Pacific Research

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10289/18146

This collection consists of research produced at the University of Waikato which is by and/or about Pacific peoples and the Pacific region. Pacific research outputs (including PhD and Masters theses) from various fields and disciplines have been compiled into a single, easily accessible online space and as such, a broad range of topics, methodologies, and approaches are represented. Ultimately, the resources included in this collection demonstrate the vast forms of knowledge production across ‘our sea of islands’, Te Moana nui a Kiwa – the Pacific.

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“Mate Ni Vula”, “Masina”, “Vaʻine Fakahēʻaho”, “Eikura” Pacific sports women’s knowledge and experiences of menstruation
(The University of Waikato, 2025-08) Gibbons, Agatha; Holly, Thorpe; Keaka, Hemi; Bruce, Hamilton; Charles, Pedlar; Georgie, Bruinvels
Pacific women's interest and participation in sports have increased rapidly throughout the decades. Recently, many have become competitive across a range of sports at regional, national, and international levels. Yet very little research is focused on Pacific sportswomen’s experiences, or how their cultural identities shape their performance, health, and well-being needs. This thesis focuses on Pacific sportswomen’s experiences of menstruation, and in so doing, makes an important contribution to both literature on Pacific sportswomen, and research on menstruation in sport. Research on sportswomen’s experiences of menstruation has grown significantly over recent years, but most of this research is conducted by white women on white sportswomen, with findings then generalized to all sportswomen. This thesis identifies a gap in literature, and the risks of excluding sportswomen’s cultural identities, practices, and values from research, policy, and practices focused on menstruation in sport. Adopting a Masi methodology, this project included three methods: a survey of 206 Pacific sportswomen; Talanoa sessions with 21 Fijian sportswomen, and interviews with 16 Pacific sportswomen living in Aotearoa New Zealand. This project aimed to listen to, learn from, and amplify sportswomen's experiences and their understandings of menstruation, cultural beliefs, and the taboos that influence their menstrual experiences. This is a thesis with publication; some chapters are published articles, and others are manuscripts undergoing review. First, the thesis systematically identifies the gap in the literature with a scoping review of research focused on menstruation in sport, that shows that % of research ignores women’s cultural or ethnic identities. This chapter identifies the need for more culturally responsive research methods and culturally safe practices from sports and health professionals working with sportswomen from diverse backgrounds. Following this, results from the survey are presented, highlighting the diversity of cultural knowledge and practices associated with menstruation across the Pacific the survey also reveals the different cultural stigmas, beliefs, taboos, traditions, menstrual health, and sports performance of elite Pacific sportswomen. The following two chapters focus on findings from Fijian sportswomen, and then Pacific sportswomen living in Aotearoa New Zealand, with both amplifying the voices and experiences of Pacific sportswomen and their challenges of gaining culturally informed menstrual health information and support in sporting environments. These chapters describe how culture intersects with gender and other key variables (i.e., socio-economic considerations), and how these influence sportswomen’s experiences of menstruation. Ultimately, this research makes an important contribution to research on menstruation in sport, highlighting the need for culturally responsive methodologies and approaches in research and practice. It provides new and current cultural knowledge that can be used to improve the health, performance, and social support structures for Pacific sportswomen. This knowledge can expand sports and health providers' understanding of Pacific sportswomen's culturally specific needs, knowledge, and values concerning menstruation. Finally, this research supports the development of sport in the Pacific by providing cultural knowledge on how to engage Pacific sportswomen in safe, respectful, and constructive conversations around menstruation in sport.
Oli Aenaguri’ai: An ethnography of socio-ecological relations and contemporary change in Baelelea, Solomon Islands.
(The University of Waikato, 2024) Faiau, James Kwaimani; Macdonald, Fraser; McCormack, Fiona
This thesis presents a story circumnavigating the social and ecological relations and contemporary changes in Baelelea inland villages on Malaita in the Solomon Islands. The undertaken anthropological and ethnographic study draws on both traditional and contemporary lifeworld of the Baelelea people living in Alafana. The thesis delves explicitly into the human lived experiences, subsistence ways, traditional knowledge, and beliefs that underscore their Indigenous ways of being and knowing. I positioned the research to investigate the socio-ecological dynamics and to gain grounded understanding of Baelelea cultural frameworks, including environmental epistemology, livelihood practices, religious orientation to the environment, oral traditions and spiritual beliefs, and conceptualisation of livelihood sustainability and natural resource management in the face of encroaching externalities of christianity, colonialism and capitalism or globalisation. The studied community of Alafana is small with disbursed population constituting of distinct clan and family groups, all are Baelelea speakers (but with historical and cultural link to other language groups in North Malaita). My ethnographic fieldwork and informants, by disaggregation included few of the remaining elders who converted from the traditional Baelelea religion of akalo (ancestors) to Christianity. Many others constituted first and secondgeneration born Christians. In Alafana and West Baelelea villages generally apart from conversion from traditional religion to Christianity, the biggest culture change is that people’s lifeworld and livelihood have shifted from subsistence systems of reliance on land and the forest to a mixed economy of increasing dependence on cash. A cultural rupture many described as moving from the cultural notion of ‘to make a living’ to that of ‘to make money’. In response and to counter the impending globalised system and social-culture, and ecological changes, informants conceptualised about returning to the basic life of sustainable social living and ecological productivity expressed in the metaphor oli aenaguri’ai –translated ‘return to the tree root’. The metaphor as used in the thesis depicts Baelelea's conception of connectedness and offers an anthropological perspective and deep conversations on the revitalisation of traditional knowledge and interconnectedness with the environment as represented in myths and oral traditions. A metaphorical tree root from Baelelea perspective represents the local ontological perspective, which I propose can contribute to better understanding the cultural landscape and multidisciplinary research approaches in interweaving indigenous knowledge with science in sustainable agriculture systems and natural resources management.
