By Julien McCallin
‘We should not be defined by the smallness of our islands but in the greatness of our oceans. We are the sea; we are the ocean. Pasifika is us.’ (5) Professor ‘Epeli Hau’ofa
In 2022, a new team joined the Super Rugby Pacific competition, the Oceanic rugby league: Moana Pasifika. The team was created to allow Pasifika identity to blossom and express itself through rugby.
‘Pasifika’ is a term designating the various indigenous ethnic groups that populate Oceania. Pasifikas are associated with a unique identity: an identity spread across the biggest ocean on the planet, the Pacific Ocean.
Sport and nationalism have regularly intertwined, but rather than crushing other nationalisms to impose oneself, in the way Real Madrid and Barcelona under Franco did (opposing Catalan independentists to Centralised Spanish nationalism, resulting in brutal repression of any expressions of Catalan identity when they played each other) (4), Moana Pasifika takes the opposite approach.
Instead of being what differentiates Pasifikas, the Moana (Ocean in Māori, a Polynesian language) is what unites them. Sa’uila Sonny Natanielu, cultural advisor to the team said, ‘the ocean is not the barrier that separates us, it is the highway that connects all of us’ (2).
The notion of ethnic bind (Idea that different ethnicities are fundamentally incompatible and therefore must fight each other to remain alive) is countered by the team. The players come from Polynesia (Tonga, Samoa, Niue) but also Melanesia (Fiji or Vanuatu), two racially, ethnically, and geographically different regions made fraternal when in the team. This inclusive Pan-Oceanic identity goes beyond any concept of ethno-nationalism. ‘We are the Ocean, it is the Ocean that binds us’ (5).
Moana Pasifika is not just a sports team; it is also a movement. For Pasifikas, Rugby is the wave that lifted them towards success (5), yet they always had to cheer for individuals that were like them, never a team that represented them. Moana Pasifika is that team, celebrating Pasifika talent, diversity, and sameness all at once.
This identity is shown in the jersey, the logo and the team’s aesthetics. The logo represents what connect Pasifikas: their sun (on top), their ocean (the whale’s tail on the bottom), their islands (between the sun and the ocean) and their art (on top as well).
The logo’s Hiapo pattern (a Niuean art form) is about the unity and coming together of these various people to forge a better future for Pasifikas (3).
Figures 1&2. Logo and Hiapo pattern (left) and Hiapo iconography (right). (3)
The jerseys are homages to Pasifika culture, such as the Pasifika sail, a nod to their mastery over the ocean, or a Malu Lima, a traditional Samoan female hand tattoo, placed over the heart (6)
Figure 3. Moana Pasifika’s jersey, Malu Lima on the top left. (3)
Rugby’s inherent violence may appear as a substitute for the violence associated with identity making, especially in a context of facing teams from far bigger countries like New Zealand and Australia, but there is more to it. It is expressing their culture to rugby’s worldwide audiences that strengthen it most. Since Moana Pasifika’s inception, players performed traditional dances such as the Le Fa’avae before games (7), sang songs with other teams after them, and did team presentations in traditional attire.
Figure 4. Moana Pasifika players performing the Le Fa’avae(7).
Figure 5. Team presentation in traditional attire (3)
For so long Pasifika culture was repressed, deemed inferior and incompatible with British culture that dominated the Pacific Islands and Oceania (9). Pasifika identity, had to fight to simply exist.
Even today, New Zealand has recently seen immense upheaval from its Māori population over the government’s attempts at reforming the Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s foundational treaty that established Māori rights under British occupation (8).
Moana Pasifika now bears the flags of Pasifika every time they play. Kids across Polynesia and Melanesia were always made to cheer for teams which had some of their players. Now they have an entire team that travels the world’s biggest ocean and that celebrates them and their culture. This shows that an inclusive nationalism, based on pride in a common ocean and identity and the desire to express one’s culture, is possible. The Pasifika identity shines brighter than ever and proves to its people that even with all the challenges that they face, Pasifika identity will prevail.
Bibliography:
(1) Airey, Thomas, ‘More than just a game’. Moana Pasifika rugby provides story of hope for the islands’, The Guardian, 25 March 2022
(2) All Blacks, ‘Spotlight: this is Moana Pasifika’, YouTube, (4th of December 2020) https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=qu3418y0mk8
(3) Best Awards, ‘Moana Pasifika’, Accessed 21st of November 2024 https://bestawards.co.nz/graphic/large-brand-identity/sixonenine/moana-pasifika/
(4) Farred, Grant. “Som Més Que Un Club, Però Menys Que Una Nació: More than a Club, but Less than a Nation.” Long Distance Love: A Passion for Football, 2008, 82–97
(5) Moana Pasifika – Our story, Accessed 21 of November 2024, https: // moanapasifika .co.nz /about/
(6) Radio New Zealand, ‘Moana Pasifika feature combined cultures on first jersey’, Accessed 21 November 2024 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/456292/moana-pasifika-feature-combined-cultures-on-first-jersey
(7) Rugby.com.au, ‘Goosebumps moment as Sekope Kepu leads Moana Pasifika for Le Fa’avae’, 28 May 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=0AtKvTvq-HA
(8) Lachlan Bennett, ‘What is the Treaty of Waitangi and why is it sparking protests in New Zealand?’, ABC Australia, 13th of November 2024
(9) Sternberg, Keara, “From the Margins to the Frame: Social Identities and a “pan-Pacific” Moana” (2017). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2675, https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2675
Photographic sources:
(Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5) Best Awards, ‘Moana Pasifika’, Accessed 21st of November 2024 https://bestawards.co.nz/graphic/large-brand-identity/sixonenine/moana-pasifika/
(Figure 4) Rugby.com.au, ‘Goosebumps moment as Sekope Kepu leads Moana Pasifika for Le Fa’avae’, 28 May 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=0AtKvTvq-HA
Identity Hunters 