Transcript
May the 13th is a special day for the people who come from Fiji's remotest island Rotuma.
That day in 1881 the island, which is closer to Tuvalu than to Suva, was ceded to Great Britain.
Rotuman language tutor Nataniela Amato-Ali says the day means a lot to Rotumans.
"Rotumas consider the time under Britain - the time under Queen Victoria as a golden age for us. And that is why Rotumans look back to that day and say, Oh, that's when all the good things happened to us. When we came under the British Empire."
"There'll be people who may not hold that view. But nonetheless they celebrate this day because it is a day that we all as a community globally decide to celebrate."
Rotuma became part of the British colony of Fiji and after Fiji became independent in 1970 it remained a Fijian dependency.
Today there are around 2000 people living on the island with over 10,000 on mainland Fiji and thousands more around the world.
Although Rotuma is influenced by Melanesian Fiji, its culture is similar to that of Tonga and Samoa.
This week young people from the New Zealand Rotuma Fellowship Group, enacted the island's cession to Queen Victoria more than 140 years ago.
Across town at Western Springs, the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group hosted friends and families to their kato'aga - an evening of feasting and dancing.
They also held an art and craft exhibition to showcase the islanders' talents.
Deputy chair Jioji Vai says May the 13th is important.
"That's a day where we just come all together, celebrate our culture, our identity, the people, it's just about getting together. And that's something we want to continue. Fiji does it very well. And it's happening all across the world. And it's something we have done every year. Celebrating culture and people."
It's not just Rotumans celebrating.
Emily Jones has brought her family along to learn something about Rotuma and its people.
She's sitting on the floor eating poat kou ma puaka (corned beef and pork) cooked in a koua (earth oven/umu/hangi).
"Oh the music was just amazing. And it's great (sitting on the floor and eating). All of a sudden we do dots and dinners out and this is quite nice and different. Rach brought the corned beef over and I was a little bit wary. But actually I quite like that. Timidly liking the taro."
Itu Mario and Andie Konousi are visiting from the United States.
Ms Konousi, who's originally from Tonga, says they are impressed with the islanders' efforts to keep their language and culture alive.
"I think there's a lot of Rotumans over here in NZ compared to us in the US. But they're all the same. Everybody tries to get together for Rotuma Day. This makes us proud to be a Rotuman - because little kids - they have the privilege to learn the culture.
Ms Konousi's husband, Itu Mario, says they also celebrate Rotuma Day back in the US.
"The food is the same. But we never sit down. This is much much better. It puts us back to where we all you know - proud of our heritage."
The week-long celebrations end on Sunday with church services in Epsom and Western Springs.
