Introduction
Kiaorana, my name is Stephanie and I'd like to welcome you all to this session on Identity entitled New Zealand Born.

From left to right: Lesa, Maria, Catherine, Stephanie, Ana

We've come together to present, just some of the many perspectives on being New Zealand born, and to share in a discussion that will hopefully allow a better understanding of the identity we as Pacific Island New Zealanders face.

I was born here in Christchurch. My mother is Rarotongan, my father was a second generation Pakeha and Im a post graduate student in art history writing on Pacific art.

Daughters of the Pacific introduce themselves.

As you know the purpose of the conference is:

• To identify needs and aspirations
• To identify a program of action and
• To identify priorities for New Zealand born

We're aware that we can't cover everything in this session so if you have any issues you'd like to raise please feel free to do so in the later part of the session.

We're going to start with a poem from Ana, and then follow with different contributions made by some of the group Lesa and Catherine, and finally we'll include some slides of Pacific artists Andy Leilei's and Ani Oneill's work.

Ana
How I identify with my "Samoaness" is very personal. At times I have found it unsettling when my Pacific Island identity has been defined by others whose own experiences of being Pacific Island are far removed from mine. Just as there can be comfort and strength gained out our commonalities, we need to acknowledge and accept our differences. Furthermore, as NZ born or raised Pacific Island people, we need to feel safe in expressing our individualities.

I am a Samoan woman born and living within a predominantly Palagi culture here in Aotearoa. I view my identity as being a healthy blend of both of these, and other influences. Though my "Samoaness" may not be outwardly manifested in ways other than my physical appearance and my limited practice of gagana and fa'aSamoa, it is inherent in my spirit. To me this is most important. The ethnic and cultural makeup of this society is constantly changing, and as the identities of its people move with those changes, it is important to carry with me that strong foundation of who I am.

This is where I am at. I accept that my position may change, especially as I open myself up to the experiences of my Pacific Island brothers and sisters born or raised here in Aotearoa. 

I share with you this poem titled 'te vaka', and a Tokelauan song by Te Vaka from which the poem was inspired. This poem is an expression of the feelings that the music of its namesake evokes in me.
 

Te Vakas music captures a spirit which to me is uniquely Pacific. It has played a significant role in raising my consciousness of my Pacific Island identity. It is an affirmation of my place in two worlds.

Stephanie
What Ana's poem reflects is that our identity is intensely personal, uniquely individual and highly significant to our sense of self worth, and well-being. Its a key to our aspirations, expectations and our needs. And helps us to navigate our own pathway through life. 

As Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand we are a minority and within this minority group, as New Zealand born Pacific Islanders, we're fast becoming the majority.

Likely well have a limited knowledge or understanding of them and its pretty likely well question their relevance at times. More often than not its not acceptable to voice your opinion and yet if you dont speak out up for yourself in the Pakeha world no one's going to know you're there.

As New Zealand born we may feel most comfortable with others like ourselves who live between and across cultures, or more at home with other ethnic groups where the expectations are less demanding. We need to feel that the community is our home. 

For some New Zealand born these things aren't a problem. You might have fluency and feel profoundly Samoan, Tongan, Niuean etc but what you'll share with other New Zealand born is the imposed expectation that youll be able to walk and hold your head up as a Pacific Island person in two very different worlds. This often brings with it the internal conflict of balancing different cultural values, aspirations and social expectations. And often the experience of being or feeling too brown sometimes and too white at others, and I'm not referring to skin colour.

I'm saying that being New Zealand born is a challenge and a journey that requires a degree of personal fortitude. It's about valuing yourself, coming to terms with your own cultural uniquity, and the responsibilities this brings.

So what do we seek as New Zealand born?
Id like to say that its: validation, acceptance, understanding and encouragement.
Were seeking ways in which we can express our heritage and identity and contribute along side others as Pacific Island New Zealanders. And it's a journey that more and more of us are beginning to explore and celebrate.

Lesa
This is an extract from an essay for a Victoria University paper on Samoan Society and Culture (1998). While this essay is my own work, I must acknowledge the following academics and visionaries for their influence on my thoughts - Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin, Melanie Anae, Jemima Tiatia, Paul Spoonley, Feiloaiga Janette Taulealeausumai, Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa, Kiwi Tamasese, Paula Masoe-Clifford and Sui Neemia-Garwood.

