Tokelau Language Week will be celebrated across Aotearoa New Zealand from Sunday 26 October to Saturday 1 November 2025.
This year’s Tokelau Language Week theme, Tokelau, Puaki mai ko tau aganuku mo fanau i te lumanaki – Tokelau - Unleash your culture for future generations, invites everyone to embrace every opportunity to use and share te Gagana Tokelau (the Tokelau language) and to pass it on to younger generations.
Secretary for Pacific Peoples, Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, says the week is a reminder that every contribution counts.
“Te Gagana Tokelau is recognised as an endangered language. Every speaker and learner matters. You don’t have to be fluent to make a difference; each greeting, each song, each story shared helps keep the language alive. This week is about courage, effort, and community, echoing the Tokelau saying: Oi kana hei taia ko lata matau, e kino ko lava kana puke ki ei - it is better to try and fail than to fail by not trying,” says Gerardine.
For Lafaele Vulu, Treasurer of Te Umiumiga a Tokelau Hutt Valley Incorporated, language and culture are inseparable from daily life.
“My Tokelau heritage flows through every moment of my life. Speaking te Gagana Tokelau is a divine gift from God and a core part of who I am,” says Lafaele.
“When I migrated from Tokelau to New Zealand, I carried with me my father’s words: ‘Son, once you achieve success in your studies, you must return to our islands.’ His message reminds me that giving back to Tokelau, wherever I am, is part of who we are as a people.”
“You don’t have to say everything perfectly - just choosing to try is how we keep our language alive. Tokelau heritage flows through daily life - in the songs we sing, the pulaka we share, the fale fono (community hall) where we gather. Each small act of language and culture counts,” says Lafaele.
This week, greet someone with Mālō ni – whano toe hau i (Hello – go and come back), a common Tokelau greeting wishing others a safe journey and return.
Visit the Tokelau Language Week page and follow the Tokelau Language Week Facebook page for resources, stories, and events across Aotearoa.