SIAWA: A Place to Belong, A Place to Move
Solomon Islands Auckland Wantok Association is a place where Solomon Islanders thrive. You hear it before you see it. The beat of drums echo through the hall, the richness of talanoa carries across the room, and laughter fills every corner of the Wesley Community Centre each Saturday evening.
Formed in 2020, SIAWA began with a clear intention to keep diasporic youth in Aotearoa connected to their language. The Solomon Islands is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world, with over 80 languages, not including dialects. When the community gathers, pijin becomes the bridge that connects them all.
What started as weekly language classes shifted through listening to their young people. Language did not need to sit still. It could be lived, felt, and expressed. Dance and music became the pathway forward. Today, that choice is visible in every practice and every performance. SIAWA has become a staple at the Melanesian Festival which is held at the Waitemata Rugby fields, celebrating the cultures of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the Solomon Islands.
In the lead-up to the festival, the hall fills night after night. Young people learn dances from their provinces, each one carrying its own story and lineage. Around them, mamas, papas, uncles, and aunties guide the process. They teach traditional instruments, weave grass skirts, and create shell money jewellery. What unfolds is the passing down of knowledge, history, and care, ensuring that young people growing up away from their homeland continue to carry what matters.
Within this space, connection grows.
Rangatahi build relationships with each other and with their culture. They step into a space where they can be fully themselves, grounded in identity and supported by community. It becomes a place of belonging, where wellbeing is strengthened through culture, not separated from it. In the middle of everything else they navigate in life, this becomes somewhere they can return to and feel steady.
Through the support of Le Moana West Collective, SIAWA has been resourced in their preparation for the Melanesian Festival 2025 through the Tu Hake ke Poi initiative. Funded by Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa through Tuia Waitākere, this support backs play, active recreation, and sport for tamariki and rangatahi, while also recognising the forms of movement that already exist within our communities.
Because what is happening here is movement in its fullest sense.
Young people are strengthening their physical health through dance. They are building endurance, coordination, and confidence in their bodies. Many speak about how much stronger and more capable they feel. At the same time, they are strengthening their sense of self.
Tu Hake ke Poi, meaning Stand strong and move, reflects what is already present within spaces like SIAWA. Guided by the Niuean proverb “Fakakite e tau lima ke he gahua tau loto,” let the hands show what the heart intends, it recognises that movement carries intention, memory, and meaning.
Through SIAWA, this is already in motion.
Each practice, each rhythm, and each shared moment continues to shape young people who know where they come from and move forward with that knowledge.
