Te Vāiaho o te Gagana Tokelau - Tokelau Language Week 

You may have ākonga, whānau, and other people with Tokelauan heritage in your school community who are willing to share their knowledge and expertise with you and your learners. Work collaboratively with these experts to design activities that will help you learn about and celebrate the language and culture of Tokelau. 

Keeping the language alive: Listen to teachers from a variety of settings and cultural backgrounds share why Pacific language weeks are so important to them and how they capitalise on local expertise to celebrate the language weeks. Use the reflections on the video page to think about how you embrace and keep Pacific languages alive and thriving in your classroom. 

Ministry for Pacific Peoples regional offices: A range of events take place across New Zealand to promote the importance of the Tokelau language, culture, and heritage. Contact the regional offices of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples to find out what's on near you. 

Ministry for Pacific Peoples website: Download a range of resources to promote gagana Tokelau in your school community. 

Ministry of Pacific Peoples Facebook page: The Ministry’s Facebook page provides up-to-date information on what is happening each year.     

 NZ Tokelau Language Week Facebook page: Join this group for news, resources, and events. You could share your celebration of the Tokelau language here, on a school blog, or maybe even with a school in Tokelau.  

Tokelau language activity book │ Tuhi galue i te gagana Tokelau: This resource was designed by Te Papa Tongarewa with support from the Ministry for Pacific Peoples. It offers information and activities to support your participation in Te Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau. These include pronunciation tips, everyday phrases, stories, and songs. You can download a PDF of the full document. 

The Teaching and Learning Gagana Tokelau resource includes language guidelines and storybooks with teacher’s notes to support language learning. Use the storybooks to provide opportunities for students to extend their language and cultural knowledge. During Te Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau week, you might: 

• get students to try to describe the main parts of the story, using Tokelau language phrases.  
• ask gagana Tokelau speakers to come into the school and read to the children at lunchtime, in the classroom, or at an assembly.    

You don’t need to be a speaker of gagana Tokelau to make dual language texts the focus of reading, discussion, and activity throughout Te Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau. Activities might include supporting students to read some of these texts with younger children at home, school, or in a community setting, like an early learning centre. There could also be time for games and sharing food and music.  

Te Gagana Tokelau dual language picture books: These flipbooks are part of a set of print and online resources to support the early language and literacy learning of Pacific children. They include flipbooks, family support material, online audio support in Pacific languages and English, and videos of kaiako and families using the books.

Gagana Tokekau dual language books: These books are part of a set designed to support the early language and literacy learning of Pasifika new entrant students in English-medium classrooms. Many of them are available as PDFs; all are available as MP3 audio files, and they come with teacher and parent support material.

We know that talk is the foundation of all learning, and so it is important to create an environment in which: 

• speakers of gagana Tokelau feel comfortable using their language, and others feel supported to give it a try
• everybody feels safe to share, explore, and debate information and ideas about the Tokelau language and its place in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

If students or families at your school are speakers of gagana Tokelau, you could invite them to model and teach their language. However, be careful not to make assumptions about their language knowledge and use. They may not know their heritage languages or may not feel confident or comfortable speaking them 

If you are a speaker of gagana Tokelau, incorporate it into your interactions with students. If you are not, model your willingness to listen and to attempt new words and phrases. 

Some simple words and phrases you could try:  

• Hello: Mālo ni 
• Greetings (everyone): Fakamālo atu, kia te koutou uma 
• Goodbye (to those who are leaving): Tofa koutou 
• Goodbye (to those who are staying): Tofa ni 
• Welcome: Malo te aofia mai 
• Please: Fakamolemole 
• Thank you: Fakafetai 

Tokelau dictionary: The University of Auckland's The Bookshelf website houses this digitised text. 

Useful phrases in gagana Tokelau: This is a collection of useful phrases in gagana Tokelau from the online encyclopaedia of writing systems and languages. There are also links to other collections of phrases in the Tokelau language. 

