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Name (Cartographic)
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Banks Islands, Bankis
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Indigenous place name
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Bankis
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Indigenous Language Group
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Multiple
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Languages Spoken
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Seventeen distinct Torres-Banks languages
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Quote
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All these languages share a common ancestor, Proto Oceanic - itself a member of the vast Austronesian family. In a way similar to the fragmentation of Latin into a multitude of Romance languages and dialects, the linguistic diversity observed today in Vanuatu results from three millenia of in situ diversification from what was once a single language spoken across a vast social network.
Linguistics.
Francois, Alexandre. "Temperature terms in northern Vanuatu." The Linguistics of Temperature, edited by Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2016, p. 833.
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From 1864, European planters in Fiji and, from 1865, New Caledonia would sponsor recruiting from the same islands. For Queensland, the New Hebrides, Torres and Banks Groups (that became Vanuatu) officially provided about 30,400 registered workers.
Legal History.
Mortensen, Reid. "Slaving in Australian courts: Blackbirding cases, 1869-71." Journal of South Pacific Law, vol. 4, 2000, pp. 1-22, https://www.paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol04/7: n.p.
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An example would be Mwotlap ni‑k ͡ pwti nɛ‑hɛj 'you have a sharp mind' (lit. 'your
head is sharp'); or ni‑k ͡ pwti na‑wak 'you're open-minded, you have a curious
mind' (lit. 'your head is open'). For these intellectual senses, Mwotlap can
also use nʊ‑sʊl 'brain' and nɪ‑mɪna‑n 'fontanelle', yet these do not seem to
be frequently used in other languages of the region. Torres–Banks languages
occasionally describe certain feelings using other body parts– such as the 'dia
phragm' (*mwala) for surprise; the 'belly' (*tombwa) for desire; the 'liver' (*βara)
for awe and fear.
Linguistics.
Francois, Alexandre. "Shadows of bygone lives: The histories of spiritual words in northern Vanuatu." Lexical and Structural Etymology: Beyond Word Histories, edited by Robert Mailhammer, DeGruyter Mouton, 2013, p. 204.
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Commander George Palmer had been investigating the reported kidnapping of Islanders from the New Caledonian and New Hebrides groups by British-flagged trading ships operating out of Australian ports. Having visited those islands, and convinced that the allegations were true, Palmer turned his attention to Fiji [...] Returning to Levuka on 22 April to await two vessels expected back from the Gilberts, Palmer instead found the small schooner Daphne, having arrived the previous evening. Sub-Lieutenant Bingham had already boarded Daphne and discovered 100 Banks Islands men.
Pacific History.
Hunt, Doug. "Hunting the Blackbirder: Ross Lewin and the Royal Navy." The Journal of Pacific History, vol. 42, no. 1, 2007, pp. 37-53: p. 37.
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identifier
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GEO-BANK