E tumau le fa'avae ae fesuia'i faiga

Abstract

According to the 2018 New Zealand census 381,642 Pasifika people call Aotearoa home (New Zealand Statistics, 2020). The online trolling faced by one affected Pasifika family prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to make an address, calling for people to be kind, work together, and enforce public health measures (Neilson 2020). According to the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics census, the Pacific population in Australia stands at 214,635 (ABS 2016). Growing up in my Samoan household, I was constantly reminded of the importance of doing well in school. Because I was deemed ‘gifted’ as a child, many in the Pasifika community had placed hopes, dreams, and aspirations on me.

1 INTRODUCTION

As Samoan academics, we acknowledge the problematic usage of the term Pasifika. This term does not describe the distinctive, ethnic‐specific nature of each Pacific nation. We also acknowledge the complexities of recording ethnicity itself, given that many people belong to multiple ethnic backgrounds. However, for the purposes of this article, we use the term Pasifika to highlight the shared similarities and collective nature of peoples of the Pacific, and in particular, their collective resilience.

The articulation of our Pasifika worldviews exists in our collective camaraderie with other Pasifika peoples (Matapo 2018; Mila‐Schaaf 2010). Our ways of being as communal societies with intergenerational living and learning philosophies were fundamentally challenged during COVID‐19 (Enari and Matapo 2020). The pandemic challenged the ability of Pasifika peoples to connect and to create conducive environments for cultural connections (Enari and Faleolo 2020). This meant we had to find new ways to do what we loved. In doing so, we honor a well‐known Samoan proverb that speaks directly to achieving collective resilience:

E tumau le fa'avae ae fesuia'i faiga

The foundation remains but the ways of doing change

This article juxtaposes our observations and experiences of COVID‐19 with our personal research journeys. It highlights how, as Pasifika researchers, we navigate the spaces between our Pasifika communities, and our position within them.

2 PASIFIKA COVID‐19 EXPERIENCES IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND

The Pasifika population has a strong presence in Aotearoa New Zealand. The majority of migrants arrived in the early 1970s to meet the labor demands of the country at the time. According to the 2018 New Zealand census 381,642 Pasifika people call Aotearoa home (New Zealand Statistics, 2020). COVID‐19 has had a significant impact on Pasifika in Aotearoa New Zealand. The New Zealand public had mixed reactions to media reports about Pasifika families who tested positive for the virus. Data published by the Ministry of Health inadvertently suggested that Pasifika peoples were responsible for the second coronavirus outbreak that resulted in a Level 3 lockdown alert in Auckland (Tyson 2020). The online trolling faced by one affected Pasifika family prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to make an address, calling for people to be kind, work together, and enforce public health measures (Neilson 2020).

2.1 Aiono's journey

The importance of education and gaining qualifications was ingrained in me from a young age. As a child, and as the only girl in a strict Samoan family, success was both an expectation and an obligation. I knew that studying towards a PhD was important. I had role models in my family who had managed to attain this goal in their respective fields of specialized study. I had trained as a high school teacher in Music and Social Studies, making use of my music and ethnomusicology qualifications. Gravitating towards a PhD in Education was a natural progression. The focus on Pacific student success was something that evolved out of my Masters degree, which focused on gifted Pasifika learners. I knew that informing policy by foregrounding successful Pasifika student voices was my calling.

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One key tension that surfaced within my community as a result of COVID‐19 was anxiety. This anxiety in turn impacted on how we engaged in academia. Trying to manage our own personal anxieties in what seemed like the lonely, individual pursuit of doing research, felt at odds with the needs of our families. Many of us could not afford to focus solely on research when others around us required help. As a community, we were particularly cognizant of the health risks and English language barriers faced by our most vulnerable—the elderly.

Luckily, information related to COVID‐19 was accessible in our different Pasifika languages. We were able to hear notices about the pandemic from the New Zealand government translated into our mother tongue. Pasifika language resources including posters and news bulletins were delivered in the languages of Cook Islands Māori, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Rotuma, and Kiribatis. These resources were distributed through the Pasifika Education Centre and through various channels of the Ministry of Pacific Peoples (MPP) and its community networks (Ministry of Pacific Peoples 2020). The more consistent messaging we were able to deliver to our own church community members, the more prepared they were to galvanize their efforts to remain safe. Meanwhile, testing stations were established in Auckland's suburbs to encourage those who showed symptoms to come forward. Being able to extend our support to others was key to understanding how to “be” in this new world of COVID‐19. Although this period has and continues to be difficult, there have been some positive outcomes—the reduction of paperwork in university processes, for instance, and the fact that we have been able to spend more time with family and loved ones.