Weaving Mana Wahine and Masi methodology: Centring the embodied experiences of young Māori and Pasifika wāhine in physical activity and everyday life
(The University of Waikato, 2024-10-20) Nemani, Mihi Joy; Thorpe, Holly Aysha; Hemi, Keakaokawai Varner; Rolleston, Anna; Richards, Justin
Young Indigenous Māori and Pasifika wāhine (women) in Aotearoa New Zealand (hereafter Aotearoa) have too often been framed as vulnerable, ‘at risk’ and problematic in the media, policy and research. This thesis moves beyond these deficit framings and uses an Indigenous feminist, strengths-based approach by centring the voices and lived experiences of young Māori and Pasifika wāhine who are agentic in their everyday lives, celebrate their strong brown bodies and are physically active. Being an Indigenous feminist early career researcher of Māori-Samoan ancestry, I intentionally weave Mana Wahine (Māori) and Masi (Pasifika) methodologies throughout all aspects of this research. Employing wānanga (focus group discussions), individual interviews and digital methods, I gather knowledge from a total of 31 young Māori and Pasifika wāhine residing in two low socio-economic urban regions (Porirua and South Auckland) in Te Ika-a-Maui, the North Island of Aotearoa. Centring their voices and lived experiences, I examine how the young wāhine embrace and weave their intersectional identities with culture, body image and physical activity. This is a PhD with publication. It begins with an introductory chapter and a literature review chapter that locates the project in the context of Aotearoa and the local and international literature. In the methods chapter, which is a published article, I focus on the importance of creating culturally safe and supportive spaces for young wāhine to participate in research that feels meaningful to them. The empirical chapters are presented in three different manuscripts. Chapter Four contains a manuscript (currently under review) that focuses on the intersectional identities of the young wāhine. It is structured using three key themes, including 1) ethnic and cultural identities, 2) navigating, and 3) how they embrace cultural pride, particularly through family values, customs and responsibilities. Chapter Five is a published manuscript that explores body image through an intersectional Indigenous feminist lens. This publication examines cultural perspectives that influence their views on body image and provides insights into how the young wāhine navigate body image stereotypes. Chapter six is the final empirical manuscript (currently under review) that evaluates the motivations the young wāhine have for participation in physical activity. It examines the types of activities they enjoy and provides insights into how and why they use cultural knowledge as a motivator for participation. This research contributes to international literature conducted with, for and by Indigenous feminist scholars on young women’s identities, body image and physical activity. It responds to the limited academic scholarship that explores the lived experiences of young Māori and Pasifika wāhine in Aotearoa and their nuanced cultural knowledge of their bodies. In so doing, this research offers insights and new ways of understanding the complex lives of young Māori and Pasifika wāhine, and highlights the importance of intersectional approaches and localized Indigenous methods that listen to, and amplify the voices of young wāhine.
Three Pacific writers from Aotearoa discuss Indigenous languages and visual poetry
(Poem Atlas, 2024-08-24) Salsano, Marama; Taito, Mere; Apiata, Hāwea; Felsing, Lara; Salsano, Marama; Papachristodoulou, Astra
This article draws on several months of conversations, creative workshopping, and writing sessions between Māori writers Ammon Hāwea Apiata and Marama Salsano, and Rotuman writer Mere Taito. Here, we contemplate the presence of Māori and Rotuman languages in our visual poetry. For too long, critical work about English language writing by Indigenous writers from the Pacific has been Eurocentric. Papua New Guinean writer-scholar Steven Winduo suggests the need to unwrite this “imagined Oceania,” while Māori author Keri Hulme writes disparagingly of the lower-cased ‘gods of literature’, and in her ReadNZ lecture, Sāmoan-Māori fantasy writer Lani Wendt Young describes traditional publishing as the “white castle of literature.” While white castled gods of literature have historically ignored the everyday vibrancy of Pacific voices, Indigenous writers from the Pacific continue to unapologetically write, read, experiment, critique, and play with words. Into this complexity, we acknowledge that for many Indigenous writers from the Pacific, English language Eurocentric thought and texts dominate our lives; many of us are second language learners of our languages.
