Pitcairn Islanders

Pitcairn Islanders
Pitkern Ailena

Total population
~1000 worldwide[1]
Regions with significant populations
Pitcairn Islands	47 (2021)[2]
Norfolk Island	484 (2016)[3]
Australia	262 (2016)[4]
New Zealand	48 (2018 birthplace)[5][6]
Languages
English Pitkern
Religion
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Related ethnic groups
English people Tahitians Scottish people Irish people Cornish people Manx people Descendants of the Bounty mutineers

Pitcairn Islanders, also referred to as Pitkerners and Pitcairnese, are the inhabitants or citizens of the Pitcairn Islands. The Pitcairn Islands are a British Overseas Territory, mainly inhabited by Euronesians of British and Tahitian descent.

The culture held in common by most Pitcairn Islanders is mainstream Pitcairn culture, a mixture of British and Polynesian culture derived from the traditions of the settlers who landed in 1790. Most of the people today are descended from the HMS Bounty mutineers of English, Cornish, Manx and Scottish descent, plus their Tahitian companions, including the few who settled afterwards.^[7][8] As of 2018, there are a total of 50 people inhabiting the island.^{[1] [9]}

There is also a Pitcairn diaspora particularly in Norfolk Island, New Zealand and mainland Australia. As a result from overcrowding on the island, in 1856 all 194 Pitkerners immigrated to Norfolk Island aboard the Morayshire (including a baby born en route) but 16 of them returned to Pitcairn on the Mary Ann in 1858, followed by a further four families in 1864.^[10]

History[]

Discovery[]

Pitcairn Island was sighted on 3 July 1767 by the crew of the British sloop , commanded by Captain Philip Carteret. The island was named after Scottish Midshipman Robert Pitcairn, a fifteen-year-old crew member who was the first to sight the island.

“we discovered land to the northward of us. Upon approaching it the next day (Friday, 3 July), it appeared like a great rock rising from the sea... and it having been discovered by a young gentleman, son to Major Pitcairn of the Marines, we called it Pitcairn’s Island.”^[11]

— Philip Carteret

These words, recorded in Carteret’s log, describe the first sighting. Robert Pitcairn was a son of British Marine Major John Pitcairn, who later was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolution.

Settlement of Pitcairn[]

In 1790, nine of the mutineers from the Bounty, along with the native Tahitian men and women who were with them (six men, eleven women and a baby girl), settled on Pitcairn Islands and set fire to the Bounty. The wreck is still visible underwater in Bounty Bay, discovered in 1957 by National Geographic explorer Luis Marden. Although the settlers survived by farming and fishing, the initial period of settlement was marked by serious tensions among them. Alcoholism, murder, disease and other ills took the lives of most mutineers and Tahitian men. John Adams and Ned Young turned to the scriptures, using the ship's Bible as their guide for a new and peaceful society. Young eventually died of an asthmatic infection. The Polynesians also converted to Christianity (Church of England). After the rediscovery of Pitcairn, John Adams was granted amnesty for his part in the mutiny.^[12]

Population history[]

Year	Population	Year	Population	Year	Population	Year	Population	Year	Population	Year	Population
1790	27	1880	112	1970	96	1992	54	2002	48	2012	48
1800	34	1890	136	1975	74	1993	57	2003	59	2013	55
1810	50	1900	136	1980	61	1994	54	2004	65	2014	56
1820	66	1910	140	1985	58	1995	55	2005	63	2015	-
1830	70	1920	163	1986	68	1996	43	2006	65	2016	49
1840	119	1930	190	1987	59	1997	40	2007	64	2017	-
1850	146	1936	250 (highest)	1988	55	1998	66	2008	66	2018	50
1856*	193	1940	163	1989	55	1999	46	2009	67
1859**	16 (lowest)	1950	161	1990	59	2000	51	2010	64
1870	70	1960	126	1991	66	2001	44	2011	67

* 1856 Immigration to Norfolk Island left Pitcairn uninhabited.
** 1859 First group returns from Norfolk Island.
As of 2018.^[13][1]

Surnames[]

As a result of the families who returned to the island starting in 1859 after settling Norfolk Island, most names therefore are descended from those six families. Occasionally a new person would arrive on the island bringing with them a new surname such as the American Samuel Russell Warren born 1830 in Rhode Island, U.S., fathered children with Agnes Christian (daughter of Thursday October Christian II), whose descendants still live on the island today.^[14] The McCoy surname (from the mutineer William McCoy) died out in 1973 with the death of Violet McCoy, who had married Floyd Hastings McCoy, a great-great grandson of William.^[15][16]

Surname distribution in 2014 [17]
Rank	Surname	Population	Frequency	Origins
1	Christian	16	1:3	Manx, English
2	Warren	12	1:4	English
3	Young	5	1:10	Manx,[18] English
3	Brown	5	1:10	English
3	Warren-Peu	5	1:10	English-Polynesian
6	Griffiths	2	1:26	Welsh

Characteristics[]

In the early 20th century a study was taken by American author Harry L. Shapiro on the characteristics of the islanders, based on the analysis and observations, for example - Pitcairners were taller than their parents and had produced a healthy number of children. There were more blue-eyed and light haired people in the mixed-race descendants than in a typical Tahitian population but more with very dark hair than people of ethnic English origin. A similar study was also taken on the Pitcairn diaspora in Norfolk Island.^[19][20]

Culture[]

The once-strict moral codes, which prohibited dancing, public displays of affection, smoking, and consumption of alcohol, have been relaxed in recent years. Islanders and visitors no longer require a six-month licence to purchase, import, and consume alcohol.^[21] There is now one licensed café and bar on the island, and the Government Store sells alcohol and cigarettes.

