Daughters of the Pacific

I think for Pacific Island women they’d probably get the shock of their lives that I was single at the age of 30 without a child, but I don’t think that they’d ever presume that I’d have a degree, let alone three degrees.

– Emily Mafile'o

In the Palagi world going flatting is standard, but not for an unmarried Samoan woman.

– From the narration

In the end we may lose the language, we may lose the culture. We’ve immersed so much in New Zealand society...

– Lanni Liuvaie

Suddenly all the things my parents would talk about made sense…

– Louise Tu’u on visiting Samoa for the first time

It was when I was 20, I kind of came to the realisation that here I am doing a Bachelor of Arts in German and Italian, of which I’m of neither descent, and my Italian’s way better than my Samoan…

– Louise Tu’u

I understand the value of culture, the sacrifice that not just my father, but his father, had to make so I could graduate with a certificate that has worked wonders for my life today, without a doubt.

– Emily Mafile'o