Na yaqona kei na i tikotiko ni veivakarautaki vakavuli: Na veisataki ni i tuvatuva vakalawa kei na veiqaravi raraba (Yaqona [kava] and the school campus: Regulation versus facilitation [Fijian])
(University of Waikato, 2023) Aporosa, S. 'Apo'; Vunibola, S
Na yaqona e gacagaca ni veiqaravi se i tovo vakavanua vakaitaukei ka ra dau vakayagataka talega ena veibogi eso vei ira na noda, ia oqo e sega ni vakatokai me wai ni gunu vakavavalagi. E dina ga ni ra sega ni dau gunuva na yaqona na gonevuli e Viti, e dau taurivaki na kena vulici e valenivuli na veiqaraqarivi vakavanua ka vakayagataki kina na yaqona. E ra dau vakaitavi talega na gonevuli e na veiqaraqaravi vakavanua vei ira na vulagi e na so na soqo e koronivuli. Ni cabe na yabaki 2000 a navuca na tabacakacaka ni vuli e Viti me sa vakatabui na kena gunuvi na yaqona e na loma ni bai ni koronivuli, ka nanumi ni vakaleqa na nodra veiqaravi na qasenivuli. E na vakadidike oqo e a taurivaki na kena dikevi ka vakacakulei na kena gunuvi na yaqona. E mani raici ni rawa ni vakaluluqataka na kena monataki na cakacaka ni veiqaravi vakaqasenivuli ka vakabibi ke ra a gunu yaqona mai e na bogi. E dina ni sa dodonu dina me vakatabui na gunuvi ni yaqona e na kena dikevi vakavakasama, ia e tukuna na dau ni vakadidike oqo ni vakatatabu oqo e dodonu me voci tale mada vakavudi. Na yaqona e gacagaca ni nodra vakasoqonivata na itaukei ni veikoronivuli, e dau vakayacori kina na veiqaravi vakavanua e koronivuli, e dua na ka e tukunikataki kina na i tovo vakavanua. Na veitiki ni veiqaravi kece oqo e dau lai soqonivata ka solevaka me ra vukea yani na nodra tadolova na vuli vinaka na luve i Vitia. (Yaqona (kava) is a culturally significant, non-alcoholic drink consumed nightly by many Fijians. Although yaqona is not consumed by primary or secondary school students, cultural protocols related to yaqona preparation and presentation are often taught in their schools, with students then presenting this indigenous drink to acknowledge visitors to the school, open events and support fundraisers. In the early 2000s, some within the Fiji Ministry of Education began questioning whether yaqona use by teachers was negatively impacting their teaching ability, suggesting it should be banned from the school campus. In this study, Fijian teachers were cognitively tested and interviewed following an evening of yaqona consumption with the results suggesting this indigenous substance can disrupt cognition and in turn negatively impact teaching quality the morning after consumption. Although development theory prescribes prohibition and situational bans in cases where indigenous substances negatively impact productivity, the author argues that prohibiting yaqona in Fijian schools would be short-sighted as the findings show that this traditional substance is critical to the facilitation of school function, identity formation and academic achievement, all elements necessary to development.)
Yaqona: Sotavi na cala ni nanuma kei na itukutuku buli semati ki na ivakatakilakila matataka na keda ikilai (De-mythologizing and re-branding of kava as the new ‘world drug’ of choice [Fijian])
(University of Waikato, 2023) Aporosa, S. 'Apo'; Gaunavou (Snr), U
Na cava o vakatoka me vola itukutuku se ena dua tale na yaca bibi cake, me vakekeli, ka tokoni ena itukutuku veivakacalai tokaruataki vakawasoma ka vakavuna me ciqomi ia e tukunikataki kina na veika sega ni dina? Qo na kisi e yaco ena itei na yaqona ka vakatokai vakasainisi na Piper methysticum se ena dua tale na yaca ka vakayacana e dua e vulica na veika bula se naturalist ka a tomani kavetani James Cook ena nona ilakolako mai na Pasivika ena 2,500 na yabaki sa oti me ‘intoxicating pepper’ Na yaca oya e vakaibalebaletaka ni rawa tale ga ni vakavuna na mateni na yaqona me vaka ga na yaqona ni Valagi, e dua vei ira na ‘itukutuku buli’ tarai cake tiko me baleta na yaqona ena veiyabaki sa oti, ka keirau vakabauta o Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa mai na Yunivesiti ni Waikato e Niusiladi kei Usaia Gaunavou (Snr.) mai na Yunivesiti ni Viti ka keirau vakabauta ni sa kena gauna donu me vakalewai tale na noda icon of Pacific identity se ivakatakilakila matataka na keda ikilai vakaPasivika ka vakadodonutaka na ivakadewa cala. (What do you call journalism, or more importantly research, that is supported by repetitive misinformation, resulting in an accepted but incorrect, narrative? This is the case with the kava plant, named Piper methysticum or ‘intoxicating pepper’ by a naturalist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyage to the Pacific some 250 years ago. That name, which inferred that kava causes intoxication when consumed, is one of several ‘myths’ that have developed around kava over the years, and Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa from New Zealand’s University of Waikato and Usaia Gaunavou (Snr) from the Universiity of Fiji believe it’s time to re-evaluate this icon of Pacific identity and correct these misunderstandings.)
Taumafaina o le ‘ava Samoa, a’afiaga o le mafaufau, ma le ave taavale (Traditional kava-drinking, cognition and driver fitness [Samoan])
(University of Waikato, 2023) Aporosa, S. 'Apo'; Fuimaono, LGM
‘Ava, po'o se 'La’au mai le Atua o le Lagi', ua fa’aigoaina ai e nisi. Ua fa’atupulaia lona ola lauusiusi i so’o se vaega o le Pasefika (Moananuiakea). Ua fa’aaogaina foi mo vaila’au ma togafitiga fa’afoma’i fa’ale-aganu’u, ma o ona a'a foi ua fa’aaoga e tu'itu'i fa’amalu, ona palu fa’atasi lea i se suavai ma tatau fa’amama, ona inu lea e malolo i ai pe fa’amalolo ai foi le tino. O le ava e maoa'e tele lona taua ma lona fa’aaogaina i le aganu’u, ae talu ai ona ua inuina e tagata se suavai ava tele mo se taimi umi foi, ua fa’aleoina ai ni lagona popole ma atugaluga o le toatele ona o ni a'afiaga e ono alia'e ma tutupu mai ai, e a'afia ai le saogalemu o le aveina o se ta’avale. O le ali’i su'es'ue mai le Iunivesite o Waikato i Niu Sila o Dr Apo Aporosa, ua ia su'esu'eina ni a'afiaga po'o ni fa’afitauli e ono alia'e mai, pe afai o le a e aveina se ta’avale ae sa e taumafa/inu ava. E aofia ai aafiaga i le mafaufau lelei ma le ave taavale saogalemū. O lo’o su'esu'eina e le ali’i su'esu'e ia Dr Apo Aporosa ni a'afiaga ma se malamalama’aga fa'ale-mafaufau, po'o ni fa’alavelave e ono tutupu foi, pe afai e te aveina se ta’avale, ae sa e taumafa pe inuina foi se ava. (Kava, or ‘the plant of the gods’, grows widely across tropical Moananuiākea (the Pacific). Used in traditional medicine, its roots are also pounded and strained through water to make a drink with relaxant effects. Kava has deep cultural significance, but because it is drunk in large quantities over several hours, concerns have been raised about its effects on driver safety. Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, a Research Fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, has studied the impact of traditional kava use on cognition and its implications for driver fitness. The findings of that research are presented here in the Samoan language.)
