Tagata Pasifika - Indigenous People

This special episode of Tagata Pasifika introduces Pacific Islanders living in a Māori world. Director/reporter Iulia Leilua celebrates the mingling of Polynesian cultures in Aotearoa, through similarities (language, spirituality, land, extended family) and differences (clothes, food). Among those interviewed are Samoan Beau Rasmussen, who married Moana on the East Coast; Niuean Toa Luka, who married a Māori woman from Northland; and Tongan/Māori lawyer Kahungunu Barron-Afeaki, who married actor Whetu Fala. Fala grew up in Whanganui, with a Samoan father and Māori mother.

In terms of understanding Māori from an island perspective, I think that they are the tangata whenua of this land and therefore they must be given priority. They have, in summary, had a harder time than I think island communities have because we basically have fairly intact cultures. The spirit is very strong in Māoridom — if life is a one hundred metre race, the Māori people have started life ten metres behind the start line.

– Tongan-Māori lawyer Kahungungu Barron-Afeaki

Key Cast & Crew

Stephen Stehlin

Producer

Elaine Parker

Production Manager

Michael Willetts

Editor

Foufou Susana Hukui

Executive Producer

Iulia Leilua

Director, Presenter

Whetū Fala

Subject