Tokelauan Catholic teaches at NZ’s most prestigious drama school

Selina Alesana Alefosio, who teaches at Te Kura Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa in Wellington, told The Spinoff about her Tokelauan community in the Hutt Valley.

“Most of us who come from the Hutt predominantly come from the Nukunonu atoll and are Catholic. Catholicism is really prevalent out here, not just the religious aspect but the cultural aspect, too,” she said.

Her language – gagana Tokelau – and hiva (dance) “has mainly been through church. It’s a very strong Tokelau community out here”, she added.

Alefosio remembered her grandfather, whom she described as “a very staunch Tokelau/Uvea man, not just in religion, but in the gagana Tokelau”.

“I didn’t realise he spoke English until I was in intermediate. They never spoke it to us, so we were fluent from birth.”

She recalls the language and culture being very important throughout her life.

“For me, performing arts is the biggest thing in my life,” Alefosio said.

“That comes not just from my studies, but since I was a baby. I learnt Tokelau hiva through our grandparents and our kāiga. Our father was a musician and a singer, so music was constantly in our lives.

“. . . In Church, there was singing, so performing’s been instilled in me since I was a child. I suppose all those things – reunions, events, performing in front of your family in church – have helped me get to where I am today.”

Asked about teaching the drama curriculum through different cultural lenses, Alefosio said that it is impressive to see, in her lifetime, “how Indigenous knowledge and culture is valued and can add to a Western model”.

“A lot of people going through the school are non-Pacific, but their response has been amazing,” she said.

Alefosio explained that Wellington has the highest population of Tokelauans in the world, outside of Tokelau. Porirua has the most, then the Hutt Valley.

FULL STORY

Pacific profiles: Meet Selina Alesana Alefosio, who teaches Pacific dance at Aotearoa’s most prestigious drama school | The Spinoff (By Litia Tuiburelevu/The Spinoff)

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