In Rotuma, my Paternal Grandfather hails from Haga and Toai villages in the district of Juju, Uanheta village in the district of Pepjei and Lau, Fiji. My Paternal Grandmother is from Maftoa village in the district of Itumuta, Rotuma and Vaega, Satupa’itea, in Savai’i Samoa. Although I am a New Zealand-born pacific islander, I grew up in Auckland and Fiji. Growing up in South Auckland, during the 80s and 90s most Pacific Islanders that were in our neighbourhood were mainly Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island or Niuean descent. On a rare occasion, we met Fijian families and rarely with Rotuman families.
Growing up, belonging to a small minority group, within another minority group felt daunting to me. We were usually clustered together on census papers and applications for jobs or in school as 'other'. As a half-caste Pacific Island teenager, I would either tick Samoan or Tongan. I felt at the time, I did not want to explain what being Rotuman was, or where Rotuma was located. At times being a rebellious teenager, I felt I did not 'fit' in with either Palagi or Pasifika. During that time, my father saw this as an opportunity for me to be immersed in the Rotuman language and culture, a chance perhaps for his hanfisi daughter to develop her identity and sense of self amongst family. In 1996, I attended Rotuma High School, while living with my father’s sister, Aunty Maresefo and then with my Aunty Elizabeth Inia. Two strong Rotuman women, who taught me language through Rotuman proverbs and songs, one of my favourite sayings is “Haina lu Vasu – women are unbreakable ropes”.
Our family was one of the first main families in Auckland to set up a Rotuman Social Group. Alongside five other Rotuman families who had migrated to New Zealand during the late 60s and 70s. It was an opportunity to keep ties with our culture, connect with our cousins and gossip over the latest news from back home. Home is about 650 kilometres Northwest of Fiji. Although we are of Polynesian descent, Rotuma has been part of The Fiji Islands since 1881, when ceded to Great Britain. This not only continues our connections with us culturally with Fiji but Politically as well.
With only around 15,000 speakers in the world, our Language is listed on the UNESCO list of endangered languages. I feel the theme of this year’s Rotuman Language Week is fitting with striving to preserve it amongst our people and communities. “Åf’ạkia ma rak'ạkia 'os fäega ma ag fak Rotuma - tēfakhanisit Gagaja nā se ‘äe ma gou. - Treasure & Teach Our Rotuman Language and Culture - A Gift given to you and I by God’. One of the biggest challenges for me was not having my father close or relatives to speak to often growing up in Auckland, I would be shy to speak and pronounce words. Some 20-plus years later, now with social media and online resources the Rotuman Community have developed, myself and my husband are learning alongside our children.
Seeing a renaissance in the Rotuman language gives me hope our language and culture will thrive with the next generations. My home is a bustle of 10 children, their ages ranging from 26 to 1 year old. My husband is also from Fiji (Levuka, Ovalau) and speaks fluent Fijian. We encourage our family to be involved with Fijian and Rotuman church services and community events. Each of our children are at different learning stages of faeag rotuam as we also use gagana samoa and vosa vaka viti in our day-to-day conversations. Although we speak English (faeag fakfifisi) at home to our children, I am grateful to my father for instilling the importance of knowing who we are, and the uniqueness and blessing of understanding our language.
Regardless of your stage in life, it is never too late to learn and gain an understanding of our language. No matter how far we are from the motherland of our ancestors, learning our language and cultural practices develops our identity and strengthens who we are.