Inu kava anga-mahení, ʻatamaí mo ʻene fakakaukaú mo e tuʻunga taau ke fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní (Traditional kava-drinking, cognition and driver fitness [Tongan])
(University of Waikato, 2023) Aporosa, S. 'Apo'; Sisitoutaí, S
Kava, ʻiloa ko e ngoue ʻa e ngāhi ʻotuá, kuo mafola he ngāhi motu fakatalopiki ʻi he Pasifikí. Kuo ngaue ʻaki ʻi he ngāhi faitoʻo tuʻufonuá, ʻaia ʻoku tuki hono aká ʻo palu3 mo fakatatau ko e vai fakanonga. Ko hono tala he anga fakafonuá ko e meʻa mahuʻinga lahi, ka koeʻuhí ko hono maʻu lahi mo tō-tuʻa ʻo lau houá, ʻoku tupu ai e hohaʻa heʻene uesia tamaki e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní. Ko Dr Apo Aporosa, ko e tangata fakatotolo fakaako ʻi he ʻUnivēsiti ʻo Waikató (Niu Sila), ʻaia naʻa ne fekumi ai ki he uesia ʻe he inu kava anga-mahení e fakahoko fatongia ʻa e ʻatamaí mo ʻene ueʻi e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote misiní. Ko e fekumi ne fai ʻe Dr Apo Aporosa ki he uesia ʻe he inu kava anga-mahení e fai fatongia ʻa e ʻatamaí mo ʻene ueʻi e tuʻunga malu ʻo e fakaʻuli saliote mīsiní. (Kava, or ‘the plant of the gods’, grows widely across tropical Moananuiākea (the Pacific). Used in traditional medicine, its roots are also pounded and strained through water to make a drink with relaxant effects. Kava has deep cultural significance, but because it is drunk in large quantities over several hours, concerns have been raised about its effects on driver safety. Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, a Research Fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, has studied the impact of traditional kava use on cognition and its implications for driver fitness. The findings of that research are presented here in the Tongan language.)
Multiple case study research into teachers' pedagogical enactment of the 2009 Samoa primary schools' outcomes-based curriculum
(The University of Waikato, 2024-08-06) Amituanai Semel, Felila Saufo'i; Cowie, Professor Bronwen; Carss, Doctor Wendy
Outcomes-based curriculum was developed in the United States with a focus on students achieving the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to succeed in everyday life through learner-centred teaching approaches. It was this focus that encouraged the Samoan government and Ministry of Education, Sports & Culture to adopt an outcomes-based curriculum into its primary school system in 2009, with implementation in 2013. To date however there has only been limited research into teacher classroom enactment of an outcomes-based curriculum, and the challenges and supports teachers and schools have encountered. This study addressed this gap. The study investigated how teachers in three primary schools were enacting the outcomes-based curriculum six years after its formal implementation. The research used a multiple case study approach with one week of lesson observations of each of the three teachers and Talanoa with three school principals and the teachers, and semi-Talanoa with some students and parents from each school. Talanoa is a word used across the Pacific to describe a process of inclusive, participatory, and transparent dialogue. It is used as a Pacific-specific qualitative research approach for data collection and in this study. Talanoa was used to provide participants with an opportunity to talk about their experience with OBC. The study found that the teachers employed different but appropriate pedagogical approaches in their lessons for the benefit of students’ understanding and achievement of lesson learning outcomes. The findings highlight the benefit of teachers developing curriculum experiences that relate to students’ interests, needs and everyday real-life experiences to engage them effectively in their learning. Teachers emphasised and applied learner-centred approaches to promote collaboration, teamwork and empower students to participate effectively in the learning process. The study witnessed the teachers used formative assessment to assess, monitor and identify students’ deficiencies and strengths and teachers to modify their teaching and target areas in need of improvement. The findings showed the students’ views about OBC lesson teaching in classroom. They reported that they liked the group work activities because they were able to share and gain new knowledge, ideas and experiences which helped them understand the lesson and achieve the learning outcomes. Evidence that students were excited about what they learned in class came from their reporting that they shared their experiences and new knowledge with their family members at home and their parents were pleased to gain new knowledge and ideas from them. The findings revealed that the OBC principles of clarity of focus and expanded opportunities established a clear framework to guide the planning, instruction, assessment, and implementation of lessons for students to demonstrate performance and competencies to achieve lesson learning outcomes. The designing down and high expectation principles were used during lessons where teachers explained thoroughly to students the lesson tasks and learning outcomes that students would achieve and demonstrate at the end of the lesson. During activities, the teachers increased the level of challenges from easy to more complex (learned past tense verbs then gradually produced sentences using past tenses) to expose students to high standard performance that students must reach to demonstrate their competencies in learning. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that Faasāmoa had a substantial impact on the enactment of OBC. Faamatai a leadership aspect, tulafale an orator, faaaloalo or respect and aiga as family relationships were demonstrated in the lesson teaching. The teacher led and explained lesson learning outcomes to the class while students and teacher as a family respected each other in teaching and learning. The Faasāmoa cultural norms were important to smooth and coordinate lessons and harness teacher and student behaviours, performances, and determinations in enacting OBC. These local cultural norms contributed substantially to the progress and effectiveness of the outcomes-based curriculum enactment between teachers and students to make OBC learning more understandable and achievable in the lesson teaching. The research identified that parents participated in school outside activities and events more than the academic areas of curriculum development and enactment. Their participation contributed to the students’ learning environment. Findings were also that teachers had continued to learn and develop their classroom practice through different training and their own school in-service sessions where teachers shared ideas. This professional development helped teachers to facilitate classroom instruction, management and coordination and produce local resources for students to progress in their learning. Finally, the findings revealed the varied role of the church in supporting OBC enactment. This study’s findings contribute to the body of knowledge on outcomes-based curriculum through the analysis and documentation of how the primary schools and teachers in Samoa enact outcomes-based curriculum. They indicate Faasāmoa can support outcomes-based curriculum and indicate further research could be done in other primary schools to see how teachers and students are using Samoa cultural norms in outcomes-based curriculum teaching and learning.
