Pasifika Models II

Cook Islands Tivaevae Model

Another model that can be used to inform your understanding of Pasifika worldview, as well as your engagement strategy with Pasifika peoples, is the Cook Island “Tivaevae” Model (Maua-Hodges, 2000). 

In the Cook Islands, the tivaevae is a large handmade bedspread or quilt. A large piece of material is decorated with other pieces of material of different designs and patterns. Each piece of material tells a story, often recording the family history or reproducing a traditional pattern. The process of making a tivaevae is a communal one, and the stitching of the fabric on top of the bedspread is visible – to highlight that many women’s hands combined to craft the tivaevae. 

Maua-Hodges model is based on the bringing together of 5 key Cook Island values:

1. taokotai : collaboration

2. tu akangateitei : respect

3. urirui kite : reciprocity

4. tu inangaro : relationships

5. aka ire kite : shared vision

These values are indicative of the values that should be embedded in your engagement strategies with Pasifika peoples. In your practice, if you are wondering why your engagement with parents, students, and/or community is falling short, examine your strategy against the principles and values espoused in the past two sections.

The Fonofale, Te Whare Tapa Wha and Tivaevae models are just some of the models available to us to inform our roles, practices and work in general with Pasifika peoples.

For the purposes of this course, these models are used to show some of the values and dimensions of Pacific ways of being, thinking and knowing.

There are other models that are available from other Pacific cultures, such as the Fonua Model (Tongan), Te Vaka Atafaga Model (Tokelau), Fa’afaletui Model (Samoan), Kakala Model (Tongan), Popao Model (Tongan). 

For further reading on health models, access the papers that follow:

References

Kupa, K. (2009). Te Vaka Atafaga: A Tokelau assessment model for supporting holistic mental health practice with Tokelau people in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Pacific health dialog, 15(1), 156-163. https://www.pacifichealthdialog.org.fj/Volume2015/v15no1/Discussion20Papers/Te20Vaka20Atafaga20A20Tokelau20assessment20model.pdf

Goodyear-Smith, F., & ‘Ofanoa, M. (2022). Fa’afaletui: A Pacific Research Framework. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 16(1), 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689820985948

Fotu, M., & Tafa, T. (2009). The Popao model: a Pacific recovery and strength concept in mental health. Pacific health dialog, 15(1), 164-170. https://www.leva.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/popao-model-a-pacific-recovery-and-strength-concept-in-mental-health.pdf