Being a NZ-Born Samoan: A Search for Validation

The Pacific Islander Label 
It has been said that we New Zealand born have our images of ourselves influenced by others through the persistent use of labels and stereotypes. The use of the term Pacific Islander is particularly pervasive, constructed by explorers, European colonisers, later anthropologists and archaeologists, and now Western bureaucrats, policy-makers, and Pacific elites. This label creates confusion in that strictly speaking all of us, regardless of our ethnicity or cultural heritage, who live on an island in the Pacific are a Pacific Islander. This is clearly not the colloquial meaning of the term here in New Zealand. The term is a way of classifying a number of ethnic minorities and as such bringing them together so that New Zealand society can find it easier to deal with them. What this does instead is to deny our diversity when we are unique, we are different, - we are not a minority in this our mother region - the Pacific.

It has also been suggested that the label Pacific Islander can confuse New Zealand borns in to aligning themselves with New Zealand borns from other Pacific Islands ahead of their own parents and Island born aiga.

The Role of the Media
The media, apart from reflecting other Palagi institutions, has a far more major role to play in the way that we see ourselves and the way that the rest of New Zealand society views us because it mediates understanding and information. Many New Zealanders rely on the media for information which is a substitute for real experience of a range of issues.

In the not too distant past, Pacific Islanders have been depicted as criminals and freeloaders by the unbalanced and sensational reporting of such crimes as child abuse and overstaying. For example, in the mid 1970s the Government introduced a campaign to deal with overstaying which was reported in the media. Thus the stereotype of Pacific Islanders as overstayers was born and perpetuated. Even though the Pacific Island overstayer problem was greatly exaggerated i.e. a 1986 Race Relations Conciliators report found that while Pacific Island overstaying constituted 33% of all overstaying and 86% of prosecutions, overstayers from the United Kingdom and United States comprised 31% of all overstaying but only 5% of those prosecuted, the negative stereotype of Pacific Islanders as overstayers endured. This has affected how we are seen by others and ourselves - the tenacity of the stereotype has resulted in some New Zealand born denying their Samoan, Cook Island or Tongan heritage.
 

The NZ Born Label
As with the Pacific Islander label the term New Zealand born is loaded with stereotypes. Many Samoan born understand the term as signifying one who is a fiaPalagi one who is monolingual and monocultural or one who is a Samoan losing their culture. These views serve to require many of us New Zealand born to self-identify as such as a form of apology for not being a real Samoan whether it be for not being able to speak Samoan well enough or not looking enough like a Samoan.

It has been said that being New Zealand born is a unique identity. It has also been said that those who are New Zealand born are a subculture within Faasamoa in terms of socialisation factors such as language and education which sets them apart from those Samoan born but in terms of attitudes, values and identification of oneself as a Samoan that New Zealand born are not a subculture of Faasamoa nor within New Zealand society.

However, most non-Samoan New Zealanders would not understand the differences and just think that we are all islanders.

What is a New Zealand Born Samoan?
Being a New Zealand born Samoan living in New Zealand is not easy to define. We all have differing perspectives and experiences. Likewise we have differing capacities to and interest in participating in Faasamoa as it exists in New Zealand. I understand being New Zealand born as a continuum upon which we all have a place. I see one end of the continuum as a New Zealand born who is unable to access their Samoan heritage whether it be due to an inability to participate because they are physically dislocated from their biological parents and aiga or because they choose to deny everything about Faasamoa and being Samoan. At the other end of the continuum is a New Zealand born who is fully conversant in and actively participates in all aspects of Faasamoa here in New Zealand. Our position on this continuum is determined by a number of factors.
 

Continuum of experiences
Initially our position on this continuum is determined by our parents. Some Samoan parents instil in their children a strong sense of Faasamoa and equip them with the necessary skills to participate appropriately. Unfortunately too many Samoan parents did not do this instead believing that understanding oneself as a Samoan was not as important as having the requisite skills to be ready for the Palagi world and others probably thought that they will automatically know the language by being born Samoan. Clearly it is not that easy. A childs early life shapes their view of the world and how they see themselves fitting in to that world.

Other factors that determine a New Zealand borns place on this continuum are whether they have any aiga living close by; whether there is a significant Samoan community and church in their neighbourhood and how much contact they have with their aiga back in Samoa - do they return periodically or support the aiga with remittances? Some consider that for Samoans living away from Samoa, there is a strong sense of identity and desire to belong and sending money to Samoa is an essential part of reinforcing those ties. However, this can also be a source of pressure and frustration especially when money is limited. Choices have to be made between fulfilling family obligations or personal commitments. This tension can be acutely felt by those New Zealand born, many of us who do not fully appreciate the significance of Faalavelave.

