Maragai language – French Polynesia

Maragai is one of the dialects of the Paumotu language. Tuamotuan, Paʻumotu or Paumotu (Tuamotuan: Reʻo Paʻumotu or Reko Paʻumotu) is a Polynesian language spoken by 4,000 people in the Tuamotu archipelago, with an additional 2,000 speakers in Tahiti.

The Tuamotu people today refer to their land as Tuamotu, while referring to themselves and their language as Paʻumotu. Paʻumotu is one of six Polynesian languages spoken in French Polynesia, the other five languages being Tahitian, Marquesan, Mangarevan, Rapa Iti, and the language of the Austral Islands. It is an oral transmission language. The alphabet was brought by the europeans and they wrote Paumotu so that is why it is based on the Latin alphabet.

Source : Wikipedia

I AM is a project created by the Free Spirit Foundation. Through the ‘I AM’ project, we amplify the voice of nature in all the world languages. We also preserve the endangered languages and cultures by revealing their beauty. People across the globe translate, read and record the same message (the voice of nature : the forest, the ocean, the earth, the sky and the animals) in their native dialect.

“Ia Ora Na, Kura Ora, Bonjour and Hello,

Born in 1969 to my Paumotu mother, I was taught in the French System, as French Polynesia is one of the French Territories situated in the Pacific Ocean.

My forefathers being natives of the Tuamotu islands of Nukutavake – Pinaki – Vairaatea – Vahitahi – Akiaki, one of the 5 Archipels in French Polynesia, I was brought up mostly by my grandmother who had an immense passion for her culture and her islands.

Her enthusiasm inculcated in me the passion for my culture and my background. This passion converted me to fall in love for my country and its rich culture and pursue this as a hobby as an immense and profound admiration, that I started to learn and search for my past ancestors and their way of living by learning to become a Genealogist from the University of French Polynesia just to follow their paths.

Today, I have made sure that my children grow up into this rich culture and I have given them my passion for our future generations to come, so that they know their origins and keep our culture alive.

I sincerely hope that each one that reads my testimony and my biography is as touched by my culture and my Country for generations to come.”

Teara Teavai