Talk:Vanuatu/Archive 1

Motto

Does anyone know if there is an official English translation of the Bislama motto "Long God yumi stanap"? The article uses "In God we stand", as do quite a few other sources. A quick web search also turns up "Let us stand firm in God", "Before God we stand", "We aspire to God", "We stand with God", and probably others as well. Personally, I think "We stand with God" is a better translation, (and I now notice that Coats of arms of Oceania uses that translation). Does anyone have strong objections to my changing this in the article? Tim Ross (talk) 10:28, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

I don't know Bislama, but my sense is why not switch it, and see if anybody objects?--Tomwsulcer (talk) 18:37, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

With that encouragement, I made the switch. Thanks, Tom. Tim Ross (talk) 10:07, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

Please see my comments above in the "Lost in translation" section. "In God We Stand" is the correct translation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.130.124.243 (talk) 00:12, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm afraid, 86.130.124.243, that I can't quite agree with you that " 'In God We Stand' is the correct translation". It's certainly commonly used, as you basically point out, but is that phrase even good English? The verb "stand" conventionally takes the preposition "by" or "with" in the sense that seems to be intended here. One can, indeed stand "in", but the several possible meanings of that usage do not correspond well with what clearly seems to be the Bislama meaning in this instance. I would like to hear more of your thoughts on this point. Tim Ross (talk) 09:35, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Tim - not sure whether you saw my comment above in "lost in translation" but as I noted there:

"Vanuatu" a book published for independence by the institute of pacific studies. The book is written in 3 languages - Bislama, French and English. The forward is written by Walter Lini (who I believe was the first prime minister) and it says "This book is the story of our achievements. This book is the witness to our victory. This book is the celebration of our history and our victory. So we say, In God is our history, in God is our victory and in God we shall have victory. Vanuatu stands in God, lives in God and moves in God. This is what we mean by 'In God we Stand'". The final sentence of the corresponding Bislama section reading: "Hemia nao mining blong stamba toktok 'Long God Yumi Stanap'"

I wouldn't profess to be an expert on english grammar but I feel this is more or less hearing from the "horse's mouth". It was written for independence (at a time when the motto first came into being), its written by a south pacific organisation and it explains the meaning of the term. It is possible that Walter Lini wrote his passage in Bislama and it was translated into into English inaccurately but I think an inaccurate translation is unlikely. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.130.124.243 (talk) 16:52, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I had read your interesting comments regarding Walter Lini's "Vanuatu". Lini was unquestionably an expert on Vanuatu, and especially the independence movement there. I'm much less certain about his expertise as a translator between Bislama and English. I don't doubt that he spoke both Bislama and English fluently, although I'm reasonably confident that his native language was one of those from his birthplace on Pentecost. Further, I don't disagree that "In God we stand" can be found frequently as the translation of "Long God yumi stanap". I suspect, though, that this usage is influenced more by the well-known U.S. motto, "In God We Trust", than by any attempt at linguistic accuracy.

As far as I know, the official Vanuatu motto is in Bislama. Any version in another language is a translation. Our task at Wikipedia is to make sure that such a translation is as accurate as possible. I stand by my position that "We stand with God" is a better translation of "Long God yumi stanap" than the one used by Lini, but, again, there is no reason to expect Lini to produce a high quality translation. Tim Ross (talk) 22:18, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Tim - the motto is in Bislama but we have no guarantee as to which language it was conceived in. I don't think it is our job to transalate and perhaps put our own emphasis on it but to discover the meaning intended by those that came up with the motto. I believe that a book produced at or about the time or independence by the institute of pacific studies ought to be treated as more than persuasive until someone can come up with some other "local" source. 86.130.124.243 (talk) 22:58, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

