Indigenous Intergenerational Relational Rhythms

Sustaining Tongan Language and Culture Across Time (Tā) and Space (Vā)

Authors

  • Telesia Kalavite University of Otago

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29742

Keywords:

Tonga, language, culture, identity, intergenerational, tā-vā (time-space), diaspora, Indigenous

Abstract

This article unfolds intergenerational sustainability and relational rhythms through Tongan language and culture and the interrelationships between older and younger Tongan people and between Tongans and non-Tongans in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). It also unpacks the interconnected ways in which Tongans as Indigenous people honour the inseparability and sensibilities of knowing–seeing–feeling–doing–being–becoming Tongan across tā–vā (time–space) in language and cultural realities, and their implications on Tongan people’s success in life. I argue that there is still space to strengthen Tongan language and culture through intergenerational relationships between Tongans in loto-Tonga, the motherland, and communities settled in tu‘a-Tonga, the diaspora such as Aotearoa NZ. 

Author Biography

Telesia Kalavite, University of Otago

Telesia Kalavite PhD is of Tongan heritage with over four decades of teaching experience in Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. She is a lecturer and coordinator of the Pacific Islands Studies program at Te Tumu School of Māori Pacific and Indigenous Studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Her research interests are on Pacific education, culture and Indigenous development, and translations.

Downloads

Published

2024-01-31

How to Cite

Kalavite, T. (2024). Indigenous Intergenerational Relational Rhythms: Sustaining Tongan Language and Culture Across Time (Tā) and Space (Vā). Art/Research/International:/A/Transdisciplinary/Journal, 8(2), 636–662. https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29742

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2024): (Re)crafting Creative Criticality: Indigenous Intergenerational Rhythms and Post–COVID Desires

Section

Section Three: Intergenerational Echoes

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Telesia Kalavite

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with Art/Research International agree to the following terms:

a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication and the right to sublicense the Contribution, in the form in which it is published by the journal, to others under the terms and conditions of the of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) that allows others to download the work and share the work with others with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal, but they cannot change the work in any way or use any part of the work commercially.

b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive public distribution and display of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

d. Authors wishing to include items (such as images or other media, or any creative works of others whether previously published or not) must contact the original copyright holder to obtain explicit permission to publish these items in Art/Research International. Writing permission should include: the title(s) of any copyrighted work, original place of publication if applicable, and an acknowledgement of having read Art/Research International's copyright notice. Authors are responsible for obtaining this permission and keeping it in their own records for later verification.