Niue Island is known as 'The Rock of Polynesia' by many people around the Pacific, a name that describes the rough terrain of the island and its jagged coral reef. It can also describe a Niuean’s identity through their attitude, outlook and how they survive. Its land and environment are very different from most Pacific islands and that is why locals call it the rock.
It is also known by Niueans as ‘Nukututaha’ or ‘ the island that stands alone’ and when you hear the meaning of this name , it is little wonder that Niueans keep leaving Niue. It seems that Nukututaha stands alone to fulfill a prophecy, left by reference to its calling from ancestors hundreds of years ago. It almost justifies itself as to why the Niuean people have left Niue to stand alone – almost but not quite.
Not quite because today on Niue there are just over 1 200 people left living on the island which defines their existence. Like the rock, they are testament to themselves, holding fast to the land that keeps them there, upholding their heritage that can only be identifiable to a Niuean - the language, the culture, the traditions that defines who they are and which shows other Niueans why they cannot and will not leave Niue. They are in essence the gate keepers of the island and the caretakers of the land.
The number of Niueans living worldwide equals approximately 25 000 people, of which 20 000 live in New Zealand. At its highest number, Niueans living on the rock peaked at 5 200 in the mid 1960s. For the majority of Niueans, they have been leaving the island since early as the 1860s when modern shipping was introduced to the island. They have left their homes taking whole families to start new lives in different countries bringing up new generations of Niueans born away from the island. From these populations today, there are increased numbers of Niueans who have grown up and now want to re-connect with the rock to acknowledge their cultural heritage and they want to do this by returning home to the land. For some, they are successful at making new friendships, meeting families and forming new relationships. For others, sometimes the journey to re-connect with the island comes with an ugly truth.
The truth of which the return home can be seen as both welcoming and suspicious of the sons and daughters of Niue born in foreign lands. The new generation’s need to re-connect with their heritage is sometimes misunderstood and mixed up with the rights to claim land can result in resentment from families living on the island causing hostility and rifts amongst everyone involved. Even when they all have rights to land directly through their family lines. With all this in-fighting and struggles within families, it is little wonder that Niuean communities are fragmented and are not as strong as they could be in comparison to other Pacific nations. In Niue , it is the land that unites the people and it is the land that can tear them apart. This is only one of the key issues that differentiates Niueans who live on the island from those who live abroad.
Land in Niue is owned by line of descent ( magafaoa ) and it is passed to the eldest son where the rights of descent are passed on orally. This is very similar to a lot of Pacific Island nations where the backgrounds are all steeped in oral history. This is changing today with written documentation made for evidence . For those disputing land rights, there is a land court system that sits for a few weeks at a time on the island with a judge who comes from New Zealand to assess each case. People come together for court hearings and are expected to provide evidence, letters and documentation of support for land claims and the issues surrounding this. This task is hard and tedious because the process is arduous, the court has a long list to go through and it is slow going case by case. It is worse still when families are sometimes fighting their own families for land with brothers going against brothers.
In saying this , Niuean families still need to think seriously about their own land that has been abandoned with houses that have grown derelict and neglected. In between homes that are well kept, there are houses that are overgrown with weeds. Their vines creep through the roof tops and have grown through the cracks in the walls. For some Niueans, out of sight is out of mind, but these are issues will not go away if they are not addressed properly today.
The Niuean government have tried to re-allocate housing and land ownership from Niueans who have been away from home for more than 20 years in the 1980s, but this was met with fierce opposition from Niueans overseas . Today, the Trevor Hall report from the New Zealand government has made recommendations to improve Niue’s economic situation in order to receive more assistance. One of the aims recommended is to have better tourism accommodation offered in the southside area of the island which means demolishing derelict housing to make way for new ventures. The Niue government is currently working in conjunction with New Zealand to find a way forward in terms of dealing with derelict housing at the very least and families have to take responsibility for their homes by making contact with them.
It is a huge undertaking for the New Zealand government to deal with a community and nation who are set in their minds when it comes to land, as these issues are very sensitive to Niuean people. It can also be said that these are part of the reasons why Niueans are not going home to help contribute to the land and its growth. Where do they live if families are fighting over land and who will tell them exactly what they need to know? Its just as easy to live overseas where the process is, for the most part much easier to buy a home instead . In Niue, land belongs to families who are accountable to each other most of the time which is good if you know them. For the unlucky ones who are not informed and whose families are fighting, they end up losing out for future generations who may still want to be connected to the island.
This issue affects all Niueans in Niue and abroad in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Dubai, Hawai’i , USA and Niueans international and the solutions are not easy. However, if Niueans are willing to come together for the good of a nation going forward by helping families, supporting communities, contributing to discussions which addresses these issues and growing with change instead of fighting one another, then the problems of a Niue can be addressed collectively and inclusively by many. The truth about Niueans is that the same mentality that was suspicious of Captain Cook when he tried to land in 1774 still exists today and Niueans need to change this mindset as well. When we get over this, then perhaps we can come together, be stronger and say ‘ this is our land together ’.
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