This iliili Niue was made by tufuga iliili Niue Hana Tauekipaoa in 2014. The body of the fan is intricately woven young coconut leaf with a wooden handle and coconut sennit fibre lashing interwoven with pandanus leaf. Iliili Niue are only made for special occasions and Hana, at 82 years old, is the only surviving tufuga of iliili Niue and currently resides in Niue.

Collection of Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, 2015.14.4, 56756.4

Ioane was born in Niue and migrated to New Zealand at a very young age. He hails from the village of Mutalau.

Ioane is a very skillful and master of Niue oratory and traditions, a choreographer, composer, educator, actor, author, and playwright. As a tufuga and an accomplished heritage artist, his expertise and skills in vagahau Niue and culture are often sourced for various projects both at national and international level. He is a recipient of Creative New Zealand Arts Council 2014 Pacific Heritage Arts Award for his excellent contribution towards New Zealand arts. In recognition of his work in vagahau Niue language and culture at international capacity he received The University of Auckland Blue’s Arts and Cultural Award (Culture and Language) - highest accolade attained at university level in 2010 and 2011. It was the first time in the history of the awards, that culture and language was created as a section to honour his achievements. Ioane Aleke Fa‘avae is a former broadcaster, journalist, and news reader for New Zealand's largest Pacific media outlet PMN (Radio 531pi, Niu FM, PMN News). He was also a tutor of vagahau Niue to adults at Pasifika Education Centre in the past. He has led, choreographed, and composed songs which were showcased at ASB Polyfest, Pasifika Festival and Pacific Arts Festivals. He currently sits on Pacific Dance New Zealand Board and was recently appointed as a Peer Assessor for Creative NZ.

Ioane is currently working as an Academic Development Lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology.

Nuhisifa Seve-Williams was born in the village of Avatele, Niue Island but raised in the urban village of Ponsonby in Auckland New Zealand. Nuhi has a strong interest in Pacific cultures and histories and completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees majoring in Social and Cultural Anthropology. She went on to complete a PhD in Sociology of Education at the University of Auckland in 2009. Nuhi continues to reflect and write on the theory that she used in her PhD thesis – Tā-Vā that was created by Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu Professor ‘Ōkusitino Māhina.

Gifted by Nuhisifa Seve-Williams & Ioane Aleke Fa’avae