4th Friday, November 2005
Cabinet Report: Taoga Niue in Auckland.
It was a large team from Niue that left on the 24th of November for Auckland with the hope of achieving the following objectives:
Minister
and the new Committee followed by a huge dinner organised by Mrs Louisa
Lavakula and her group, the Fuata Niue Fono at Eden Park and finally attended
an invitation with the Premier in a celebration of the Tupuna Niue at the PIC,
Newton.
1. The Launching of Pulou Niue. This function was held at Hillary College Hall at Otara on Saturday 29th that was well attended by representatives from various Niuean Communities living in Auckland, including a small group from Wellington who had made a special effort to be part of Pulou Niue. Mrs Brenda Cottingham [the President of Pulou Niue in New Zealand] is the leader of this group.
As
I mentioned in my preliminary report to Cabinet the event was exciting in a kind
of organised mayhem, where everyone knows about the party but no one knew who
the special guests were going to be. But they came anyway, dressed in their
best, which for me the most amazing parts were the number of hats seen and the
multitude of children who were included as an integral part of the Pulou Niue.
Congratulations to the organisers for this forethought.
The appearances of dignitaries surprised everyone. President Oscar Temaru called in briefly with his adviser and praised the Niuean people for their beautiful hats. His remark I thought was rather profound – that ‘Niueans are truly free people and I hope you will continue to be,’ something I suspect we did not know about ourselves that other people do.
Prime Minister Clark’s dramatic entry and her homilies warmed the happy and jubilant throng at the hall. This is the second time that Niueans in Auckland had met the Prime Minister this year in person, again in an initiative by Taoga Niue.
Other local dignitaries were also present, Mrs Winnie Laban for example, although I was too busy taking photos to find out who they were until afterwards. Premier Vivian I think is to be commended for inviting President Temaru after their meeting in New Guinea the previous week.
Thanks to Ekepule Toke Talagi for attending the Pulou Niue and joining us and his presence was also acknowledged by Prime Minister Helen Clark in his role as the former Taoga Niue Minister.
That the Pulou Niue launching was a success would be an understatement. It was a huge success thanks to the organisers, Brenda Cottingham, Louisa Lavakula and her sisters, Mrs Jacobsen and others too many to mention.
The hats that our team took with us were appropriately admired and a request by Niueans weavers abroad for more natural fibre from Niue was noted.
This was a happy occasion in which the women were obviously delighted for the opportunity to show off their abilities in weaving. Sadly there were not many men present to add support to this worthwhile project.
Pulou Niue is much more than just showing off a ‘few’ hats – it is another step up in our mission to hold fast to the important aspects of our cultural heritage, and to build and maintain the contacts that we have with our people abroad.
·
Taoga Niue Fono, Mangere Congregation Church Hall
There
were not that many Pulou worn in this meeting but after a slow start the hall
was full of local Niueans all eager to have their say in ‘what should go on in
their homeland.’ The topics were wide and varied though I was too busy taking
photographs and therefore did not have an opportunity to listen or take part in
the proceedings or in small group discussions.
Premier Vivian and Toga Minister address the meeting followed by powerpoint presentations by Moira Enetama of her ‘wish list’ for Taoga Niue an where it was going. Reverend Pahetogia Faitala explained the role of the church in Taoga Niue.
There
were important representations there from the Niuean Communities whose main
concern was that they hoped the Government WILL adhere to the plans outlined by
both the Premier and the Minister during their opening addresses. I guess that
there have been many projects in the past that have been initiated and never
followed up, or completed.
Both Premier Vivian and Minister Tukuitonga were pleased with the attendance and the contributions made during the Fono from various groups, particularly the Niue Youth led by John Ridd Kumitau.
At the post Fono dinner afterwards Mr Kingi Liukingi presented Premier Vivian with a cheque for $300, a contribution to the new Niue Hospital at Kaimiti. Fakaaue lahi mahaki, Oue Tulou!
There
was a small degree of discontent after the voting in and the results announced a
Taoga Niue Committee. The Minister for Taoga Niue was satisfied that the
election of the said committee was done properly and fairly. The new members
are: Mr Thomas kauie, Reverend Sione Faitala, Mr John Ridd Kumitau, Ms Tutose
Tuhipa, Mrs Taonefoou Falesima, Mrs Susana Hukui, Ms Lino Nelisi and Mrs Lekei
Taupa.
The new members were briefed by the Minister and the Premier at Hall Avenue function at Mangere about what the Government expects followed by a dinner afterwards to celebrate the Committee.
Launching the John Pule’s Hiapo Book.
This function was held at Leech’s Art Gallery [opposite the Auckland Art Gallery in Federal St] on Wednesday evening. John Pule was disappointed at the apparent snubbing by the Taoga Niue contingency, stating that while he wanted high level representation at the launching he had received no response from the Taoga Niue sources regarding his requests. He consequently held the launching in which I gate-crashed [I did not have an invitation] and bought a book from his agent.
The Hiapo book represented many years of work, research and travelling by John. I think it is a worthwhile record for our archives and a valuable resource.
Church Service at Mangere Congregation
I found many beautiful hats while attending this Church service with the Minister and Moira Enetama. Minister Tukuitonga were pleased to note that most of the hats were traditional and wearing hats to church is still important for our people abroad.
Premier meets our Tupuna
I
was requested to attend a function at the Newton Congregation Hall on Friday
where the Premier and his officials were invited to join the Tupuna Niue Group
for lunch and entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting our tupuna Niue as did
Premier Vivian and his officials. The occasion warrants mentioning because here
I found quite a number of our elderly who, I was told, meet frequently to
socialise, entertain themselves and to share news of their lives and their
families. “The opportunity to meet the party from the homeland was too good to
miss,” said Mr Fala Pihigia, a member of the organising committee.
We were treated to a scrumptious lunch with entertainment to follow. Unfortunately the Premier and his team were due to leave Auckland that evening on an inaugural flight on Air New Zealand to Niue he could not stay to enjoy the dances and the singing. It was good to know that although the numbers of the more elderly were dwindling we were pleased to know that most were still active and able to amuse themselves.
I enjoyed myself at all the functions that I attended thanks to Taoga Niue for funding my trip to New Zealand.
A sea of hats…
