Rapa Nui (language)

[Andre Cramblit]

Rapa Nui struggle to keep Indigenous culture alive

Last Updated 04/04/2005, 04:14:40
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1337219.htm

The indigenous people of remote Easter Island say they're struggling to
keep their culture alive.

As Gillian Bradford reports from Easter Island, fewer and fewer children
are speaking the local language:

"Easter Islanders know their country and its language as Rapa Nui.
Though it's still spoken widely across the island, only around a third
of children can speak it well. Easter Island is still governed by Chile
and most TV and radio on the island is in Spanish. The local Rapa Nui,
who make up about half of the island's four-thousand people, say more
needs to be done to keep their culture alive. The Rapa Nui have many
similarities with New Zealand's Maoris."