As you say, our job is to discover "the meaning intended by those that came up with the motto". No argument. However, we also have to present that meaning in a form broadly intelligible to English speakers. I maintain that the phrase "in God we stand" is not only non-standard English, but it also, as a consequence, has no clear meaning, whereas "we stand with God", or even "with God we stand" is not only proper English, but also corresponds to the meaning of the Bislama original. Respect for Walter Lini's writing is certainly called for. This respect, however, does need to extend to bowing to his expertise in translating Bislama into English. Tim Ross (talk) 00:43, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

In English, prepositional phrases tend to be highly idiomatic. One can "stand in the water" or "stand in awe", but one "stands in for another actor". One can "believe in the Queen", or "trust in the Queen", or "have faith in the Queen", but "stand in the Queen" is unidiomatic. Likewise, "in God we Stand" is a translational error, even if it was widely used by a revered leader of Vanuatu nationalism, and it should not be perpetuated here. Tim Ross (talk) 08:58, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Tim - I don't have a problem with the statement "In God We Stand". I am not saying this is the explanation but if you have seen the beauty of the islands and if you believe God is all around and if you believe you are where you are (as a nation) because of God it would seem entirely appropriate to say this. Further it does seem that the translation (assuming again that the phrase was conceived in Bislama) is widely accepted. This is a list of sites:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/strange-island-pacific-tribesmen-come-to-study-britain-401461.html

http://www.visionforallnations.org/

http://www.christianhistoryresearchaustralia.com/celeb14/

http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/6db3e3f0f763b9a3802565db005e953b?Opendocument

http://www.ifev.edu.vu/council/vite.html

I think the Vanuatu Education one and the United Nation's one ought to be seen as fairly persuasive. Are you able to cite some authorative source for your view? 86.130.124.243 (talk) 20:44, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

I am a bit puzzled by your latest comments, 86.130.124.243. I already stated, above, that "in God we stand" is used not only in the article, but in "quite a few other sources". I have never argued otherwise. That is not a good reason, though, to urge that Wikipedia use a poor translation. The only acceptable excuse for doing that, in my opinion, would be that the translation was the official English one as specified by the government of Vanuatu.

Are there any other editors interested in this discussion? Additional viewpoints would be both helpful and welcome. Tim Ross (talk) 01:01, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Tim, you did note the term was widely used. It is not only widely used but used by organisations which might reasonably be expected to be accurate and/or authoratative ie:

(1) United Nations

(2) A book written by the Institue of Pacific Studies at or about the time of independence

(3) A vanuatu educational site

I think if we were to go against these sources we would need some strong and compelling evidence or reason. As you note above on the question of the scouting motto "there must be someone reading this who is better at the language". We would need someone who was an expert in Bislama and unless we "can find good references to support" another translation (and by the way I don't profess to be an expert either in english or bislama) then we should stick to the present translation. 86.162.195.153 (talk) 14:52, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Hmm. You make some interesting points. First, let me reiterate that the prestige of those who have used the English translation that may well have been initiated by Walter Lini, "In God We Stand", should not be considered to be a measure of the excellence of the translation. These sources, in my opinion, have probably tried to use what they believe to be the official English form of the motto, and are not especially likely to have considered evaluating the quality of the English being used.

You don't need to be a Bislama expert, however, to understand the phrase Long God yumi stanap. "God" means "God", "yumi" means "we" or "us", and "stanap" means "stand" or "get up". The preposition "long", however is difficult. Feigenbaum and Kurzon, 2002 state "Creoles and pidgins have one or two prepositions which are polysemic to such an extent that, apart from clear locational/directional/temporal meanings, they may be said to acquire their meaning through context". The authors go on to say that "long" in Bislama "is in effect meaningless". There is not much doubt that the motto means that the people of Vanuatu are in a favorable relationship with God. The best translation to use depends upon English idiomatic requirements, which are not well-satisfied by "stand in", as I've discussed above. Tim Ross (talk) 11:54, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Tim. You place great emphasis upon what you perceive would be a better translation but as I said previously we have no knowledge as to what language the motto was conceived in. If it was conceived in English (as is very possible)then all arguments re translation fall away. Until we know which language it was conceived in - translation is irrelevant. I accept on the coat of arms its in Bislama but this does not mean it is the language it was conceived in. In the Book I referred to (a text contempary to the creation of the phrase)there is an explanation of the term which I believe ought to overcome any difficulties with its structure. Also it may well be that the phrase "In God We Stand" is how the ni-vanuautu whose primary language is English understand it. I think we have to be very careful to substitute our own translation just because we feel it is better - it almost has a whiff of colonialism about it. I accept we should help people speaking the English language to best understand the phrase but that is not necessarliy the same as the best translation. I think the best way to deal with this would be some sort of empirical local evidence as to how the term is used (in English). 86.130.128.150 (talk) 18:04, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

