Talanoa Oceania
 
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Talanoa 2010: Niu locals

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Talanoa Oceania 2009

 
Kia ora!
Welcome to Tamaki Makaurau
Land of the Ngati Whatua People
 
Aotearoa

 
 
Talanoa Oceania are gatherings for persons who are interested in the dynamic ways and diverse peoples of Oceania (or Pacific Islanders, abbreviated as PIs) who have migrated overseas (as did our ancestors, who crossed the paths of Oceania).  These gatherings are in response to:
  1. PIs being torn between where we live and our home islands, partly because we have not been fully understood (in our new locations) and released (from our island homes)
  2. PIs continuing to look for directions from our home islands, partly because a sea of talanoa* has not been gathered to root us in our current locations
  3. PIs searching for meaningful ways of staying connected to our island cultures, churches and homes
  4. PIs misunderstanding other cultures, partly because we are confused with who we are, in our current locations, and we are consequently easily misunderstood
  5. PIs not being homogenous, so we need to name and come to terms with our diversity, complexity, richness, ambiguity, and more ... as we seek to kindle crosscultural creativity

Talanoa Oceania 2009 will provide opportunities for presentations on three significant island concepts: Lotu, Tabu, and Tikanga.  These concepts have multiple meanings in the various languages of the islands of Oceania:

 

·         Lotu can mean 'religion, church, pray[er], worship' and so forth.  Presentations on this concept may address some significant aspects of our native belief systems and world-views, or issues that relate to religious diversity, religious intolerance, and the challenges of lotu to islanders in diaspora.

·         Tabu (tapu, taboo) can mean 'to prohibit, forbid' or 'sacred, holy.'  Presentations may focus on the relevance (and irrelevance) of cultural tabu to diasporic and overseas-born islanders, and address issues that confront diasporic communities such as sexuality, HIV/AIDS, and so forth.

·         Tikanga is Maori for 'correct, right, way, custom, code'; tikanga Pasifika can mean 'Pacific ways' which includes 'fakaTonga,' 'faaSamoa,' 'vakaViti,' and so forth.  Presentations may focus on the question of culture and identity amongst others.

Presentations were also encouraged to address the challenges of global warming and our drifting generations, the realities of dispersion, diaspora and cultural confusions, in relation to vaious areas of interest to PIs, such as:

§ art, handicraft & body-art

§ poetry, lyrics & rhythms

§ performance, dance & storytelling

§ Pacific, oceanic & indigenous studies

§ academic, theological & island disciplines

§ ministerial, cultural & ethnic praxis

§ and so forth

 

  
 

Support for 2009 Gathering

 

 

Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Auckland (http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/departments/index.cfm?S=D_PACIFIC)

School of Theology, University of Auckland (http://www.theology.auckland.ac.nz/)

 

Trinity Methodist Theological College (http://www.tcol.ac.nz )

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

[1] When someone from the South Seas tells (talanoa) a talanoa (story), it is not just about sharing information and entertaining listeners. A talanoa also has to do with locating identity (in space and in relationships), with offering instructions (to listeners), with explaining struggles and journeys, with customs and rituals, with hope and more. Sharing of talanoa can also make storytellers and their people vulnerable, as if they have become telenoa (Samoan: naked), so it is a sharing that needs to be offered and received responsibly.