Sina is crying
Sina is crying
She is calling "please bring back the boat"
The people of Tokelau were taken by South American slave traders between 1850 and 1872. By 1872 the population of Tokelau was down to eighty people, mainly old men and women and little children. This song expresses the sadness and desperation felt by those left behind.
Tagi Sina
Ko kalalaga tuku mai te vaka e
Ko kalalaga tuku mai te vaka e
Ko kalalaga tuku mai te vaka e
Ko kalalaga tuku mai te vaka e
Aue Tokelau / Kua fita ki tatou
I faifaiga venei
Copied from here.
And thanks to Wikipedia - Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand that consists of three tropical coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean.
And Lonely Planet says... Tokelau's name is Polynesian for north wind, and it's one of the most isolated places on earth. It takes 20 hours to sail there from its nearest neighbour, Samoa, and you can forget about flying - there's no airstrip. It's largely due to this remote factor that indigenous culture has been preserved on Tokelau to a far greater degree than elsewhere in the Pacific.
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Wow Ange that is fantastic information and brings even more meaning to that song. I am uploading a video that I have made tonight from the night I set up the video camera at choir...so time will tell whether it works or not (took about 45 mins to upload to youtube!) Once again thanks for the great posts and I will be posting more soon myself ....well done my dear "pitch b*tch" ha ha ha
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