PITA TAUAIKA VAILIMA JOSEPH MEANATA
Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa // North Bay, CA, USA
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Photo: Olivia Eng
"Aligning with my indigenous roots and people is hard because it means I have to unlearn a majority of my life."
Photo: Ivy Chen
Music: "Koauau (Albatross)" by Richard Nunns
The Tino Rangatiratanga flag is often referred to as the Māori flag and can be used to represent all Māori. Hiraina Marsden, Jan Smith and Linda Munn designed the flag in 1990. It uses black, white, and red as national colours of Aotearoa. The design of the flag references the Māori creation story of Rangi and Papa, suggesting the sky, the earth, and the physical realm of light and being, which was created when they were separated.
He waka eke noa
(A canoe we are all in with no exception: we are in this together)
Pita Tauaika Vailima Joseph Meanata S.C.A.R.S. Story (Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa // California, USA)
Music: "The Golden Present" by Jesse Gallagher
“I remember finding out through a Facebook post that the moko artist who was meant to do a chest plate into an arm sleeve on me got put into detention and sent back to Aotearoa. I was devastated as I was so ready to embrace having a visible marker of my cultural identity for all to see but especially as a reminder for myself of my roots and where I come from. That was all stripped away because of what felt like extreme pettiness from government workers truly reflecting the values of the Trump administration.”
Born and raised on a religion that wasn’t mine,
Came to find, I get sadder and sadder, madder and madder,
More and more,
I see my culture’s been left in tatters,
Climbing ladders,
Not meant for us,
Laws that change but don’t bend for us,
Western missionaries are praised like they saved the islands,
Like they brought the light,
Like they bringing diamonds,
But I’m not impressed,
My people distressed,
You changed the way that we dressed,
You changed the way that we bless,
You brought a whole new language,
But you couldn’t keep your word,
You took advantage, caused damage, endangered our birds,
Renamed the place that we live,
Made us sit and observe,
Beating up on our kids,
While you eating dessert,
Thinking about all those ancestors bleeding and hurt,
I feel the pain from those scars,
I feel the pain in the Earth,
Man that shit never left,
Been mounting(mountain) up, Everest,
Generational trauma is how that shit manifests,
I finally figured out the main differences,
Let me go ahead and tell you what the main difference is,
Your relationship focuses on the man,
My relationship focuses on the land,
Pita is a professional Hip Hop dancer who loves bouncing through various styles. House and Popping are where he's most comfortable but Waacking and locking make their way into the mix depending on what's playing. Growing up in New Zealand, Pita learnt Haka at a very young age and performed Tongan cultural dances in his last two years of high school. At the age of 19, Pita took his first Hip Hop class at Santa Rosa Junior College with, and upon the invite of Kelvin Cooper. This led him into eventually taking classes at Studio Gray where he auditioned and joined his first competitive Hip Hop team The U.N.I.T., based in Santa Rosa.
Gaining more and more experience, he ventured off with a few U.N.I.T. crew members to join Groove Against The Machine in Oakland under the leadership of Daniel Kang and Leslie Panitchpakdi where he competed for two seasons before transitioning out of the competition scene. No Mirror Movement, a non-profit artist collective became his new home for expression where he got to explore telling his own stories through dance and spoken word. Pita dances mainly recreationally and socially now. On the rarest of occasions he will battle, sometimes he'll teach, but most certainly he will always show up to functions ready to get down and have a good ass time.
"Haka and Tongan dancing helps me connect to my roots and ancestors. Whether it's the Tongan drums or the chilling war cries from haka, waves get sent through my body. My innermost essential being is ignited. There's a switch that's flipped and I feel every vibration and my body starts to radiate warmth and tingle. Big energy is able to be moved through this expression and I'm grateful for the opportunities to perform tradition that is sacred to me and my culture. Hip Hop dance has been a blessing for my social life and confidence. It's been a way for me to connect with music and people I love. It was also a great filling of a void that was left when I stepped away from rugby and needed a physical outlet."
