My faith and family are foremost and I love to inspire and encourage through art and writing...
Books are available at: SSAB Apia, Samoa; SSAB American Samoa; SSAB Auckland, New Zealand or contact helenftauau@gmail.com (a.k.a. Helen Tauau Filisi).
Some books can be ordered via: https://books.by/pacific-hibiscus
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go with my father to apply for my Samoan citizen stamp on my NZ passport that allows me to have unrestricted rights to enter and remain in Samoa whilst my Citizenship remains valid.
This was neat to be able to complete it although it did set me back some $160 and for my dad it was renewing his for $110 on his new NZ passport.
This was all done at the Fale Samoa (Samoa House) also known as the Consulate Office in Mangere, Auckland not so far from where I live and work.
If you've heard the story about a group of people who prayed for rain but only one person brought along their umbrella, it's the same for me in being prayerful and hopeful for the Pacific borders to one day open soon and then we will be able to visit Samoa.
It is concerning though to see that Australia is currently going through a second wave of COVID-19 infections and especially that community transmission puts so many people at risk. I'm very grateful that we are presently ok in NZ and although hopeful for visiting Samoa soon, it's also about ensure that we're keeping ourselves safe in the interim...
I recently saw a post on a blog discussing a post-graduate reading list and thought that it might be interesting to share some of the books on my reading list that my beloved and I have picked up along the years.
I don't have the time to go through each book as there's so much to discuss but these have been some of the staples over the years.
One the oldest book that I have, in terms of receiving it from my mum, is Pratts Grammar and Dictionary, of which I received in 1989 when I was completing my first Masters degree.
Probably one of the oldest books in terms of the information that was gathered would be (Rev.) George Turners (Siaosi Tana) Samoa A Hundred Year Ago and Long Before which was written around the mid 1800s.
It was a book that I referred to a lot in the late 1980s in trying to learn and understand what the ancient Samoa ideas around their environment was about although it was through the understanding of a European perspective.
There's a lot more to discuss but suffice to say that I've been really privileged to now have a better understanding of Samoan history, current affairs and the protocols that have changed as a result of Christianity, colonization and also the 'maturing?' of a developing nation.
Probably the book that came to challenge my understanding of my Samoan ancestors was a book that I picked up at University written by Michael J. Field called 'Mau Samo's struggle for freedom.' I think every Samoa student should read this book as a testament of the strong pride and stance that Samoa took as the first Pacific nation to become independent in 1962.
And this is not even the exhaustive list that I have on the other topics that I am reading, not even mentioning the hundreds of articles in current academic journals and the books written by Samoan scholars either.
So I'll just take one day at a time and read what is relevant and what comes to mind in writing the various chapters of my thesis. But one thing is certain, that this would not have been possible had it not been for a gracious God and a loving and supportive family without which this would not be possible...
Here is an example of a 'taulima' or bracelet tattoo by Cliff Cole of Tautua Ink in Avondale, Auckland. I like his designs because they're clean and sharp.
He renders Samoan cultural tattoo symbolism for new interpretations in this new millennia and I find his combinations of traditional Samoan patterns refreshing but still keeping it real.
To the keen eye, the tanoa (special kava container) is depicted within his design but it also could be interpreted as stones as well.
There are several patterns but that's what I like about leaving it to the Master tattoo artist to choose a design that is gifted to the receiver.
For other cultures, the receiver chooses the design and the artist must then try to duplicate it as best as possible on the area decided upon. The service becomes a transaction with the receiver in the powerseat.
However, when the power is given to the master tattoo artist then there's a certain trust between the two and a certain magic can happen...
This week, I'll be heading for the Maritime Museum in Auckland city with my class to view the Pacific/Polynesian exhibition section at the museum. Over the last few years, I've taken my class groups to have an understanding of the amazing feats of technology that Pacific ancestors would have had to circumnavigate the Pacific Ocean to land on islands that they made home.
Part of the curriculum course that I teach is understanding the symbiotic relationship that these amazing navigators had with the land, ocean and skies etc. This would have taken hundreds of years of observation with that information passed on to the next generations.
To now learn that way before Captain Cook was even born and before Europeans had even discovered steel that our Pacific ancestral navigators were voyaging around the Pacific making their discoveries and testing their own theories of finding lands and inhabiting them with intentional voyages.
The above video discusses some of these amazing feats that aren't being taught well in our schools (or even at all) and in which our youth need to learn about in order to realise that they come from an amazing legacy of knowledge and understanding that had been lost for a time but that is now being reclaimed.
Often in NZ education, there is a discussion about the 'brown tail' of educational underachievement of Pacific and Maori students. If they were taught much more relevant information like this about amazing ancestral cultural innovative legacies that they came from and not just about being good at dance and art, then perhaps things would be vastly different...
Going to the Dentist is a harrowing event for some but since I had braces early in my teenage years, it's a regular occurrence that I've gotten used to.
One of the things that I've learned about Dentists is that you get your good ones who make you feel at ease and you pay reasonable costs for.
