Practices of Place-Making and Belonging Among Tokelau Migrants in North Queensland

ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Mobbs, Diane (2013) From a distant shore: practices of place-making and belonging among Tokelau migrants in North Queensland. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/40095/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/40095/ From a Distant Shore Practices of Place-making and Belonging among Tokelau Migrants in North Queensland From a distant shore: practices of place-making and belonging among Tokelau migrants in North Queensland. A Thesis submitted by Diane Mobbs May 2013 For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology, Archaeology and Sociology School of Arts and Social Sciences James Cook University Statement of Access I, the undersigned, author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the University Library and, via the Australian Digital Thesis network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act and I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this work. iii Statement of Sources Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given. Every reasonable effort has been made to gain permission and acknowledge the owners of copyright material. I would be pleased to hear from any copyright owner who has been omitted or incorrectly acknowledged. iv Statement on the contribution of others Nature of Assistance Nature of Assistance Contribution Names, Titles and Affiliations of Co-Contributors Intellectual Support Proposal Writing Associate Professor Rosita Henry Intellectual Support Editorial Assistance Associate Professor Rosita Henry Financial support Write-up Grant Associate Professor Rosita Henry v Declaration on Ethics The research presented and reported in this thesis was conducted within the guidelines for research ethics outlined in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans (1999), the Joint NHMRC/AVCC Statement and Guidelines on Research (1997), and the James Cook University Policy on Experimentation Ethics, Standard Practices and Guidelines (2001). The proposed research methodology received clearance from the James Cook University Experimentation Ethics Review Committee (approval number: (H2595). vi Acknowledgements I dedicate this research to the Tokelauan men, women and children who have made their homes in Townsville. I thank them for their permission to undertake this study; and their unceasing kindness, patience and generosity of spirit in sharing with me their history, migration experiences, and thoughts and feelings about the migration process. For this I am humbly grateful. I am also very grateful for their abiding friendship and the many invitations to weddings, social functions, dance practices, cultural festivals and other social events. While there are many Tokelauan people who have helped me during this project, I would especially like to thank Timoteo, Levi, Faumui and Hina for their keen interest in the research and the endless patience they showed me while I strived to understand aspects of Tokelauan culture. Although I have substituted pseudonyms for the real names of these people, they will know who I am referring to. I am particularly indebted to Hina who acted as my confidant and language interpreter throughout my fieldwork, and for her continuing friendship and trust in me. I also thank the Townsville Tokelauan people for allowing me to accompany them to the Sydney World Youth Day ’08. As an outsider, I was extremely fortunate to be part of this unforgettable, once in a lifetime religious pilgrimage experience. The Tokelau community in Sydney also generously accepted my presence at their social gatherings at Parramatta and Sydney. This trip was an unexpected, but welcome addition to my research and provided me with valuable insight into the Tokelauan web of transnational connections. During my fieldwork, I was very fortunate to be invited by Hina to New Zealand where my husband and I attended a tombstone unveiling ceremony in the Lower Hutt district. I thank Hina, and her extended family from the Naenae community for their generosity in allowing us to take part in this event. We were overwhelmed by their kindness and vii generosity in welcoming us into their lives and sharing their thoughts and feelings of life in the Tokelau Islands and in New Zealand. I am indebted to my academic supervisors, advisors, administrative staff and colleagues for their support and guidance. In particular, I am grateful to my wonderful and very patient principal supervisor, Associate Professor Rosita Henry whose encouragement and support kept me going throughout the five and a half years (with many stops and starts) it took to bring this thesis to fruition. Her input and insight into the thesis analysis was invaluable, as was her reading of and comments on the thesis chapters. Without her positive support and faith in me, this thesis would not have been completed. I also want to thank my co-supervisor, Dr Anita Lundberg for her advice after reading some of my chapters. From the very beginning of writing the thesis, I was fortunate to have some very supportive fellow post graduate students who encouraged me to keep going during the times when I felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the project. Especially, I thank Shirley McLean whose friendship grew out of the times we spent walking around the grounds of the university, discussing the research and trying to make some sense of it. Although Shirley left Townsville during the writing up period, we have kept in touch by telephone. Invariably, our conversation would turn to the question of how the thesis was going, and Shirley always gave me positive feedback when I felt disheartened. Thank you so much for your support, Shirl. Thank you my dear father and mother, who have given their unconditional love and support during the last five and a half years. I give a special thanks to my dad, who willingly read and critiqued some of my early drafts. His advice and feedback on them was much appreciated. I thank you so much for your patience, mum for the times when I had to knuckle down to writing instead spending precious time with you. Most importantly, I thank my dear husband, Geoff Mobbs, and our children, Jarrad, Matthew and Sarah, without whose unfailing support, this thesis would not have viii eventuated. My husband has been my greatest supporter. He, unquestioningly, came with me to many Tokelauan social functions, cultural festivals, accompanied me on my field trips to Sydney and New Zealand, and helped with the technical side of computer writing. Thank you so much for quietly encouraging me to keep going and believing that I could finish this thesis. ix Abstract This thesis looks at the home-building and community construction strategies that Tokelauans use during the process of re-settlement in Townsville. It also explores how, in the process of home building, they gain a sense of place and sense of belonging, while simultaneously, maintaining transnational connections with family living elsewhere in Australia and abroad. Historically, the Tokelau people are part of a wider pan Pacific Island migration phenomenon that began during the mid twentieth century. The main receiving countries for many of these Pacific Islander emigrants are America, New Zealand and Australia. During the 1980s, Tokelauans started to migrate from New Zealand to different parts of Australia. While some have settled in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane, others have ventured further north to Townsville. Their northward migration to Queensland began in the mid 1990s, with many other Tokelauans following in a second migratory wave during the early 2000s. Currently, there are approximately three hundred Tokelauans living in Townsville. During the act of migrating, home becomes a shifting sphere, and for most migrants moving to another country results in feelings of homelessness and placelessness as their status changes from being insiders in their place of origin to being outsiders in a new country. In order to make a place for themselves and become an accepted part of the wider Townsville community, Tokelauans employ several strategies. One of these strategies is to seek the spiritual guidance and practical support that churches offer to all migrants. Church halls have become important meeting places for Tokelauans to build community sociality. A second re-settlement strategy involves voluntary dance performances given by Tokelauans at many Townsville community functions throughout the year. The most significant social function is the annual Townsville Cultural Fest. This festival is a multicultural event, and along with many other cultural groups, the Tokelauans have actively supported and consistently participated in the festival activities since their arrival in Townsville. The Cultural Fest is an essential part of the Queensland State Government’s strong commitment to the promotion of its multicultural and social inclusion programs. As such, the Townsville Cultural Fest plays a significant role in bridging the gap between migrants and the local people. Townsville people have come to know Tokelauan people through their colourful dance displays at the festival each year, but know little of the social problems that some Tokelauans experience on a daily basis. As a further home making strategy, Tokelauan migrants draw on their transnational links with the homeland islands of Tokelau, and Tokelauan communities in New Zealand and Australia.

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