美国国家公共电台 NPR This New Zealand Band Is Trying To Save Maori Culture One Head Banger At A Time

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is kind of sad. Did you know that nearly half of the world's 6,000 or so spoken languages are endangered? That's according to the United Nations. Well, in New Zealand, a group of teens is trying to save their endangered tongue through - wait for it - thrash metal music. Here's NPR's Ashley Westerman.

ASHLEY WESTERMAN, BYLINE¹: The first vocals³ of Alien Weaponry's song "Ru Ana Te Whenua" sound like a battle cry...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RU ANA TE WHENUA")

ALIEN WEAPONRY: (Singing in Te Reo).

WESTERMAN: ...Because that's what it is. It's based off haka, a traditional war dance of the Maori, the indigenous⁴ people of New Zealand. And it's sung in the language, or Te Reo.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RU ANA TE WHENUA")

ALIEN WEAPONRY: (Singing in Te Reo).

WESTERMAN: Seventeen-year-old drummer Henry de Jong says the Maori haka and metal suit each other.

HENRY DE JONG: The music really goes with, you know, that kind of aggressive style of vocal² delivery. And so for us to be singing in Maori and doing it in this kind of haka style, I think it works really well.

WESTERMAN: He'd know. Via Skype, Henry says he and his 15-year-old brother and bandmate Lewis have been speaking fluent Maori since they were very young. Meanwhile, the two were also being raised on metal bands - thanks to their dad - bands like Metallica and Rage Against The Machine. So when the two formed Alien Weaponry in 2010, Henry says singing in Te Reo about Maori issues is just what they decided⁵ to do.

DE JONG: It's a very common thing with metal to actually voice your opinions on politics, on unjust actions and kind of slightly controversial topics.

WESTERMAN: Topics like the suppression of indigenous people's rights. Their single, "Raupatu," literally⁶ means land confiscation⁷. Let's hear a little bit of that with an English translation.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RAUPATU")

ALIEN WEAPONRY: (Through interpreter) According by the treaty, the full possession and chiefly authority over their lands. Full possession and authority over their communities and land. Full possession and authority over all things of value to them.

ALEX MOULTON: If you watch their music videos on YouTube, if you don't understand the language, you're not going to have any idea what they're singing about unless you put the closed captions⁸ on.

WESTERMAN: Alex Moulton is a music reviewer. He says Alien Weaponry has been well received, winning a prestigious⁹ award for exceptional songwriting in Te Reo and playing at festivals across the country. He says their use of full Te Reo with metal is a first.

MOULTON: You know, a lot of the other bands will use it, but it's sort of like a special part of the song whereas the rest of the lyrics¹⁰ are all in English.

WESTERMAN: The band is also winning over pro-Maori language activists¹¹, people like Tania Ka'ai, a professor of language revitalization at the Auckland University of Technology. Since the 1800s, Te Reo Maori has been in sharp decline, an impact of colonization¹². Ka'ai says after a Maori cultural revolution of sorts in the 1980s, the language began to claw its way back.

TANIA KA'AI: The language is used in the modern day, in the home, in the community, in traditional Maori spaces but also between people having, you know, a cup of coffee.

WESTERMAN: Yet, the latest census¹³ data showed that only 21 percent of Maori even speak the language. That's down from 25 percent in 2001. The Maori make up about 15 percent of New Zealand's population, and Ka'ai says it's important to keep pushing.

KA'AI: Because then we can then shape our future. We can have control over our destiny. That's how we can survive as minority.

WESTERMAN: For Alien Weaponry, band member Henry de Jong says they're going to keep doing their part to keep the language alive.

DE JONG: Give young people kind of the inspiration to actually learn the language and, you know, keep it going.

WESTERMAN: This means finishing up their first album, which they aim to put out early next year. Ashley Westerman, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "URUTAA")

ALIEN WEAPONRY: (Singing in Te Reo).

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

3 vocals   

（乐曲中的）歌唱部份，声乐部份( vocal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Also look out for soaring vocals on The Right Man. 另外，也可留意一下《意中人》中的那高亢的唱腔。
• Lazy bass line, lazier drums, lush violins, great piano and incomparable vocals. 懒惰的低音线，较懒惰的鼓，饮小提琴，棒的钢琴和无比的声音。

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 confiscation   

n. 没收, 充公, 征收

参考例句：

• Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 没收一切流亡分子和叛乱分子的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
• Confiscation of smuggled property is part of the penalty for certain offences. 没收走私财产是对某些犯罪予以惩罚的一部分。

8 captions   

n.标题，说明文字，字幕( caption的名词复数 )v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I stared, trying to grasp the point of the picture and the captions. 我目不转睛地看着漫画，想弄清楚漫画和解说词的意思。 来自辞典例句
• Indicates whether the user or the system paints the captions. 指示是由用户还是由系统来绘制标题。 来自互联网

9 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

10 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 colonization   

殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖

参考例句：

• Colonization took place during the Habsburg dynasty. 开拓殖民地在哈布斯堡王朝就进行过。
• These countries took part in the colonization of Africa. 这些国家参与非洲殖民地的开发。

13 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。