Fishing and swimming are two popular recreational activities. A birthday celebration or the arrival of a ship or yacht will involve the entire Pitcairn community in a public dinner in the Square, Adamstown. Tables are covered in a variety of foods, including fish, meat, chicken, philhi, baked rice, boiled plun (banana), breadfruit, vegetable dishes, an assortment of pies, bread, breadsticks, an array of desserts, pineapple and watermelon.

Public work ensures the ongoing maintenance of the island's numerous roads and paths. The island has a labour force of over 35 men and women (as of 2011).^[22]

Language[]

The majority of the resident Pitcairn Islanders are the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and Tahitians (or other Polynesians). Pitkern is a creole language derived from 18th-century English, with elements of the Tahitian language.^[22][23] It is spoken as a first language by the population and is taught alongside standard English at the island's only school. It is closely related to the creole language Norfuk, spoken on Norfolk Island, because Norfolk was repopulated in the mid-19th century by Pitcairners.

Religion[]

The entire population is Seventh-day Adventist.^[22] A successful Seventh-day Adventist mission in the 1890s was important in shaping Pitcairn society. In recent years, the church has declined, with only about eight islanders worshipping regularly, but most of them still attend church on special occasions.^[24] The Sabbath is observed as a day of rest and as a mark of respect for observant Adventists.

The church was built in 1954 and is run by the Church board and resident pastor, who usually serves a two-year term. The Sabbath School meets at 10 am on Saturday mornings, and is followed by Divine Service an hour later. On Tuesday evenings there is another service in the form of a prayer meeting.

Diaspora[]

Australia[]

The 2016 census showed that there were a total of 746 people with Pitcairn ancestry. However, this includes the population claiming Pitcairn descent in Norfolk Island.^[25] There were 262 people of Pitcairn ancestry for the usually resident population in other states and territories of Australia (notably Queensland and New South Wales).^[26]

In the 2011 Australian census, there were 75 people speaking the Pitkern language (also called Pitcairnese) at home, an increase of 21% from the 2006 census which had 62 people speaking the language.^[27]

Norfolk Island[]

The 2016 Australian census included Norfolk Island for the first time. It showed that 20.0% or 484 people claimed Pitcairn ancestry.^[28] As in previous censuses, the 2011 Census asked a question relating to Pitcairn descent. Though for the first time, the 2011 Norfolk Island Census focuses on the Pitcairn descent of the "ordinarily resident population" rather than the "permanent population" of previous Censuses. 45.0 percent of the permanent population are of Pitcairn descent and 38.4 percent of the ordinarily resident population were of Pitcairn descent.^[29] Thus for every two persons of Pitcairn descent, there are three persons of non-Pitcairn descent in the ordinarily resident population on Norfolk Island.^[30] Norfolk’s Pitcairn descendants are already at least 7th or 8th generation, and those in younger age groups are probably 9th generation and the affinity with their heritage is naturally waning.^[10]

New Zealand[]

In the most recent 2018 census, 48 of the ‘usual residents population’ were born in Pitcairn island.^[31] In 2013 the Pitcairn Islander ethnic group comprised 177 people. 80.7 percent were born in New Zealand with 36 born overseas - 91.7% on Pitcairn Island. Between 2006 and 2013, the population decreased by 13.4 percent. This compares with an increase of 15.5 percent between 2001 and 2006.^[32]

• 96.6 percent lived in the North Island and 1.7 percent lived in the South Island.
• The most common region this group lived in was Wellington Region (59.3 percent).
• The median age (half are younger and half are older than this age) was 37.2 years.
• 81.9 percent were born in New Zealand and 19.4 percent were born overseas.^[33]

Ethnic identity:

• 27.1 percent said Pitcairn Islander was their only ethnicity.
• 35.6 percent said they belonged to two ethnic groups and 37.3 percent said they belonged to three or more ethnic groups.

Notable Pitcairn Islanders[]

• 

  Thursday October Christian I

• 

  Thursday October Christian II

• 

  Moses Young & Albina McCoy

Dylan Walker

See also[]

• Norfolk Islanders
• Law enforcement in the Pitcairn Islands
• Bibliography of Pitcairn Islands
• Island Council (Pitcairn)
• Outline of the Pitcairn Islands
• nl:Lijst van Tahitiaanse partners van de opvarenden van de HMAV Bounty

References[]