AOTEAROA made me cry 🥹 what a beautiful festival/event. Proud of my country and also proud of my beautiful nation - RAROTONGA. No better place to host this event than Hawaii. We are truly one big family
What a wonderous and festive occasion! Pasifika coming together to share and uplift each other. Wise words from our elders from Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji: "OUR IDENTITY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE . WE ARE THE CARETAKERS OF THE LARGEST OCEAN IN THE WORLD." 💯🙏There is so much mana in this celebration and very happy and proud to be from the largest ocean in the world...and WE ARE THE CARETAKERS. LOVE MY PASIFIKA PEOPLE and utmost love and respect to our Ohana the Kanaka Maoli of Hawai'i. Mahalo Nui Loa ❤
What a great time to be alive and see all people from Moana Nui a Kiwa come together. Embrace our differences and recognise our similarities, connection and whakapapa to one another.
I'm with you on that brother. Rewatching this and seeing everyone come together to remember our shared ties of kinship through song and dance. What a time to be alive. My eyes may have been sweating a drop or two.
Wow guys this is beautiful I wish I was there ... I'm born in South Africa 🇿🇦 and I have Kiribati 🇰🇮 Heritage...I'm learning everyday about my culture...I ending up in South Africa because my ancestors where part of the blackbirding by the British....so proud of my Pacifica Heritage..
It's truly a blessing to be from Oceania. We all have our own distinct cultures and traditions but we also share roots that stretch across the great blue and bind us together. Nothing but love to all our people ❤
American Samoa showed out ! Always showing love and recognizing the distinguished members in attendance and bearing gifts ! Malo lava American Samoa ❤❤❤
Thank you people of the Pacific, Thank you Fiji for speaking, my tears flow, because I am proud, proud to be Kanak, proud to be from Melanesia, and proud to be part of the people of the Pacific. Proud because I know that the values our culture upholds are noble: Respect, Humility, and love above all else. Our people suffer from the negation of our identity, and you spoke out for this fight with these words: “Our identity is non-negotiable”. In the hope of seeing each other again in the great hut of the Pacific, with the fire of culture even more alive than yesterday. THANKS. Proud to be Pacific
🎉🎉🎉 Talofa and Faafetai too all our brothers and sisters in the south pacific islands for coming together as one and celebrating our culture and traditions!! One Ohana ❤
Mahalo nui to Hawaii News Now and the entire nation of Hawai'i for providing the livestream of the Festpac Opening Ceremony. I personally have never been able to attend any of the previous festivals but have also never been able to find full videos of the previous opening ceremonies, so to witness this in such clear and high quality is just an amazing feeling to have. You guys have done an awesome job, and I hope from here on that the next nations that will host Festpac will continue to provide livestreams of the opening and closing ceremonies for us who can't be there but always participate in spirit. Much love from Aotearoa New Zealand.
We truly are one Pasifika. We share what we have just as the Palauan 🇵🇼 delegation had mentioned. We shared our Taro called Ngesuas to the great state of Hawaii and the beautiful island Nation of Samoa!
@@alidangideon Yokwe! You made everyone of us stand up with your music and dancing. We all send our love to our brothers and sisters in the Marshall Islands 🙌🏽❤️🇲🇭
Being an islander the music is so widespread that even though it’s not in English or our language, the music and tune is the same and so I just have a whole jam out session 😂🇲🇵 BIBA!!
Vinaka vakalevu vei iratou na mata timi ni viti 🇫🇯 (Fijian Delegation) for representing our beloved nation 🌴🌺to the 13th FestPac celebration that was hosted at Hawaii. Vakabibi vei iratou na timi ni mata meke, sau viti sau❤❤❤🎉
I give thanks to the people of Hawaii and all other nations in and outside the pacific for marking another unforgettable moment for all Pacific Islanders- thank you from Chuuk, Micronesia 🇫🇲
WOW!! 🤩 soo beautiful to see all the different Pacific Islands and the uniqueness of each one 😍 I didn’t even know some of them existed 😅 Proud Samoan 🇼🇸 Proud Oceania. Our identity is non negotiable 💯
@@daygodemolitionunit5873 she is the current monarchs (King Tupou VI) niece, and is the third daughter of the King’s only sister, the Princess Royal, HRH Princess Pilolevu.
As a Kanaka Maoli and I am sure many of us do not mind that he is receiving the many ho’okupu on our behalf as he is our governor which many of us voted for and he married Kanaka Maoli the First Lady of Hawaii is Kanaka Maoli and his keiki are Kanaka Maoli. I may add that he has done a lot for the sick being an emergency room doctor for many years never stopping continues to do so as it is his passion in life to heal the sick. He looks tired because he works as the governor as well as a doctor in the ER at the Hilo hospital. As the delegation from Samoa stated a warm thank you to him for what he did during Covid on giving them free healthcare when they needed help he answered without hesitation got other dr’s to help which they paid for everything and stop the spread of COVID in Samoa and asked for nothing in return. He is a good man, thought I share that with you, mahalo
Taiwan, it was awesome to see authentic indigenous Taiwanese culture. I forget that they to are part of the pacific family and NOT the Chiang Kai-Shek foreigners who claim to be the real China 😂🔥
@@anonymousanonymous4465 interesting. They’re South East Asian but still in the Pacific Ocean right?… Even so. It’s cool to see what actual Taiwanese Culture looks, and sounds, like. ❤️
@@anonymousanonymous4465 The Lapita (Austronesians) culture originated in Taiwan (prior to any European or Chinese, Japanese colonization) and then migrated down through the Philippines and into Polynesia to then eventually mix with the Melanesians already there. Indigenous Taiwanese people fall into the Austronesian family and I wouldn't consider them Southeast Asian as they aren't located in the Southeast. I am indigenous Taiwanese (Paiwan tribe) and I think today we are much closer related to the indigenous FIlipinos (Bontoc, Ifugao, Kankanaey etc). I always say that Polynesians are Austronesian but not all Austronesians are Polynesian. I always want to be mindful not to take up space that belongs to our distant Pasifika cousins as our cultures are very similar, but we are our own people. I think it’s an honor to be included at FestPac and one I know my people don’t take lightly. Please don't hate us haha we love you and honor your culture very much
Finally made time to watch this & I am extremely proud to be a Pacific Islander from Guam! What an incredible, exhilarating feeling watching everyone come together 🥹 B I B A!
