Coco Talanoa — Humans of the Islands / Page 22

Ena Schwalger
Elei Artist
Samoa at FestPac in Guam

One thing about the Guam people is that they are really really friendly and they are so fascinated with Polynesian things- they went out of their way to make us welcome.

I'm representing Samoa making elei at the festival. I had a stall at the maketi in Samoa which burnt down, so it so good bringing my materials over here where the whole Pacific is!

I do all the elei myself - I make stencils of the ulu leaves and all the other samoan patterns then I print my fabric up so it's totally unique.

And our ie Lavalava we have is the best! It's pure cotton and really soft and we have so many different designs. We are so proud of the way we've improved our printing - the Samoan ie really stands out here and the Micronesians especially really love it.

Our stuff has been very popular I think because not many people are doing clothes and we're pretty cheap compared to other products.…more

My name is Dallanz and I'm representing Rotuma. This is our first time at a festival like this and we are so excited to represent our culture.

We are drummers and we play the lales and the dunduns and the pahua. We are part of the Fijian delegation and we are also performers in Rako Pasifika which is a contemporary dance group in Fiji

Iane: We have strong links with other Polynesia styles Wallace and Futuna, Samoa and Tonga so we've adapted our styles to other countries as well Rotuman music is most similar to Fiji.

Iane: The Kuki and Tahitian beats are the best their very technical and their instruments compliment each other very well. We've actually been to Washington DC and the Blues fest in Byron Bay. We do our cultural dances which is based around themes - climate change and global warming.

What makes the Rotuman flavour stand out at the festival?
Dallanz: Our energy.…more

POLOMA IOSEFA (a.k.a MOMOEACHOKES)

Samoan

28 years old

I'm making this fisherman's hat, this is the style from our ancestors almost exact replica from the way we made them hundreds of years ago.

The more intense weaving is from my teacher here but a lot of the style of coconut weaving came from my aunties.
This pandanus comes from off island the Chamorro coconut fibre is alot stronger, alot more sturdy.

We don't have a lot of coconut trees in Guam so there isn't a lot of raw material- the beetlenut destroyed
them.

As far as folding leaves it was very easy to get the concept but it's very difficult to hold on to all the leaves at one time! Now days all the traditional weavers are really scattered, in our all group Its mostly men who weave but back in the day it was mostly women.

The most challenging thing I have woven is a little bag because the finer it gets the more challenging it can be.…more

Naki Moala

Tongan / Chamorro

26 years old

I was raised in California in the Bay area, born in the West Bay San Mateo and then raised in Hayward, East Bay. My Mom is from Saipan and my Dad is from Tonga and I'm the second eldest of 5 kids. We were raised in the Church, that's where the musical journey started for me. 

We're all musical - my Grandma kind of just put us in front of audiences at church and made us sing Tongan hymns and do our lesoni's (scripture readings). Me and my siblings we formed a band called the 'Tomorro's' (Tongan/Chamorro). Music was kind of something that would always bring my family together. Everytime we were at family parties my Dad would always volunteer us to be the entertainment of the night. It was just something I loved doing because it always got us together and it was always good times.

Can you describe what it was like being raised with two completely different Pacific cultures of the Pacific? Your mix is a unique combination.…more

John Mateialona Maumau-Pinomi

Tongan, 31 years old

Aspiring Football player

Pita Taufatofua

Taekwondo Olympian

Tongan / Australian

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Pita is currently raising funds for the Kingdom of Tonga after a large Tsunami caused by a volcanic eruption devastated Tonga on the 15th of January.

Click here to donate to this fundraiser which has a 1 miliion dollar goal with funds specificed to go towards those most in need, infrastructure and damage to schools, hospitals etc.

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My mother's Australian/British.  My father's from Ha'apai and Vava'u in Tonga. There's seven of us, but one of my sisters passed away from Cancer when I was about 4 or 5. I'm the 3rd eldest. 

I still have memories of it. I still remember the day we had her funeral. At that age I felt the sadness from everyone else around. Because I was so young I didn't have a full grasp of what death was. But what I do remember was the sadness of the people around me, my family and everyone else. She was a student at Queen Salote college at the time, she was only 12.…more

Nastajia Bourke

Tongan / Irish

Sommelier

35 yrs, 

Florence Jaukae Kamel

Bilum Fibre Artist

Goroka, Papua New Guinea

I am Florence Jaukae Kamel, I was born and raised in Goroka. I am a single mum with five children and I have 3 grandchildren.

My mother taught me how to weave and I started weaving when I was a small girl, like 6 or 7 years old. But I didn't take it very seriously. Then one day I was looking through an encyclopedia and I saw the carpet snake and I thought 'I really like those colours'. The carpet snake had a zigzag pattern which is more like the K K design we have here in some of the bilums in PNG. I thought, 'that will look nice for a small dress'. My ancestors have been using the bilum as a baby carrier and food carrier and also as a container craft.

I wanted to be different and I started making bilum dress/outfits. I come from a small town and whenever somebody is getting a haircut everyone will want to do the same.…more

Uria George-Temanu

Flight Instructor, part-time dance tutor

Cook Islander, 33-years-old

What are you currently doing? 

Currently I’m working at Ardmore Flying School as a Flight Instructor and Ground School Coordinator.  I have just come back into the field from maternity leave so will need to get my renewal done before I start flying again.  In the meantime, I am teaching classes and organising ground school. 

Can you tell me about your background? 

I was born in Aitutaki in the Cook Islands - my mother is Atiu/Mangaian and my father Aitutakian/Norwegian. We moved to Auckland in the early 90’s where I grew up with my 6 siblings. I loved my childhood - we had the freedom to do what children do and my parents allowed us to experiment life.  I remember when my sister and I were in primary school, and our parents were at work during the weekends, we would catch the bus into the city and go to the movies, go to the mall, play sport. We were independent.…more