A study into the ifoga: Samoa's answer to dispute healing
(Te Matahauariki Institute, 2002) Tuala-Warren, Leilani
An investigation into the principles behind the Samoan ifoga, in order to ascertain whether this cultural practice can be implemented into the New Zealand Criminal Justice System.
Extended kinship among urban Samoan migrants: Towards an explanation of its persistence in urban New Zealand
(The University of Waikato, 1975) Macpherson, C.; Pitt, David
This thesis examines the structure and composition of extended kin groups among Western Samoan migrants in New Zealand, and comments on their role and significance in migrant social organisation. Certain factors which could explain the continued significance of these groupings are identified and examined. The factors identified suggest that individuals continue to accept the rights and obligations associated with membership of an extended kin group partly because they believe that it is in their interests to do so and partly because they have little option. The material is placed within the context of the current debate on the relationship between economic organisation and associated kinship structures. The thesis concludes that Western Samoan migrants have retained an extended kin group which closely resembles the modified extended family reported in the family literature, and that under certain conditions extended kin groups may emerge, or persist, in urban industrial societies.
Data security assessment for organisations in Tonga
(Auckland University of Technology (AUT), 2018) Laulaupea'alu, Siuta; Keegan, Te Taka Adrian Gregory; Cusack, B; Lutui, R
This paper summarises results from a data security assessment that was undertaken in Tonga in June and July 2016. The assessment investigated Tongan organisations and departments at the Government of Tonga to determine cybersecurity awareness and strategies. Issues analysed included methods of storing and protecting sensitive information, assessing vunerabiltities and threats encountered, and action to counteract cyberattacks on existing computer systems. This paper begins by explaining how the installation of fibre optic cable in Tonga brings advantages and disadvantages to the nation. The methodology describes the approach carried by the researcher to gather cybersecurity data from the survey participants. A SWOT analysis follows to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this particular research. The survey findings are summarised in broad terms and then further discussed under general findings, positive findings and negative findings. The results of this research highlight some of the major areas that need to be addressed in Tonga. Computer systems are currently vunerable, and hackers are able to attack these systems from several different angles. This is something that has been noted by the Government of Tonga and steps are being taken to address the inadequacies.
Educational engagement practices of Tongan parents in relation to their children's learning
(The University of Waikato, 2024-04-09) Naufahu, Mefileisenita; Mitchell, Linda; Cowie, Bronwen
This study explores the parental engagement of Tongan parents in relation to their children’s learning and designs an engagement framework to enhance this engagement. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory framework was employed to conceptualise and inform the analysis of parental engagement of Tongan parents in this research. Talaloto, a new Pacific research methodology which I developed for use in this study, was utilised for data collection from Tongan parents, as a way of capturing their authentic voices, grounded within their culture. Talaloto provides a space for personal lived experiences to be told. Focus group interviews were used for gathering data from teachers and students. Initial data collection motivated me to develop and implement an intervention to enhance parental engagement practices, for a sample of Tongan parents, students, and teachers, associated with a local primary school. The findings showed that parental engagement is an holistic process, requiring collaboration between home, school, and the wider community to enable both participation and interaction. Recognition of and valuing home funds of knowledge as well as the implementation of home visits by teachers, were found to be significant contributors to transforming relationships and lifting student achievement. The intentional creation of an Engagement Broker role for the purposes of the intervention demonstrated the importance of such a role in providing guidance to all participants as they navigated differing contexts and new roles and relationships. A key outcome of this study was the development of the ‘Kato Alu ‘framework, where a cultural metaphor is used to conceptualise and contextualise the understanding and use of parental engagement practices by Tongan parents in their children’s learning. I used the four stages of crafting the Kato Alu: Tokonaki (preparation), Lalanga (weaving), Teuteu’i (decoration) and Foaki (presentation), to symbolise the four steps for guiding the parental engagement process. The hope is that this framework may be applied in other Pacific settings and can be adapted for broader use.