Another factor determining a New Zealand borns place on this continuum is their participation in Faasamoa as it is in New Zealand i.e. does the individual attend church and associated activities and have skills in Samoan language? The church has a very important role in New Zealand providing a vehicle for accessing and practising Faasamoa as the church has become the mirror image of village life in Samoa and the place that New Zealand born can realise their Samoan identity. A New Zealand borns ability to participate fully in this will be hampered by a limited or lack of knowledge of Samoan language or if they little personal interest and commitment to learning.
 

Dislocation from parents/ Samoan aiga
There will always be some dislocation from ones parents and Samoan aiga by virtue of the barriers of geography and generation. A defining feature of the generational barrier between a young adult and their parents is that education provides the means for critically evaluating the world we live in, for understanding and attempting to eliminate social injustices such as racism and sexism, and for enabling us to critique our own culture and its importance to us.

However, the true extent of our dislocation from our parents and Samoan aiga depends on our place on the continuum of being New Zealand born. What is important is that the continuum is fluid. We all have the ability to decide where our place will be as New Zealand born Samoans regardless of the place that was fashioned for us by our parents. Its a journey I am on.
 

Catherine
OHP presentation - NZ-Born Issues for Discussion

Actual and Projected Pacific Population from 1986 2051
Source 1996 census
 

6% of Aotearoas total population   Fastest growing population from 1986 1996   40% < 17yrs    NZ-born 57.8% of total Pacific population   By 2051 - well over 60% of Pacific population will be NZ-born   In 2051 - 1 in 5 kids will be of Pacific descent   By 2051 - our population will increase to 12% of the total population

Mixed Ethnicity Issues

By 2051 - 1 in 3 Kiwis will be either of Maori or Pacific descent   Estimated that 60% of kids attending Kura Kaupapa Maori in South Auckland are of Maori and Pacific descent   Not only are the numbers of NZ-born increasing dramatically but we will be of different ethnic groups eg, Samoan +Palagi, Niuean+Cook Island, Tongan+Samoan, Maori+Cook Island   Pacific society needs to recognise the changes and be more accepting of those of mixed ethnicity

Language ... Culture

Prevailing idea that to be Pacific you must have your language and if you don't you are not 'pure' 'real' or 'full' Pacific   Analysis of whether you can ever be a 'pure' anything example below

Samoan Culture Example

There is no static conception of what Samoan culture is   The context in which Samoan culture has evolved needs to be recognised eg, are the traditional values after colonisation by the missionaries or before?    Cultures are for ever changing therefore you can never accurately say 'this is what it means to be Samoan'.   There is an assumption that ones language, beliefs and practices change together and in the same direction need to recognise that if one doesnt have the language it DOESN'T mean that ones practices and beliefs will not reflect Fa'asamoa   To believe that only language makes a Samoan a Samoan does not recognise other valid markers of identity and culture eg, attending church, participating in extended family activities and fa'alavelave   That increasing familiarity with ones language and culture leads to declining familiarity and commitment to another - exposure to one culture eg, Palagi DOES NOT necessarily lead to the alienation of anothereg, Pacific - it depends on the individual   Although some NZ-born may reject parts of Faasamoa this DOES NOT mean a total acceptance of Palagi values or the total rejection of their Samoan identity   Criteria other than language play a more relevant role for group membership ...it is after all not language but people who provide a sense of community and belonging (Scourby 1984)     For example - to identify as an American Greek the major prerequisite is NOT the ability to speak Greek but the participation in ones extended family activities

Stephanie
The way our dreams and desires as Pacific people can be expressed in different ways. Some of these ways might seem foreign, alien, disrespectful or hostile to our parents or to other generations. Even though this mightnt be the case.

One of the most successful ways I think identity gets played out is through contemporary arts especially in terms of creative storytelling. Increasingly people are helping to create a New Zealand born culture, one that draws from the island traditions, local histories and experiences as a source of inspiration. In this way artists acknowledge their parents journey while giving assertion and validation to the contributions Pacific people have made to New Zealand culturally and historically.

Andy Leilei, is a New Zealand born Samoan artist who lives in Auckland, speaks fluent Samoan. After leaving school he worked in a factory to help his parents pay their mortgage, became a union representative and came into the art scene through the back door. (99) Macmillan Brown residency (98) he was resident artist at the Kasula Power house, Sydney. He's considered the most controversial and politically confrontational Pacific artist, as his work deals directly with his response to being a New Zealand born Samoan. 
 
