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Kanaka was the term for a worker from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji and Queensland (Australia) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They also worked in California and Chile (see Easter Island and Rapanui people as related subjects). "Kanaka", sometimes used as a derogatory name,〔http://www.yourdictionary.com/kanaka〕 originally referred only to native Hawaiians, called ''kānaka ʻōiwi'' or ''kānaka maoli'' in the Hawaiʻian language. Until 2009, several rough translations of the word "Kanak" were admitted : "man", " animal man ", " wild man " were the most used. In its resolution n°5195, the Academy of the Polynesian languages Pa ' umotu specified a definition more faithful to the primal Polynesian language ''Mamaka Kaïo'' of origin, that of " free man ". ==Australia== According to the ''Macquarie Dictionary'', the word "kanaka", which was once widely used in Australia, is now regarded in Australian English as an offensive term for a Pacific Islander.〔''Macquarie Dictionary'' (Fourth Edition), 2005, p. 774〕 In part, this is because most "Kanakas" in Australia were people from Melanesia, rather than Polynesia, and included few Hawaiians. The descendants of 19th century immigrants to Australia from the Pacific Islands now generally refer to themselves as "South Sea Islanders", and this is also the term used in formal and official situations. Most of the original labourers were recruited from the Solomon Islands and New Hebrides (Vanuatu), though others were taken from the Loyalty Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati and Tuvalu. Some were kidnapped ("blackbirded") or otherwise induced into long-term indentured service. Reflecting European prejudices of the time, the men were generally referred to as "Kanakas" (boys). Islander descendants regard this term as a pejorative and insulting reminder of their ancestors' exploitation at the hands of white planters and their recruiters. In Australia, South Sea Islanders were often unfree labour, of the specific form known as indentured labour. It is often alleged that their employment in Australia was a form of slavery, due to the belief that many people were recruited by "Blackbirding", as the enslavement of Pacific Islanders and indigenous Australians was known at the time. Of the more than 60,000 Islanders recruited from 1863, the majority were to be "repatriated" (that is, deported) by the Australian Government between 1906-08 under the ''Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901''〔(National Archives of Australia, "Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901 (Cth)" ). Access date: December 3, 2007.〕 legislation prompted by the White Australia policy. Some were exempted on various grounds, including marriage to Australians. These and others who escaped deportation remained in Australia and their descendants today form Australia's largest Melano-Polynesian ethnic group. Many Australian South Sea Islanders are also of mixed ancestry, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for whom they are often mistaken. In consequence, Australian South Sea Islanders have faced similar forms of discrimination meted out to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The Australian South Sea Islander Community was recognised as a unique minority group in 1994 after a report by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission found they had become more disadvantaged than the indigenous Australians. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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