Transcript
Restoring the island's treasures is seen as a key part of passing down the island's history and staff at Taoga Niue, the goverment's cultural arm, have been working hard to rebuild and update the museum's collection.
The island's population declined towards the end of last century, leaving behind an aging population who is trying to pass down history, knowledge and the language.
Moira Enetama, who heads Taoga Niue, says the loss of their artefacts was devastating.
"We only managed to salvage ten percent of our artefacts after the disaster. It was not only a loss of material culture but a loss of belongingness, the ownership, the head and the intangible heritage of Niue."
In the aftermath of Cyclone Heta, Ms Enetama says Taoga staff visited rubbish dumps to collect whatever they could find to rebuild their collection.
"People were throwing all and everything, even their treasures. Say for example, there is a fish netting behind you that we retrieved from the rubbish dump. That's a lost art in Niue. Very few men know how to make a fish net."
Since then Taoga staff have travelled across the island purchasing different items from local weavers, carvers and other artists in anticipation of a new museum building.
While construction of the new museum and cultural centre is expected to start soon, Ms Enetama says sourcing out materials has been the most difficult part of rebuilding Niue's treasured collection.
She says that 13 years on, people are still finding it difficult to donate their treasures to the museum.
"If you visit a village and you end up being invited to another person's home and you find out sitting in their living room, there's something that should be in the museum and that's the most difficult part trying to explain to the family how important and precious these particular pieces of work inside the living room [are]. 'Are you looking after it?' they will turn around and say 'why are you asking? why should you bother?'."
Longserving female MP Va'aina Tukuitonga says mass emigration and an aging population means updating the Taoga's collection is urgent.
"I'm worried. It's a lot to do with Vagahau Niue and also the taogas because if one Niuean person died, like a very important figurehead, that's one library burnt. So all those taogas need to be revived and updated."
Taro farmer and long serving politician Bill Vakaafi Motufoou is also concerned that key knowledge will be lost if not passed down.
"There is that danger where traditional practices will be lost, will become extinct."
Ms Enetama agrees.
"This is the key element to bridging the gap with the loss of population. It's a loss of population and also the loss of our taoga. It's something that we need to work very closer in bridging that gap."
Ms Enetama says Taoga Niue wants to work with families and assure them their items will be looked after.
"We can have agreements in place, we can get them to loan the artefacts to us - what are the terms? They can determine [that]. And we have to work in partnerships with them."
She says the new building will act as a focal point for the tagata Niue and provide a home for Niue's treasures artefacts that are also expected to be repatriated from overseas museums.
