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Overview
This placard was hand-painted by artist Siliga David Setoga in 2017. He had made a previous version in red for the 'Advance Pasifika: March For Our Future' protest held in Auckland on Saturday 16 June 2012 which saw hundreds march from Albert Park to Aotea Square.
The protest organisers called on local and national leaders to take notice of Pacific people's contribution to Auckland and New Zealand, demanding equality, affordable housing, better education, quality healthcare, fairness in the justice system, jobs, and a better future for Pasifika communities. According to Setoga, Advance Pasifika was 'about protesting for change, about waking up our people still in the same place after 60 years. They came here for a purpose. If we're still stuck in the low socio-economy - what's the point in coming?' (personal communication, 2014).
Setoga's work provokes questions of identity, politics, religion and social issues that face Pacific people. This placard is one of a group which includes slogans ranging from the personal ('Marching for my Dad and my kids') to the political ('Get Up: Stand Up: Fight Back'). Family and friends helped Setoga carry the placards, and he wore a worker's boiler suit and gumboots as part of his stance.
Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe
This placard includes an image of the famous Samoan orator chief Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe (d. 1915) which is based on the iconic photograph taken by Thomas Andrew in about 1909 (in Te Papa's collections, ref. O.001123/01).
The use of this imagery and the instruction to ‘remember’ evokes Pacific beliefs that looking towards our histories, with all its richness and lessons, will give us guidance for the challenges of the present day.
Lauaki was the first leader of an important political movement called the Mau of Pule (the Opinion of Pule). The movement's aims were to challenge German rule of Samoa and to secure more involvement for Samoans in their own affairs. In 1909, the German Colonial Governor took Lauaki into custody for his resistance to colonial authority. He was later exiled to the Mariana Islands. In 1915, the New Zealand government transported Lauaki and his supporters home, but he died on the return journey.