Coco Talanoa — Coco News / Page 56

The wearing of fine mats and woven material that make up a Ta'ovala and Kiekie is often what has distinguished Tongan dress from that of its Pacific neighbours. 

Originally made using plant fibres, the longstanding cultural tradition is a sign of respect and symbolizes the binding of Tonga (by tieing the land around one's waist) to a person, wherever they go.

But the inspiration behind the embellished 'Kiekie's of Kanumez designs, which are crafted and designed by Mele Tonga Tamanilo, were first inspired by the picture of a gladiator dress.

"I saw this picture of a girl wearing something like a Gladiator dress and it resembled a kiekie in a way," said Mele

"I thought, 'this is exactly what I want to do'."

Having been taught how to weave by her grandmother, she then spent her school years in Tonga and Fiji developing the traditional weaving and craftmaking skills.

Learning how to make a Ta'ovala (mat around the waist) and Kato Alu (decorated basket) was a part of the school curriculum at Tonga's Queen Salote College, where she attended.…more

Former Miss Samoa NZ 2011 Metotisi Komiti-Faalavaau has made history by becoming the first Samoan contestant to compete in the Bachelor franchise.

Debuting last night on TV 3, the latest season of The Bachelor NZ included a wider range of beauties, including the former Miss Samoa NZ. 

Known as 'Metz' on screen, the 28-year-old administrator from South Auckland was revealed last night after months of speculation as to who the contestants were.

The Bachelor franchise has been adopted worldwide and is in it's second season here in NZ.

Photo: Miss Samoa Facebook

Metotisi applied last year when producers of the show put out the call for potential contestants, saying "I was single at the time when the opportunity presented itself and thought why not?” 

With a focus on studies, friends, family and church, the Samoan beauty is finally at the stage where she's ready for love.…more

With the Samoan General Election only 2 days away (Friday 4th March) of the 164 candidates, 24 are women - compared to the 2011 election which had only 9 female candidates.

The local constitution was changed in 2013 to ensure that 5 of the 49 seats (10%) were for women, a move that was initially unpopular, but has since changed perceptions of women's roles in society.

The move was welcomed by local women and saw an encouraging amount of women contesting and entering the general election to represent their districts. 

Candidates include prominent Samoan business women Lemalu Sina Retzlaff and Vaimasenu'u Zita Martell. 

Despite the promising representation of women in Parliament, thousands of young people failed to register to vote in the upcoming election.

To see the full list of candidates, click here.

Image courtesy of Zita Martel.

Selina Tusitala Marsh is off to London to see the Queen.

She has been commissioned to write and perform a poem at the Commonwealth Day Observance in Westminster Abbey on Monday 14 March.

Selina, a poet and Senior Lecturer in English, was initially approached by the Commonwealth Education Trust last November, but in her modesty she thought they were asking her to find a poet for the event, so she started compiling a list of potential poets.

It was not until two weeks later when they asked her again that she realised that they were actually asking her to be the poet.

The Commonwealth Service is the largest multi-faith celebration in Britain and takes place annually on the second Monday in March at Westminster Abbey. The one-hour service includes a speech from the Queen and also features a mixture of testimonies, readings, songs and musical performances.

The service is based around annual theme. For 2016, the theme is ‘An Inclusive Commonwealth', inviting citizens to consider what it means to live in a diverse yet equitable, fair and tolerant international community.…more

Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga awarded four young people $25,000 scholarships aimed at encouraging more Pacific people into studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.

He's one of New Zealand's sought-after fashion and celebrity Stylists and is quickly making his mark worldwide.

31-year-old Sammy Salsa Style has now been appointed as the internationally renowned MiNDFOOD magazine's full time Fashion Editorial Stylist for Mindfood Style.

The popular Magazine has a vast following in both Australia and New Zealand and has been running for over 8 years.

It's a rare position for the Pacific stylist who is one of few Polynesians in the European dominated industry.

"It's a huge opportunity for me, especially being polynesian and male," said Sammy

"Our aesthetic and our way of thinking is quite different from the european kind of style."

The creative stylist, otherwise known as Sam Cowley Lupo, traces his Pacific roots back to Vaigaga, Manase in Savai'i, Samoa and Avetele in Niue.

In his own personal style, the former TV music host of Pacific Beat Street, has pioneered the look of the new age polynesian man and gained respect from some of the fashion industry's heavyweights as well as his worldwide loyal followers on social media.…more

The Samoan Language is the latest language addition to the search engine's Language options, joining fellow Polynesian languages Maori and Hawaiian!

Source: 9to5Google

Today’s addition of 13 new languages brings the total number of languages Google Translate understands to 103. The update allows 120 million more people around the world to use the service and will be rolling out over the next couple of days to the web and mobile apps.

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of Google Translate launching. The 103 languages understood by the service covers 99% of the online population according to Google. The new languages are: Amharic, Corsican, Frisian, Kyrgyz, Hawaiian, Kurdish (Kurmanji), Luxembourgish, Samoan, Scots Gaelic, Shona, Sindhi, Pashto and Xhosa.

While a lot of machine learning is used to learn new languages, Google also relies on the Translate Community to improve current languages and add new ones. Over 3 million people have translated approximately 200 million words.…more

This week two afakasi forces of nature officially slayed online - Beyoncé’s supernova to the masses with ‘Formation’ and Parris Goebel, the superstar to the dance world with her wins at the World Dance Champs in Vegas.

The parallels between these two queens of their domain are many, as they rule and reign their legions of fans, manipulate media and astound the world with the breathtaking extent of their swag.

The internet has gone cray cray with arguments over Beyoncé’s statements of blackness / mixed raceness / should she be repping Katrina-ness.

While there is an obvious ‘invisible passport’ that both these women have as afakasi’s and the privilege that goes with the ‘high yella’, the power they negotiate through their cleverly wrought images works the confrontation of their ethnicity to the forefront.…more

Violence against women surveys in the Pacific have shown that the incidence is the worst in the world with over 60 per cent of women and girls having experienced violence at the hand of an intimate partner or family member.

Up-and-coming Hawaiian artist Kiana Rivera (aka Kiki) debuts her latest play in NZ - co-written by award-winning NZ-Samoan playwright Victor Rodger and directed by Anapela Polataivao! She spoke to ArtistNet about taking the plunge overseas, and the importance of our stories being told.  

How important is this story?
Personally, being able to write this story with such honesty is a huge personal feat, one that any person in my shoes could understand, so that for myself and other Pacific Island lesbian/queer community, it’s important. Itʻs also the first of it’s kind (representing lesbian Pacific Islanders) according to (writer/actor) Victor Rodger, so any pioneering effort in the Pacific Theatre community must be important by fulfilling a need, eh?

What is a significant moment in Pu**y that affirmed to you the relevancy of your play?
Without giving the entire story away, I’d say any moment in my process where I had to get over my insecurities and fears about any religious or familial consequences affirmed the relevancy of writing.…more