Pitcairn Islanders
Pitkern Ailena

Total population
800–1,000 worldwide[1][failed verification]
Regions with significant populations
Pitcairn Islands	47 (2021)[2]
Norfolk Island	484 (2016)[3]
Australia	262 (2016)[4]
New Zealand	48 (2018 birthplace)[5][6]
United Kingdom	30
Languages
English Pitkern
Religion
Christianity (Seventh-day Adventist Church)
Related ethnic groups
English people Tahitians Scottish people Irish people Cornish people Manx people

Pitcairn Islanders, also referred to asPitkerners andPitcairnese, are thenative inhabitants of thePitcairn Islands, aBritish Overseas Territory including people whose families were previously inhabitants and maintaining cultural connections. Most Pitcairn Islanders aredescendants of the Bounty mutineers andTahitians.

The mainstream Pitcairn culture is a mixture ofBritish (specificallyEnglish,Manx andScottish) andPolynesian (specificallyTahitian) cultures derived from the traditions of the settlers that landed in 1790, plus a few that settled afterwards.^[7][8] As of 2021, there are a total of 47 peopleinhabiting the island.^[1][9]

There is also a Pitcairnesediaspora, particularly inNorfolk Island,New Zealand and mainlandAustralia. Fearing overcrowding, in 1856 all 194 Pitkerners immigrated to Norfolk Island aboard theMorayshire (including a baby Anna Christian born en route) but 16 of them returned to Pitcairn on theMary Ann in 1858, followed by a further four families in 1864.^[10]

Pitcairn Island was sighted on 3 July 1767 by the crew of the BritishsloopHMS Swallow, commanded by CaptainPhilip Carteret. The island was named after Scottish midshipmanRobert Pitcairn, a fifteen-year-old crew member who was the first to sight the island.

“we discovered land to the northward of us. Upon approaching it the next day (Friday, 3 July), it appeared like a great rock rising from the sea... and it having been discovered by a young gentleman, son to Major Pitcairn of the Marines, we called it Pitcairn’s Island.”^[11]

These words, recorded in Carteret's log, describe the first sighting. Robert Pitcairn was a son of British marine majorJohn Pitcairn, who later was killed at theBattle of Bunker Hill in theAmerican Revolution.

In 1790, nine of the mutineers from theBounty, along with the nativeTahitian men and women who were with them (six men, eleven women and a baby girl), settled on Pitcairn Islands and set fire to theBounty. The nine wereFletcher Christian, John Mills, William Brown, Isaac Martin, John Williams,John Adams, William McCoy, Matthew Quintal, and Edward Young.^{[citation needed]}

The wreck is still visible underwater inBounty Bay, discovered in 1957 byNational Geographic explorerLuis Marden. Although the settlers survived by farming and fishing, the initial period of settlement was marked by serious tensions among them. Alcoholism, murder, disease and other ills took the lives of most mutineers and Tahitian men.John Adams andNed Young turned to thescriptures, using the ship'sBible as their guide for a new and peaceful society. Young eventually died of anasthmatic infection. The Polynesians also converted to Christianity (Church of England). After the rediscovery of Pitcairn, John Adams was grantedamnesty for his part in themutiny.^[12]

^[14][1]

As a result of the families who returned to the island starting in 1859 after settling Norfolk Island, most names therefore are descended from those six families. Occasionally a new person would arrive on the island bringing with them a new surname such as the American Samuel Russell Warren born 1830 inRhode Island, U.S., fathered children with Agnes Christian (daughter ofThursday October Christian II), whose descendants still live on the island today.^[15] The McCoy surname (from the mutineer William McCoy) died out in 1973 with the death of Violet McCoy, who had married Floyd Hastings McCoy, a great-great grandson of William.^[16][17]

The once-strict moral codes, which prohibited dancing,public displays of affection, smoking, and consumption of alcohol, have been relaxed in recent years. Islanders and visitors no longer require a six-month licence to purchase, import, and consume alcohol.^[20] There is now one licensed café and bar on the island, and the Government Store sells alcohol and cigarettes.^{[citation needed]}