I must agree with you that my goal has been to see that the Bislama-language version of the Vanuatu motto is properly translated into English. Your point, that, somehow, the language in which it was conceived should determine the correct English translation is a little unusual, and I am unable to follow your logic. Are you saying that, perhaps the motto's originator (who is, as far as I know, not officially recognized, but was, most probably, Walter Lini) conceived the motto in imperfect English, and that such a flaw needs to be maintained as the Wikipedia English translation? (By the way, it would be helpful if you would sign your contributions by placing ~~~~ at their close. You aren't required to, but it allows the reader to identify the contributions of each author. Thanks.) Tim Ross (talk) 11:23, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Sorry for not signing. I wonder if we might summarise the issues (could we then delete the detail of the above exhanges?).

(1) If the motto was conceived in Bislama (and I think here we mean that the phrase was first thought of in Bislama) then the issue of transalation arises.

(2) If the term was first conceived in English then it may be appropriate to provide an explanation of the term. If was first conceived in English then that is the motto regardless of whether we approve of the English although it might be appropriate to provide some comment.

(3) In relation to a translation (following on from point (1) above) it might be appropriate to consider the best english translation but also I think we should be sympathetic to how a ni-Vanutu might translate it - can I suggest that the best literal translation might not always be the best translation.

(4) What is the best English or best translation is not beyond doubt. You do not believe "In God We Stand" is grammatically correct. I am not convinced it is not and given the number of organisations of note that have used the term it is not I would submit obviously incorrect. Personally I find "We stand with God" potentially as difficult as you suggest "In God We Stand". The motto is so short (as many mottos are) that interpretation is always difficult. I suggest it is possible to stand in God if you accept that God is all around.

(5) Overall I think we need very good reasons from depart from an established and accepted motto (or transalation) and we ought to revert to "In God we Stand".

86.130.122.54 (talk) 23:31, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I must disagree with your listing of issues. I am willing to assume that Lini first proposed the Vanuatu motto, although I have no certain evidence of that. I certainly do not know his specific intentions, or how he first conceived it, if he was the author, but the most straightforward meaning of the motto, in English, is "We stand with God" or "With God we stand". If, as you suggest, the author may have intended the motto to mean that we are literally within God, then a reasonable translation would be "We stand within God". I consider that to be unlikely, however. In any case, we do no honor to the originator of the motto, or to the country, if we translate the phrase into anything other than flawless English. Tim Ross (talk) 20:39, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Tim - I am not asserting that Walter Lini first proposed the motto. I merely quoted him as he gave an explanation of the motto. I was hoping by listing the issues to try and narrow them. If the most straightforward meaning of the motto is as you suggest it is surprising how many organisations of significance have used the translation "In God we Stand". But this is one of the issues. Your approach assumes that the motto was conceived in Bislama and that therefore we must translate it. We have no evidence as to what language it was conceived in and if (as is reasonably possible) it was conceived in English then the whole issue of translation falls away. Your position is entirely based on a premise in respect of which we have no evidence. Even if you overcome this is issue then translation becomes relevant and I don't believe that your translation is obviously better as you seem to suggest. 86.130.122.94 (talk) 19:27, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

