The Taupō Netball Centre came alive to the sounds of prayer, of music, of dance and singing and of food, fellowship and togetherness last Saturday as Taupō's Tokelauan community wrapped up a week of celebrations.
2020 Tokelau Language Week was the biggest ever for the community of around 400 to 500 people in Taupō and the result was a busy timetable which showcased a huge variety of the Tokelauan culture and enabled the elders of the community to share their knowledge, skills and language with the younger ones.
It began with a launch at St Paul's Church on Sunday October 25 and then every evening of the week following there was an event at the Taupō Netball Centre, each covering a different aspect and each with its own theme colour, with people dressing to match. History Day (red) was followed by a cooking and interview evening (blue) and a health and wellbeing evening (yellow). Arts and crafts evening (purple) and carving and fishing evening (green) were opportunities to teach traditional skills and arts to the younger generations. The whole week wrapped up with Cultural Day (pink) last Saturday which included cricket, prayer and devotions, a Tokelauan feast and then a rousing concert of Tokelauan dance and song where the joy of sharing the culture was evident for all to see.
