A tale on world stage
LIKE most children, Esther Wozniak’s early years in Fiji revolved around the ocean, fish and, most importantly, the captivating folk tales her “bu” (grandmother) told of legendary gods that protect Fiji. And as they sat on the porch of their home, a young Esther would be bewitched by these anecdotes that had been passed down through generations.
One tale in particular — that of the powerful sea god Dakuwaqa — left an indelible mark on her life. Thus began her journey, almost an ode to the stories of her childhood, as a shark conservationist.
So, when she heard of an opportunity to showcase a truly Fijian story to a global audience, there was no tale more fitting than that of Dakuwaqa.
On February 14, a TED-Ed video on Dakuwaqa will be released. TED-Ed features animated videos across its social media platforms.
On the organisation’s YouTube itself, about 2100 videos have been uploaded, which generated over three billion views and amassed 19.5 million subscribers.
Speaking to The Fiji Times,
Ms Wozniak spoke about the exciting venture and the work that went into making the project a reality.
Childhood in Fiji
Born and raised in Suva to a Fijian mum and an American dad, much of Ms Wozniak’s childhood was spent with family in Lami and Makoi with her grandmother. She studied at Dudley High School before joining the University of the South Pacific, where she took up marine science.
While at USP, she met her now husband, who was then a Peace Corps volunteer in Rakiraki. After her husband secured a job as an environmental engineer at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the couple moved to the US. Ms Wozniak presently works as a manager at the Pew Charitable Trust, working on international fisheries policies.
“My father came to Fiji as a captain of a commercial albacore trolling boat,” Ms Wozniak says.
“After meeting my mum, he recruited my brothers and uncles to become commercial fishermen and that has been part of our family livelihood until today.
“It is, therefore, quite heartening to me to be able to work on international fisheries management and do my part to ensure that fisheries are sustainable for future generations. In my job today, I am able to have very technical conversations about fisheries with my family members because it is so entrenched in our lives.
“Growing up in Fiji, to a family of fisherfolk (both men and women) and surrounded by the ocean, I always knew that my occupation would be marinerelated.”
During her childhood, her boredom was kept at bay as she immersed herself in the enthralling stories she heard about Lutunasobasoba, Degei and, mostly, Dakuwaqa. Ms Wozniak says she came back to these stories when her class at USP studied sharks near the Rewa River.
“These stories really influenced my career when I joined Pew’s global shark conservation team. I got to work with folks in Fiji and Samoa (including with SPREP) to improve shark protection and even worked at CITES and at international fisheries meetings to help pass shark regulations.”
TED-Ed Project
Ms Wozniak said she and her colleague Raiana McKinney both worked on shark conservation at Pew, where the whole team acknowledged the special relationship Pacific islanders had with their marine resources, especially with sharks in Fiji.
“Raiana had worked with TED-Ed before, and it was her that had the idea of proposing a TED-Ed about Dakuwaqa,” she says.
“We are both fans of TEDEd’s resources for quick, well-constructed, and free educational videos and lesson plans for all ages. We noticed that there is little to no representation of Pacific legends and myths on the internet.
“So, it was important to us to build that digital footprint and uplift the stories I (and many Fijians) grew up with.”
Ms Wozniak also outlined how she had worked alongside Ms McKinney to prepare a pitch and submit it to the TED-Ed team.
“We were delighted at how quickly they responded to our pitch, their deep and genuine interest in Pacific culture and care to ensure authenticity throughout the entire process.
“After a few meetings and rounds of emails, we were all very eager to share some of the concepts in Dakuwaqa’s story.”
Getting a project of this nature approved and off the ground was by no means an easy task. Ms Wozniak says the first draft they presented was completely based on her recollection of what her bu had told her.
“We then sent that to TED-Ed whose fact checkers worked with us, our friends at the Fiji Museum/ Mie University/Massey University/iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture and other resources we were able to find online.
“We quickly realised that across the Pacific, and even within Fiji, there were multiple variations of the story. This is common with myths and legends because they are orally passed on from one generation to another.
“We tried to stay true to the principles of Dakuwaqa’s story and shared a draft of the script with experts at the Fiji Museum.”
The information was also peer reviewed by Bulou Vitukawalu, Simione Sevudredre and Api Movono. And once the script was “locked”, Ms Wozniak says the TED-Ed team brought on board talented creative to start the animation and voice the story.
“In the meantime, Raiana and
I worked on the lesson plan so folks would not only watch the video but also spend time thinking about the values depicted.
“Next, we helped gather images, maps and sounds that captured some of the Pacific essence. I even made recordings of all the Fijian terms in the video as reference material. As a native Fijian speaker, it was very important to us that the voice-over artists heard how each one was pronounced. Multiple iterations of the video were reviewed by Raiana and I and the TED-Ed team throughout the year until the now final version that is ready to be shared across the world.”
Lessons for the future
Respect and reciprocity are the key themes that will be portrayed by the video.
And this retelling also serves as an important reminder that traditional folk tales are still an irreplaceable part of Fiji’s culture.
“I recall the Pacific Folk Tales was part of my curriculum in school, but there was limited reference material for Pacific Island myths and legends online,” Ms Wozniak says.
“That was after all, the impetus for this work; to get more Pacific Island stories out there.
“These stories are not a foregone part of our society but still very much alive within our traditions. It was very important to us that the video was respectful and to show our cultural values.
“We as Pacific people remain connected to the ocean and are instilled with much respect for these resources we have been gifted with. The video depicts a tale of how humility can lead to triumph and reciprocity for the good of all.”
Ms Wozniak says across the Pacific, myths and legends were passed down through oral tradition.
And while different variations of Dakuwaqa’s tales exist, many provide lessons on coexistence between humans and the natural environment. She adds that Tonga has a similar account of a shark god called Takuaka, which shared a common theme and lessons about respect and reciprocity, also found in Fiji’s stories about Dakuwaqa.
“Sharks play a key role in maintaining the health of marine life in the ocean, including populations of commercially important fish species. Unlike other fish, sharks grow slowly, mature late and produce few young over the course of their long lives — putting them at high risk of over-exploitation and slow to recover from depletion.
“Many shark populations are threatened by commercial fisheries, targeted for their valuable fins and incidentally caught as bycatch.
“It is now up to our generation to ensure sharks live on and not only through our stories.”
Raiana McKinney.
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