Tapa

01/09/2025

Latest update on Tapa Talanoa Collective's PROTECT THE TONGAN FLAG PETITION on 2nd September 2025

We are now at 83 signatories on our way to 100!

Well done to our Women Elders paving a way forward in taking action for a better Tonga tomorrow!

For groups wanting a paper based petition please email [email protected] and we will send that through for your church, community group to sign and send back to us to upload into the online platform.

Malo e ngue lahi everyone!

28/08/2025

Latest update on our Protect the Tongan Flag Petition on 28/8/25.

Thanks to our elders at Haape Mata Mei he Langi o Glen Innes, they've rallied up a whopping 30+ signatories in just 5 days. We're working with our online team to manually upload these paper signatories. So bear with us for now.

In the meantime, we can confirm that the highest voters for this petition are from Tongatapu! Malie!

Also note - Unknown voters have not disclosed where they are from in Tonga or are non-Tongans! Malo 'aupito for voting :)

We are now at 71 voters so far to reach 100!

Well done, everyone :)

20/08/2025

Malo e tau ma'u kihe he pongipongi ni,

Thursday 21st August 2025, and our petition is tracking along..

We are at 18 signatures as of today!

Thank you to everyone who is supporting our petition and efforts. Please continue to share the petition link here and make sure you've signed it yourself! https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/protect-the-dignity-of-the-tongan-flag-stop-its-commercial-misuse

Malo 'aupito

19/08/2025

Community voices are calling for more respect around cultural identity. Hainoame Fulivai, founder of the Tapa Talanoa Collective, says the issue was raised during a women’s workshop focused on cultural heritage: “Their feelings of being hurt and shocked to see the Tongan flag being sold or printed on items such as jandals or flip flops being sold in Otāhuhu,” she says.

👇SIGN THE PETITION, PROTECT OUR 🇹🇴 FLAG👇
https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/protect-the-dignity-of-the-tongan-flag-stop-its-commercial-misuse

https://pmn.co.nz/read/language-and-culture/tongan-community-demands-respect-for-national-flag

Elders describe the commercial exploitation as stripping away pride and mana, sparking a global petition for changes to commercial use.

18/08/2025

Over the weekend we finally got to catch up with our wonderful partners Tamaki Zero Waste Hub!

Everyone is super busy and this hub is a local hot spot for preloved items refurbished. For us, it’s where rescued Koloa (Taonga) is reconnected to our indigenous owners - women collectives who champion Koloa in the community.

Thank you to Giulio and his team for the wonderful work you all do for community and our environment.

Stay tuned for our upcoming announcements!

16/08/2025

Sign the petition to protect the Tongan Flag! 🇹🇴 🇹🇴 🇹🇴

15/08/2025

🚨 Protect Our 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐠 🚨

🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴🇹🇴

As we prepare to celebrate Tongan Language Week 2025, we want to draw urgent attention to an issue that deeply concerns our community.

Recently, our women’s collectives raised an alarm after seeing the National Tongan Flag printed on jandals being sold in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland. This was more than just poor taste; it’s a direct insult to our identity, culture, and nationhood.

Further research has revealed that legislative changes are urgently needed in Tonga to protect our flag from this kind of misuse, not only here in Auckland, but also on overseas e-commerce platforms selling similar products.

The National Tongan Flag is not a fashion accessory.𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

In this modern, connected world, it is more important than ever to uphold and protect what represents us as a people. This means ensuring no one, anywhere, profits from disrespecting our flag.

✍🏽 Sign the petition to call for stronger laws in Tonga and abroad to safeguard our national flag from misuse. Join us in solidarity, unity, pride, and respect, and click on the link!

https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/protect-the-dignity-of-the-tongan-flag-stop-its-commercial-misuse?source=web_share_api&utm_source=web_share_api&share=f453926f-f687-433f-8e04-a67f163e6130

'OtuamoTongakohotautofi'a

Tu'a 'ofa 'eiki atu,
Tapa Talanoa Collective

10/08/2025

🌏 August 9; International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Theme 2025; Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures

AI is advancing faster than the safeguards to protect culture, rights, and sovereignty. For Indigenous Peoples, this isn’t just about technology, it’s about survival and the integrity of our knowledge systems.

