This study has noted a dilemma: the Tokelauan fātele is apparently of recent origin, is introduced from elsewhere, is acculturated in some of its music features, and is creative in its text and dance, yet it is an authentic traditional dance of Tokelau. In every circumstance the people's involvement with the fātele is infectious—the enthusiasm for performance, the vigor of rehearsal, the intensity of new composition, and the rigour of the organization associated with performance. Tokelauans have an intense involvement with this dance in New Zealand and in Tokelau which is a guarantee of its authenticity.

This absorption in the fātele comes partly from the fact that the dance is an inheritance from the past—albeit the recent past. It is a treasure, part of the heritage of Tokelauans. But it is also a contemporary mechanism for shaping the community today, a potent expression of identity.

This chapter is concerned with the significance of the fātele at two different periods. Firstly in the early years of this century when the fātele was introduced into Tokelau and indigenized, and secondly in the last two or three decades of the 20th Century when the community became established in metropolitan areas of New Zealand. Finally the chapter returns to consider composer Ihaia's classic composition, E Taku fātele.

The Adoption of the Fātele early in the 20th Century

Our understanding of the decades in which the fātele became established has been sought from written documents rather than from the people whose memories could reach back to the times of the fātele origin. As noted in Chapter Five, older Tokelauans choose not to examine this period in detail; the present day significance of the fātele is encapsulated for them in the short statement which I have called a “myth of origin.“

However in representing the first decades of the fātele okier Tokelauans are agreed that the earlier fātele was different; they say, “Everyone did their own actions.” In questioning Tuia Ahelemo, his wife Ana, and Ihaia the same picture of the early days has been forthcoming: people were not expected to be uniform in their dance movements or in their costume.

In understanding this apparently simple statement we can reach into the character of the early fātele. It was, to those who saw the dance with the fresh eyes of the first participants, dramatically and distinctively individualistic.