The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers(c) Niue Tourism
The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers

A Traveller’s Guide to the Niuean Culture 🌺

(c) Niue Tourism

Taoga Niue: A Guide to the Culture of Niue

Taoga Niue” or the culture of Niue means everything to a Niuean. The inhabitants of the small remote island in the South Pacific take pride in their traditions. From cultural traditions passed down by their forefathers to religious beliefs, there are many interesting aspects of the Niuean culture not only to be aware of as a visitor but to enjoy and experience. There are no tourist “culture villages” in Niue; what you see and experience is the true and authentic way of life in the South Pacific.

10 Ways to Experience the Niuean Culture in Niue

Immersing in the local culture while visiting Niue is extremely effortless. Here are just some of the ways travellers experience the Niuean culture while in Niue:

  1. Go on a Niuean plantation tour with A5 Plantation Tours or Maala Garden Tours
  2. Learn about uga hunting with Taue Uga Tours
  3. See how Niueans use their natural forest on the Ebony Rainforest Tour
  4. Mingle with the locals at the Niue Market
  5. Watch the ladies at work at the weaving groups
  6. Try Niuean cuisine at an umu buffet night
  7. Experience the wonderful singing at a Sunday church service
  8. Experiences a Village Show Day
  9. Visit Fale Tau Taoga Niue, the national museum
  10. Watch a coconut or uga demonstration at the Scenic Matavai Resort.

Find out more about each experience in the 10 Best Ways to Experience the Niue Culture.

Niue Culture: The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers 🌺© NiuePocketGuide.com

Niuean Traditional Events and Celebrations

Niueans have a deep respect for traditions passed on from generation to generation. One of the ways Niueans showcase their traditional values is through community events and celebrations, as well as events in individuals’ lives. Some cultural traditions observed today include:

Haircutting Ceremony

A haircutting ceremony is a coming-of-age ceremony when a teenage boy gets the long tail of hair removed that he has grown since childhood. The ceremony is a big event with a large number of guests and family members. Highlights of the event include a large feast and gifting money to the boy (or boys, as the ceremony is often held for multiple boys), which will go to him after the ceremony costs have been paid.

Ear Piercing Ceremony

The girls’ equivalent to the haircutting ceremony, young girls get their ears pierced for the first time since birth. Typically, an ear is pierced by a representative from each side of the girl’s parent’s family. The girl is given gifts and well wishes for the future.

Village Show Days

Each village in Niue has an annual Village Show Day, showcasing the crops, fish and uga harvested by locals. It also includes playing contemporary and traditional games, displaying handicrafts, local food for sale and just all-around fun. Check out What are the Village Show Days in Niue? for more information.

Takai

A day usually around the New Year when everyone on the island decorates their vehicles or other transport and drives around the island making noise and throwing out sweets and lollies to each village. Learn more about the celebration in our guide, Niue New Year: What is Takai in Niue?

Kaloama Season

One of Niue’s most unpredictable events, the Kaloama Season is when Niueans fish for juvenile goatfish. The event can last anything from two weeks to a month, typically occurring between February and March. Note that some sea tracks are closed during the Kaloama Season. You’ll find all the information you need in our guide, What You Need to Know About the Kaloama/Goatfish Season in Niue.

For more events to check out, see the 10 Biggest Events in Niue.

The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers(c) Niue Tourism

Niuean Arts and Crafts

Arts and crafts have been part of the Niuean lifestyle for centuries, traditionally to make practical items, but nowadays, many Niuean handicrafts act as beautiful souvenirs to take home.

Niuean Weaving

Girls in Niue learn to weave from an early age, but it becomes more of a craft and mastery for older women on the island who meet for weaving groups and use weaving as a social experience. Many women in Niue are accomplished weavers, typically making practical items, such as placemats, coasters, bowls, baskets, hats, fans and more.

Visitors can see women’s weaving groups in Alofi on certain days of the week – see the Niue Tourist Information Centre for a weaving group schedule, as this changes all of the time. Visitors are welcome to try weaving for themselves, so don’t be shy to ask. You will usually be shown how to make something small, like a coaster. It is customary to make a small donation (NZ$20 for a pandanus leaf craft or NZ$10 for other leaves is reasonable). The weaving group usually also provide refreshments.

Woven items are also on sale in some of the gift shops and the Niue Market.

Kahoa Hihi

Another common handicraft in Niue is kahoa hihi, a necklace made out of yellow snail (hihi) shells found in the island’s forests. Women go out into the forests to collect these tiny yellow shells to make attractive necklaces and garlands out of them.

Look out for “make it yourself” kahoa hihi sets at the markets, as well as elegant necklaces, earrings and bracelets for sale. Check out the 5 Best Markets in Niue for more information on markets.

Vaka

Vaka are traditional outrigger canoes, still used to this day by local fishermen. Making them requires incredible carving skills. While carving by men has been passed on from generation to generation, young boys are now introduced to carving through the local school curriculum. You will see vaka down many of the sea tracks in Niue (just note that it is disrespectful to touch them – see more rules of etiquette in Niuean Etiquette: Niue Customs & Traditions).

Niue Culture: The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers 🌺(c) Niue Tourism

Niuean Dancing

Niueans have traditional forms of dancing. One of the most important is the takalo.

Takalo

Traditionally, takalo was a dance in Niue performed before going to war. It used to be only performed by men, but today this can vary depending on which village is performing the dance.

Today, there are two types of takalo. One is a welcoming ceremonial takalo which is also where a green coconut is pierced and presented to visiting dignitaries to consume. Another is a dance performed at events and celebrations.

If you miss a takalo performance at an event in Niue, then enjoy the cultural dancing at the Niue Primary School assembly, hosted every second Friday at 9 am (ask at the Niue Tourist Information Centre for the next assembly).

