Venu Menon
Wellington, September 5,2023
Tonga Language Week 2023 is underway across New Zealand.
The celebration is part of the Pacific Language Week series launched by the government last year and aligns with the UNESCO Decade of Indigenous Languages programme aimed at sustaining and revitalising heritage languages.
This year’s overarching theme focuses on sustaining the heritage language through its use at home, church and in the wider community.
“For our Pacific communities, language is more than just a means of communication. It’s an important way to link generations and maintain connections to our ancestral roots,” says Barbara Edmonds, Minister for Pacific Peoples.
“The government believes our Pacific communities are vital to the diversity and culture of New Zealand,” the minister adds.
Tonga Language Week will be marked by a range of activities that include workshops, story telling, and activities focused on cooking, dance, as well as art and craft.
Statistics New Zealand data shows that Tongans are the fastest-growing Pacific population in New Zealand, with over 82,000 Tongan community members calling New Zealand their home. Of these, 40 % speak the language while just 12 % under the age of 15 can.
“Our Pacific language is the expression of culture and, more importantly, it empowers Pacific peoples to challenge the dominant discourse that continues to disadvantage our children and their families,” the Pacific Strategy Report 2022-23 notes.
New Zealand has no constitutional relationship with Tonga. However, the sovereign states in the Pacific neighbourhood are bound by an internationally-acknowledged relationship with one another.
The Pacific Languages Strategy Report 2023 estimates that 42% of all Kakai Tonga (ethnic Tongans) are New Zealand residents, making them the second largest Pacific ethnic group in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Tongan community accounts for 21.6 % of the Pacific population in New Zealand.
The report notes that the Kakai Tonga population has increased by 36.6 % since 2013. Despite this percentage increase in the Tongan population over the years, the Kakai Tonga language retention is declining more than all other Pacific languages in New Zealand.
An action plan to save the Tongan language sets three key objectives.
First, recognise the value of Lea Faka Tonga (Tongan language) across Aotearoa through research and education and programmes to promote the Tongan heritage.
Second, beef up resources for learning the Tongan language by increasing the numbers of Lea Faka Tonga bilingual units, upskill Tongan teacher aides to become teachers and engage with the community through science and culture.
Third, create an environment for the Tongan language to flourish by promoting its use in the home and across sectors through translations.
New Zealand and Tonga have close ties going beyond language.
In 2020, New Zealand marked 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. A year earlier, they signed a Statement of Partnership which reaffirmed the “mutual commitment to democracy; human rights; gender equality; effective governance; the rule of law; environmental stewardship; and strong regional and international cooperation.”
The New Zealand Parliament houses a selection of Taonga (cultural treasures) and art from Tonga. Among these is a small wooden carving gifted by the Prime Minister of Tonga during his visit to New Zealand in 2009. The carving, representing Ha’amonga a Maui (a Polynesian mythical figure), dates back to the 13th century and originates from ‘Uvea Island in French Polynesia.
Other gifts on display include a carved wooden club received in 2011 following the coronation of King George Tupou V of Tonga.
Tonga Language Week runs from 3 to 9 September 2023.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
