Celebrating heritage: Niuean’s debut picture book unites cultures through coconut tales

A Niuean broadcaster has launched her first book to unify Pacific creatives and families around rich, coconut-filled tales of heritage.

Inangaro Vakaafi’s book, Hunt for Niu Tupu, blends English narration with Niuean terms. It guides young readers through the life cycle of the coconut, or niu, as told through characters Ana and her “wise Papa Motu.”

Speaking to the Morning Shack’s Gabrielle Solomona and Regan Foa’i, Vakaafi, the Island Time producer, explains the cultural and personal significance of coconuts.

She says niu tupu, or a matured coconut, is her favourite food and brings back childhood memories of home.

“There was a post where they had the coconut, the niu, at different stages of maturity. It made me think, ‘we've got so many different words for each stage of the niu’s life’. Coconuts are really important to our people, it's very useful, and because I'm from Niue, it's in the name of the island - I was like, why not?”

She initially planned to write the book entirely in vagahau Niue (Niuean language), until her publisher asked, “Who is this for?”

“Because we need people to reconnect back, not only to the words, but also to the stories of home.”

She says her publisher suggested delivering the book in English with some Niuean language, using terms such as niu tupu and fua niu pakupaku (dry coconut), where she could later produce a version solely in vagahau Niue.

“So there was a bit of compromise there but overall, it was a fun experience to be guided and also sometimes be told like ‘that's a really good idea, but let's stick to what we're trying to achieve’.”

A rollout of Pacific stories

Families, friends, and fellow authors gathered last Saturday at Lower Hutt’s Pasifika Hub to celebrate the launch of Vakaafi’s book. Pre‑orders have already been sent across Aotearoa, Australia, and the United States.

Hunt for Niu Tupu was created through Mila’s Books’ Tusitala Mentoring Programme, which Creative New Zealand funds. The illustrations were designed by Liz Tui Morris and Maka Makatoa, who is based in Germany.

Vakaafi used photos of her nieces and nephews holding coconuts as reference guides for the artwork.

She says the location of the book launch holds special significance for her, as it is where she met her programme mentors, including the late Emeli Aholelei Sione, known for A New Dawn, and Dahlia Malae-ulu, author, publisher, and creator of Mila’s Books.

Watch Dahlia Malae-ulu's interview on Mila’s Books being named Oceania's Children's Book publisher of the year at the Bologna Book Fair.

“[Dahlia] came up and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we had stories written by Tokelau and Tonga?’ At the time, we were like, ‘That’d be awesome’. We didn’t think she was talking about us,” Vakaafi says.

“My friend, Mele Tonga-Grant, released her book a few months ago. So from an idea to somebody believing in you and encouraging you to get this across the line.”

In an interview with Kete Books, Vakaafi credits her mentors, journalists, and Niuean creatives for shaping her voice.

She says the power of story “lives in the stories passed down by my tūpuna, through song, dance, performance, and oral traditions.”

To order Hunt for Niu Tupu, visit Mila’s Books’ website here.