The Kittitian Other in the Pacific: Edward Young, Extra-Caribbean Mobility, and Pitcairn Island

Abstract

<p>My title is an allusion to Patricia Mohammed's (2009) paper "The Asian <i>Other</i> in the Caribbean" in the Caribbean studies journal <i>Small Axe</i>. Where Mohammed deals with an othering and migration <i>into</i> the Caribbean, which has altered the macro cultural landscape of micro Indianised locales specifically in Trinidad, my take deals with the smallest possible micro migration-a single individual-<i>out</i> of the Caribbean-specifically from the island of St Kitts-to the South Pacific-specifically Pitcairn Island-through England and Polynesia. The Caribbean cultural remnants I consider are wholly historical and linguistic. My story is both factual and speculative. In this essay I consider to what extent Caribbean-originated <i>Bounty</i> midshipman Edward Young's legacy remains in the Pitcairn Island language, Pitcairn. My angle should be relevant to linguists, island studies scholars, and Pacific scholars alike.</p>