No, I make no assumption about the language in which Vanuatu's motto was conceived. Instead, I accept the fact that it seems to exist, officially, only in Bislama. To make it meaningful to the readers of this version of Wikipedia, a translation is needed. One may find numerous English translations already existing. This variation is due, I think, largely to the ambiguity of the Bislama pronoun "long", as I have explained at some length, above. Unfortunately, the meaning of the English version probably originally provided by Walter Lini (and I repeat myself here) is not clear because the English is non-standard. It is not incorrect English, but rather is less than clear English. For that reason the meaning of the translation is unclear. "We stand with God" or some parallel phrase, I believe, is the best translation of the Bislama version. If you wish to use "We stand within God", I cannot argue that the English is incorrect or that such an interpretation contradicts the Bislama, but can say that such a translation would in my opinion be at least unexpected. Either of these, though, would avoid the lack of clarity of "In God we stand". Tim Ross (talk) 12:03, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

Talk

Someone seriously needs to work on this page

Go for it. - Hephaestos 23:45, 1 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Happiest Place on Earth? I agree!!! Very gorgeous place, its a pity I wasn't able to rent out my snorkling gear until the next after we visited Mystery Island. Amazing reef life everyone told me. If you go there, GO SNORKLING, I also think someone needs to talk about how they jump of huge platforms with lianas attached to there feet, like a primitive version of bungy jumping, I don't know enough on the subject to add anyting - Isabelle <

SAND DRAWINGS - how come there's nothing on their sand drawings in either this page or the culture one? Someone needs to put that in. 71.114.157.224 (talk) 16:25, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

NONSENSE WORD - the Section "See also" contains the word (List of) Vanuatuans. There is no such word. The correct term for people from the Republic is Ni-Vanuatu. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.110.17.120 (talk) 14:58, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, I have corrected the link to List of people from Vanuatu.-gadfium 00:52, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

Lost in the translation

The Vanuatu national motto is very poorly translated. Unfortunately, the sense of the phrase 'Long God yumi stanap' is ambiguous and difficult to express in English.

'Long' is a preposition indicating place, and can be understood in this context to mean 'with' or 'near'.

'Yumi stanap' means, literally, 'we stand', but here it should not be understood as a literal statement. The phrase implies strength, unity and ability.

Ringbark adds: LGYS is somewhere between "We stand firm in God" and "Let us stand firm in God" - that is, it is somewhere between a statement and a command. I choose to translate "stanap" as "stand firm" rather than "stand" because it is ultimately derived from "stand up" rather than just "stand". In another context, "stanap" refers to an erection, but that is probably not relevant here.

Hi there. I think that in context Stanap actually means believe. i spent 8 weeks in Vanuatu and this is what the locals told me the translation was. 81.157.39.82 (talk) 16:59, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Can I quote from "Vanuatu" a book published for independence by the institute of pacific studies. The book is written in 3 languages - Bislama, French and English. The forward is written by Walter Lini (who I believe was the first prime minister) and it says "This book is the story of our achievements. This book is the witness to our victory. This book is the celebration of our history and our victory. So we say, In God is our history, in God is our victory and in God we shall have victory. Vanuatu stands in God, lives in God and moves in God. This is what we mean by 'In God we Stand'". The final sentence of the corresponding Bislama section reading: "Hemia nao mining blong stamba toktok 'Long God Yumi Stanap'"

Anyone interested in the proper translation of the Vanuatu motto, "Long God yumi stanap", might wish to read the long discussion, essentially between an anonymous editor and me, on this subject at Talk:Vanuatu/Archive_1. Tim Ross (talk) 12:09, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Of course you may have a view that neither is the "proper" translation but as can be seen from this most recent article http://www.dailypost.vu/ArticleArchives/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/6656/Long-God-Yumi-Stanap-30-years-on.aspx the "In God We Stand" is the current usage in the islands and as such we ought to respect it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.42.254.131 (talk) 14:32, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

