Island Education and Norf'k language

Norfolk Island school girls and teachers in 1896

Over the last few weeks a number of school groups have been in and out of the museum and we have also met with Prof. Peter Muhlhausler on a recent trip, following up on Norf’k language projects. Peter is Professor of Linguistics at Adelaide University and was largely responsible for supporting the initial training of Norf’k language teachers at NICS.

At the prize giving at the school this week, Principal Michelle Nicholson quoted from a report to the NSW Minister for Public Instruction by the first school inspector to visit the island in 1897. He said “The inhabitants of the island, without exception…exhibit considerable interest in the education of their children and cause them to attend school most regularly and punctually”. Michelle remarked on the fact that the education of our children continues to be highly valued on Norfolk.

This began on Pitcairn Island, most probably with John Adam’s conversion and teaching of the children to read using the Bounty Bible and Book of Common Prayer. Brian Mercer records in “An Island Education, A history of the Norfolk Island Central School” that from 1835 all children were compelled to go to school, many attending from the age of six until they were married. He says “In N.S.W. by contrast, it was not until 1880 that the Public Instruction Act made it law for parents to send their children aged 6-14 to school. But even then, children were only required to attend about three days per week. Not until 1916 were pupils in N.S.W. compelled to attend every day”.

On arrival at Norfolk Island on 8 June 1856 one of the first decisions the community made was about founding a school. The first classroom was set up in the New Military Barracks and classes began just six week later on the 14^th of July. Attendance of all children was compulsory. Norfolk Island should stand proud of the fact that with the introduction of legislation in 1857, we were the first in the British Empire to legislate compulsory school attendance.

Clear evidence of the continued value of participation in school life and education on island today, is through the annual awarding of the Queen Victoria Scholarship. Begun in 1887 as a memorial for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee the committee deciding on how the island would commemorate this important event said: On 20^th June Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, will have reigned for fifty years. The event will be commemorated throughout the British Empire. Norfolk Island must not be behind…it (is) highly desirable that a permanent memorial of the happy event should be established on the island. After due consideration and a careful weighing of such suggestions as were brought forward, it was finally decided that this memorial should take the form of an Endowment of (for the present three) Queen Victoria Scholarships in the Norfolk Island Public School. These scholarships are to be obtained by competitive examination”.

In the first year the scholarships were £2 each for the senior winners and £1 for the junior winners. These days the scholarship is still competed for and represents an honour rather than monetary reward. The original Scholarship Board naming all winners between 1887 and 1971 is on display in the Pier Store, the current one being at the school itself.

As we were reminded during Peter Muhlhausler’s visit, the teaching of Norf’k language at the school today is cause for celebration, especially given early efforts to eradicate its use by NSW authorities. This began after 1896 when the executive government of Norfolk was changed from a locally appointed head of government, to a NSW appointed Chief Magistrate.  One of the first acts of the first Chief Magistrate, Colonel Spalding, was to arrange for the 1897 inspection of the school. As well as the positive comment about parental interest in education made in the Report as quoted by Michelle, a key recommendation was that a trained teacher be sent from Sydney to take up the position of Headmaster. However, it was not until 1906 that the first ‘outside’ appointed principal arrived on the island (beginning the system of short-term three to five year appointments which continues to today).

With non-Norfolk Islanders now in charge of the school, it was not long before a concerted effort was made to eradicate the use of the Norfolk language by children when at school. This was initiated in 1915 with a new school rule banning anything but the ‘King’s English’ being spoken during school hours. Infringements would be dealt with by a caning or writing out lines to the effect of “I must not talk gibberish at school”.

This policy followed from a 1914 Memorandum relating to Norfolk Island written by Atlee Hunt, Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Department of External Affairs. In a section headed “The Local Jargon” Hunt wrote:

“It is not picturesque nor effective, and justifies its description as “a barbarous attempt to garrotte the English language”. Its use contributes to maintain a spirit of exclusiveness amongst these folk, and for this reason, as well as because it has no merits to justify its continual existence, it is hoped that its employment may be discouraged in every way”.

