Cap (Toby's Seafood uniform)

This is a blue cap embroidered with the logo for Toby' Seafood, a fish and chip shop in Auckland, New Zealand. It is part of a work uniform worn by Elisapeta Fononga at her part time job as a cashier at Toby's.While at high school she worked there for over three years and on most weekends.

Significance

In her own words, Elisapeta says that this uniform represents "my journey and experience of having a part time job and also the challenges that I've overcome. I've been working as a cashier at Toby's Seafood for almost 4 years. Growing up and seeing my parents struggling with finance to provide for our family was what motivated me to work....The challenges I faced while working and studying at the same time was the sacrifice I had to make.... I knew that this would be difficult for myself but this was the only way I could help my parents struggles and needs" (July, 2017).Reflecting on her time in this job, Elisapeta acknowledged the skills she gained in communication, customer service, time management and prioritising tasks. Elisapeta's choice of object and her story gives us an insight into the economic challenges that many families and youth in our communities face as well the avenues of agency they explore in response to these pressures.

Co-collecting: Small things matter

The hoodie was acquired by Te Papa in 2017 as part of a co-collecting initiative called "Pikipiki hama kae vaevae manava: joining our vaka to share our breath or life stories." It involved museum curators working with people from the Tongan community in Auckland, including a Year 13 Tongan language class from Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in Otara. at her part time job at Toby's Seafood, 

In early 2017, Te Papa hosted a two-day training workshop with the class that aimed to demonstrate how collections and museums can be meaningful spaces where their lives and experiences are valued including that of contemporary teenage life. As part of the sessions students devised a project name for the youth-focussed collecting that they would be undertaking. The students named their co-collecting project, "Project 83: small things matter'.As self-titled youth agents' the students saw their project as an opportunity to truly'represent'themselves and counter the stereotypical representations of their home town of Otara. The number '83' represents their school 'Hilary Collegiate' and taken from the position of the letters 'H' and 'C' in the alphabet.

For the youth agents the name reflects the experiences and values they share as 'Proud Otarians'. With their shared values in place, the students came up with the latter half of their title 'small things matter' inspired by the story of small seashell that was picked up on a beach in Tokelau and part of the museums Pacific Cultures collections. For our youth agents this represented their commitment to ensuring each person has the opportunity to define and share what matters to them.