Fakaalofa lahi atu! Kia Orana! NIUEAN AND KŪKI ĀIRANI

 We have celebrated many language weeks over the last few months. Our last language was Chinese. This October it was Cook Island and Niuean Language Week. 

Here is a wonderful video clip of one of our students sharing her culture with us. Christabelle was in my class last year. Mako rai Christabelle!

We learnt about how Captain Cook discovered the island of  Niue and called it "Savage Island"  from this traditional tale. Now it is known as "the Rock of Polynesia" because it is one of the largest coral atolls in the world.

We also looked at the special drums that the Cook Islanders play. Their drums are different shapes from the ones we are used to seeing in rock bands. 

One of our "create" tasks in our distance learning was to make a drum and see if we could keep a steady beat with our drum sticks. Mia was really lucky because she just so happened to have a drum set in her house! Here she is practising to a beat. Mako rai Mia!

Koe kia or Aere Ra everyone!