Tokelau documentary honours the 'bread and butter generation' who built Matauala Hall

A new documentary honouring the Atafu elders who built a community home in Porirua has drawn about 300 people to Matauala Hall, many of them under the age of 20.

Atafu he Matauala: I luga o te matikega tells the story of the generation that came from Tokelau in the 1950s and 1960s, donated and fundraised to buy land in Porirua in 1978, and built the hall, which opened on 18 April 1987.

Matauala is another name for Atafu, one of Tokelau's three atolls.

Listen to Les Lehi Tenise Atoni's full interview below.

One phrase in the film stands out: the "bread and butter generation", used to describe the era when the hall was being built.

Les Lehi Tenise Atoni, the Chair of the Atafu Tokelau Community Group, says it speaks to the sacrifices the elders made.

"As long as you had bread in the cupboard and a block of butter in the fridge, that's all you needed to survive, because a lot of their money went towards giving so that we have what we have today.

"A lot of our young people, my cousins, young aunties and uncles, went without a lot, because what was at the forefront of their minds was to donate, give and fundraise."

Tokelauan filmmaker Dyana Treibylmayr-Grace co directed the film and produced it with her husband, Anaru Treibylmayr-Grace. It was funded through the Moana Reo Media Fund, which PMN and the Ministry for Pacific Peoples launched in 2024 to preserve and promote Pacific languages through media.

"This Fund represents our dedication to supporting and uplifting Pacific communities," Don Mann, the Chief Executive of PMN, said at the launch of the Moana Roa Fund in 2024.

Temana (Elder) Dr. Iuta Elia Tinielu gifts Tokelauan filmmaker Dayna Treibylmayr-Grace co directed the film and produced it with her husband, Anaru Treibylmayr-Grace. Photo/PMN News/Thomas Tarurongo Wynne

The screening falls during Te Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau - Tokelau Language Week

The 2026 theme for Tokelau Language Week is "Ke mauaka taku gagana Tokelau i taku aganuku" - My language is enriched and strengthened by my culture.

Atoni says watching it brought emotions back.

"There's been a lot of tears through all the interviews, just thinking of those who came and set up our community.

"It's about remembering them for their tenacity, their passion, their love, and that they built something for today and tomorrow's generations."

About 30 children sat on mats at the front of the room. Asked what the turnout of young people meant to him, Atoni says the elders had them in mind from the start.

"When they set the vision back in the early 1950s and 1960s, the vision was for the generations to come of Atafu. It's all about them.

Tokelau community leader Zechariah Reuelu, opens the documentary launch in Porirua. .Photo/PMN News/Thomas Tarurongo Wynne

"We must continue to remind them of the sacrifices their grandparents, uncles and aunties made so that we have our tūrangawaewae here in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and throughout the motu."

He says the elders who have passed would be looking down from the heavens with pride, joy and a sense of fulfilment.

The 2023 Census counted 9,822 people in Aotearoa who identify as Tokelauan, and Porirua has been a centre of the community since the 1960s.

About 23 per cent of Tokelauans could speak gagana Tokelau in 2018, down from 44 per cent in 2001.

Atoni says Tokelau is one of the endangered languages in the Pacific and they have a 30-year Taiuli Master Plan focusing on young people and revitalising the language.

Atoni says migrants came looking for better opportunities for their families here and back home, and many of those now on the committee grew up in that era.

Over 300 people from the Tokelau community gathered for the launch of the documentary in Porirua. Photo/PMN News/Thomas Tarurongo Wynne

"They stepped off the plane with a suitcase, a couple of shirts and a couple of lavalavas. English was a second language, they had no qualifications, and to come up with something like this is just amazing."

Asked what other Pacific communities could take from what the Tokelau community has built, Antoni says it comes down to love and looking ahead.

"You plant a seed today for the future generation, and that's exactly what they did.'