Pacific Media Network broadcaster and community activist Ernestina Maro (left) and Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group chair Rachael Mario share the microphone to talk up Rotuman Language Week events.

Cultural and social justice events feature in the eight day programme.

Last night the Titiri o Waitangi legacy and Rotuman community responses were aired at the Rotuman Community Centre and Whānau Hub in Auckland’s Mount Roskill.

• READ MORE: Rotuman communities in NZ celebrate their language week 2023

Tonight Polynesian Panthers co-founder Will ‘Ilolahia spoke about the 1970s Dawn Raids era and the latest “raids’ controversy.

Among the interesting insights that ‘Ilolahia shared about the legacy of the Polynesian Panthers in education, human rights and social justice was the philosophy about the “panthers” themselves.

“The nature of the panther is that he never attacks,” ‘Ilolahia said.

“But if anyone attacks him or backs him into a corner, the panther somes up to wipe that aggressor or attacker out — absolutely, resolutely, wholly, thoroughly and completely!”

• Full Rotuman Language Week programme details on Facebook and at the Rotuma website.
• Polynesian Panthers documentary
• E-Tangata interview with Will ‘Ilolahia: Once a Panther, Always a Panther

Misuse of funds, dictatorial leadership and lack of consultation displayed by some Methodist Church leaders in Fiji is “a worrying trend”, says church president Reverend Ili Vunisuwai.

He highlighted this and lifestyle concerns — including the abuse of kava — during the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma’s annual conference yesterday.

Reverend Vunisuwai said leadership without respect and humility would push the congregation to search for other places of worship where their voices could be heard.

“Reports and complaints have been received at the head office regarding the misuse of funds in our churches,” he said.

“This is a serious concern as it can end up in the court of law.

“I hereby plead to uphold our Christian values with respect and humility to move forward in improving the leadership status of our church.”

Reverend Vunisuwai also emphasised the need for church members to be mindful of their lifestyles as many ministers had died prematurely.

“Some have passed on while others have been affected with non-communicable diseases (NCDs),” he said.

“We need to be mindful of our lifestyle, especially our eating habits, excessive consumption of kava, staying up late at night, and not having enough rest.”

He called on the congregation to implement the three pillars of the church’s 10-year strategic plan — physical well-being, good leadership and creating awareness for climate change.

Wata Shaw is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Rachael Mario isn’t just any woman, she is special in that she hails from the idyllic South Pacific island of Rotuma.

And it is her love for social work which she hopes will propel her and her Roskill Community Voice and City Vision team onto the Mt Roskill board.

It is also the first time a Pasifika person has decided to stand for the Puketapapa Local Board in Mt Roskill, in the current Auckland local government elections that began today.

• READ MORE:  Mayoral debate cancelled after candidate withdraws from race
• Rotuman social justice advocate puts key bid for Roskill Community Voice

Having lived in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland for 33 years has given her a perspective on social justice and diversity for Auckland.

Much of that comes from time spent at the Whānau Community Hub in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill where her and her team do a sterling job in running different programmes for the good folk of Roskill.

For instance, every first Wednesday of the month they host a free seniors lunch, and it not just for Rotumans but for the diverse group of seniors who reside in Mt Roskill and who yearn for company and a “good old talanoa”.

Quite apart from that, Mario and her team would be out delivering groceries to the needy, or holding health and well-being, financial literacy and language classes for children.

Community doubles
That the community doubles as the Rotuman-Fijian Centre is a testament to her 30+ plus years of marriage to Auckland Fiji human rights advocate Nik Naidu and former journalist, who she met in Fiji when he was a budding radio personality at FM96 in Suva.

When you first meet Rachael Mario she greets you with big smile and utters charming Noa’ia (the Rotuman language greeting) and then she inquires about you with an inquisitive mind just to see how things are going for you.

As Mario explains, the Hub isn’t just for Rotumans but is used by a plethora of other groups, including the Moana-Pasifika Seniors. It is also home to the recently formed Asia-Pacific Media Network (APMN), which publishes the Pacific Journalism Review at the behest of founder Professor David Robie.

With such a diverse bunch using the Whānau Community Hub it is small wonder that Mario would branch out and try to incorporate more diversity in her already busy lifestyle.