The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers(c) Niue Tourism

Niuean Food and Drink

Feasts and traditional food are important to the locals, especially for special events such as a haircutting ceremony or a village show day! As a Polynesian culture, one of the food staples is food prepared in an underground oven, called an umu. Locals are also fans of spitroasts, with the best coming complete with a suckling pig. See where to experience an umu night in The Ultimate Guide to the Niue Nightlife.

Traditional Meals and Food Items

Meals in Niue typically include traditional ingredients, such as taro, cassava, breadfruit, shellfish, fish and the local delicacy uga (coconut crab). Although there are hundreds of chickens roaming the island, they are not your typical chickens for cooking and require a slow-cooking process in an umu to make “moa Niue”.

Niuean buffet nights, umu nights, Village Show Days and occasionally the Niue Market allow visitors to try some of the traditional meals of Niue. One thing to try if you have the chance is nane, a Niuean porridge made from coconut and arrowroot. Other meals to try include takihi, povi masima, faikai ika, pitako and more.

For more meals to look out for on the menu, check out the 10 Unique Foods in Niue You Have to Try.

Niuean Food Products and Souvenirs

Niue is famous for producing a few popular food products on the island. One is Niue’s legendary honey, said to be made by the world’s cleanest bees. It is the only honey from overseas that you can take back with you to New Zealand, as long as you get a quarantine certificate at the airport.

Niue is also known for its organic vanilla and coconut products, as well as the moreish yet healthy Lupe Banana Chips.

Get even more advice about Niue’s foodie experiences and traditions in The Guide to Food in Niue.

The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers(c) Niue Tourism

The Niuean Language

Niue has two official languages, Niuean and English. The Niuean language, Vagahau Niue, is closely related to Tongan and distantly to Maori, Samoan and Hawaiian. Niuean is classified by UNESCO as an endangered language, so locals have a deep determination to preserve the language. Learn more about the language in What is the Niue Language?

Some Niuean Words

While we can’t teach you the whole Niuean language here, here are some simple words to learn for your visit to Niue:

Hello: Fakaalofa Atu
Please: Fakamolemole
Thank you (very much): Fakaaue (Lahi)
Yes: E
No: Nakai
Sorry: Tulou
Eat or Food: Kai

For more words, check out our 10 Words You Need to Know When Visiting Niue.

Niue Culture: The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers 🌺© NiuePocketGuide.com

The Religion in Niue

Religion plays a major part in the lives of Niueans. The vast majority of the Niuean population are devout Christians where going to church on a Sunday, as well as using the sacred day for rest, is part of their weekly routine.

Religion influences the Sunday customs in Niue, including no fishing or boating is to be done on a Sunday. Most locals choose not to work on Sundays, preferring to spend time with family, resting and going to church.

Learn more about the religions in Niue here, while being sure to wise up about Niue’s other cultural and religious protocols in the Niuean Etiquette: Niue Customs & Traditions.

The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers(c) Niue Tourism

People and the Population of Niue

The population of Niue is approximately 1,500 with an ethnic makeup of predominantly Niuean descent.

There are more Niuean living in New Zealand than in Niue. Niueans living in Niue live among 14 villages with the majority of those living in Alofi.

Learn more about the Niuean population, ethnicity and where Niueans live in our complete guide, Who are the People of Niue?

The Guide to the Niuean Culture for Travellers© M Crawford - Niue Tourism

Niuean Customs

Finally, when visiting Niue, be aware of the local customs in order to respect the locals. The most essential Niuean customs include what you can wear in public and what you can do on a Sunday. See our complete guide on Niue Etiquette: What are the Local Customs in Niue?

Clothing Etiquette in Niue

Although not as strict on clothing as other South Pacific Islands, Niue does have a few social rules when it comes to what to wear.

When outside of your accommodation, it’s a good idea to dress modestly and respectfully. For example, don’t walk around or ride your bike shirtless. Of course, avoid nudity in public.

A general rule for wearing swimwear in Niue is that swimwear should only be worn for swimming. It is prohibited to wear swimwear in the town and villages, which includes both men and women. It is acceptable to cover up swimwear with a long T-shirt or paleu (sarong), for instance.

When going to a church service, both men and women must wear clothes that cover below the knee. Suitable attire is a collared shirt and pants for the men and a knee-length skirt for the women.

Sunday Etiquette in Niue

Sunday is a sacred day in Niue, used as a day of worship and rest. For this reason, there are a few protocols to be aware of.

First, do not go down sea tracks near churches while church is in session. Church is typically in session once in the morning at either 9 am or 10 am and once in the afternoon at either 3 pm or 4 pm.

Second, honour Niue’s no-swimming tradition on a Sunday by avoiding swimming near village greens and churches.

Third, note that activities like fishing, diving and boating are forbidden on a Sunday.

There are still some activities that are perfectly acceptable to do on a Sunday. See the 10 Things to Do in Niue on a Sunday for examples.

More About the Niuean Culture

That’s it for our guide to the Niuean culture but by no means the end of our guide to all things Niue! Learn more about the Niuean people in the following articles:

Finally, get more tips for planning a trip to Niue in The Complete Travel Guide to Niue and the 31 Tips for Travelling in Niue.

Author

Laura S.

This article was reviewed and published by Laura, editor in chief and co-founder of Niue Pocket Guide. Since arriving solo in the South Pacific over 10 years ago with nothing but a backpack and a background in journalism, her mission has been to show the world how easy (and awesome) it is to explore a paradise such as Niue. She knows the island inside-out and loves sharing tips on how best to experience Niue’s must-dos and hidden gems. Laura is also editor of several other South Pacific travel guides.

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