English

Alternative forms

• bush kanaka
• bush-Kanaka

Noun

bus kanaka ‎(plural bus kanakas)

1. (Papua New Guinea) An uncivilised person; a person who follows a traditional rather than modern lifestyle.
   • 1965, The Papua-New Guinea Elections 1964

     ... for some more sophisticated coastal people there was merely the shame at being led by a bush kanaka, ...

   • 1999, Eric Hirsh, Colonial Units and Ritual Units: Historical Transformations of Persons and Horizons in Highland Papua in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 41, No. 4

     Fuyuge men recount with humor their initial encounters with life in Port Moresby during the 1950s. They speak of travelling to the coast in their bark-cloths and realising upon their arrival that they were inappropriately dressed: “We immediately felt bus kanaka [wild, uncivilized].”

   • 2002, Terry O'Farrell, Behind Enemy Lines

     Sam’s blues and boots disappeared into his small backpack, his beret was pushed back onto the head at a very jaunty angle and the .303 was slung carelessly over the shoulder. A torn pair of shorts completed the ensemble. In the twinkling of an eye, the immaculate policeman was transformed into a ragged bush kanaka...

   • 2004, K. O. L. Burridge, Mambu: A Melanesian Millennium

     Manam islanders knew Mambu: but they could not admit to being led or influenced by a mere bush-Kanaka.

   • 2005, Nancy Sullivan,My Weblog: Stories about living in Papua New Guinea, November 5

     Do you see development here? Are you living like white men? No! We’re still living like bus kanaka.

See also

• bushman

Tok Pisin

Etymology

bus + kanaka

Noun

bus kanaka

1. An uncivilised person; a person who follows a traditional rather than modern lifestyle.