Meet 3 key players in the All Blacks Under 20s side who all have Pacific Island heritage.

The All Blacks U20s reclaimed the Junior World Championship title after a record win over England in the finals on Sunday (NZ Monday morning).  Final score was NZ U20s 64 - Eng U20s 17  

Asafo Aumua was massive in their win in the final against England with a hat-trick of tries, Ereatara Enari was outstanding at halfback and Dalton Papli'i scored the first try in the final.

Meet the boys here: 

ASAFO AUMUA 

EREATARA ENARI 

DALTON PAPALI'I

Remember these names!  We think you'll be hearing more of them in the future!

‘Raise a Paddle’ is a short documentary that follows a small group of Pacific Climate Warriors as they embark on a journey to the Canadian tar sands. It tells the story of how an oil pipeline expansion all the way in Canada, can affect our small Island home here in beautiful Samoa. President Justin Trudeau’s recently approved pipelines will not only destroy sacred land for Indigenous Peoples in Canada, they will also contribute to the worsening effects of climate change in the Pacific.

Last week, Samoa was privileged to have a group of the Pacific Climate Warriors in town to present a community screening of ‘Raise a Paddle’ and shed light on this important issue. The event was open to the public and it encouraged ALL to attend and engage in discussion around climate change.

Amongst the visiting Warriors was Fenton Lutunatabua (350.org Pacific Campaigner) who gave us a little insight into ‘who they are’ and ‘what they do’. “The Pacific Climate Warriors are a network of climate activists that are active in 15 of the Pacific Island Nations.…more

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Get to know Beulah Koale on Fresh

Beulah Koale hosts Fresh

Thank You for Your Service is an upcoming 2017 American biographical war drama film written and directed by Jason Hall in his directorial debut, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by David Finkel. The film is about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depicting United States soldiers who try to adjust to civilian life after returning from Iraq. The film is produced by DreamWorks Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures, starring Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale, Amy Schumer, and Scott Haze. Principal photography began on February 9, 2016 in Atlanta. It will be released on October 27, 2017

Rugby is the one sport that Samoans are most passionate about and they're equally as passionate about their national team - Manu Samoa.

Win or lose Samoans love seeing them play and they love when they take on the top tier rugby nations no matter what the score.…more

The boat was a necessary part of our lives in Savaii. We spent many days back and forth on those damned boats, smelling of diesel fumes and rocking to every inch of wind that caressed the waves. I hated the boat, but what I did love, was staring in the deep blue ocean, appreciating the horizon as I waited for the shape of my island to get bigger and bigger as the boat approached.

I never viewed the ocean as a separate entity – it always seemed, essentially a part of who we were, are and always will be. An island after all, is an island because of the ocean that surrounds it and laps on its fringes. The memories and thoughts of my children catching crabs by the sea, slapping the waves as they hit the shore and tasting the seaweed between their chubby little fingers, seem far removed from the discussions taking place at The Ocean Conference in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations.…more

Tēnā koutou te whānau, The Walt Disney Animation Studios and Matewa Media are proud to announce that we will be dubbing a reo Māori version of the movie Moana. 

Now on the search for our very own reo Māori speaking Moana! If you love singing and acting and think this might be the part for you, please send us your audition. There's not a lot of time, so be quick!

Check out more info here

Ten years ago I was doing a warm down at a Les Mills class in Christchurch which required everyone to do a haka-type move to a track by Te Vaka.  Just before the haka move the white instructor assumed a pre-haka squat, looked out over the class, took a deep breath then yelled out “Ooga booga” at the top of her lungs before proceeding to slap her thighs, haka-style.

I looked around the class to see who else was appalled by the instructor’s unbridled employment of such a deeply inappropriate and highly racist term: but no one else so much as batted an eyelid.  And then I remembered.

I was in Christchurch.

I’d never heard the phrase oooga booga uttered un-ironically until that point. But a couple of years later I walked into a Tiki bar in Los Angeles just in time to hear a group of punters chanting “ooga booga, oooga booga’ before they skulled their cocktails.…more

The Vodafone Pacific Music Awards went down last night celebrating the best in Pacific Music over the last year & the artists that brought us the music.

Check out some of the well known faces who were on the Red Carpet at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau.

And here are the full list of the 2017 winners:

Best Pacific Group - Three Houses Down 

Best Pacific Male Artist - KINGS 

Best Pacific Female Artist - Aaradhna 

Best Pacific Urban Artist - KINGS 

Best Pacific Song - 'Brown Girl' by Aaradhna 

Best Pacific Language Song - 'Tulou Tagaloa' by Olivia Foa'i 

Best Pacific Gospel Artist - Annie Grace 

Best Pacific Music Video - 'Welcome to the Jungle' - Aaradhna.…more