That is why the chair of the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Inc. is now standing for her local Puketapapa Local Board in Mt Roskill.

But that has not been without social injustice challenges that her community has faced for many years.

Lack of language funding
Included in those is the housing crisis in Auckland but much closer to her heart was the lack of funding provided to Rotuman language programmes which was given a cold shoulder by local boards.

“The biggest challenge, which isn’t fair, is the discrimination against the Rotuman Community. The Ministry of Pacific Peoples choose to run a different language week against our community-led Rotuman language week programme,” she says.

Other issues she lists are climate change and the environment which she says are huge for Auckland and wider New Zealand.

What also occupies her mind is the city centre, economic and cultural development, better outcomes for Māori, wastewater and storm water, transport and parks and communities.

In a nutshell, Rachael Mario is all things to all communities.

Voting ends on October 8.

• Three fellow candidates from the Fiji Collective contesting the local body elections are: Anne DEGIA-PALA (C&R – Communities and Residents) –  Whau Local Board candidate
• Ilango KRISHNAMOORTHY (Labour) – Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor & Manurewa Local Board candidate
  Vincent NAIDU (Labour) – Waitakere Licensing Trust – Ward 4 (Henderson) candidate

“Noa’ia ‘e” is a greeting people hear when you meet anyone from the island of Rotuma in Fiji or when they visit the Whānau Community Hub in Auckland’s Mount Roskill.

This doubles as the Rotuman-Fijian Community Centre.

It is run by Rachel Mario and her team for a whole host of purposes — a range of different programmes and activities.

• READ MORE: Other Rotuman reports

On any day they could be delivering grocery parcels, health and wellbeing classes, or training community elders (Wednesdays), language and financial literacy classes for children (Saturdays), and leadership training,

You name it and they’re probably doing it.

Mario says the centre hasn’t only been hosting the Rotuman whānau, but it’s also a “home” for other stakeholders such as Asia Pacific Media Network, government agencies, and faith communities.

As chair of the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group Inc., Mario now wants to throw in her leadership hat for the local board.

Standing for Puketāpapa
So she is standing for the Roskill Community Voice team for Puketāpapa Local Board (Mount Roskill).

She loves doing social work and hopes that she and her team will be elected in the October election — and she vows to keep working hard to be the voice of the wider, diverse community in Mount Roskill.

Apart from running the busy programmes at the centre for her Rotuman community and other whānau, Mario has been advocating about issues of social injustice that her community has been facing for years.

Some of these issues include the housing crisis and alleged discrimination on distribution over resources for the Rotuman Language Week celebrations.

“The biggest challenge, which isn’t fair, is the discrimination against us, the Rotuman community. In the Ministry of Pacific Peoples, they want to run a rival language week up against ours,” she says.

“We started in 2018. In 2019, because they didn’t want to list our language week, they didn’t want to list anything we do regarding our endangered indigenous language.

In response to a question from Tagata Pasifika about the allegations of discrimination faced by Mario’s group, the Minister of the Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio denied this, saying he was disappointed to hear about it.

Successful programme
However, in spite of the challenges, the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group successfully ran the language programme in May.

Other issues include the cultural identity of children born from intercultural marriages. However, the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group has embraced all children who have Rotuman blood.

TeRito Peyroux, a member of Rotuman Congregation at Kingsland Methodist Church, says that for those who could not speak Rotuman, “we are who we are, it’s much bigger than our language fluency.”

“It is about our sense of belonging and the people that are nurturing and supporting and being with us. For me, that means that having the privilege of celebrating language and culture in this foreign land makes me very humble,” she says.

Tupou Tee Kamoe, who is also one of the executive members of the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group, cites a quote from Green MP Teanau Tuiono that he had made in his maiden speech in Parliament which she has adapted for bicultural Rotumans:

“People often ask me, ‘am I half Rotuman, half Pacific’, and I say ‘na bro, I am not half anything, I am whole, if anything I am double — if I was a beer I would be double brown, if I was a flavour at the dairy, I would be twice as nice at only half the price.”

Laurens Ikinia is a postgraduate communication studies student at Auckland University of Technology and is a frequent contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

The New Zealand Rotuman community is celebrating Rotuman Language Week 2021 this week until Saturday.