Fijian students’ perceptions of their science learning environment in New Zealand secondary schools
(The University of Waikato, 2024-04-06) Chand, Alvin Vikash; Sharma, Sashi; Tayor, Simon
Pacific students in Aotearoa, New Zealand, come from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This heterogeneous cultural and ethnic mix of students presents opportunities and challenges for teachers. Results from the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) show that Pacific students are underperforming in science compared to the general cohort in secondary education. To help meet the needs of Pacific students, many New Zealand educators are undertaking research to explore the perceptions of students learning. Little research has been done on Fijian students to address this. The purpose of this study is to examine Fijian students' perceptions of their current and preferred learning environment and how it can be improved to suit the learning needs of Fijian students. Talanoa, a Pacific research methodology, informed and guided this study. It is based on Pacific cultures and is primarily used to study Pacific peoples. A mixed-method approach was adopted to respond to the research questions. Talanoa method with a survey called the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey-Fijian students (CLES-FS) was used to collect the data. A total of 305 students participated in this study. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data obtained from the talanoa method. The CLES-FS data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and comparisons were made between the students’ perceptions of their actual and preferred learning environments. Variations between gender, ethnic differences (Fijian Indian and iTaukei) and between different year levels were also analysed. Key findings show that positive student-teacher relationships, a sense of belonging to the class, and teachers’ understanding of students’ cultural experiences played a vital role in engaging students in their learning. The findings also highlighted that the Fijian students enjoyed working in groups. However, they indicated that excessive use of group work without defined learning intentions had a negative impact on learning. In addition, the study found that the students were reluctant to respond to or ask questions in front of the whole class. Students also identified that, at times, cultural values of respect for elders discouraged them from expressing their views to the teacher. Many students preferred to communicate with the teacher one-on-one about how they would like to learn and have more control over their classroom learning activities. There was a statistically significant difference in the perceptions of iTaukei and Fijian Indian students regarding building relationships with their teachers and collaborative learning. iTaukei students perceived that they had fewer opportunities to build relationships with their teachers but had more opportunities to engage in collaborative learning than Fijian Indian students. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference in the perceptions of male and female students when it came to learning in a familiar context scale. Female students perceived they were given more opportunities to learn in a familiar context than their male counterparts. This study has contributed to the understanding of Fijian students' perceptions of the current and preferred learning environments in New Zealand secondary schools. The research also demonstrates that CLES-FS and Talanoa methods can be used effectively for data triangulation. The findings of this study provide new insights into the knowledge gap in the literature about the learning needs of Fijian students studying in New Zealand classrooms. It is envisaged that the findings will help to inform the teachers and leaders of secondary schools who teach Fijian students.
Organic complexation in karst cave systems: implications for transition metal incorporation into speleothems
(The University of Waikato, 2024) Höpker, Sebastian Niels; Hartland, Adam; Grainger, Megan N.C.
The accurate prediction of future climate scenarios heavily relies on the robust understanding of the magnitude and drivers of past climate variability. Amongst the various materials used to study historic climate beyond the instrumental record, secondary cave carbonate deposits, or speleothems, have proven to present particularly valuable archives of numerous environmental processes over a range of temporal and spatial scales. In this context, trace elements included in speleothems are increasingly used to bolster speleothem-based records of past climates and environments (often primarily based on stable isotope proxies), with Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios presenting the most widely interpreted elemental signatures indicative of hydrological processes in the karst. More recently, however, a novel proxy system based on the concentrations of first-row transition metals in stalagmites has been proposed to potentially offer a first means to quantitatively reconstruct past cave drip rates, and hydroclimate by extension. The transport from the surface to the site of speleothem formation of transition metals, such as Co, Ni, or Cu, is understood to be largely governed by the formation of organic metal complexes (OMCs) with ligands present in natural organic matter (NOM). This organic association can evidently facilitate the deposition of organically-complexed metals in response to strong infiltration events, however, has also been suggested to enable a mechanistically distinct and largely undefined inclusion pathway for metals into calcite. Specifically, the availability of transition metals at speleothem surfaces for partitioning into the crystal phase may arguably be driven by the rate-dependant dissociation (or ‘decay’) of OMCs, which is in turn predicted to depend on their residence time at speleothem surfaces. OMC decay kinetics may thus present a potentially viable link between metal concentrations in stalagmites, and the residence time of OMCs at their surfaces. This thesis further investigates these interactions between selected first-row transition metals (Co, Ni, Cu) with NOM, aiming to advance the applicability of respective metal signatures in speleothems to palaeoclimatic reconstructions. In the first research chapter, the decay of OMCs is characterised in a first comparative study of in-cave OMC dissociation kinetic signatures by means of competitive ligand exchange experiments. Performed on water samples and soil extracts from eight Aotearoa New Zealand caves, the findings demonstrated that natural organic ligands decisively limit transition metal availability (by example of Co, Ni, Cu) at the dripwater-speleothem interface, whereas alkaline earth metals (here: Mg, Sr) are essentially unaffected by organic interactions in solution. OMC stability was found to occur in the hierarchy of Cu ≈ Co > Ni, with a variable fraction of all three metals bound very strongly to effectively inert complexes. OMC stability was overall enhanced in soil extracts, presumably due to higher organic content and aromaticity. The study further uses empirical estimates of OMC decay rate constants to assess the time-dependent release of metals at stalagmite surfaces in a simple forward model. This exercise predicted that the decay of transition metal complexes was most sensitive on time-scales relevant to typical cave drip points (up to ca. 40 drips min-1), and increasingly so towards lower flow rates. The second research chapter comprises experimental and field-based measurements of the inclusion rates of Co, Ni, Cu, as well as Mg, Sr. Firstly, a set of ten cave-analogue experiments were aimed to test for kinetic signatures in transition metal concentrations linked to the decay of OMCs during calcite precipitation. Performed at a range of drip rates and with variable concentrations of organic ligands in solution (Suwannee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA)), however, the experimental calcite precipitates primarily depicted a direct inclusion of OMCs without prior dissociation. This was particularly pronounced for metal-SRFA complexes due to a considerable degree of co-precipitation of SRFA. Signatures attributable to OMC decay were in turn not discernible, presumably due to experimental conditions preventing their resolution. The study further yielded new estimates of inorganic partition coefficients for Co (≈1.8), Ni (≈0.4), Mg (≈0.04), Sr (≈0.09), and Cu (≈13 on average, but up to ca. 57), with the latter showing a pronounced positive dependency on drip rate. In the second part of this study, a wide range of new and previously published datasets on experimental and in-cave metal partitioning were compiled, which collectively allowed for the establishment of a conceptual framework around hypothesised system-specific conditions determining the dominant drivers of transition metal concentrations in dripwater and stalagmites. The final research chapter explores elemental systematics in two caves on the South Pacific island of Niue, aiming to utilise modern field observations to corroborate stalagmite-based palaeoclimate reconstructions of Holocene climate variability. Intermittent cave monitoring between September 2019 and November 2022 in principle supported the assumption that stalagmites from these caves record environmental conditions in their chemistry and binary lamination. Although reliable chronologies could not be established for the two stalagmite samples analyses in this study, their trace elemental and reconnaissance stable isotope measurements suggested that the most pronounced elemental signal of Mg/Ca ratios reflected a combined control of water-rock interactions, prior calcite precipitation (both indicative of rainfall amount), and marine aerosol inputs. The analysis further implied that Ni/Ca (and Cu, Co, and Zn to a lesser extent) also primarily reflected local hydrology, predominantly exhibiting behaviour consistent with that expected for a pervasive kinetic drip rate control. Based on preliminary interpretations, OMC decay presented the primary driver of transition metal concentrations in the deposits from Anapala Cave, while short-lived ‘soil-flushing’ peaks in various elemental concentrations in response to heavy rainfall events only sporadically defined the record. Collectively, albeit warranting further investigation, the results of this thesis provide new systematic insights into the role of organic complexation for transition metal incorporation into calcite speleothems, thereby presenting important precedent for the further development of a novel (semi-)quantitative class of hydrological proxies.