 

Andy Leilei Works  I miss you my Polynesian me Grandparents  (Know via photo) Portrait of an immigrant no image Working blues welcome to Aotearoa  (Oppressed)  Language Why you post me back The Brownest Dawn  (Learnt about Dawn raids, searching to understand his heritage as a New Zealand born Samoan) Silence I dare you to say it  (Racism. There's a huge risk involved in voicing your opinions and feelings about the realities of being New Zealand born. We're not supposed to talk about some topics and to speak critically about or against your elders is considered unacceptable) Relief tied to a tree  (Not being able to communicate or find a place, friends suicide 97) its funny now aye Domestic Violence  (Disturbed about domestic violence in New Zealand)  All Samoan born ministers (Risked threat of physical violence Auntie came to his aid and also a couple of ministers that recognised it was a painting done in anger. While some people were angry Andy said he hadn't painted it for the ministers. He said he realised why he painted the work when a young man came up to him and explained the painting and then said I know because thats what happened to me.  This slide is one of Andys most controversial works.  It's not being shown to be disrespectful to Samoan born ministers but to illustrate how far apart our voices as New Zealand born can be and how important it is for us to share our stories) Buzzy Bees  (New Zealand icon in jig saw pieces, all about trying to fit into Kiwi culture is a bit of a puzzle)

Andy Leilei Gallery I miss you my Polynesian me  Grandparents Language BuzzyBees Portrait of an immigrant Why you post me back The Brownest Dawn Silence I dare you to say it its funny now aye All Samoan born ministers Domestic Violence Relief tied to a tree

Ani Oneill is a young Cook Island artist. Art school graduate, considered one of our art stars, works bought by public institutions e.g Te Papa, Dunedin Art Gallery, Rita Angus fellowship in Wellington. Ani's work utilises the traditional art skills her grandmother taught her.

Ani Oneill Works  Restless tivaevae Tangaroa   (comment on the tourist industry but also plays with traditions the idea that women can't carve) Wooden fish

Ani extends the tradition of tivaevae into field of Contemporary New Zealand art, conceptual art. This work is done in towelling and suggests its time to slough off the old stereotypes of what it is to be a Pacific Islander and to recognise our traditions are still relevant and powerful but that they are also changing. 

What all these artists do is acknowledge their own Pacific Island heritage and give the experiences and traditions of Pacific people a place within the wider fabric of New Zealands cultural and social history.

Lesa
(Conclusion from essay above) - The Search for Validation
It has been said that gaining a secured identity is achieved through a process of crisis (exploration of alternatives during which identity confusion is experienced) followed by commitment. For some of us this process may take a lifetime. What is evident is that all New Zealand born Pacific Islanders need to be accepted and validated as Samoan, Cook Island, Tongan, Niuean etc. by their Island born aiga and within the communities they live regardless of where they are at in their personal journey. We all have something unique to offer in terms of achieving better outcomes for Pacific people living in New Zealand.

We are acutely aware that Pacific people are some of the most socially and economically disadvantaged people in New Zealand society - we earn less due to high numbers of us who have no qualifications and because many of us who work have blue collar occupations; we have too many people who are unemployed and too many sole parent families; and we are also over-represented in terms of poor health status and high crime figures.

To help combat the racism that exists in New Zealand society and to work for the betterment of Pacific people here, we need a united front of all Pacific people regardless of where we were born and where we are at in terms of securing our identity or where we are at on our personal journeys. We need to acknowledge the unique contributions we all bring and lobby for change to ensure that Pacific people are participating at all levels of New Zealand society.

We need to be accepted and thereby validated as Samoans, Cook Islanders, Tongans, Niueans etc so that we can work together to achieve better outcomes for all Pacific people here in New Zealand.
 

Stephanie
In answer to the conference objectives wed like to suggest that as New Zealand born were part of a complex and demanding environment. Our aspirations are numerous and diverse, we may want to be film makers, artists, government employees, or students but what we want is the chance to achieve our dreams, to be able to participate and be validated for who we are within our own families and communities, not just so much as New Zealand born but as part of New Zealands larger Pacific Island family.
To do this we do need to encourage:

		Mutual respect
		To value differing perspectives and to celebrate our common values in respect of family, traditions, our spirituality and our achievements.

Maria
Facilitated open forum.