The first headmaster to introduce the rule predicted “I feel confident that it is only a matter of a few generations when the island “jargon” will disappear altogether”.  After WWII the policy was not policed as rigorously and in 1987 the policy was reversed, with Norf’k language being included in the school curriculum.

The Norfolk Island Language (Norf’k) Act 2004 allows the teaching of Norf’k at school and affirmed “the right of people to speak and write it freely and without interference or prejudice from Government or other persons”. Norf’k language has been taught as a Secondary School, NSW Board of Studies endorsed elective from 2001. It is now taught to all students from Kindergarten to Year 9.

Ucklun's Norf'k - Words as a Memory of our Past

This wonderful book by Peter Muhlhausler, Rachel Nebauer-Borg and Piria Coleman was launched last Saturday in the Pitcairn Norfolk Gallery of the Pier Store Museum. It is now available for sale at the REO Café and Bookshop and on-line through our website shop at www.museums.gov.nf.

In the Introduction by Peter he says “This little book documents the history of Norfolk Island through the words of its language, for words of any language are not just labels for the world around us, but a memory of how speakers make their world their hoem, ‘home’. Words tell us about lifestyle, concerns and cultural practices of the speakers of a language and of the many changes that are experienced by each new generation of speakers. Unfortunately, languages, like humans, can experience a loss of memory and words and meanings can get lost”.

Described as ‘a work in progress’, the booklet details a range of Norf’k words and gives their meanings and origins. It clearly shows the richness of Norf’k expressions and the important role language plays in culture and identity. Thankfully the work by Shirley Harrison, Beryl Palmer Nobbs and Alice Buffett has meant that we have not lost many of the memories of our language and where we have come from. Peter describes these three as “pioneering in documenting and promoting the language”. The revival of the language since it was declared the official language of Norfolk Island in 2004 is so encouraging. Just one week earlier than this book launch, Rachel Nebauer-Borg launched her book of adult fiction written entirely in Norf’k, “Stidaun Short Letl”. We now have school resources and classes, books, poetry, song competitions and museum displays all dedicated to the Norf’k language.

At the launch all three of the authors spoke. From their words it was clear that a great amount of time, resources and, most importantly, passion has gone into their work and this booklet. It is one of the outcomes of a 2006 ARC Grant that supported a joint language project between the University of Adelaide, the Norfolk Island Government and the Museum. The Museum is very, very thankful that the copyright and income from all book sales is to come to the Museum Trust to be used for future language displays and resources.

At the launch it was also good to be able to welcome Anne Harrison, daughter of Shirley Harrison. Shirley was the daughter of Moresby and Mavis Buffett and completed her MA and PhD thesis on the origin and use of Norf’k words. The Museum has been the grateful recipient of all Shirley’s research material. Anne is now continuing her mother’s work and legacy with a MA in Norf’k nicknames and will be returning to the island several times over the next year to begin her research.

One of the words or phrases recorded in ‘Ucklun’s Norf’k’ is ‘myse fish’ or ‘mais fish’. It says: “While there are written records for toela and tintoela as meaning ‘sweetheart’ from the 1960s, and records of the word as meaning ‘girlfriend’ in the 1970s from Shirley Harrison’s informants who were born around 1900-1910, the related expression mais fish also meaning ‘sweetheart’ was recorded as early as 1938. Mais fish means ‘the best catch’ (not literally) or to be ‘caught: hook, line and sinker’. It is actually known by Island elders to have been used way before then. Eliza Clarkson, affectionately known to many as ‘Miss Everett’ recounted in a memoir of her life, “during my early teenage years I can remember, along with other girls in my age group, picking out the most handsome and friendly cable station young men, and having romantic thoughts about them. If they even just said to us hello myse fish, we would be over the moon with delight”.

This is a wonderful book to pick up and browse through – so many fascinating stories and information. To read it is to enter into the world, culture and lifestyle of Norfolk Islanders. It is highly recommended.