Supreme Court stories: Narrating violence in Suva streets and homes
(Australia National University Press, 2022-09-08) Stevens, Kate; Halter, N
This chapter looks at the establishment and limits of the colonial legal system in the early decades of colonial Suva, focusing on the cases of rape and sexual violence brought before the Supreme Court between 1875 and 1920.
The relationship between physiological and performance variables during a hot/humid international rugby sevens tournament
(Wiley Open Access, 2021-09-22) Fenemor, Stephen Paul; Gill, Nicholas D.; Driller, Matthew W.; Mills, B.; Casadio, J.R.; Beaven, Christopher Martyn
Purpose: To characterise core temperature (Tc) along with predictors of Tc during an international rugby sevens tournament played in hot/humid conditions. Methods: Tc was collected from 11 elite men’s rugby sevens athletes (age 24 ± 3 years) competing in the Oceania sevens tournament in Suva, Fiji. Game specific external load data [playing minutes, total running distance, high speed running distance (HSD)], psychrometric wet bulb temperature (WBTp) and exertional heat illness (EHI) symptoms were also collected. Cohen’s effect sizes (d) were used to assess differences in Tc across measurement periods was, while linear regression was used to assess the effect of external load and post warm-up Tc on peak game Tc. Results: Compared to baseline on both tournament days, mean Tc was higher at all subsequent time-points, including between games (all d > 1.30). On both tournament days, eight athletes (~73%) reached a peak game Tc > 39.0 °C. with several athletes reaching > 39.0 °C during warm-ups. The final game of the tournament recorded the highest mean peak Tc (39.1 ± 0.3 °C). Mean Tc was related to playing minutes, total running distance, HSD, and post warm-up Tc (all p < 0.01). Conclusions: Tc during warm-ups and games regularly exceeded those demonstrated to be detrimental to repeated sprint performance (> 39 °C). Warm-up Tc represents the easiest predictor of game peak Tc to control via the use of appropriate pre- and per-cooling strategies. Practitioners should be prepared to modulate warm-ups and other heat preparation strategies based on likely environmental conditions faced in these tournaments.
Vā and Veitapui as decolonial potential: ongoing Talatalanoa and re-imagining Doctoral being and becoming
(2021-08-23) Fa'avae, David Taufui Mkiato; Badenhorst, Cecile; Amell, Brittany; Burford, James
Ko e taumuʻa ʻo e tohi ni ke tau talatalanoa fekauʻaki moe vā moe veitapui. This chapter is centered on vā and veitapui, Tongan concepts grounded in Indigenous Pacific philosophies linked to relational spaces. I articulate how the decolonial potentialities of doctoral being and becoming require intimate navigation and negotiation, highlighting the fluid, rich, and nuanced knowledges within vā and veitapui. Doctoral writing, as understood within vā and veitapui, provided a critical space for me to legitimize and value Indigenous Pacific thought in relation to dominant western knowledge. By employing Tongan concepts, I share how, through doctoral learning and writing, the encounters and experiences strengthened and affirmed my fatongia— an obligation and responsibility to honour and safeguard our cultural knowledges. For me, engaging in my own doctoral writing project was a matter of socio–political struggle and epistemic disobedience, because the academic traditions linked to perceived “proper” writing conventions were not what I adhered to in my own doctoral writing (McDowall & Ramos, 2017). In this chapter, I share how the concepts of vā and veitapui aided me in uncovering time-spaces within doctoral learning and education, and I re-imagine how Tongan ideas, language, and practices could be re-presented through writing.
