Coco Talanoa — Humans of the Islands / Page 23

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

Ernestina Maro

African / Cook Islands

Miss Pukapuka & Miss Cook Islands Maine Tepaeru 

I know I'm a pretty weird mix. 'How did my parents meet?' is a question I always get asked (laughs). My Dad migrated here back in the days from Africa and my mum migrated here too from the Cook Islands and they pretty much fell in love in Auckland. My Dad's from Ghana, the west side of Africa. I'm planning to go back there with Dad at the end of this year and just visit my grandmother who I've never met, but I'm named after her. So this will be an epic trip for me to visit the family and meet everyone there and experience the culture because I've never been there before. I have one younger brother and an older sister. My Dad has now remarried to a Samoan woman - so now I have two beautiful half-siblings who are half Samoan. He likes his island girls! (laughs).

What are the common misconceptions about you?

I'm pretty much around my Cook Island side all the time.…more

Ray Letoa

Samoan, 28-years-old

Award-winning Mixologist

I grew up in Strathmore, Wellington which is generally stereotyped as like the 'South Auckland' of Wellington. I've got 5 sisters and two brothers and we grew up in a 3 bedroom flat - I was sleeping in the lounge, my brother was sleeping in the kitchen and we all crammed into this one place. And with determination and lots of training and just hard work, we've all seemed to come out successful in whatever we do. Our parents are really hardworkers so their work ethic transferred over to us. It was a hard journey and also a humbling one but my siblings and I understand all the struggles and the opportunities that my parents have given us, so we never take it for granted.

Is your upbringing a big motivation behind your success?

Yeah definitely! My mother is now an Early Childhood Education teacher - back in the day it was hard for her to get into University, coming from Samoa and not having much education.…more

 Ron Moala

Tongan / Fijian, 21-years-old

Owner of 'Backyard Barbers' in Darwin, Australia.

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I'm Tongan/Fijian, living in Darwin - the Northern Territory of Australia. I moved here as a teenager - my parents are Pastors and planted a church up here. It was hard at first because in New Zealand you’re so used to being surrounded by other poly’s and I felt really homesick up here. But I had to push myself to go out and mix with other cultures which was good. I learnt so much and it opened me up to how diverse the world really is and helped me breakdown different stereotypes that I had in my mind about other cultures. Especially being around the aboriginal community up here - it’s been amazing and I’ve learnt so much.…more