Family time

White Sunday

Every year we celebrate White Sunday. This year, we celebrated it together with Mothers' Day. This is an enjoyable day for children and parents. It is also the time when our parents buy us new clothes to wear on the day.
On this day all the children have a chance to participate in the Church. This year I took part with my two brothers and sister. Usually every year on this special occasion my grandparents prepare our Bible sermons but this year our mother helped prepare our sermon.
On White Sunday all the children in our village came together in beautiful white church clothes and each one took part in the singing, praying and saying their sermons. After church we had some yummy food prepared by our grandparents in an umu. We had chicken, takihi and taro. We drank coconuts and raro juice. For desert we had jelly and ice cream.
What I enjoy the most about White Sunday is that I get to say my sermon to all the people in our village as well as singing hymns, participating in dramas and having fun with my cousin and friends.
By Yasmine. I am 10 and I come from the villages of Avatele and Mutalau.

My Nena

My great grandmother’s name is Fakahula Mitimeti Funaki. She is originally from the village of Alofi. My nena loves to look after me. Nena like to make things in an umu on Saturday. She loves to go to the bush to plant taro, kumara and ufi. Nena also likes to plant different plants in front of our house like ti and kaute. She likes to read a book to me and to play a ukulele with me every night before we go to sleep. Nena likes to listen to me read a book and she helps me with my school work.
She likes to go to Makini every Wednesday to sew and make handcrafts with other women. My nena helps me to embroider table cloths and pillow cases just like she used to do when she was a young girl. She likes to make bags out of laufa (pandanus). She can also make bags and fans out of lau niu (coconut leaves).
She's also very good at looking for food for my family like alili’s from the sea, or go fishing on the reef. She is always telling me stories from her childhood and old stories about Niue. Nena loves to feed her chickens in the mornings before she goes to work.
There is so many things I can write about my nena. I love my nena and I am very lucky to have a nena like her.
By Saraimonomono. I come from the beautiful village of Tamakautoga and I am 9 years old.

Dancing

Dancing is used in Niue for many different occasions like the Show Days, boys' hair cutting and other things. They need to know the music so that they can really move. People practice the dances sometimes for two hours and they can see how it is done on TV.
People can feel inspired when they dance and are really talented because they know how to move. When people dance they sort an outfit to go with the dance.
By Vatania. I am part Niuean. My dad is Niuean.

Hair Cutting Ceremony

I remember going to a hair cutting ceremony at the Alofi North hall. The boy's hair was plaited into different strands and tied with coloured ribbons. Different people are called up to cut the boy's hair, usually starting with family and close friends. I also went up and cut a piece of hair. The boy's hair was very long, he had been growing it since he was a little boy. Family members did speeches, I usually don’t listen, I play with my friends if I see them. One good thing about hair cuttings is the ‘taga ti’ that they give out. Inside the taga ti are lollies, biscuits, chocolates and all sorts of sweet things. I always look forward to getting the taga ti.
At the end of the hair cutting people are given a lot of food to take home. This depends on the money that they give the boy for his hair cutting. Food like pork, chickens, taro, fish and others are given to the invites. A lot of work goes into doing a hair cutting ceremony.
By Faitagia and I come from the village of Alofi Toga.