The Niuean Editors of Mana

In celebration of 2025 Niuean language week, we profile the Niuean writer Aiao Kaulima and Associate Editor Tigilau Ness and their literary contribution to the first multilingual Pacific Tāmaki Makaurau newspaper, Mana. Written in eight languages, the newspaper was a meeting place for many communities engaged in social justice and Māori and Pacific story sovereignty.

Dive into the archives with us by visiting the Mana: Protest in Print exhibition, currently open from Dec 2024 – Oct 2026.

Aiao Kaulima, Editor of the Niuean section of Mana.

Aiao Kaulima was the eldest of 12 siblings, and he extended that brotherly care to the whole Niuean community in Tāmaki.

Aiao cared deeply about his Niuean language, and as the first Vagahau Niue teacher at the Pacific Islanders’ Educational Resource Centre he was passionate about teaching it correctly. He wrote extensively, and not just for Mana: he translated Aesop’s fables into Niuean for children and wrote several books on learning Niuean, as well as a guide for new immigrants on buying a house. He was a radio broadcaster for National Radio and his strong community advocacy eventually saw him lean into a political career, serving as the Niuean consul general.

Fanau he aho tolu ia Masi 1935 mo e okioki he mahina ha Masi 2002. Ko e pulotu faiaoga fakamua he Pacific Island Education Resource Centre. Ne tohia e ia e pepa ke lagomatai e fakaakoaga he Vagahau Niue mo Clive H Beaumont he tau 1997.

The Pacific Islanders’ Educational Resource Centre taught much more than languages. The Centre was a hub and a crucial support for new arrivals to Aotearoa from across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

Faye Kaulima, Associate Editor of Mana.

Tigilau Ness, Associate Editor of Mana.

While his friends were having fun outside, a young Tigilau Ness was sitting at his Niuean mother’s kitchen table learning her language. The diligence he learned saw Tigilau become dux of both his primary and intermediate schools. But when his high school insisted that he cut his hair – in violation of Niuean tradition – Tigilau put his culture first and left school.

As a young man he translated the works of Karl Marx into Niuean and in the process ‘took in all those theories’. He was Minister of Culture for the Polynesian Panthers and took over as editor of Mana at just 22 years old.

Ko e tohi tala Panther Rapp ne fakafua fakamua i Okalana he magahala Kerisimasi he tau 1974–1975. Hogofulu e sene he tau he taha e lolomi he tohi tala. Ko e tohi tala nai ne tamata ai he tau atuhau fuata Māori mo e Pasifika he tau 1970.

As well as being a musician, writer, poet, and editing Mana, Tigilau was the Minister of Culture for the Polynesian Panther Party. The Panther Rapp newspaper is advertised here in a bit of cross-kaupapa promotion. By Tigilau’s own assessment, the Rapp was more radical than Mana.

Aiao Kaulima, Editor of the Niuean section of Mana.

Faye Kaulima, Associate Editor of Mana.

Tigilau Ness, Associate Editor of Mana.

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