Pasifika Festival: Immigrant song

Ta'afuli Andrew Fiu says his parent's struggle as new immigrants inspired him. Photo / Supplied

Pasifika people who came here in the 60s and 70s weren't welcomed with open arms. Ta'afuli Andrew Fiu describes how things have changed.

It rained for three days solid when we fi rst arrived here. Through the eyes of a child, this was a strange land. No scented frangipani or breadfruit trees with large waxy leaves hanging over the roads, no lagoons teeming with vividly painted fi sh, no banana trees or cooking fi res. Definitely less smiles from the residents.

Nothing prepared us for this often cold country or for the loss of our fathers as they trudged in from one job, only to leave again soon after for their second. I would sleep and wake to find he'd been and gone in the night.

I arrived here in 1968 with my family. We were not the first Pacific Islanders to arrive, nor were we the last to a country that hadn't made up its mind whether or not to leave the welcome mat out. The dawn raids were a stain on the hospitality of many New Zealanders.

A Pacific Island immigrant's life is no different nor more important than any other immigrant. The barriers are many and often the positive times could be counted on one hand.

Language for my parents was one of the biggest hurdles to conquer and the kiwi way of life was as foreign as not having to queue for water. When you come from a village that has one running tap among 60 odd villagers who lived within a stone's throw of each other, to freely running water that you could enjoy by yourself, you could start to feel lucky. Running water or not, it was difficult.

Harder still on the adults - who carried the burden of their decision and the responsibility to care for their families. Children are resilient, young enough to take things in their stride and with youth comes the ability to go with the ebb and flow of a new life in a new country and all its excitement. New neighbourhoods, new friends, new clothes, even the novelty of wearing shoes, which was an odd thing to do as a Samoan child.

When I was younger, I wondered why my parents left the paradise of a tropical island to relocate in a foreign land and adopt a new homeland. There are a hundred different reasons and for each individual that made the journey here, each reason is relevant. I believe it's about education. About the opportunity where you can be something more than a fisherman or a taro planter. My dad prided himself on having the best taro plantation in his village and if you were also skilled enough to bring back fish on a regular basis, you were quite a catch. But for my parents, it was about their children having choices.

Every immigrant wants a better life and there were some that knew that education and opportunity was the key ingredient for their children's future. So like immigrants all over the world, our parents did all they could to ensure their children could have the skills taught to them to survive and thrive, in a rapidly advancing world. For me, for my brothers and sisters and for my children, they were right. It has given us many choices.

Pacific Islanders are today woven throughout the fabric that is New Zealand, from the sporting fields of All Blacks and Silver Ferns to the Samoan teachers in our universities, offering students of all nationalities more choices than their parents had. Pacific Islanders, whether they be from

Tonga, The Cook Islands, Niue, Solomons, Fiji or Tuvalu have made a positive mark in this quilt that continues to warm our shoulders. I am reminded of so many success stories and - to be honest - stories and examples that do make me angry. The failure of others to follow the rule of law or are disruptive in society - but the negative is less potent than the positive attributes that the majority of Pacific Islanders bring to this our homeland.

Today, many Pacific Islanders are struggling with how to sustain our unique cultural identity while assimilating into a New Zealand cultural landscape that is different from our traditional values and heritage. Pasifika is one way. A way to celebrate our heritage, our traditions and extend our hospitality to a land and its people that extended theirs to us so many years ago and still does.

From the well known opera singers Jonathon Lemalu and Ben Makisi to Joseph Kalolo who is planning his NCEA assignments at De La Salle College – a little known student with a future. We offer an invitation to you New Zealand to come with your smiles and enjoy the festivities to celebrate not just our culture but the happiness of an adopted people who have found a new home.

Whether it's a sun-baked weekend, or heaven forbid, it 'rains solid', we look forward to seeing you there.

Ta'afuli Andrew Fiu is the author of the autobiography Purple Heart - an award-winning account of growing up in Auckland in the 1970s.

www.purpleheart.co.nz