Population...

seven Two figures are mentioned in this page. One (199,000 odd) is in the fact box, while another (202,000 odd) is in the Demographics section. These ought to be synchronized. Jonathan Grynspan 17:13, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC) While someone is updating demographics, can we have something better about water area? It says negligible, but that is definitely incorrect. I'll try to fix it myself later, but someone else might be able to get there first. Ringbark 00:49, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"Due to diseases introduced by the new European populations, the native population fell to a mere 45,000 in 1935." Do you know what it fell from?

194.46.245.146 10:48, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Similarities in texts

I noticed that the first paragraph and some of the second paragraph under Economy looked very similar to the economy overview in the CIA World Factbook's Vanuatu page, which can be found at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nh.html

I think this should be looked into.

UNDERWATER Post Office!

Here is a link to a little-known place in Vanuatu. I know, at first I thought it was fake too. Matau 02:01, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

It's not fake...I've seen it and the Volcano Post with my own eyes...but as to whether mail is actually delivered to/collected from these postal facilities, I am not sure. I doubt it, but am happy to be proved wrong! --220.238.248.145 07:53, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

When I visited in 2004 and swam underwater to look at the mailbox (its not really a post office, just a mailbox) there were a half dozen Japanese tourists in the water too and they each had waterproof postcards which they had filled out - the cards are sold in town. The box was empty except for the cards inserted by the people around me - combined with the statements of locals and expats to me that mail put there really does get collected, I believe they do collect mail from there, BUT, anything other then waterproof stock will not be deliverable and will disintegrate rapidly underwater. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.183.161.15 (talk) 03:33, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Coat of Arms

For god's sake, can anyone upload a bit more hi-res picture of Vanuatu's coat of arms? This one is too blurry. --FlavrSavr 01:14, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Deletion of Trivia Section

Do others think it's appropriate for this page to have a trivia section at all? Further, is it appropriate for the only entry to be on Survivor: Vanuatu? I don't think it's appropriate to characterise a country by one season of a TV show that was filmed there. Your thoughts? Ben Harris-Roxas 13:23, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

• Trivia is trivial, it really shouldn't be there.--Peta 01:48, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
  • So take it out.--Cúchullain ^t/c 02:04, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
    • I[1] think it's ok: other information has been added

• • • • In a real sense, it's trivial -- but if the rest of the world, which knows nothing about Vanuatu, whenever they think about Vanuatu, they think "Survivor - TV episode", then it probably belongs somewhere in the article, unfortunately, but I don't know whether it belongs in a trivia section or somewhere in the article. We live in a media age, and this is a big part of how people think, unfortunately. Tomwsulcer (talk) 01:29, 27 July 2009 (UTC)tomwsulcer

SANTO 2006 expedition, Vanuatu

More than 100 participants from 15 countries are currently documenting the fauna and flora of a large rugged island in the South Pacific-- Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu (see www.santo2006.org). Because of Santo's isolated location, it has been been largely unexplored and maintains a very high level of biodiversity. Scientists expect to find many new species of flora and fauna. Follow the journey of exploration and discovery of the marine component of the expedition at the SANTO 2006 blog: [2] . Already 875 species of decapod crustaceans have been recorded within the first three weeks.

Proposed WikiProject

In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Melanesia at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Melanesia whose scope would include Vanuatu. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 17:16, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Spiders?

Is it true that there are many spiders and of various types? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.86.113.16 (talk) 08:18, 9 January 2007 (UTC). I think you're in the wrong place to talk about spidersDoggie015 03:01, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Assuming you're talking about the supposed lack of spiders in Vanuatu, the answer is yes, there are certainly spiders there. If you are interested in some of the big ones, you might want to check "The systematics and biology of the spider genus Nephila (Araneae: Nephilidae) in the Australasian region" 2007, by M. S. Harvey and others, "Invertebrate Systematics" 21(5). Tim Ross (talk) 12:38, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

They are definitely present ranging in size of from almost too small to see to literally the size of a human hand. Toeverycreature (talk) 19:17, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Legal system

The legal system is based on British common law.

