expressed and actual language use suggests that the Mur community esteems and identifies with the minority vernaculars and would like to maintain this identity. Even clan members who traditionally
associate with the Pano vernacular reported having the ability to speak and understand Molet and Dawang.
Following the completion of two group questionnaires one evening, a village leader spoke with the group in Pano. An onlooker told the survey team he was telling the community that they were headed
towards losing their vernaculars. The leader later reported that he was talking about the work of the survey team. This village leader’s actions suggest he is concerned about the declining use of the Mur
vernaculars, and wants to stir up interest in the community to strengthen the use of those vernaculars.
4.3.5 Group identity
Language vitality tends to be stronger in communities with a strong internal cultural identity Landweer 2006:200-201. According to Fasold, “[a] prevalent tendency to maintain a distinction between ‘us’ and
‘them,’ that is, the in-group and a particular out-group, is one sign that shift is not in progress” 1987:240. In the situation described in this survey, data suggest that the Mur community maintain a
distinctive identity from neighbouring groups. However, the distinction between “us” and “them” is also made within Mur society between the different clans, and the clans’ traditional vernaculars appear to
play a significant role in this. Solidarity among the seven Mur clans, as well as the maintenance of a distinctive Mur identity, is
evidenced by some of the villagers’ traditional practices. Men from all the Mur clans construct houses and canoes the same way, but this way is distinct from groups outside Mur. The same is true for grass
skirts made by women from the seven clans. All seven clans participate in a singsing community gathering involving song, dance, and food called Kandai that marks a boy’s passage into adulthood. This
singsing is unique to Mur village, and the words that are sung are Mur Pano. It was last performed around Christmas of 2010.
The Mur community feel solidarity but do make distinctions among the individual clans who are included. The Dawang community is recognised as a community in its own right by the residents of Mur.
However, the survey team did not succeed in being able to gather a group of Dawang speakers and their hamlet has no central point of common focus. While collecting Dawang data, one surveyor observed a
small, grave-like area in the garden of our informant. He was told that this was a memorial set up to remind him that this was Dawang land and not to forget the history as related in 4.1.2. Thus, there is
some evidence that Dawang identity has been threatened ever since those events unfolded, and it remains so today.
The Molet community in Mur is stronger than Dawang, but it too seems to be weakening. Positive signs include the fact that the Molet-speaking community has at least one hamlet—Gila, occupied by the
Marasoka clan—that identifies itself as Molet-speaking and is a tightly knit cluster of houses on the far side of the river from much of Mur. However, even in Gila, Molet is being spoken less among children,
and Tok Pisin and Pano are taking its place. One Molet informant, a man who could not speak Pano beyond a few important words, told a
surveyor that the Molet community in Mur does not gather separately from the broader Mur community. However, when asked whether he valued his identity as a Mur resident or a Molet speaker higher, he
said being a Molet speaker was more important to him. It is also important to note that there is a broader Molet-speaking community outside of Mur,
including Kasu and probably Somek. The ties between these communities were not investigated closely, but should Molet cease to be used in Mur, similar varieties are likely to continue being used in these
other locations. Molet speakers also identify Asaro’o villages—Baru, Bagen, and Subura—as speaking their language but differently.
It remains to be seen how the trend of clans moving to their own clan areas affects their common identity. The language dynamic will also impact the future identity of Mur. If Pano overtakes the village
entirely, it will likely be a bonding influence in the future.