Fishing and swimming are two popular recreational activities. A birthday celebration or the arrival of a ship or yacht will involve the entire Pitcairn community in a public dinner in the Square, Adamstown.^{[citation needed]} Tables are covered in a variety of foods, including fish, meat, chicken, philhi, baked rice, boiled plun (banana), breadfruit, vegetable dishes, an assortment of pies, bread, breadsticks, an array of desserts, pineapple and watermelon.^{[citation needed]}

Public work ensures the ongoing maintenance of the island's numerous roads and paths. The island has alabour force of over 35 men and women (as of 2011).^[21]

The majority of the resident Pitcairn Islanders are thedescendants of theBounty mutineers and Tahitians (or other Polynesians).Pitkern is acreole language derived from 18th-century English, with elements of theTahitian language.^[21][22] It is spoken as a first language by the population and is taught alongside standard English at the island's only school. It is closely related to the creole languageNorfuk, spoken onNorfolk Island, because Norfolk was repopulated in the mid-19th century by Pitcairners.

The entire population isSeventh-day Adventist.^[21] A successful Seventh-day Adventist mission in the 1890s was important in shaping Pitcairn society. In recent years, the church has declined, with only about eight islanders worshipping regularly, but most of them still attend church on special occasions.^[23] TheSabbath is observed as a day of rest and as a mark of respect for observant Adventists.

The church was built in 1954 and is run by the Church board and resident pastor, who usually serves a two-year term. The Sabbath School meets at 10 am on Saturday mornings, and is followed by Divine Service an hour later. On Tuesday evenings there is another service in the form of a prayer meeting.^{[citation needed]}

The2016 census showed that there were a total of 746 people with Pitcairn ancestry. However, this includes the population claiming Pitcairn descent in Norfolk Island.^[24]There were 262 people of Pitcairn ancestry for the usually resident population in otherstates and territories of Australia (notablyQueensland andNew South Wales).^[25]

In the 2011Australian census, there were 75 people speaking thePitkern language (also called Pitcairnese) at home, an increase of 21% from the 2006 census which had 62 people speaking the language.^[26]

The 2016 Australian census included Norfolk Island for the first time. It showed that 20.0% or 484 people claimed Pitcairn ancestry.^[27] As in previous censuses, the 2011 Census asked a question relating to Pitcairn descent. Though for the first time, the 2011Norfolk Island Census focuses on the Pitcairn descent of the "ordinarily resident population" rather than the "permanent population" of previous Censuses. 45.0 percent of thepermanent population are of Pitcairn descent and 38.4 percent of theordinarily resident population were of Pitcairn descent.^[28][29] Norfolk's Pitcairn descendants are already at least 7th or 8th generation, and those in younger age groups are probably 9th generation and the affinity with their heritage is naturally waning.^[10]

In the most recent2018 census, 48 of the ‘usual residents population’ were born in Pitcairn island.^[30] In2013 the Pitcairn Islander ethnic group comprised 177 people. 80.7 percent were born in New Zealand with 36 born overseas – 91.7% on Pitcairn Island. Between 2006 and 2013, the population decreased by 13.4 percent. This compares with an increase of 15.5 percent between 2001 and 2006.^[31]

• 96.6 percent lived in the North Island and 1.7 percent lived in the South Island.
• The most common region this group lived in was Wellington Region (59.3 percent).
• The median age (half are younger and half are older than this age) was 37.2 years.
• 81.9 percent were born in New Zealand and 19.4 percent were born overseas.^[32]

Ethnic identity:

• 27.1 percent said Pitcairn Islander was their only ethnicity.
• 35.6 percent said they belonged to two ethnic groups and 37.3 percent said they belonged to three or more ethnic groups.

• 
  Thursday October Christian I
• 
  Thursday October Christian II
• 
  Moses Young & Albina McCoy
• 
  Teraura
• 
  Mauatua

• 
  Dylan Walker

• nl:Lijst van Tahitiaanse partners van de opvarenden van de HMAV Bounty
• Bibliography of Pitcairn Islands
• Europeans in Oceania
• Island Council (Pitcairn)
• Law enforcement in the Pitcairn Islands
• Norfolk Islanders
• Outline of the Pitcairn Islands

• Pitcairn Islands people
• Mutiny on the Bounty
• Indigenous peoples of Polynesia
• Ethnic groups in Oceania
• European diaspora in Oceania

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