ANZ presents
- Tuvalu - the 'group of eight'
One of the things that unites most of us in the Pacific is the
small size of our island nations and territories and the fact
that as islands we are remote.
The island
group of Tuvalu is
one of the smallest and most remote nations in the world.
Made up of nine
coral islands, only eight of which are permanently populated,
the word Tuvalu literally means 'group of eight'.
Tuvalu has a
distinctive Polynesian culture and the people vigorously maintain
their unique social organization, art, crafts, architecture,
music, dance and legends.
Their major artistic
traditions are performance-oriented-oratory, plays composed for
specific occasions, and, above all, the action songs known as
faatele. Tuvalu's rich cultural heritage is reflected in its
music, bringing together both modern and traditional elements.
 These
songs take the form of seated singers and standing dancers singing
and acting out the repeated verses of a song faster and faster
until they reach a crescendo. Faatele may involve competition
between different sides, be an adjunct to other festivities,
or be an end in themselves at family gatherings.
The fakanau and
fakaseasea, which were formerly very popular forms for dance,
were composed to commemorate the reign of an aliki or toa, or
to praise certain outstanding figures for their skills in canoe
building, fishing, house building or for their wealth or bravery
within the community.
The fakanau which
has a tune that is between speech and singing was performed while
dancers are standing on their feet. The rhythm of the fakanau
is much quicker than those of the fakaseasea and the present
day faatele.
 The fakaseasea is said
to be as old as the fakanau. This type of dancing is still
performed to this day by elders. Unlike the fakanau, the
fakaseasea is sung much slower to a lovely tune and has one or
two performers dancing on their feet. Normally the fakaseasea
requires no uniformity of actions but the performers are free
to make actions which express the meanings of the words.
Another type
of singing was known as kupu. This was mainly composed to commemorate
any good work of a deceased person. The timing of the
kupu is like that of the fakaseasea, but accompanied by crying
sounds. When someone died the mourners would, throughout
the day and night perform a good number of kupu and fakanau in
which they requested their gods to receive their dead kindly.
The social system
in Tuvalu revolves around tradition. Each person of Tuvalu has
and a strong sense of duty and grounded community feelings. The
Tuvalu practice the system of 'salanga', in which each family
contributes to the community by doing certain social tasks, be
it building a house or fishing or any other thing. The trade
of the family is passed on in hierarchy so that skills and specialties
are carried on from generation to generation.
 The
Women's Handicraft Center, located in Funafuti, is an official
place where the propagation of traditional Tuvalu arts forms
is encouraged. Among the renowned things to be found here are
fans, mats, baskets, necklaces, woodcarvings and fishhooks. Local
crafts include woven baskets and mats, wood carvings and jewelry.
The people of
Tuvalu are particularly concerned about global warming. It is
thought that climate change will see the disappearance of the
low-lying islands with rising sea levels.
Seawater has
seeped into the groundwater, killing coconut trees and flooding
agricultural land, and storm damage has eroded the coastlines.
By the end of the century, some say Tuvalu may become uninhabitable.
Afelee Pita,
Tuvalu's second ambassador to the United Nations has been leading
the country's fight against global warming.
 Quoted by National Public
Radio in 2007, he told the United Nations, "Ocean warming
is changing the very nature of our island nation. Slowly our
coral reefs are dying through coral bleaching. We are witnessing
changes to fish stocks. And we face the increasing threat of
more severe cyclones. With the highest (land) point of four meters
above sea level, the threat of more cyclones is extremely disturbing."
NPR summed it
up saying, "Tuvalu's fear is that ocean waters will rise,
cyclones will grow more intense, people will be forced to move
to other countries, and Tuvalu - along with its way of life -
will disappear."
And how did this
small country afford to send an ambassador to the U.N.? The islanders
have tapped into a very modern way of making money. They have
sold the island's internet suffix (.tv) to a California company
and make several million dollars a year in continuing revenue.
(Information
compiled from the following websites: <http://www.mapsofworld.com/>
<http://www.timelesstuvalu.com/> <http://www.everyculture.com>
<http://www.janeresture.com/> <http://www.npr.org/>)
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