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FARAIMO-DAKUNA, Jennifer
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ISBN 978-1-922452-58-0
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The Tuluma

Written by: Jennifer Faraimo-Dakuna
Illustrated by: Anitelea Sakaria
Translated by: Opeta Faraimo

Tokelau is located 3,355 kilometres North, North East of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Historically and traditionally, Tokelau had four atolls. Fakaofo, Atafu, Nukunonu and Olohega. Today, Tokelau now only has three atolls. The Tuluma is a based on a true story. I grew up in a home with lots of Tokelau artifacts, in Porirua, New Zealand. I did not understand the significance of these artifacts until I became an adult. I hope you and your family enjoy reading this book written in English and the Tokelau language.
–Jennifer Dakuna

About the Author

Jennifer Faraimo-Dakuna is from Fakaofo, Tokelau. Her parents are Tolo and Petesa Faraimo.

Born and raised in Porirua, Aotearoa New Zealand, Jennifer enjoys eating Tokelau food. Her favourite food is coconut apple and coconut crab.
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ISBN 978-1-922452-31-3
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Voices from the Village

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the traditional Indigenous owners of the land and regions of:
• Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, the people of Gooreng Gooreng, Bailai and Gurang tribes
• Blackwater, Central Highlands, Queensland, Australia—Ghungalu people
• Cranborne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the Mayone Balluk clan and the Boonerwrung and Kulin nation.

We acknowledge your elders, your leaders and communities, both past, present and emerging.
We acknowledge that it was on your traditional lands that we found rest and revitalisation in compiling this book and for which we are profoundly grateful.

Voices from the Village, a Pasifika anthology is a collection of poems and short stories from 39 Pasifika storytellers and writers. Our age range is 90 years young is to nine years old. Represented in this book are those who identify with the following islands: Tokelau, Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji and Aotearoa, New Zealand. It is from this Pasifika village we proudly share our stories.
Short stories edited and compiled by Jennifer Faraimo-Dakuna and Leiana Matapuku Foua

Fenuafala, Fakaofo, Tokelau—Photo Credit Fono Gaualofa

About the Authors

We would like to express our immense gratitude to all the writers who contributed to this book. We acknowledge your families, the elders, the villages, the island nations from whence you have come. This book is intended for a Pasifika-based audience. In some stories, writers have written in their mother tongue. Therefore, we have not provided a glossary of terms. It will be assumed that you can read and understand languages from the Pasifika nations. If not, now is a great time to learn a language from another Pasifika nation.
Voices from the Village is a small response to the lack of written stories from the hearts and minds of the people from the Pasifika. This book attempts to capture ‘voice’ and ‘talanoa’ of her peoples.
Like a village, we have organized the book in order of the age of the writer. So, if you are looking to read writings from a younger writer, head towards the end of the book and if you are looking for a mature voice, start with the beginning of the book.
We purposely did not want this book to be organized in genre groups. We wanted the reader to engage first with writer, then if you wanted, you could read a little longer into their story. There is no pressure or expectation for you to read this book from start to finish. Many of our readers would probably flick through the book and see if they know a writer first, then start there.
Many of our writers have included a photo and profile to accompany their writing. Voices from the Village brings you 60 Pasifika writings from 40 Pasifika writers. We hope you find a familiar face or identify with a village or Pasifika island.
May the stories of the people from Tokelau, Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, and Aotearoa New Zealand not be silenced. We write to tell our story because this is our legacy.
We write to express to our children, grandchildren the echoes from our parents, our elders from generations past.
We write because we were born to write.
Alofa atu, Meitaki Maata.