TOKELAU LANGUAGE WEEK: It has been a wonderful week of learning and teaching to help support the Tokelau language week, ending yesterday with fatele celebrations from the 3 atolls of Tokelau: Fakaofo, Atafu and Nukunonu. My 3 daughters, Ivo, Elisa, Matalena and their cousin Alepese danced for their fathers island Nukunonu. Most of the dancers were NZ-born Tokelauans, very young who mixed with their oldies relatives....a very nice sight indeed. However, one cannot help but witness the tension between the old (traditional) and new (westernised) Tokelauan customs, where the old people were adamant that the traditional ways must be kept, at whatever expense. Discussions later at a party raised an important question for all Tokelauan in NZ and in similar contexts: Should we follow the traditional ways even if we are not living in Tokelau? Or should we change our traditional ways (not totally discard it) to suit the country that we find ourselves in? Something to think about. (BTW, Im just writing my thoughts, scroll past if politics bore you)
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 20:35:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015