Permanent Secretary for iTaukei Affairs Pita Tagicakirewa says our identity and language are not negotiable.
Tagicakirewa stated this after the Fiji Delegation lit up the stage at the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) 2024 in Hawaii during the opening ceremony.
He says that message is part of what Fiji intends to do in safeguarding our culture.
The Pacific came out in numbers for the official opening where each Pacific nation came forward and presented traditional gifts to the host country whether it be canoes, paddles, yams, artifacts, dances or song.
People were moved as some nations revealed things like how they were removed from their islands whether it be by mining, lack of water and resources or even nuclear testing.
One thing that was commonly acknowledged is the ocean that binds us all together whether we be known as Melanesian, Micronesian or Polynesian.
Represented last night were the delegations from Fiji, American Samoa, Australia, Northern Mariana Islands, Cook Islands, Rapa Nui, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna and Taiwan who was a guest of the U.S. and Hawaii.
The 13th FestPAC continues till June 16th with different activities and festivities to be held at different locations each day.
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