But then I've also experienced those dentists who like to charge their customers exorbitant fees with services that they didn't really need to pay for like injections for cleaning teeth when they're not really required.
I currently have a dentist whom I've had for the past couple of years and I would highly recommend his practice with the professional service that he offers customers as well as the advice he gives for keeping oral health a priority in our lives.
I've also encouraged our eldest to complete her dental care appointments before turning 18 years whereby adults will then have to pay for all of their oral health services. That's on top of encouraging daily brushing and good oral hygiene to keep their for lifelong living.
So if you haven't got a good dentist and need to see someone then happy to PM you the details and you can check out the services for yourself. I must say my pocket is not broke from seeing them and I'll never go back to the ones I had before...
One of the interesting sports that our eldest has been enjoying with her friends has been going to the local driving range and learning to hit a golf ball with a golf club as far as you can.
As a result, my beloved decided to have a family outing, during the weekend, to the driving range to 'show how it's done'.
Fortunately for me, my hand/eye coordination is pretty good so that it wasn't too long until I got the hang of it and was able to hit the golf ball after a couple of misses.
What was interesting about going there was that there were lots of people at the driving range and it was busy with many awaiting their turns in teams, families with members of all ages, teens, dates, a good mix of people etc.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would like to go again sometime when I'm not so busy doing important things that don't require physical exertion. I'd also highly recommend it to any who like to take time out to wack a ball out into the stratosphere (if you can hit it that far).
Suffice to say that it was an enjoyable family experience that I hadn't been on for a long time although it's only a 5-10 minute drive away from our house. The buckets are of around 100 balls for $14 and a driver for $3.
Yesterday, was the first time that my family and I had visited a movie theatre since the lockdown of COVID-19. We went to watch the family movie "Red Shoes" as it was the only movie playing during the time slot that we had available to watch it.
It's an interesting story as it reminded me of Shrek movies with discussions around the themes of conventional beauty versus inner beauty and the issues that the characters had regarding them. I don't know that it successfully resolved the issues but it did make me wonder about what would happen to the two main characters.
All in all, it was entertaining, although the protagonist or the witch character's appearance reminded me of the mother of the main character of the Disney movie "Tangled" and the seven dwarves reminded of the Snow White fairy tale.
And don't forget to wait until after the credits have rolled as the storyline continues after people have walked out of the theatre. Now that was funny because I remember thinking that the film hadn't resolved the problem for the other 6 dwarf characters.
I can't say that I would highly recommend it, storyline-wise, but it was interesting to watch and the animation was pretty good. Just not sure that it resolved Red Shoe's issues although it did solve Merlin's issues. Something to consider watching if nothing else to do...
Since I'm not able to fly back to Samoa with my family anytime soon (although my children keep asking) the next best thing, apart from dreaming about it, is to get busy doing other things that are a healthy distraction from the obvious.
So I bought a small canvas to paint for our youngest's bedroom, as she likes the idea of lil' unicorns and had fun with the 4 colours (white, purple, green and yellow) that came with it (added some colours of my own) with the small vial of glitter that was included but that didn't show up like it was supposed to.
Completed within an hour and then up on the bedroom wall. Definitely, something I'd recommend rather than buying already painted on printed canvases. An idea for birthday presents or something original for someone who would appreciate it...
With the current border controls, my parents are still here in NZ and children as well as myself are missing our second home in Fasitoo-uta by the ocean.
Who was to ever think that this would have happened in our lifetime but it has made many like myself pause and to think about the things that we have been blessed with and have taken for granted...
Like the opportunities of flight travel and how we were, at the very beginning of the year, able to pay a fare and then travel almost anywhere in the world or travel back to our second home.
Now with the border restrictions of many countries, that is not even a possibility and with the second wave of COVID-19 still teaming in countries like USA, Brazil, and Australia, etc. it's a real concern that these flight restrictions are going to continue into next year or until there is a vaccine to the virus.
Meanwhile, there's a whole bunch of people who are homesick for returning back to their homes, or our second home in hoping and praying that some miracle will happen to cause this devastating sickness to come to an end.
Still, I am thankful that in NZ that second wave hasn't happened and that the government is taking a more serious view on expat's who are returning to NZ on flights and then going into 14 days isolation with serious consequences for those who abscond (that's a whole other story on the news).
Meanwhile, we'll keep vigilant prayers and enjoy our time together as a family but still hoping that the day will come soon when we can fly back home, to Samoa, and be back home where we belong - next to the ocean...
Last night, I watched an inspirational movie on Netflix that's been around for a while (2015). It's a classic underdog movie but it's interesting in that the actor Kevin Costner best known for blockbuster movies (back in the day i.e. 1990s) such as 'Bodyguard', 'Dances with Wolves', 'Robin Hood' etc. decided to act in this movie.
It's a story that brings to light the Californian food bowl immigrant workers and their families plight of working for long stretches of days for little money and how in this particular town of McFarland, a teacher sees the potential of students and takes them to the top of the State's cross country championships.