I thought that they used a mix of British common law (for English speakers) and French civil law (for French speakers)? I was told that one of the consequences is that they're looking for a digitized version of a 1980 French Civil Code and other codes, because the printed versions they use are in bad shape... David.Monniaux 19:14, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Shouldn't it be "English Common Law" rather than British? There is a contradiction between the entries on Vanuatu and the New Hebrides in this respect.

194.46.245.146 10:47, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

I read an article recently about the use of British and French law in contemporary Vanuatu, but now I can't find it... Anyway, the author was saying that most ni-Vanuatu judges are knowledgeable only in British law, which severely limits the scope for applying French law. Theoretically, though, yes, French civil law is part of the ni-Vanuatu legal system, on an equal basis with British common law. Aridd (talk) 11:24, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

As Britain consists of several jurisdictions from a legal perspective it is better to refer to English Common Law although the Constitution refers to at 95(2) to "Until otherwise provided by Parliament, the British and French laws in force or applied in Vanuatu immediately before the Day of Independence shall on and after that day continue ....." I think this is more a description ie it was a British colony and therefore the laws applied would be viewed as British but it is likely any common law involved would have been English. It is possibly to narrow to refer to Common Law as undoubtedly other law from Britain applied. This seems to have been confirmed on this site http://www.paclii.org/vu/sources.html where it states:

(i) British Laws:

British laws applied to British nationals and the nationals of other countries who opted to be subject to British laws, called optants. These laws comprised:

British Acts of Parliament and subsidiary legislation - which were stated to apply to overseas territories; British Acts of Parliament of "general application" - i.e.: whose terms were not confined to England, except to the extent that they were inappropriate to the circumstances of the country. Statutes of general application passed after 1 January 1976 did not apply; English rules of common law and equity - which applied except to the extent that they were inappropriate to the circumstances of the country; Queen's Regulations - made by the British High Commissioner of the Western Pacific (situated initially in Fiji and later in Solomon Islands) and by the British Resident Commissioner in the New Hebrides.

86.130.122.94 (talk) 12:34, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Naghol ceremony

Can anybody add info on the Naghol ceremony, where the locals do a sort of Bungee jumping? Many thanks -- Chris 73 | Talk 08:11, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Prince Philip (Duke of Edinburgh) a God?

I've read it in news articles before, although they were only passing references, but now the BBC has a full article on the reverence with which Prince Philip is held by some of Vanuatu's population (on the island of Tanna, the village of Yaohnanen). These villagers see Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh as a Divine spirit, associated with an ancient story about the son of a mountain spirit venturing across the seas to look for a powerful woman to marry (the belief bolstered perhaps as Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms). This seems rather notable, especially considering the coverage it is receiving in the British press because of the celebrations planned by the Vanuatan's to mark Prince Philip's 86th birthday on the 10/6/07. Anyone have any major objections to this being mention in the article? If no convincing arguments are made I'll look towards adding it over the next few days.

BBC Article can be found here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6734469.stm

Google for "Prince Philip Vanuatu" (lists several British newspaper articles on the subject) - http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Prince+Philip+Vanuatu&meta=

Malbolge 02:08, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

We have an article on that at Prince Philip Movement.--Cúchullain ^t/c 05:20, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Don't worry about CO2!

