Tokelauans initiated a contemporary migration from their relatively remote Pacific atolls to New Zealand around 1960 and this population movement was assisted by government resettlement schemes. The broad objectives of the ethnographic research contributing to this thesis were to study the historical context of this small-scale voluntary migration, the establishment and social organisation of culturally distinguished urban communities in North Island centres, and post-resettlement outcomes experienced by migrant and descent populations. Each of the two studies incorporated in the thesis is primarily concerned with tūpulaga ‘the younger generation’ in the New Zealand Tokelau population. One is community-based and focused on the social interactions of generation cohorts of tūpulaga and tupuna ‘elders’, the formal community associations and the national association of affiliated tūpulaga groups. The other is concerned with bunches of “detached” tūpulaga geographically scattered throughout the country, the people without voices when research includes only the migrants in urban enclaves. Background considerations include overviews of theoretical approaches to studying the population phenomenon of migration; relevant aspects of Tokelau history and the movement of Pacific peoples; New Zealand as the receiving country and continuously changing social context for Tokelau communities, and a conceptual framework derived from features of complex adaptive systems theories that was helpful in considering aspects of the contemporary migration and its outcomes. Tūpulaga leaders, through the association of affiliated groups known as the Mafutaga, revived the pre-eminent cultural principle maopoopo ‘gathered together and unified’, promoted a vision of ‘Tokelau ways in New Zealand’ and supported tūpulaga “becoming Tokelau in New Zealand” as residents of urban communities. Over a number of years, Mafutaga officials led the expansion of tūpulaga inter-community sports meetings into a four-day national gathering of Tokelauans now celebrated as an unequivocal expression of Tokelau culture in New Zealand, and guided the established urban communities through a transition from migrant to cultural communities without usurping the political roles of esteemed elders. The second study shows that intergenerational issues were pivotal or contributory in most tūpulaga decisions to “detach” from community networks and activities. “Detachment” is categorised as transient (a provisional, not necessarily long-term status), tacit (a restorative withdrawal, with subsequent reattachment) or diuternal (a considered choice and enduring status). / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:AUCKLAND/oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/76 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Green, Valerie Joyce |
| Publisher | ResearchSpace@Auckland |
| Source Sets | University of Auckland |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Source | http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/9928380 |
| Rights | Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only. Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated., http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm, Copyright: The author |
| Relation | PhD Thesis - University of Auckland, UoA865930 |
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