Feeling at home as a Samoan in Canterbury - celebrating Samoan Language Week at UC

Talofa Lava! This week is Samoan Language Week, a celebration of Samoan culture and language in New Zealand.

The week’s theme is E felelei manu, ae ma’au i o latou ofaga: Birds migrate to environments where they survive and thrive. Particularly appropriate for Samoan students at the University of Canterbury, the theme explores how identity, environments, diversity and sustainability are crucial aspects of creating communities where people are supported to learn and use Samoan or Gagana Sāmoa.

Being Samoan in Christchurch comes with its challenges. Even for those born in New Zealand, the distance from a parent culture can be both disorienting and isolating. However, the support networks for Samoans and other Pasifika students at the University of Canterbury are making the journey easier.

University of Canterbury (UC) Bachelor of Science student Victoria Faalilo has a favourite Samoan phrase – “E lele le toloa ae ma’au i le vai: a duck takes flight but thrives in water”.

“To me it means wherever you go in this world, you always look back to where you are from – your identity and your fa’a Samoa [the Samoan way],” she says.

Arriving in New Zealand from Samoa in 2012 and beginning study at UC in 2014, Victoria found the challenge was exciting but full of difficulties.

“Being Samoan and being a Pacific Islander, it’s really hard to adapt to the environment here. But through the UC Pacific Development Team and the Samoan Students’ Association (CUSSA), UC helps me get through my rough times and also helps me get in touch with my Samoan ways of life which I kind of lost on the way.”

New Zealand-born PhD student Ashalyna Noa, who is of Samoan descent and works as a student advisor with the UC Pacific Development Team, says students like Victoria thrive in an environment where they feel supported and where their Pasifika identity is respected.

“Once students feel comfortable in a space, where they feel like their identity is being acknowledged, they will do a lot better in what they are working towards.”

As part of her PhD, Ashalyna is analysing China and New Zealand’s foreign aid and soft power in the Pacific with the help of a UC Pasifika Doctoral Scholarship.

The Pacific Development Team provides resources and support to UC’s nearly 450 Pasifika students, which includes 200 students of Samoan descent.

One of those students, Wilson Uliano who is studying Criminal Justice, says the work of the Pacific Development Team and the wider University in supporting initiatives such as Samoan Language Week means a great deal.

“I think Samoan Language Week is important because many Samoans around the country can maintain and embrace their culture. Not only Samoans, but people who don’t speak the language and don’t know the culture as well – it’s a week where they can see what Samoan culture is like and where we came from.”

Having that acknowledgement from non-Samoans – or palagi – makes a big difference says third-year Political Science and History student Josiah Tualamali’i, who is also a student representative in UC’s Pasifika Strategy Group.

“I think the acknowledgement of Pasifika culture and values is growing at UC. When I first came here the Pacific Development Team were really important to me as a Samoan young person finding my place and it’s only grown.”

He says his own Samoan identity has become hugely important while studying at UC, an experience he’s been able to share with his Samoan-born father Amosa, who is working towards a degree in Health Sciences.

“When I was young I didn’t understand my Samoan identity. When my dad first came to New Zealand, he had to let go of some of our cultural practices in order to fit in, so there wasn’t a big emphasis on it when I was young. But over time, New Zealand has changed, and actually here at uni I have been able to learn more, and he’s been able to find a place where it’s OK for him to be himself – all of himself.”

Josiah says that for many young Pasifika people, universities are not seen as an attractive place and may not be on their radar as an option.

“So I think it’s really important for universities to go out of their way to make it a place that’s welcoming and that profiles their peers and friends who they might know from the community who are here and doing well.”

In 2015 UC hosted So’otaga, the annual gathering of Samoan student associations from different universities across New Zealand.

“It was one of the most uplifting times for our whole Samoan community,” says Josiah. “This was because we could see our culture, identity, language and values being supported by the university and visible on campus.”

Samoan or Gagana Sāmoa is the third most spoken language in New Zealand, with 86,403 people listed as speaking it in the last census. Samoan Language Week runs until 4 June.

ENDS

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