Ingrid Leary, MP for Taieri and an ex-Pacific journalist, media academic at the University of the South Pacific and former director of the British Council, shares her experience with the importance of maintaining the Rotuman language and culture for her children.

• READ MORE: Rotuman Language Week 2021

What does Rotuman language week mean personally to you?

Noa’ia e Mauri to our Rotuman communities in Aotearoa.

Rotuman Language Week is an opportunity for me to celebrate my teenage children’s unique culture and language. It’s an important part of the revitalisation of a beautiful and endangered language, an opportunity to celebrate the new wave of cultural leaders who have bravely stepped out to make Rotuman arts relevant in a modern context while honouring the traditional practices, and a great excuse for Rotumans everywhere to get together as communities and have fun.

What events … will you be attending during Rotuman language week?

I am discussing the marking of Rotuman Language Week at Parliament with my Labour colleagues from the Pasifika Caucus and have the huge honour of saying the opening prayer for Parliament on Wednesday. I was asked to do this, given that I also said my Parliamentary Oath of Allegiance in Rotuman and Te Reo. I am hoping to get to some of the events, including the official closing, if my parliamentary duties allow.

Unfortunately I could not make the opening ceremony in Auckland with the Minister of Pacific Peoples, ‘Aupito William Sio, as I had important business in my electorate last weekend. However, I encouraged all my extended family and friends to attend that and as many events as they could.

What do you think the significance is, and importance of, New Zealand officially observing Rotuman language week?

Rotuman Language Week brings visibility both to the language/culture of Rotumans and to the communities themselves. This is vital to Rotumans having a voice at decision-making tables, as well as to ensuring young Rotuman New Zealanders are safe, confident and proud in their own cultures.

What is your favourite Rotuman food?

Can you tell us something unique about the Rotuman culture that you think most people would not be aware of?

Rotumans who live on Rotuma spend the month of December (after a year of very hard work) in a Christmas Fara or traditional party – which entails going from house to house, one day at a time right around the island, singing, dancing and feasting. If the leaders decide to continue the party, then it can even go on for up to six weeks. The best place to be for Christmas, I’d say!

This is the second year now that New Zealand, as part of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ observance of Pacific language weeks, has observed Rotuman language week. Do you think New Zealanders are starting to understand and know more about the Rotuman Islands, and what significance do you think this has for Rotuman people living in New Zealand and abroad?

Celebrating different Pacific languages is part of New Zealand celebrating who we are as a country. Certainly I’ve seen a shift in awareness of Rotuma since when I first came back to live in New Zealand in 2000, after living in Fiji for five years.

The Ministry of Pacific Peoples’ observance of Rotuman Language Week last year elevated that awareness significantly.

I do want to thank all those in the Rotuman communities over the last 20 years who worked so hard to promote the language and culture, and who engaged with government agencies to push for official recognition of the language. We would not be there without them, and on behalf of my family and the future generations of my family, I give them heartfelt thanks. Foak’sia!

Republished from the Pacific Cooperation Foundation. The original article is here.

The Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group has celebrated relaxed covid lockdown restrictions by reviving their language and culture classes at the weekend.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford and local Papatoetoe-Otara board chair Lotu Fuli of the Auckland Council praised the Rotuman community’s efforts to save their endangered Pacific language.

Twyford took part in the classes on Saturday and learnt a few Rotuman words.

READ MORE: Annual Rotuman Language Week

“It’s so heartening to see the Rotuman elders passing on their language and culture to the youth,” he said.

“Auckland is the world’s largest Pasifika city, and we must all continue to work together to celebrate our diversity.”

Fuli said: “Today I am inspired to continue encouraging my children to speak our Samoan language at home.”

Rotuman group general secretary Rachael Mario said: “Language helps define us, and is part of our culture and identity. We are committed for the sake of our younger ones.”

The group, which had been holding classes for several years, was forced to suspend the get-togethers earlier this year due to covid-19 restrictions.

Classes are held every Saturday afternoon at the NZ Rotuman Community Centre at 35 East Tamaki Rd, Papatoetoe, Auckland.

The centre is part of the Whanau Community Collective.

• More information