It's based on a true story and at the end of the movie they show the actual people whose lives were portrayed in the movie. The interesting thing is that most of the team of 7 did really well and went to College (Tech equivalent) and then returned to support others in their community in education as teachers and running coaches.
The neat thing also is that although they won the State finals, they went on for another decade training many other runners and inspiring people in their community to pursue their dreams. It was also neat to see the community rally around the runners because it would have changed all of their lives.
It makes me think of those who have inspired me growing up, like my parents initially and then some good teachers, although I like to say that despite many of the not so great teachers, I was still able to make it with supportive parents.
And I guess that that's one of the keys to success for those of us in the community who have persevered through financial constraints to start with but then overcome by not giving up and then giving back to our communities and in role modeling what is possible, we inspire others to pursue their dreams too...
It's hard to believe how fast this year has gone past with only another 6 months to go until Christmas celebrations and another new year.
With winter in tow, I find myself enjoying the rain and cold winds indoors and creating because as a creative there's so much to do and to create.
As you can see in the pic, I enjoy making boutinerres or otherwise known as buttonholes for wedding lapels or for formal wear for balls etc. I've also decided to try my hand at making wrist corsages because I like making small flower arrangements for fun.
Interestingly enough, our eldest is in Uni and our middle child has to wait another year before attending the senior ball, so I've got plenty of time to create that stunning corsage for the occasion. Now just to figure out how to make it.
Until then, I've also picked up embroidering which is another type of floral art except it's with using a needle and specialised thread as well as a hoop and a pattern on cotton material - very good for reflective thinking whilst creating.
There's never a dull day in my household with so much to do and consider.
This is apart from considering my doctoral ethics and the various chapters that I'm working on. So exciting but more on that to come.
Suffice to say that whilst I'm studying I'm also creating and I'm enjoying the ride.
Although it has been a little difficult in having to say "no" to quite a few things with the studies, creative space and family times...
It's been very interesting times in my research journey since leaving University back in the 1990s and then returning backwards and forwards for many years during this time of having a family, continuing to work in education at different levels and now with a child in primary, high school and university education, I can truly say that a lot has changed in this time but yet a lot remains the same.
I do know that I am no longer intimidated by education as I first was as a second language learner (Samoan being my first) but then switching to English as the main medium of communication because education and the wider society deemed it so.
My empathy goes out to the many Samoan diaspora (living away from the motherland) descendants who haven't had the privilege of learning their ancestral languages as I have had although not at a schooling level but more on an audial and lived experiences level.
The webinar by Prof. Linda Tuhiwai Smith is one that has really interested me in the journeys that other indigenous peoples have taken in Aotearoa, New Zealand as well in challenging the status quo and overcoming colonialism by way of decolonizing the ways that we think of ourselves, talk about ourselves and see ourselves.
This is so important for our next generations as descendants of indigenous peoples, as Samoans, in seeing and acknowledging our ancestral ways of knowing and being as knowledge holders in reclaiming our own ways of knowing and giving due credit to our ancestors for making us who we are as Samoans.
As in my studies, I've realized how very colonized we can become by throwing out many of our ancestral ways of being, thinking, making, and calling it as the "pogisa" times of ancient Samoan or dark times very similar to the medieval or dark ages of European. This is when in actual fact pre-European Samoan material culture show a very symbiotic way of living between Samoans and the environment.
Therefore, my researching or "tofa sa'ili" i.e. seeking the wisdom tells me that there is so much that we have to unlearn in order to relearn new ways of thinking of our tua'a (ancestors) to fully appreciate the knowledge that was already there and that the Christian gospel could enhance without throwing out both the bathwater and the baby (so to speak).
But more on that in later postings as I continue my Doctoral journey reconsidering, reclaiming, decolonizing, refreshing, enhancing, re-writing, rethinking, repositioning, reflexively, refining, reimaging, reimagining, revisioning, challenging, reconnecting, reactualising what can become for future diaspora Samoan generations...
I was reminded to watch this documentary "Coastwatchers" which was a research project of Willie Cuthers who was in the same class as my beloved and they both completed their Masters degrees in Applied Indigenous Knowledge last year to be conferred this year but due to COVID-19 they were unable to have the ceremonies.
Despite that, Willie Cuther's research is a moving one in which his indigenous topic had to do with his Cook Islands grandfather who had once been a Coastwatcher for the NZ maritime forces but did not get the same privileges or benefits as those of his NZ counterparts.
I would definitely recommend watching this documentary as it tells the story of his search for information about his grandfather which brought about a whole untold story of many other Pasifika coastwatchers who sometimes lived in extreme conditions in order to fulfil their duties as civilians during the time of World War 2.
That is in supporting a war effort that wasn't of their making and putting themselves and their families at risk should the "enemy" discover them. One such incident did happen on one of the islands and 17 were killed and this was the very real threat that they lived under.
I hope that Willied Cuthers and the many other descendants of the Pasifika Coastwatchers get the recognition that they deserve in their efforts to support NZ during a time of crisis and threat. That they too can be honoured in the work that they did to keep the Pacific safe during wartime in the 1940s...
