Tongan Language Week: Tongan-Kiwi cousins use YouTube and music to connect to their roots

Three New Zealand-born Tongan kids are using social media - and a touch of island humour – to share what life is like for young Tongans growing up in Aotearoa.

The Tapueluelu brothers, Elijah, 9, and Niko, 6, and their cousin, 10-year-old Benji – known on YouTube as the “T-Gang” – have spent the last year posting funny videos online about all things Tongan: from explaining why they have to wear black for a year, what certain days mean in their community and the meaning behind key Tongan words.

Now, the cousins have teamed up with Auckland-based musician Soakai Malamala – known as Solar – to release their reworked version of a Tongan classic, Pitu Taukae.

It comes as Tongan Language Week is celebrated this week, recognising the 13th most spoken language in the country.

Almost 36,000 people in New Zealand speak Lea Faka-Tonga, according to the 2018 Census.

(Top left to right): Elijah, Niko and Benji Tapueluelu, known as the T-Gang, are using social media to connect with their Tongan roots. Image / LopStream, Leni Fifita

The song was a favourite of their grandmother, Alosi Tangi, who died earlier this year.

Ben Tapueluelu, who helps capture his sons’ and nephew’s videos for YouTube, was born in Tonga and raised in South Auckland.

He and his wife, Mapui, are both working professionals trying to instil a sense of Tongan Kiwi identity in their sons, Elijah and Niko, and nephew, Benji.

The 38-year-old hails from the villages of Vaimalō in Vava’u and Niutoua and is a proud dad, musician and teacher.

“I’m grateful for my upbringing, that I’m able to sustain my language.

“New Zealand-born Tongans are different from Australian-born Tongans and American-born Tongans. They have their own unique identity.”

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With youngsters tapping into YouTube and social media, Tapueluelu said it was a key way to help young people stay connected to their island roots.

Preserving language through music

South Auckland Tongan artist Solar and members of T-Gang, Elijah, Benji and Niko Tapueluelu, have joined forces to release a Tongan classic. Photo / LopStream, Leni Fifita

“I think in this time and age, you’ve got to leverage tech ... because kids learn differently now.”

In the video collaboration with musician Solar, 24, the boys wore traditional Tongan finery.

Solar, who is a music and Tongan bilingual teacher at Aorere College,

said there was a keen interest among young Tongans to learn and maintain their language.

“My students come in and say: ‘Hi sir. Fefe hake?’ (how are you). They’re trying to speak the language [in everyday conversation].

“I feel like if I can get these kids to really understand how important it is and how much of a treasure it is to be Tongan, Samoan, Cook Island. Whatever indigenous background you have, that should be your northern star for wherever you go.

“If you look for your cultural identity, you’ll find out a lot about yourself in that journey.”

Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.