As Niueans across New Zealand celebrate Faahi Tapu he Vagahau Niue (Niue Language Week), Mr Ikimotu says it has been a time of reflection for him around what it means to be Niuean.
Mr Ikimotu is Niuean born and moved to New Zealand when he was six years old. In a talanoa for 531 PI’s Early Edition radio show, he shared a bit about his journey as a Tagata Niue reclaiming his identity.
“I moved to NZ when I was quite young and that meant I was suddenly thrust into an environment where I wasn’t around the vagahau as often. My family slowly transitioned into a space where we stopped speaking Niuean.
I can still understand it and speak it quite brokenly. But now that life has slowed down a bit for me, I am now feeling the pain of not being fully connected to the language as well as I should be.”
Mr Ikimotu is a proud Niuean but it is only now as a 25 year old that he has stopped to reflect on what that actually looks like and means for him.
“I’m in a space now where I’m reclaiming my language, re-learning what I once knew and really pushing myself to reconnect with the language of my ancestors.
I think it’s also really important to surround yourself with community leaders and people who truly champion you, regardless of where you are at in your journey of reclaiming your identity.”
Mr Ikimotu is currently part of the Niue Ki Mua Collective, initially set up for the Niue vaccination event in Auckland a couple weeks ago. He says it has been pivotal in helping him stay connected to the Niue community in New Zealand.
“We were dedicated to driving the messaging and communication about the event with a specific focus on our young people. We got a lot of engagement online and thought why stop here? We want our young people to stay connected with our culture.
Essentially we’re a collective that is about empowering our people, moving our culture and Niue people forward.”
Mr Ikimotu encourages people to be proud of their Pacific heritage and to pause and reflect.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the rush and pressure of chasing success here in Aotearoa and in some cases that comes at the sacrifice of our identity.
It’s important to ask yourself, is it true success if we’ve lost a sense of who we are? Is it worth it if we’ve forgotten our roots because we’ve assimilated into a society whose notion of success tells us to leave our brown-ness and culture at the door?
I had to ask myself what success looks like to me and it’s not just getting a degree and getting a good job, but it’s also making sure that I’m grounded in my roots, that I’m proud to be a child of the Pacific and letting the language of my ancestors roll off my tongue confidently.”
Watch the full talanoa here.
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Date: 23 October 2021