A paragraph about what the global climate change may bring for Vanuatu could be a nice addition to the article. 81.0.68.145 22:06, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Vanuatu#Europeans on the scene

This statement: Due to diseases introduced by the new European populations, the native population fell to a mere 45,000 in 1935. is useless without a reference as to what the population was before. It probably needs a citation too. --SVTCobra 22:52, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Vanuatu Scouting

Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Bislama? Thanks! Chris 07:00, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

How about i rere, or maybe just rere? Actually I think I'd choose rere, but there must be someone reading this who is better at the language. Tim Ross (talk) 18:29, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Tjuban mask ceremony: Orangutans???

The series "Tribal life" on the Travel Channel gives a fascinating view of remotest Vanuatu, including a ceremony in which the men dress up in an elaborate costume that covers them with reddish-orange foliage, and wear elaborate elongated wooden masks. The form of the masks and the appearance of orange hair reminds me greatly of orangutans, which is intriguing because as far as I know orangutans are unknown to Vanuatu in known history. One part of the ritual is for men wearing the masks to run toward women at the beach and steal the fish they've caught. I wonder whether orangutans lived on the island long ago or if the custom was brought with people who travelled from the west. There's very little if anything of use about Tjuban masks on the Web, so anyone with good sources handy should be encouraged to contribute whatever they can. Wnt (talk) 23:13, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

In answer to your question about whether orangutans ever lived in Vanuatu, there are no records or fossils indicating that they were ever there. Tim Ross (talk) 23:57, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

The map

I really don't find the map in the side box shows where Vanuatu is very well. Perhaps an image of where it is compared to Australia, in more detail? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xaerun (talk • contribs) 11:41, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

pronunciation

so is it 'van-wah-too' or 'van-oo-ah-too' ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.237.47.38 (talk) 10:01, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Update: you can click on the symbol next to the word "Vanuatu" (a speech symbol) and you can hear somebody saying it correctly -- I think it's van-yoo-ah-too, four syllables. Tomwsulcer (talk) 01:25, 27 July 2009 (UTC)tomwsulcer

On Espiritu Santo, it is commonly pronounced as ",va.nu'a.tu" some will change the initial "a" to the same sound as in the English word "van" but that is only common amongst English speakers. I think that the alternation between three or four syllables comes from speakers speaking the name very quickly, but if you asked them to say it slowly, they probably would say it with four syllables. Toeverycreature (talk) 19:16, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Drive on left or right?

Does Vanuatu traffic keep left or right? The Right-_and_left-hand_traffic#Places_with_right-hand_traffic article says right, but the accompanying map says left. Please correct the article if need be, and add a "|drives_on = right/left" line to the country info box in this article. kwami (talk) 07:51, 23 November 2008 (UTC) it is the same as america, you keep left. unlike australia which keeps right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.16.242.44 (talk) 19:23, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Vanuatu drives on the RIGHT, the same as the US. Australia drives on the LEFT. Toeverycreature (talk) 19:12, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

poisonous creatures and tropical diseases

I have just deleted two statements which were taken almost directly from the Peace Corps Vanuatu book, as cited: "There are almost no poisonous insects or reptiles on land or in the sea. Many of the serious tropical diseases present in other parts of the world are absent or are controlled in Vanuatu." I'm not replacing the language with a more accurate statement, because, at this time, all I could offer is personal knowledge. Nonetheless, Vanuatu has its share of poisonous creatures, including several species of highly poisonous sea snakes, stone fish, poisonous jellyfish and their kin, cone shells, and others. I'm not sure which "absent" tropical diseases are being referenced by the Peace Corps, but many are present, and such diseases are a matter of concern in the country. If I can find good references to support my personal knowledge, I will replace the deleted material with a more realistic statement. In the meantime, I believe the removed statements are too dangerously misleading to leave in place. Tim Ross (talk) 17:52, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

While there for three months, I was told by the natives that sea snakes are common there and that if they bite you, you will not have time to reach a doctor before you die; however, their mouths are not large enough to bite a human, except for maybe in the webbing between one's fingers or toes. As far as diseases, malaria and dengue fever are very present. Toeverycreature (talk) 19:11, 13 December 2010 (UTC)