Marz from #Chuuk... You rock! Kapong seni ngang Omar Mori me nei kei followers won Rocksteady Pacific Thank you for representing us well. Our sweet, kind, and respectul yet humerous way of expressing ourselves definitely is part of our Chuukese culture.
Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to see this despite us not being there in person. Our large ocean unites us as one pacific islanders! God bless you all and god bless our islands
I’m Māori and I enjoyed all performers and orators. Aroha Te Moana A Kiwa. Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Original Australians and South East Asians.
Fakamālō lahi atu kāinga Tonga ki he fakafofonga'i 'a hotau Pule'anga mo fonua. Tu'a 'ofa atu ki he feitu'una 'Eiki Fatafehi-o-Lapaha fakafeta'i ki he ma'u koloa ❤️🇹🇴❤️
Hi I wonder if you might know what the green flag with the silhouette of a chicken stands for, the American Samoa delegation brought it in with them at the end.
@@GM-ow2cx The green flag is for Manu'a which consists of the islands of Ofu, Olesega and Ta'ū on the eastern edge of the Samoan archipelago. I was glad that all three Samoan flags were represented in FestPAC en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuʻa_Islands
@@GM-ow2cx The "chicken flag" represents the community of Manu'a, a neighboring island. Just like Hawaii consists of 8 main islands, Amerika Samoa is compromised of 7 total islands, 3 of which (Ofu, Olosega y Ta'u) make up Manu'a. So, give it up to the community members of Manu'a who were part of the delegation representing American Samoa that day!
This tradition has been happening since the beggining of time for us. Millions of years past down generation to generations. This is what we did in havaiki/hawaiki. Our ancestral sacred home. This is how we interacted and gelled with one another appreciating each others cultures. From aborigines of australia, vanuatu and papua new guinea and all around micronesia of the pacific to taiwan and nauru and kiribati and fiji in melanesia all the way to new zealand maori all the way up through rapanui easter island and tahiti and french polynesia and hawaii and american indians and sth american mayans,aztecans in polynesia. Thats the pacific. United as one. Kia orana, kia ora, G'day, aloha, bula, malo, talofa, ia orana, bon jour, fakalofatu, hafadai, hello and greetings from all the pacific.
It's heartening to witness how we unite to embrace both our likenesses and distinctions in our physical features, traditions, and cultures. As inhabitants of this planet, we are all interconnected. Imagine if the entire world could adopt this perspective! Let's revel in the joy of life, peace, and harmony together.
This is so AMAZING 😍🤗 I'm so emotional rn & literally crying tears of joy 🤧🥰 I'm really glad & proud to be part of the Pacific kingdom 💓💓💓🇫🇲🙏✨✨✨ Much love & blessings to all my brothers & sisters from all over the Pacific Ocean 🤗💓
ain't no way he gets to keep all that, its gotta go to some FestPac museum section of UH Pacific Island studies or Bishop museum or something!! If anybody knows please share! That Tongan tapa is worth $$$$
As a proud Fijian myself , I cannot feel proud enough to witness our brothers and sisters from all over the pacific come together again and share their pacific LOVE . We are so connected, most of our values and traditions are all similar, it’s unbelievably amazing . That’s why i married a Tongan lol been together now for over 10 years ..with 4 beautiful kids …
This really was a beautiful ceremony, one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have ever seen! It is beautiful because it brought people together to remember, to share, and to celebrate. That is something we should always be proud of, as Island people. It is something our world so badly needs to see, something that we can teach the world to see. Oceans do not have to be crossroads of conflict. They can be pathways of peace. And they can be avenues of healing. E Lauhoe Mai Na Wa’a. Aloha 😊🩷🙏🏼🤙🏼
Faafetai tele Samoa🇼🇸and American Samoa🇦🇸 for representing our two nations. Magaia ae aua le koe sau le Ali’i lea sa ku I le To’oto’o. (E le’o le fa’aali o auaga ma le girl friend) Se unko, o le afafine le saoga. Ae malo lava le faafiafia. ❤🇼🇸❤️🇦🇸❤️
1:27:54 It’s rude to laugh during a cultural speech. Don’t do that Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Green. Next time make sure 2 🎤 are given for the Delegates and the Ambassadors. We gotta do better. Apologies Wallis and Futuna from us!🤘😎💯
