Last week I asked my tribal brother Joshua to give me a tok ples name. Everyone here has a tok ples name and then a christian name. It’s customary here in Pei for your brothers and tribal father to give you this name. The people’s tok ples names aren’t used often and are usually only known by family and close friends. Usually you’re given the name of a dead ancestor. Yesterday I was given the name Lisia!
It’s interesting to note the cultural differences when it comes to names. In the states we don’t really have any hesitations when it comes to telling people our names…most of the time we’ll walk up and introduce ourselves. That’s rarely the case here. My co-workers and I have been here for almost 6months and I know only a handful of tok ples names for people. To find out my sisters tok ples name I’ll have to go to my tribal mom or a cousin to ask them to tell me her name – and most of the time people are hesitant to just give the names out.
Despite the cultural differences I was really excited to be given the name Lisia. It was an encouraging experience because it was another opportunity to understand culture and it’ll help me relate better to the people of Pei! Even though my team mates and I weren’t born here the people have done a great job of adopting us into their lines and looking out for us. One of the first things my brother asked was, “sister what do you think of your name? Are you happy?” I was able to thank him and tell him I really liked my new name!
I don’t always understand why the Pei people operate the way they do but I’m grateful for any opportunity to better understand their worldview!
Below are three of my brothers who were there to give me my name. Thomas, Joshua and Amos