MPP | Te Gagana Tokelau – Tokelau language: Language cards developed by the Ministry of Pacific Peoples for learning everyday words and phrases. 

Tokelau is made up of three atolls, Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo, with a combined total of only 12 square kilometres. It is home to around 1650 people. More than 8,600 Tokelau people live in New Zealand, with over half of the country’s Tokelau community living in the Porirua and Hutt Valley areas of Wellington. There are also Tokelau communities in Auckland, Taupō, and Rotorua. Family, community, and language are the centre of Faka-Tokelau, the Tokelau way of life. 

The language of Tokelau is gagana Tokelau. It is related to gagana Sāmoa and gana Tuvalu. The majority of the world’s 4,000 speakers of gagana Tokelau now live in New Zealand. As with other Pacific nations, rising sea levels mean that, in time, the 12 square kilometres that make up the physical land of Tokelau could be rendered uninhabitable. This makes it likely that most of the remaining population of Tokelau will make their way, in time, to New Zealand.  

It is important to note the multiple ways in which people express themselves. The suggestions here include opportunities for you and your learners to explore traditional and contemporary artworks and artefacts and discuss what they say about the culture and heritage of the Rotuman people.

2018 New Zealand census: New Zealand’s Census results provide a wealth of information, including about patterns of language use in Aotearoa New Zealand. They show that in 2018, 24.1 percent of Tokelauans spoke two languages and 10.1 percent spoke three. The percentage of people who could speak only one language increased from 54 percent to 59.8 percent. You and your colleagues might explore the data further. For example, given that most of the world’s speakers of gagana Tokelau now live in New Zealand, how concerned should we be about the decline in the percentage of Tokelauan New Zealanders who feel confident in their ability to speak their heritage language? 

Artwork puts the little-known history of Tokelau slavery in front of the Porirua people (Stuff article, 2021): Ioana Gordon-Smith, Curator Maori Pacific at Pātaka Arts Museum and arts writer, explains the artwork, "Cry of the Stolen People", which tells the little-known history of Tokelau slavery. 

Being Tokelau in Aotearoa New Zealand: Aloihio Kave Kelemete is an educator of Tokelau descent. In this blog, he explains some important aspects of Tokelau identity and offers suggestions on how we can promote Tokelau language and culture in our schools and classrooms. 

Kaviki: Check out artworks by artist and master carver Tufala Tavite. 

Manurewa High School’s Tokelau Group reflect on their very first Polyfest: Despite having only 10 Tokelauan students out of the 2000 student population, Deputy Principal Reverend Pennie Vaione Otto wanted to have the smaller Pasifika ethnic groups represented. Share in the joy as they perform their fatele with pride! 

Return to Tokelau: Kris Faafoi was New Zealand’s first Member of Parliament of Tokelauan descent. In 2018, journalist Anauli Karima Fai’ai follows Civil Defence Minister Kris Faafoi back to his parents’ homeland of Tokelau, on a mission to strengthen New Zealand’s relationship with the island nation. 

• Tagata Pasifika Special: Return to Tokelau Part 1  
• Tagata Pasifika Special: Return to Tokelau Part 2 
• Tagata Pasifika Special: Return to Tokelau Part 3 

Story: Tokelauans: Learn about Tokelauan culture and customs, communities, and immigration from Te Ara Encylopedia of New Zealand. 

Te Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau | Tokelau Language Week: Christchurch City Council’s library staff have assembled a set of resources for learning about Cook Islands language and culture. There is information about the Cook Islands’ crafts, and you can listen to Cook Islands Māori greetings. 

The history of Tokelau tatau and tattooing (2013): Te Papa’s senior curator of Pacific Cultures, Sean Mallon, describes tatau (tattooing) in Tokelau. 

Tokelau: This collection of resources assembled by Te Papa Tongarewa includes videos, blogs, and an activity book.  

Tokelau Fatele: As part of language week, you could watch and learn some Tokelau songs and dances. 

Tokelau Language Week: Auckland War Memorial Museum shares Tokelauan items from its Natural History and Documentary Heritage collections, stories of service from the Online Cenotaph, and a video to teach you simple words and phrases in Tokelauan.  

In 2021, the Tokelau Hutt Valley Sports & Culture Association created a set of heritage videos intended to build cultural and digital capability through community learning. These include: 

• The significance of the foe (Tokelau paddle): Hohimo Āhili Manuele explains the significance of the foe and passing on knowledge to the younger generation. 
• Tupulaga tafoe hiva (dance with the paddle): Tafoe is the Tokelau dance with the foe. The words and actions connect people to the history of Gagana Tokelau and the narratives of the past. 
• Toku titi laukie (weaving): Tokelauan mothers explain the significance of the laukie and lauhulu, a treasured resource in Tokelau that abundantly grows on Nukunonu. 

Woven Paper Fish: This YouTube video demonstrates weaving paper fish. This activity could be part of learning about the importance of fish and fishing to Tokelauan people.  

Texts written by Pacific people and in Pacific languages are a great way to connect with Pacific people. You can model your own interest and enthusiasm for this learning by working with Pacific knowledge holders, including students, to make it part of everyone’s learning.

Auckland Council Libraries Pacific book lists: Auckland’s library service has created lists of books by Pacific writers and on Pacific themes and topics. Other libraries do the same.

National Library lending service: The National Library can help you access suitable texts.

The New Zealand Pacific Picture Book Collection was created by a group of librarians to help raise awareness amongst teachers of picture books containing Pacific knowledge and world views. It includes suggested activities for making the books part of the curriculum. The collection is now quite old but includes some treasured favourites.

Pasifika Books to Note: Coconet.TV shares some texts by Pacific writers and illustrators.

Pasifika Poetry: Includes poems by people of Pacific descent. You might make poetry part of your week, engaging with poems by Tokelauan poets and writing your own. Or you could look at other art forms that use language, such as plays or action songs. These could become part of a performance for the people who have supported you in planning the week.

Down the Back of the Chair: Tupu: The Tupu series provides reading materials in gagana Samoa, gagana Tokelau, te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirini, and vagahau Niue. Items in the series were accompanied by teachers’ notes linked to the relevant curriculum guidelines and reflecting best practice principles for language learning. Although no longer being published, it is still worthwhile looking for these books in your school resource room or through Down the Back of the Chair.

A great way to get your learners involved in Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa is to incorporate texts on Samoan topics and themes within your teaching and learning programme. Along with these texts, you and the students might also draw upon the knowledge and perspectives of community members as part of a bigger inquiry into significant themes and topics from across the curriculum, such as migration, navigation, climate change, or colonisation.

The Instructional Series offers a range of such texts, accompanied by teacher support material. For example:  

• Solar Power in Tokelau by Iona McNaughton is included in this Junior Journal
• Magō! and the article Tafoe O!, both by Hio Kelemete, are in this School Journal
• Lighting the Way with Solar Energy by Andrew and Anna Dickson is in this Connected series.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories: Our stories: Pacific peoples: This resource provides some examples in the Instructional Series of Pacific histories and a link to the KNOW element in the Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories curriculum. 

Topic Explorer - Tokelau | Services to Schools (natlib.govt.nz): A set of information about Tokelau’s culture, history, and language, including its relationship with New Zealand and the threats it faces from rising sea levels. 

Understand the impact of climate change on Tokelau

Tokelau is low-lying and extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. An inquiry into climate change and its impact in Tokelau might also explore questions around relationships between nations and the impact of so-called developed nations on others.

Texts for an inquiry into climate change could include: 

• Co-collecting climate change in Tokelau: Project IKA: A team from Pe Papa collaborated with members of the Tokelau community to collect taonga with which to document the impact of climate change
• Lighting the Way with Solar Energy: Two texts in the instructional series examine Tokelau’s achievement in being the first to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy
• Solar Power in Tokelau
• Topic Explorer - Climate Change and the Pacific | Services to Schools
• Vaka: A short documentary examines how Tokelauan people are drawing on their cultural traditions to respond to climate change.  

Questions for inquiry could include:  

• What are the challenges that the people of Tokleau face?   
• How does the issue of climate change connect to the concepts of language, culture, and identity? 
• What responsibility does New Zealand have for what is happening in Tokelau?   
• What action can we take in Aotearoa to assist in the fight against climate change 

Migration  

Learn about the Tokelauan settlement in Aotearoa New Zealand through the following resources: 

• From Tokelau to New Zealand: Te Papa’s Senior Pacific Curator, Sean Mallon, looks at the wave of Tokelau migration to New Zealand that began in the 1960s and its consequences
• Te Ara The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand | Island groups and recent migration: Read about Tokelauan migration around the Pacific and to Aotearoa New Zealand
• Tokelau Migration Story: Niusila Taupe shares his migration story in this video. 

Your learners could interview Pacific peoples in your community whose families have also migrated here to find out:  

• when and why their families moved to Aotearoa New Zealand.
• how the stories are similar and different from each other. 

Aotearoa NZ’s Histories: Connections across the Pacific: This resource shows how four texts from the School Journal series can be used to support learning in the context of whakapapa me te whanaungatanga through the topic of voyaging. 

Digital Pasifik aims to empower people in and of the Pacific Islands by enabling them to see, discover, and explore items of digitised cultural heritage that are held in collections around the world. They provide a rich resource for delving deep into the diverse cultural heritage of specific nations and examining similarities and differences across multiple nations.   

The Long Pause: This article from Connected explores the mystery of the long pause between the two major periods of Pacific migration. Use this text with students to explore some of the connections between Māori and Pacific peoples, particularly in terms of whakapapa and navigation.  

Tuia Mātauranga: Tuia Mātauranga is a programme developed by the Ministry of Education to support teaching and learning about our dual heritage and shared future. It highlights local people, places, and events that have helped shape our nation’s history. It has four main topics: voyaging, first encounters, Aotearoa New Zealand histories, legacy of learning. 

NZ Pacific Picture Book Collection: Watercress Tuna and the Children of Champion Street: Patricia Grace features four Pacific cultures in this story about a tuna that has a magic throat and gives gifts to children: Tokelauan, Māori, Cook Islands Māori, and Samoan. Suggested activities help draw out the similarities and differences between these four cultures. 

Potential language loss is an issue facing many New Zealand-based Pacific communities. Work with your learners to understand the issues around language loss and revitalisation and encourage them to consider what action they can take to make a positive difference. 

Use questions, such as the following, to prompt discussion about the purpose of the language weeks and what makes them so important to sustain the heritage languages of the Pacific.

• Why is it important for all New Zealanders to celebrate and learn gagana Tokelau? 
• What benefits will this bring to New Zealanders of Tokelauan descent?  
• How can we share what we have learnt about the Tokelau language and culture with the wider community?    

One of the beliefs driving the Pacific language weeks, Te Wiki o te reo Māori, and other initiatives to value and sustain our heritage languages is that health and wellbeing improve as learners reclaim their language, culture, and identity. You and your students, their families, and community members might include sources such as those below within a discussion about the connections between language, culture, health, and wellbeing: 

Child and Youth Wellbeing: Languages: One of the indicators for the wellbeing of children and youth looks at the opportunities they have to speak and understand the language of their ethnic or cultural group.   

"Is Tokelauan facing extinction?": John Middleton says most speakers of gagana Tokelau live in New Zealand. That, combined with rising sea levels, points to a need to keep gagana Tokelau alive in Aotearoa New Zealand.

New Zealand's big role in saving Tokelau's language from extinction: Advocates speak up for the Tokelauan language. 

Raising awareness for the "severely endangered" Tokelau language: Community’s respond to language loss.

Safeguarding Tokelauan culture through language education

Toku kāiga, he kānava, he fau e hē uia. My community, my heritage — a gift that is forever treasured: Atafu Tokelau Community Group members share their journey of buying land, laying roots, and building community.