3 PASIFIKA COVID‐19 EXPERIENCES IN AUSTRALIA

Pacific peoples departed the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand in search of further prosperity in Australia. Pacific peoples' arrival in Australia can be traced back to the twentieth century and was driven by commerce, education, and missionization (Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship 2006 cited in Faleolo 2020:31–32). Pacific peoples with New Zealand citizenship were able to freely reside in Australia through the Trans‐Tasman Agreement (Voigt‐Graf 2007). According to the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics census, the Pacific population in Australia stands at 214,635 (ABS 2016).

Research on Pasifika people in Australia remains limited. Within existing research, Pasifika peoples tend to be represented negatively. Studies, for instance, tend to focus on such topics as anti‐social behaviour and educational disengagement (Ravulo 2015). As transnational Pasifika researchers, it is our duty to ensure that we partake in research that serves the advancement of our peoples and our communities.

3.1 Lefaoali'i's journey

While I was in my mother's womb, she already had plans for my academic success. Growing up in my Samoan household, I was constantly reminded of the importance of doing well in school. Because I was deemed ‘gifted’ as a child, many in the Pasifika community had placed hopes, dreams, and aspirations on me. However, it wasn't until I started high school that I personally felt compelled to do well. It was at this time that I felt a burning desire, determination, and fight to do well for my family and my Pasifika people. I knew that the more knowledge I gained individually, the more I could in turn give this knowledge to others. With all this, I decided to enroll in my PhD. As a Pasifika/Samoan academic, I have a responsibility to not only be theoretically knowledgeable, but also to keep it real, and always serve in our communities.

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As people who cherish collective lifestyles, regularly gather in large groups, and entertain deep‐seated interconnections with friends and family, our way of being has been completely disrupted by COVID‐19 (Enari and Matapo 2020). We are no longer allowed to visit our relatives in other states and in overseas countries such as New Zealand, United States, and the island homelands (Enari and Matapo 2020; Faleolo 2020). Social distancing rules have altered how research is conducted as we are unable to undertake fieldwork. But social distancing rules have also fundamentally disrupted my community. This is because the concept of isolation is foreign to us, for we are not individualistic peoples. As Pasifika, our whole being is premised on interconnectivity with each other (Enari and Faleolo 2020). Large community gatherings are an integral part of our being. Practices such as hugging, kissing, and physically embracing one another are deeply embedded in Pasifika peoples' modes of engagement. Isolation restrictions made many people in my community feel lonely and longing to remain connected with others.

The digital space has enabled Pasifika to continue to connect socially, despite the need for physical distance (Enari and Matapo 2020). This space allows for large groups of people to communicate simultaneously and gather communally. At the same time, we are not passive consumers of foreign technology. Instead, we have used the internet to connect and share Pasifika languages, stories, and chants. Pasifika researchers and academics have also been able to use the digital space to dialogue and generate collaborative initiatives. There are newly formed Pasifika internet forums that provide new avenues for Pasifika researchers to exchange knowledge. As such, social distancing restrictions have only further reinforced and demonstrated the power of the Pasifika collective (Enari and Faleolo 2020).

4 REFLECTIONS

COVID‐19 has shown the importance of collective resilience among Pasifika people. Even during times of social distancing and physical isolation, we were still able to find innovative ways to remain connected. Our collective Pasifika ways of being have survived modernity, migration, and now a global pandemic. It is by remaining connected that we have been able to both receive and provide support to one another. We believe our collective nature is not only what we do but an integral part of who we are.

The collective resilience among our Pasifika communities was felt through our Pasifika research network as collective camaraderie. As Pasifika postgraduate students, we supported each other through online writing groups. We were also able to use the digital space to share the challenges of being PhD students during these unprecedented times. Our connection with each other via the digital space also kept us motivated to write and stay focused.

Through this COVID‐19 journey, we are once again humbly reminded of our important roles as Pasifika/Samoan researchers. The critical role that we play as advocates for our Pasifika communities, particularly during a time of great economic instability, keeps us connected with how to counter what we cannot control. Our lived realities in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia will constantly be fraught with challenges. But we must ensure that we continue to strive for academic excellence. For them, us, and we.

E tumau le fa'avae ae fesuia'i faiga

The foundation remains but the ways of doing change

Biographies

• Dion Enari is an Aotearoa/New Zealand‐born Samoan and current PhD candidate in the Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Australia. Dion is the Bond University 3‐Minute Thesis Winner 2018 and holds the high talking chief title Lefaoali'i from Lepa, Samoa. His research areas include qualitative methodology, Pacific studies, decolonization, transnationalism, and Indigenous studies.

• Aiono Manu Fa'aea is a Samoan New Zealander born in Central Auckland, and based in West Auckland, and working in South Auckland. Aiono's research interests include gifted and talented Pasifika education, Pasifika student success, and Pasifika cultural intelligence. As an active member of her Samoan church community, Aiono is a musician, Sunday School teacher, and deacon. She believes in advancing educational opportunities for all Indigenous peoples.

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