The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.
All photos by Geoffery Matautia.
On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with the incredible Selina Alesana Alefosio about Pōneke’s Tokelauan community, being a performing artist, wearing many hats, and teaching at Aotearoa’s most prestigious drama school, Te Kura Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa.
Tell us about yourself and your kāiga (family).
Mālo ni! Ko Selina he tamaiti e a Sefilina ma Fiava’ai Isara Alesana. Ko na matua o Sefilina ko Isitolo ma Vitolia Koloi. O Mātua o Fiava’ai o Reverend Āretaseta Alesana Isara ma Tūmanu Alesana. On my mum’s side, we are from Tokelau/Uvea, she also has links to Portugal. Our father, he passed in 2001, is Samoan from the villages of Falefā, Faleasiu, Vaie’e, Salani, and Ulutogi’a Aleipata. I was born and bred in the Hutt Valley, and the eldest of six children. I’m now married to Sale Alefosio and we have two kids. Our daughter lives with autism, and our boy lives with ADHD. This is our grandparents’ house in Richmond, Pito-one, better known as ‘Petone.’
I’m curious about the Tokelauan community here in Pōneke. Could you tell me more?
Wellington has the highest population of Tokelauans in the world. Porirua has the most, then the Hutt Valley. Most of us who come from the Hutt predominantly come from the Nukunonu atoll and are Catholic. Catholicism is really prevalent out here, not just the religious aspect but the cultural aspect, too. Our language – gagana Tokelau – and hiva (dance) has mainly been through church. It’s a very strong Tokelau community out here.
We hear a lot about the endangerment of Pacific languages and culture, especially for islands like Tokelau. It’s great to hear there’s a strong, thriving diaspora down here.
Absolutely. Growing up our grandfather was a very staunch Tokelau/Uvea man, not just in religion but in the gagana Tokelau. I didn’t realise he spoke English until I was in intermediate. They never spoke it to us, so we were fluent from birth. Before we had the community halls, we had a lot of community events out in our grandparents’ garage. That helped my siblings and I to learn about serving, always looking after people, and what it means to be a good host. The language and culture were constantly around us.
When I read up about you I thought it was impossible to capture all that you do under one label because you wear so many different hats. Could you expand on your various roles and responsibilities?
Where to start. For me, performing arts is the biggest thing in my life. That comes not just from my studies, but since I was a baby. I learnt Tokelau hiva through our grandparents and our kāiga. Our father was a musician and a singer, so music was constantly in our lives. It’d be him on Saturday morning cooking breakfast pancakes with the Samoan songs blasting. In Church there was singing, so performing’s been instilled in me since I was a child. I suppose all those things – reunions, events, performing in front of your family in church – have helped me get to where I am today.
You’re busy!
I think with the different hats, it’s about wherever I see the need, and wherever I see I can help. But I’ve learnt the hard way that you can’t say yes to everything because you can’t do everything. And it took me a long time to learn that. I used to say yes to everything and be there to help everyone, but I had to learn that in order to fill other people’s cups, my cup has to be filled.
True. But it’s easier said than done…
It’s so hard! My grandparents did everything for their community and their family.
I used to think “Who am I? I’m a product of their love and their service, who am I to say no to other people?” Our grandparents are the pinnacle of everything that we grew up learning. I get really emotional talking about them.
And now you’re teaching?
Yes, now that I’m teaching my children help to inform my practice. I have to think; how do I transfer all that amazing and beautiful knowledge that our tupuna and kāiga have given us onto the next generations who aren’t necessarily fluent in the languages?
How did the role at Toi Whakaari come about?
Like a lot of artists, I had to do the 9-5 and my arts practice was always on the side. I was at the Ministry of Social Development for 16 years. For a long time, I was weighing up the option of being an artist fulltime or not. Having a family comes with responsibilities, but after 16 years of putting it to the side, and with the blessing of my husband, I finished up my role.
I went straight into contract work and I’m now doing work with Toi Whakaari drama school teaching fundamentals in Pacific dance for year 1 drama students.
That’s interesting. I never knew they ran courses like that.
It’s so beautiful! Term one is the fundamentals of dance. Those who are non-Pacific have never heard of Tokelau, ever! But they learn to sing and dance and in term two they create a production using myth, legend and stories for children’s theatre.
How have the students responded?
They’ve been amazing. They’re really grateful to learn something new and something different. I work with the beautiful Emele Ugavale, and she is teaching them the importance of learning lots of different things and adding it to their basket of knowledge to tap into when they need it.
That’s great to hear that the drama curriculum is now teaching from these different cultural lenses.
It’s impressive to see, in my lifetime, how Indigenous knowledge and culture is valued and can add to a Western model. A lot of people going through the school are non-Pacific, but their response has been amazing. They’re so focused and have this hunger to learn. When I reflect, I think about how I’m creating relationships with people who are the finest up-and-coming artists in Aotearoa. I feel so blessed to have that opportunity.
You and your husband, Sale, co-founded an arts entity – the Kupega Affect – in 2021. What’s the story behind that?
The Kupega Affect is a Samoan/Tokelau/Uvea arts entity. A lot of the work we first started was around dance. The name pays homage to our tupuna and translates in gagana Tokelau to “fishing net”. My grandmother was a master weaver and our granddad was a rope maker who really grasped onto knowledge. Everything connects. My brother is also a weaver and rope maker and he’s helped us to realise our vision with our costumes. Although he uses traditional methodologies he’s helped us find contemporary ways of using them.
This year we had our Tokelau cultural festival with everyone from around Aotearoa. That was a real highlight as I got to help our children, college and adult groups with the hiva. I see my role as being the bridge from our elders to our young people. I want to make sure the knowledge is shared in a way that they can understand.
You mentioned when you introduced yourself that your children live with autism and ADHD. How does disability advocacy intersect with your arts practice?
Our girl was formally diagnosed with autism at five. We always knew she was different. From a young age, she was very creative and into music. She learnt how to play instruments herself. We were like, “wow!” For us, it was about seeing what she needed. In the education system, we had to fight for what she needed and it made us realise that we have to create what we don’t see. Now she’s 21 and creates music and she and our son are in all our projects. We have so many amazing talented artists here living with different abilities. I hope that people open their minds and hearts to what they have, because there’s so much talent in their craft. People have to realise what they bring and make sure that they’re seen!
This is Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ On Air.