Sickness experience and language : aspects of Tongan and Western accounting
(The University of Waikato, 1981) Parsons, Claire D.F.; Bettison, David
In this study of Tongan healing practices, the author has chosen not simply to record participants’ roles or medicinal preparations but rather, the concern of this study is to understand the ‘doing’ of sickness as a social practice. Two main sociological techniques have been applied. Firstly, a hermeneutic - phenomenological approach was used to attain recordings of, and to analyze, the sickness theorizing of members of Tongan society. The ‘sickness talk’ of these members provides a record of some aspects of contemporary Tongan healing practices. The ‘sickness talk’ is also analyzed using Wittgenstein’s concept of ‘rule-usage’ in the ‘language game’ of sickness. This form of analysis indicated certain individual and public relevances which are grounded upon the Tongan way of life. Thus speakers’ accounts are analyzed in terms of what sickness talk ‘shows’ as well as what it ‘says’, disclosing cultural process instead of simply cultural product. Discussion on ‘diagnosis’ shows that in order to define the problematic situation of sickness, the phenomena are organized into a classification, that is, members have to ‘capture’, ‘fix’, ‘concretize’ the confronting transient phenomena and apply a sickness label as a ‘working definition’. Tongan sickness ‘types’ are shown to be not only different from Western ‘types’, but aspects of the process of constructing that difference are also shown to be implicit in the sickness talk. Diagnosis as a social process is not seen as the labelling of an ‘objective fact’, ‘a sickness’; nor is therapy understood as being some ‘thing’ that gets a person ‘better’. Tongan explanatory models, developed to explain sickness causation, differ essentially from Western explanatory models of sickness in that Tongans have developed a social model of prevention and cure while in the West, a biological model has been developed. Explanation is understood here not as the causal accounting of sickness but as the explanation of enigmatic consequences. The latter sections of the study on doing sickness as ‘kinship’ and as ‘healer’ not only add to the record on contemporary healing practices but also emphasize the Tongan social model of sickness. This study therefore, is not only a record, albeit a partial one, of contemporary Tongan healing practices, it also shows how these particular Tongans define certain sickness situations and devise a strategy to resolve that problematic situation. That is, it shows how committing certain experiences to language ‘is’ the ordering process. Rather than any magico-religious or scientific-biological model providing the basis of sickness practice in Tongan society, kinship is proposed as the underlying organizing principle. The comparative mode of analysis, in relation to Tongan and Western sickness theorizing, avoids presenting Western explanation as a model by which Tongan theorizing can be evaluated. Instead, in analyzing Tongan healing practices showing knowledge and relevance(s), substantive dimensions of Western theorizing and practice are disclosed. In selecting a limited number of members’ sickness accounts over a period of six and a half months in Tonga, I have not attempted to randomly sample the Tongan population in order to generalize my ‘findings’ to the whole of Tongan society. Instead my interest has been to give an interpretation of some aspects of Tongan sickness theorizing which may or may not be altered by similar and more extensive studies in the future. Contrary to what may be seen as being medical and anthropological expectations, Tongan traditional healing practices have not declined since Western contact, rather, they have developed from reportedly limited skills at that time, to an extensive network of healing practice today.
Who does external quality assurance policy in Sāmoa serve, and who benefits?
(The University of Waikato, 2023) Wright, Farita Tepora; Klinger, Don; Cobb, Donella J.; Fa'avae, David Taufui Mkiato
Quality assurance has been described as the single most significant policy to have emerged in the higher education sector in recent times. This research critically examines the question of who is served by external quality assurance policy for higher education in Sāmoa through an examination of the voices and values that determine policy, how these shape policy relationships and how academics respond to external quality assurance policy. The conceptual framework for this research draws firstly on Kabini Sanga’s (2004) conceptualisation of indigenous Pacific research as having particularities in terms of ontology, epistemology, axiology, and methodology, secondly on aspects of critical realist theory; and subsequently on elements of postcolonial critique and critical policy studies. This research used thematic analysis and an emergent analytical and contextually relevant tool to interpret the research findings. The findings indicate firstly that four groups of policy actors influence decision-making on external quality assurance policy in Sāmoa. These groups include quality assurance policy officials as agents of the government, international consultants, university and academic leaders, and transnational quality assurance networks. Consultants and transnational quality assurance networks make up an influential part of the epistemic community that shapes how quality assurance policy officials think about quality assurance in higher education. Secondly, the ideal of international recognition and neoliberal management principles such as effectiveness, efficiency, compliance and accountability underpin Sāmoa’s external quality assurance policy, which is also marked by an absence of Sāmoa’s cultural values. The close connection to skills and employment as a driver of neoliberal economic growth is apparent in Sāmoa’s external quality assurance policy documents. This research suggests that the valorisation of the neoliberal values of effectiveness, efficiency, compliance and accountability in Sāmoa’s external quality assurance policy results in a hegemonic, disconnected and transactional relationship between the government and the university. Academics responded in various ways to external quality assurance policy. Their responses ranged from resistance to resignation to acceptance and affirmation. The reasons for acceptance by academics included the attraction of funding support, local and international recognition of qualifications, the perceived marketability of quality-assured status, and a sincere desire to improve the quality of their work. The reasons for resistance were influenced by a myriad of factors that can be categorised into relational aspects and value factors. The findings of this research suggest that external quality assurance policy for higher education in Sāmoa is primarily enacted to drive economic growth through efficient and effective skills development and the aspirational purposes of obtaining a better life for Sāmoan people through international and local recognition of higher education qualifications. Overall, it is not evident from this research that external quality assurance policy in Sāmoa serves the purpose of enhancing teaching and learning in higher education. The findings of this research have implications for how education policymakers in Sāmoa conceptualise policy solutions for quality higher education. This research directs attention to the need to conceptualise policy solutions that are framed within indigenous Sāmoan notions of quality and service for the Sāmoan people. Secondly, there are implications for considering alternative policy approaches that do not rest on neoliberal market principles but focus on social justice. Thirdly there are implications for rethinking the unrelenting drive for international recognition of Sāmoa’s qualifications in view of the discussion on the subsequent hegemony and disconnectedness between those who work in higher education and those who make policy decisions about higher education quality in Sāmoa.

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