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REVEREND
MUA STRICKSON-PUA WITH PERFORMING POETRY |
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By Luti Ioane |
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More than twenty years ago
an angry young Pasifika urban poet exploded on to the NZ scene. A
protestor, gang worker, poet and eventually Presbyterian minister,
Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua has always been a champion of Pacific Island
causes.
The Samoan minister’s experiences are captured in poems, artwork and
photography revealing a colourful past including his arrest at Waitangi
in 1982 and his clash with the New Zealand Herald in 1987 over not
being allowed to print Samoan words in his father’s funeral notice. It
also shows his softer side with pictures drawn by his grand-daughter,
Jane Filemu lovingly framed next to close up photos of her.
Born in Auckland in 1957 to Samoan parents (his father Sofi was from
Papa - Sataua in Savai’i and his mother from Malaela in Aleipata, Upolu),
Mua grew up aware of social issues. His father was a headmaster and
Pacific Island Presbyterian Church lay preacher and Mua recalls their
household always being full of people staying over or visiting.
“My Dad helped set up the first school in Tokelau,” said Mua, “and when
he came to NZ in the early 1950s, many of the students he taught in
Tokelau came to stay with us for a while before moving to other parts
of NZ. We must have had 400 of them come through our house at one time
or another.”
As a child, Mua often accompanied his father on his pastoral visits to
newly arrived Pacific immigrants, dying Pacific patients in hospital or
people in jail. His father also worked in Pacific Island radio for the
New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. Mua said it was this upbringing
which later made him a passionate social activist, minister.
“I grew up right from the time I was a baby in the PIPC (Pacific Island
Presbyterian Church) in Newton, Auckland,” said Mua. “This was the
first church established by Pacific Island people in New Zealand and I
have always referred to this place as my ‘marae’. Because my parents
were one of the founding families of this church, they helped other
Pacific Island families settle in this country. I remember them going
to the airport or wharf to pick up new arrivals, help them find jobs,
houses and schools and teach them basic survival skills.”
Mua said his mother had many amusing experiences teaching new
immigrants how |
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Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua the protestor, gang worker,
Presbyterian minister, also co-founder of ‘Streetpoets Black’, a
group of Pasifikan poets, dancers, actors, comedians, and
storytellers. |
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Reverend Pua with wife Linda and a proud father of Feleti, a
member of the popular hip-hop group .Nesian-Mystick’ and
Emma-Jane, a budding fashion designer and hairdresser. |
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Rev.
Mua being arrested at Waitangi in 1982; The 1970’s was a period
when NZ Immigration Officials searched for overstayers during
dawn raids on houses and random checks on the streets. |
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to use electricity. He said
some new immigrants back then would burn fires inside stoves to cook
their food or put food in the oven without turning it on, thinking that
it would cook automatically.
“We can laugh about it now,” said Mua, “but back then, our people were
coming straight from the village to urban New Zealand. My parents had a
lot of stories to tell about those early days.”
As he grew into his teens and early twenties, Mua began a journey of
self-discovery to determine where his Pacific roots fitted into urban
Aotearoa. Like many other ‘NZ borns’ at the time, he was also becoming
aware of political issues. The late 1970s was a period of turmoil for
Pacific immigrants as NZ Immigration Officials searched for overstayers
during dawn raids on houses and random checks on the streets. Mua
decided to join forces with other young NZ borns and urban Maori who
had formed a NZ branch of the Black Panther movement, the ‘Polynesian
Panthers’. The group protested loudly at public meetings and gatherings
for Maori and Pacific Island human rights and were deemed
trouble-makers by police authorities.
It was during the Waitangi and Springbok protests of the early 1980s
that Mua began writing poetry. Powerful, emotional and raw, his poetry
crossed the line from romantic notions to urban social justice.
He also married his wife Linda and began studying to become a
Presbyterian minister. In 1990 he was ordained a minister and
eventually moved to Auckland to work at the Tagata Pasifika Resource
Centre. The centre runs social work and community education courses in
Karangahape Rd, two blocks away from the PIC church where he grew up.
Mua also co-founded ‘Streetpoets Black’, a group of Pasifikan poets,
dancers, actors, comedians, and storytellers. The group has taken their
unique Pasifika street theatre performances on tour around the country.
A proud father of two and grandfather of two, Mua has used his Lavalava
Exhibition to display his personal history and work from his whole
family. His son, Feleti, is a member of the popular hip-hop group
‘Nesian Mystik’ and his daughter, Emma-Jane, a budding fashion designer
and hairdresser.
For more information contact Luti Ioane – Phone (09) 3777782
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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