Sau Ia Fest: How a Christchurch man is helping young Pasifika students find their identity

Growing up in Christchurch, Albany Seumanutafa Peseta struggled to find a sense of belonging as a young Pasifika person. 

“There weren’t really any opportunities or platforms for kids at a young age to learn, express themselves, and celebrate our culture,” he says. 

“I didn’t know who I was as a Pasifika person.” 

Seven years ago, he set out to change that. 

He founded Tagata Mai Saute Academy, a programme designed to help young people connect with their Pacific culture through language, song, and dance. 

On Thursday, that vision filled the Christchurch Town Hall, as around 850 primary and intermediate students from 20 Canterbury schools performed at the fifth annual Sau Ia Festival. 

“It is simply kids, whether they’re Pasifika or not, having a chance to be educated around our culture, to express identity, and develop a sense of belonging,” he says. 

The academy has grown rapidly since its first year, expanding from 600 students to around 1500 today. Seumanutafa Peseta and one other tutor now travel to as many as five schools a day, teaching Pacific languages, songs and cultural traditions. 

For Seumanutafa Peseta, the greatest success is not the growth in numbers but the pride and self-belief he sees in the children taking part. 

Many arrive unsure of their heritage. By the end of the programme, students are proudly wearing their lavalava, greeting one another in Pacific languages and embracing their identity. 

“There’s a shyness that has gone; they are now proud to step into our spaces,” he says. “That’s the whole purpose of this festival, to allow kids to have that sense of pride.” 

Eleven-year-old Sienna Fuataga Aukusitino, from St Anne’s Catholic School, was one of the students who took the stage at Sau Ia Fest. 

After being bullied at a previous school because of her ethnicity, she says Sau Ia Fest has helped her step outside her comfort zone and feel more confident in who she is. 

“I still get nervous because you’re representing your culture and your school,” she says. 

 “But Sau Ia Fest makes me want to be prouder and more open about my culture because where you come from should be a proud thing.” 

This growing confidence has seen Sienna take on a Fijian solo performance at this year’s festival.

Principal Dallas Wichman says Tagata Mai Saute gives Pasifika students the opportunity to succeed while celebrating the diversity of Pacific cultures. 

“I think it’s important to highlight our Pacific neighbours and celebrate their languages and cultures,” he says. 

Last year alone, St Anne’s students represented Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Tokelauan cultures through the programme. 

“For us, it’s another opportunity for Pasifika to achieve. This is Pasifika achieving as Pasifika.” 

Wichman believes every New Zealand school should embrace Pacific cultural education, regardless of the number of Pasifika students enrolled. 

“Whether they have Pasifika or not in their schools is irrelevant because their students will meet Pasifika people in their time in New Zealand.” 

Seumanutafa Peseta agrees, saying the festival is about ensuring today's children have the cultural familiarity he lacked growing up. 

For him, nothing captures that better than hearing young people sing the songs handed down by previous generations.  

“Those are songs that we’ve been taught from our forefathers and our grandparents, and now our younger kids are singing them,” he says. 

“It’s the tradition, it’s the songs, it’s the history that keep us going.”