At Tapa Talanoa Collective, we work to protect authentic Koloa Fakatonga and wider Indigenous cultural wealth. We’ve seen how emerging tech can empower, but also exploit.

In Aotearoa/NZ, the recent misuse of kuia Ellen Tamati’s image in an anti–Māori ward campaign, without her consent and in direct opposition to her beliefs highlight how easily Indigenous representation can be taken, distorted, and weaponised. In other instances, there are also those claiming Indigenous identity while exploiting people, knowledge, practice, and data for personal or commercial gain. All have damaging and irrepairable effects that must be addressed responsibly and safely.

There’s Indigenous, and then there’s ethical, honest Indigenous representation. The difference is in transparency, accountability, reciprocity, and untokenized service to the community you represent.

To safeguard our futures, Indigenous Peoples must be co-creators, not afterthoughts, in shaping AI. That means:

➡️ Embedding cultural protocols into tech innovation & ownership

➡️ Protecting and repatriating cultural data

➡️ Creating AI that safeguards and enriches our intergenerational wisdom

If we can’t defend our images, voices, and symbols today, we risk losing far more in the AI-driven worlds ahead.

🔗 www.tapatalanoa.com

09/08/2025

🚫 PSA: Protect Your Identity, Knowledge & Data 🚫

At Tapa Talanoa Collective, we believe in protecting what matters most:

-> Our People, -> Our Knowledge, and -> Our Cultural Treasures.

If you’re connecting with us (or with our members) to pitch a product trial, research project, or “free” innovation opportunity, here’s where we stand:

✅ We do not trial or promote anything that fails to give our women, our families, or our communities control, agency, and long-term benefit.

✅ We work from spaces rooted in community leadership, Indigenous knowledge, and reciprocity, not extraction, free labour, or unreciprocated tech experiments.

✅ We say no to offers that don’t start from shared power, equity, and cultural integrity.

📢 Our message is simple: If it’s not ethical, reciprocal, and community-led, it’s not for us.

Let’s build futures with intention, where Indigenous peoples are co-creators, not test subjects.

06/08/2025

🌺 Rooted in Purpose, Rising Together 🌺
Our women feel seen, heard, and at home in this work, and that’s everything.

We had a powerful and energising workshop with our Auckland-based Tongan Women Collectives as part of the Tapa Talanoa Collective’s Knowledge Sharing Insights phase.

With deep gratitude to our friends at the New Zealand Heart Foundation, we were able to weave in practical self-efficacy tools around HEART care, starting with the food we love and share.

Our heartfelt thanks to Ireen Manuel, our experienced International Development expert, whose guidance continues to strengthen our approach and collective vision.

Bringing together our core women collectives was a reminder of the depth, wisdom, and leadership that lives within our communities. We are especially grateful to every woman who showed up and contributed, your voices shape this work and ground it in lived truth. There is a deep and growing sense of ownership and belonging in our movement, and it’s clear: our collectives are ready to lead boldly.

Thank you for coming through today.

Together, we are advocating for change, here in Aotearoa and abroad to ensure our authentic Koloa Fakatonga is not only protected, but thrives for generations to come.

A special thank you to our wonderful hosts at the New Zealand Heart Foundation’s Pacific Team led by Kokoi who was just wonderful in bringing this altogether. Thank you Alex for the go ahead and also Alti, Chloe and Dana for everything. This wonderful team provided nourishing food, meaningful messages, and warm hospitality and care throughout the day. We were definetly well looked after.

Our women thoroughly enjoyed the day in your beautiful space and look forward to doing alot more with you all again soon. Malo ‘aupito!