Introduction
Niue arts and crafts are one of the sectors of Tāoga Niue that is presently under the Department of Community Affairs. Legislation was established in 1986 to protect and safeguard all of Niue’s arts and crafts. A Niue Cultural Council was also set up, which came up with working programmes for performing arts, but not other areas.
This paper is an attempt to widen the concept of arts and crafts as follows:
• Cultural crafts
• Performing arts, costumes and musical instruments
• Traditional agricultural, fishing and hunting practises
• Other arts
What are Arts and Crafts?
Individual
These are considered treasured possessions of an individual, handed down from the tupuna. They are sacred and not to be given away easily. Only an immediate family member will receive the sacred treasure and the practise can only be changed if there are no living members of the family. For example, with the art of canoe-making: many have tried to make a Niuean canoe, but will never reach the standard of an individual who has had the skills of the craft passed down from the tupuna.
Family
These are the tāoga of the family, nurtured and protected from generation to generation. They are also sacred and not to be given away easily. It is a bad omen if the tāoga is given away, and any consequences will fall on the one who gave it away. An example of such a tāoga is traditional medicine and medical practises.
Village
Tapu is frequently used to protect the tāoga of the village, such as song composition and singing, including hymns. Some have tried to imitate the original composition of a song, but it will never be the same as that of the village that has the tāoga. The reasons are that the village wants to be prominent in this particular art and to ensure there is continuity from generation to generation.
Country
Arts and crafts are a symbolic representation of a country, differentiating it from other islands in the Pacific or the rest of the world. For example, the country name ‘Niue’ is different because there are no other countries in the world name Niue. The Niue national flag is another tāoga in this category, and we should all take part in protecting and looking after it.
A person’s specialised skills distinguish him or her from their own kind within the village, the country and the world. These skills are paramount in identifying us as the people of Niue, which we should feel proud of. Most of us know how to plant talo, but very few possess the skills to produce big talo tubers. All of us can deliver a speech, but very few of us are born orators who can keep the audience interested and alert.
The skills of arts and crafts are not vested in one place or institution, but in the individual, the family, the village and the country.
Niue arts and crafts are one of the sectors of Tāoga Niue that is presently under the Department of Community Affairs. Legislation was established in 1986 to protect and safeguard all of Niue’s arts and crafts. A Niue Cultural Council was also set up, which came up with working programmes for performing arts, but not other areas.
This paper is an attempt to widen the concept of arts and crafts as follows:
• Cultural crafts
• Performing arts, costumes and musical instruments
• Traditional agricultural, fishing and hunting practises
• Other arts
What are Arts and Crafts?
Individual
These are considered treasured possessions of an individual, handed down from the tupuna. They are sacred and not to be given away easily. Only an immediate family member will receive the sacred treasure and the practise can only be changed if there are no living members of the family. For example, with the art of canoe-making: many have tried to make a Niuean canoe, but will never reach the standard of an individual who has had the skills of the craft passed down from the tupuna.
Family
These are the tāoga of the family, nurtured and protected from generation to generation. They are also sacred and not to be given away easily. It is a bad omen if the tāoga is given away, and any consequences will fall on the one who gave it away. An example of such a tāoga is traditional medicine and medical practises.
Village
Tapu is frequently used to protect the tāoga of the village, such as song composition and singing, including hymns. Some have tried to imitate the original composition of a song, but it will never be the same as that of the village that has the tāoga. The reasons are that the village wants to be prominent in this particular art and to ensure there is continuity from generation to generation.
Country
Arts and crafts are a symbolic representation of a country, differentiating it from other islands in the Pacific or the rest of the world. For example, the country name ‘Niue’ is different because there are no other countries in the world name Niue. The Niue national flag is another tāoga in this category, and we should all take part in protecting and looking after it.
A person’s specialised skills distinguish him or her from their own kind within the village, the country and the world. These skills are paramount in identifying us as the people of Niue, which we should feel proud of. Most of us know how to plant talo, but very few possess the skills to produce big talo tubers. All of us can deliver a speech, but very few of us are born orators who can keep the audience interested and alert.
The skills of arts and crafts are not vested in one place or institution, but in the individual, the family, the village and the country.
