The late Epeli Hau'ofa was an advocate for the Oceanian identity Photo: USP.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Josephine Latu, Pacific Media Centre.

A discussion on whether Pacific peoples should be represented by one common “Oceanic” identity brought out differing views between Māori and Pacific participants at the first session of the Fakakaukau Pacific Debate Series, a three day event organized as part of this year’s Pasifika Festival.

A group of academics and community personalities gathered yesterday at the Auckland Town Hall Council Chambers to discuss the topic ‘We are all Oceanians; Māori, Tongans, Fijians, I-Kiribati alike together’.

Arguing the affirmative was acting director of Unitec’s Centre of Pacific Development, Malia Talakai, founder-director of the Vava’u Academy for Critical Inquiry and Applied Research, Dr ‘Okusitino Māhina, and Radio New Zealand Pacific issues correspondent, Richard Pamatatau.

The opposing team included the head of the Waipareira Trust, John Tamihere, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa lecturer, Sandy Gauntlett, and the editor of Mana Magazine, Derek Fox.

The debate was chaired by the regional director of Te Puni Kōkori, Pauline Kingi.

People of the ‘moana’

Talakai, a Tongan, argued in support of using the label “Oceania” to define a collective, umbrella identity for all Pacific cultures.

She drew from the ideas of the late ‘Epeli Hau’ofa, prominent Pacific academic and author of the essays We are Oceania and The Ocean in Us.

Hau’ofa had opposed the idea that the Pacific Islands were struggling, isolated islands. Instead, he put forward that as a unified “Oceanians”, Pacific peoples were in fact a powerful group of historical voyagers who were used to expanding their communities beyond land borders.

Talakai pressed for the Pacific term “moana” instead of “Pacific Ocean”, to recognize islanders’ shared heritage, languages, and ancestors.

Pamatatau, a Cook Islander Kiwi also talked about modern Pacific peoples using the internet to connect their communities and “make new worlds”.

“Oceania is about being expansive,” he said.

Pride in difference

However, the opposition team – all of whom were of Māori ancestry – argued that although Pacific solidarity was important, each island was unique with their own “whenua” or land.

Māori culture is based on a connection to the whenua. As the indigenous people of New Zealand, they stress being the first claimants to the land.

“I’m proud to be of Māori and European ancestry. I’m proud to be living in Aotearoa. To take the Oceanian identity is to deny this heritage,” said Gauntlet in his introduction.

“Our differences unite us.”

His teammate on the opposition side, tangata whenua Tamihere, also warned against the “rise of new romantic notions” about Oceania.

Tamihere referred to primitive cultures in the Papua New Guinea highlands, and the democratization process in Tonga, stating that these countries had their own issues he could not speak on as a Māori from New Zealand.

Dr Māhina, originally from Tonga, rebutted Tamihere by questioning whether any “solidarity” existed at all.

“If [the term] Oceanian is problematic, what are we to call ourselves then?” he asked.

Mahina added that Oceanians are “able to live exclusively and inclusively” and that the Pacific term “moana” had many meanings not captured in the English language.

However, opposition member Fox referred to the label “Oceania” as a limitation, arguing that the idea was a “colonial constraint”.

“We are more than happy to admit that we’re a part of the Pacific whanau… but we are no longer Oceanians,” he said in the team’s closing argument.

Both teams highlighted the need for Pacific Islands to be represented in international forums.

Debate only beginning

At the end of the session, chairperson Kingi concluded the debate panels had “drawn about equal”, but had not fully highlighted the significance of the issue in their arguments.

She said Oceanic identity was also about the “evolution of nation-states at the regional level, transnational level and international level,” and indigeneity had become a common idea around the world.

She said each island had its own indigenous identity.

“In my opinion, this is a debate that has just begun,” she said.

In New Zealand, 14.6 percent of the population are Māori and 6.9 per cent Pacific Islander. Māori activists continue to push for recognition as the indigenous people of Aotearoa and have generally pushed for the idea of a “bi-cultural” social policy where Māori and non-Māori settler (Pākeha) cultures can co-exist equally.

However, this has become a challenge with the growing migrant populations that are demanding equal treatment in a multicultural society.

The Fakakaukau Pacific Debate Series, a first-time event sponsored as part of the on-going Pasifika Festival, will continue for two more days.

Upcoming debates:
March 8, 5pm-7pm, Auckland Town Hall Council Chambers
Topic: ‘Only Pacific artists have the right to use Pacific motifs’
March 9, 5pm-7pm, Goodman Fielder Room, Aotea Centre, The Edge
Topic: ‘Including indigenous knowledge on our education system will hinder, not help, young people’

Josephine Latu is a postgraduate communication studies student from Tonga at AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre who is also contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch.