Abstract:
I open this paper by first introducing myself by way of pēpeha; this is integral to who I am, my way of being, connecting, and knowing the world. Ko Tiavi tōku maunga, ko e Loloa tōku awa, ko Hāmoa tōku iwi, ko Siumu tōku hapū, ko Jacoba Matapo tōku ingoa. I am a Sāmoan, New Zealand-born Pasifika scholar, and I intentionally share with you my pepeha, honouring the reo (language) of the indigenous people of Aotearoa as well as sharing my ancestral connection to people and place. The term Pasifika is a collective reference to Pacific peoples who have made Aotearoa their home and is also inclusive of New Zealand-born Pasifika people (Matapo, 2017). Pasifika as a term can be framed in various ways: as a transnational concept, it allows for Pacific ethnic-specific ties to ancestral lands in the Pacific regions, including collective responsibility that traverses oceanic boundaries. Pasifika has also been defined by Pacific scholars within Aotearoa as a diasporic notion, one that influences emerging identities and new relations to places, keeping ties to Pacific homelands and genealogy (Matapo, 2018). This is not to say that the concept of Pasifika is not contested. Pacific scholars have also documented the homogenising effect of Pasifika as an umbrella term, which disregards ethnic-specific identities and cultural differences.