected in the local name. 1b. Message plant – if you pop by someone’s house and drop leaves there, people know someone has visited them. You can ask neighbors who came by. 2. The fruit is a source of a nut that children love to eat raw. 3. It is known in Bislama as "false mango" [kiyaman mango].

Scientific name: Finschia chloroxantha, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

[nilin] n. shoulder

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. the shark (constellation?)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. knots where rope is tying pieces of canoe together

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, Dec. 2018, Aneityum island.

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. Cordyline fruticosa L.

Example: Leaf: chew (leprosy in mouth). Whole plant: planted for several Kastom purposes; many important Kastom-bound uses as magical or ornamental plant throughout Melanesia.

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 442

n. meadow

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 165

n. the Futuna banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

[nombrɛ niʧinin] n. hair

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. a season

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 181

n. small basket

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, Dec. 2018, Aneityum island.

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4749)

Scientific name: Dysoxylum bijugum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. vine to 4 m, cultivated (collection: Michael J. Balick #5013)

Example: This is a cultivated, edible tuber. If a cyclone comes and blows the vines, the tuber will still be intact. The vines of this type of Dioscorea are very strong. Normal yam vine tears in high winds and the tuber will not grow for food but will die; this one will not. It is very good for places with strong winds and storms.

Scientific name: Dioscorea alata, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. cultivated anthropogenic landscape (lawn and planted trees). (collection: Keith E. Clancy #6655)

Scientific name: Carpoxylon macrospermum

adv. downwards or westwards

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 108

n. Pickhandle barracuda

Example: Photo by Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Sphyraena jello via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

adj. done; cooked

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi