For the first month of our time in Fakaofo, the village were all busily occupied getting ready for the General Fono where the Tokelau head of Government would be inaugurated. The big day arrived when we'd been here exactly a month.
8th March 2016 - We got up at 6am, got everyone ready (it was pouring, so glad I
had brought the uniforms in the night before off the washing line.) Headed off
to catch the 7:30am Boat over to Fale, very full boat excited children, lots of
familiar hand games going on (Lisa the warrior, Samaria Maria). Lots of people
were sitting on each other’s knees as it was so full, so we rearranged our crew
and moved over so there was a spare seat next to me (Chrissie) however no one
felt brave enough to sit next to the palagi woman….as the seat became glaringly
obviously empty and people continued to be piled on each other and squeezed in,
I felt the shame/embarrassment rising in my cheeks, I know it wasn’t personal,
we are still very new here, but it was an uncomfortable space. We arrived at Fale and gathered with the
other school children and teachers (Who all looked amazing in beautiful
Puletasi and shirts made especially for the occasion) The school kids then
walked up to the flag pole to have a practice, so Matt and I went and stood
with others waiting for the day to begin. Rainy went with Meli, which was
really great for him, didn’t know if he would go with the school kids or not.
Somehow in the course of the day he lost his jandles ahh well.
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School kids just off the boat at Fale |
The school was ushered into the Fale Fono and stood
waiting as the dignitaries arrived via golf cartsJ
While we were waiting near the back of the crowd, I
spotted Paula, who had hosted us so generously in Samoa, it was lovely to say
hello briefly. All the special guests started to arrive and were taken to their
seats at the front of the Fale Fono, everyone dressed in red and white (colours
we were told to wear) were suddenly directed to go and line up behind the
school inside the Fale Fono, feeling uncertain, Matt and I went where we were
told, following the others, women on one side and men the other, I sat quickly
without thinking and realised I was right on the end of a line straight in
front of the special guests, the Taupulega, Ulu (Tokelau head of Government)
and Pulinuku (Mayor of Fakaofo), but I was at the back of the group which was
facing to the flag pole at the side so that was a relief, we stood with the
school and started to sing the national anthem (A beautiful song) as the Police
raised the flag.
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Seated in Fale Fono for ceremony-spot me at centre front-Red flower in my hair!
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The school sounded lovely and I was proud of my kids. As we
sat the group turned to the left, which meant now I was in the very front row
of village women facing all the dignitaries and special guests….how did this
happen, could I somehow move, I felt very conspicuous and totally in the wrong
place. The ceremony started with a lovely prayer and them a sermon on the
leadership of Joshua (a small part was in English) which was really moving.
Then the choir (which I was in the front row of!!!) stood and the music
started, thankfully a word sheet was handed out to everyone, so I did my best
to follow along and get the Tokelauan right…It was a beautiful song and the
village sung it so well, (I felt terrible as they had practiced hard and here
was a stupid palagi women right up the front with no clue what she was doing).
If the ground could have swallowed me right then it would have been great! Friends
who have lived cross culturally all had said don’t worry you’ll make some
cultural faux pas along the way it’s all
part of being a foreigner, making mistakes…but I just hadn’t thought it would
happen so soon or in such a large group setting!! We sat cross legged for the
rest of the formalities, so painful for us kiwis!! Then we moved to the side
and the police came in to swear in the new Ulu. They looked amazing in their
crisp white uniforms and they marched in formation to the front. (Made me
remember watching my brother when He was in boys brigade marching in the
colours) cool to watch. The Ulu was sworn in and the speeches then continued,
thankfully, the choir left at this point to begin food preparations and get ready
for the next part of the ceremony. I was so relieved to be out of the Fale Fono
and now able to watch the rest of the formalities from the safety of the back
of the crowd.
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Ulu (Centre L) Pulenuku (centre R) and their wives. |
Rainy was still sitting with Mel’s but saw me move and
came out to the back to find us; He had done very well for a 3year old kiwi
kid. The rest of the school and preschool sat through many speeches and prayers
as this significant day took place, it was probably 3 hrs of formalities,
Tokelauan children are amazing at sitting quietly and waiting, especially in
the heat. Our guys found it hard, they were hungry and thirsty and not
understanding a lot of what was going on, but they felt privileged to be a part
of it none the less. As the first part of the formalities was now over the
children were ushered out and all given a bag of Bongo-like cheezles and
chocolate milk each, they were all very happy, good to chat and stretch their
legs. Drinking coconuts (Hua) were taken up to the dignitaries, Elders and
special guests in a special ceremonial procession. The children came back and
sat on the perimeter, while the gift giving began, this was a colourful
combination of song and dance as first Nukunono (Handing over the Ulu position
to Fakaofo) brought forward gifts, material, fishing nets, fans, money. Then it
was Fakaofo’s turn, the performances were amazing, material, meters and meters
of it, fishing nets painstakingly hand woven, money sewn into leis, beautiful
hand woven mats and church fans were all brought forward and given to the new
Ulu. It was a beautiful ceremony. The last two gifts were particularly special;
one was an intricately carved and ornately decorated treasure box, exquisite in
detail and beauty, the other a miniature vaka carved in traditional style.
Rainy by this stage had charmed, made friends with one of
the young men driving the 6 persons golf cart, He had been hopped up, talked to
so kindly and been given a chance to hold the steering wheel, He was stoked
being the vehicle enthusiast that he is. This same young man was given
instruction to bring the last two gifts (in the cart) to be presented, firstly
however he passed the treasure box to Rainy and let him hold it, a very special
privilege….I wish we had had our camera! After the formalities were over, the
special guests went to the opening of the Mataliki the new Tokelauan boat for
passage from Apia to all the Atolls, replacing the lady Naomi…so we won’t have
to travel home on her-phew. I hear the new boat is lovely and we all look
forward to going home on her at the end of the year.
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Seniors waiting to preform |
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Such a beautiful performance-spot the palagi's |
While this opening and tour was taking place we walked,
led in song by the seniors from Tialeniu School (Mel’s and Ru included) to Te
Papa – a gathering place at the edge of Fale, where a marquee had been set up
for the feast. Everyone gathered and waited for the arrival of the guests. The
senior school got ready for their performance and waited cross legged. The
people of the village were busy in the kitchen and bringing out food to the
tables. When the guests arrived and the grace had been said the seniors started
their performance. They were amazing, in both song and dance, I was very proud
of my two girls, fully participating and enjoying it, the guests were served
then those of us observing were allowed to eat, a massive feast of lamb chops,
pork, chicken, Taro, green bananas, fish, coleslaw (YUM) and potato salad, plus
many others foods I don’t know the name for. We drank very sweet cold coffee or
milo, and water or Tang (juice like Raro). The older children preformed the
whole way through the meal (teachers too) then after everyone else had eaten,
they were allowed to eat. As the guests dispersed and the tidy up began, people
from the village were able to come and collect leftovers to take home, we felt
very spoilt to get some chops and chicken and pork. Especially as we had not
been involved in all the hard preparation work. We headed home at 4pm, tired from a full and fascinating day.
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They all did so well! |
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Outside Te Papa watching the performance. (cold sweet coffee in my hand) |
Nice report "from within"!
ReplyDeleteiapiinapia
More pix and words about the day are here: http://www.tokelau.org.nz/Bulletin/March+2016/Steering+the+vaka+to+better+quality+of+community+life.html
Bless you Chrissie. I hope you have since discovered that the unoccupied seat next to you was merely a gesture of respect for you. A respect well-deserved based on your experiences and learnings with/of my people.
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