Rotuman New Zealanders are Rotuman immigrants in New Zealand, typically from Rotuma Island or

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, their descendants, and

New Zealanders New Zealanders are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common History of New Zealand, history, Culture of New Zealand, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citizens of Ne ...

of Rotuman

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

descent. At the time of the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, 981 people in New Zealand were surveyed as being of Rotuman descent. Since 2018, , or Rotuman Language Week has been celebrated in New Zealand. From 2020, the

New Zealand Government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...

has officially celebrated this as a Pacific Language Week.

History

The first known Rotuman who lived in New Zealand was Saturday, a Cook Strait whaler who worked for

Dicky Barrett Richard Michael Barrett (born June 22, 1964), better known as Dicky Barrett, is an American singer who was the frontman of ska punk band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He was the announcer for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' from 2004 until 2022. Barrett is ...

in the 1840s. In the mid-19th century, labourers were recruited from to Rotuma to work in the Pacific, however this stopped in 1881 when Rotuma became a part of the British

Colony of Fiji The Colony of Fiji was a Crown colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in the territory of the present-day nation of Fiji. London declined its first opportunity to annex Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to cede the islands, s ...

, and all sea traffic was routed between Rotuma and

. Rotuman labourers often could not contact their homelands, and many Rotuman labourers immigrated to New Zealand during this period. The modern Rotuman community developed after a wave of immigration beginning in the 1950s. The

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

had a major presence in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

during the 1950s and 1960s. Many Rotuman women married New Zealand air personnel and immigrated to New Zealand. Rotuman diaspora communities developed in Auckland, Napier and Wellington, and immigration to New Zealand peaked in the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1977 and 1978, the Auckland-based Pasifika community magazine ''Mana'' ran a regular community news column written in Fäeg Rotuḁm (the

Rotuman language Rotuman, also referred to as ''Rotunan'', ''Rutuman'' or ''Fäeag Rotuạm'' (citation form: ''Faega Rotuma''), is an Austronesian language spoken by the Indigenous Rotuma people in the South Pacific. Linguistically, as well as culturally, Rotum ...

), written by Joseph T. Eason. During this period, many Rotumans in New Zealand tended to describe themselves as Fijian or Polynesian. Methodist minister Jione Langi established the Rotuman New Zealand Fellowship in the early 1990s, after attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to create an organised society for Rotumans in New Zealand. In 2011, film-maker and musician Ngaire Fuata produced the film ''Salat Se Rotuma - Passage to Rotuma'' for ''

Tagata Pasifika Tagata Pasifika is an English language New Zealand programme which screens on TVNZ's TV ONE and on Māori Television, first broadcast in 1987. This programme is made to specifically meet the niche market of New Zealand's Pacific Islander ( Pasi ...

'', documenting her return to Rotuma island. In 2016, the Pacific Collections Access Project (PCAP) at

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...

worked with the Rotuman New Zealand community to properly label Rotuman cultural artefacts, as many had been labelled more broadly as Fijian cultural artefacts. In the late 2010s, the Rotuman language was classified as an endangered language by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, leading to a greater focus on supporting the Rotuman language in the Rotuman New Zealand community. The first Rotuman Language Week was organised by the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group in 2018. In 2018 and 2019, the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group lobbied the

Ministry for Pacific Peoples The Ministry for Pacific Peoples (; abbreviated MPP), formerly the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the New Zealand Government on policies and issues affecting Pasifika co ...

to recognise the week nationally. After appealing to the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

in 2019, the week was officially added to the

's Pacific Language Week calendar in 2020. A number of Rotuman organisations exist in New Zealand, including the Hata Collective, the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group, the New Zealand Rotuman Fellowship Inc (NZRF) and the New Zealand Rotuman Community Centre, located in

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

. Traditional cultural aspects of the Rotuman community in New Zealand include Rotuma Day celebrations, ‘ai peluag (traditional wooden club) carving and (

kava Kava or kava kava (''Piper methysticum'': Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Ancient Greek, Greek 'intoxicating') is a plant in the Piperaceae, pepper family, native to the Pacific Islands. The name ''kava'' is from Tongan language, Tongan and Marqu ...

ceremonies) with and (traditional chanting and exclamations).

Demographics

There were 981 people identifying as being Rotuman at the

, making up 0.003% of the Pasifika New Zealander population, and 0.0002% of New Zealand's general population. This is an increase of 198 people since the 2013 census, and an increase of 360 people since the 2006 census. Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to

Statistics New Zealand Statistics New Zealand (), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats NZ produces New Zealand c ...

adding ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the 2018 census data to reduce the number of non-responses. The New Zealand Rotuman population is approximately half the number of people living on Rotuman island, and one-tenth of the number who live on Fiji. There were 453 males and 525 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.863 males per female. The median age was 26.5 years, compared to 37.4 years for all New Zealanders. In terms of population distribution, 61.8% Pacific people live in the Auckland region, while 11% live in the Wellington Region and 8.5% in the Waikato Region.

Notable Rotuman New Zealanders

Rachael Mario Rachael Mario is a Rotuman New Zealand community leader, social worker, and advocate for the Rotuman language. She is Chairperson of the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group. She also helped setup the world's first Rotuman Community Centre in 2020 ...

David Eggleton David Eggleton (born 1952) is a New Zealand poet, critic and writer. Eggleton has been awarded the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for poetry and in 2019 was appointed New Zealand Poet Laureate, a title he held until 2022. Eggleton's work has ap ...

* Ngaire Fuata *

Jono Gibbes Jonathan Brian Gibbes (born 22 January 1977) is a rugby union former player and coach. He is a former New Zealand rugby union player who captained , the Chiefs and the Māori All Blacks, and appeared in various All Blacks teams. He is the form ...

* Rocky Khan *

Isa Nacewa Isakeli "Isa" Nacewa (born 22 July 1982) is a former rugby union player and coach. Born in New Zealand of Fijian descent, he represented the Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji national team, winning one cap in 2003. Nacewa was a utility back ...

Campese Ma'afu Campese Ma'afu, (born 19 December 1984) is an Australian professional rugby union player. Ma'afu was selected to the Fiji national squad in 2010 and has gone on to win more than 50 caps. Ma'afu has also played professionally for Cardiff Blues, N ...

Sofia Tekela-Smith Sofia Tekela-Smith (born 1970) is a New Zealand-Rotuman artist specialising in jewellery and body adornments. Her work is held in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum New York Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Museum of New Ze ...

Caleb Clarke (rugby union) Caleb Daniel Clarke (born 29 March 1999) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a Wing for the Blues in Super Rugby and Auckland in the Bunnings NPC. Early life Clarke is a Fijian/Samoan New Zealander. His grandfather, Iafeta Cl ...

- maternal side

References

{{Immigration to New Zealand Ethnic groups in New Zealand New Zealand people by descent Oceanian-New Zealand culture Oceanian diaspora in New Zealand

New Zealander New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...