Damarian Aka-Keukeu grew up surrounded by Vagahau Niue and the culture.
He says it was in honour of this rich cultural upbringing that he set a goal to compete at last year’s Niue Senior Speech Competition as part of ASB Polyfest.
“I had it on my list of things I wanted to do before I finished school,” Damarian says.
“I wanted to do something different so I decided I wanted to compete in the speech competition.”
The 18-year-old, former Onehunga High School student, went on to be named the Niue stage overall senior speech competition winner.
He says preparing for the competition pushed him in new ways.
“The process leading up to the competition was pretty intense because I had to memorise my speech and practice for my performance. It was pretty hard.”
Although he says he’s not fluent in the language, Vagahau Niue has always been an important part of his life.
“I grew up with the culture in primary through Vahega Vagahau Niue a Favona which was under the leadership of Mele Nemaia who also helped me practice and translate my speech from Niue.
“At home, my Dad would speak to us in the language and teach us basic phrases and we would get told off a lot in the language too,” he says.
Damarian’s winning speech explored a topic he says affects many young Pacific people today: The influence of social media on attitudes towards Pacific people.
“The main messages I wanted people to take from my speech were that social media is everywhere and, like in everything, there is a good side where our people can thrive and prosper, but there is also a bad side where people are stereotyped and we need to break free from those stereotypes.”
Since winning the Niue stage, Damarian says life has stayed grounded. He continues to serve his community through family and the Atuhau Fuata Mui cultural group, which preserves Vagahau Niue and Niue culture through performance and connection.
The Pacific languages speech competition at ASB Polyfest is an opportunity for young people to celebrate who they are, strengthen their language skills and express their ideas with confidence. Damarian says he hopes many more will take up the challenge and represent their cultures with pride.
“Good luck to all of the participants. I would say to them, use the language daily, learn the culture and be proud of it.”
The Ministry for Pacific Peoples proudly sponsors the annual secondary schools’ speech competition run on the different cultural stages at ASB Polyfest.
This year’s Tongan, Niuean and Cook Islands stages speech competition is running on 18 and 19 March at the Manukau Sportsbowl. The Samoan speech competition will be held in June.