Akava'ine

Akava'ineis aCook Islands Māoriword which has come, since the 2000s, to refer totransgenderpeople of Māori descent from theCook Islands.

It may be an old custom but has a contemporary identity influenced by other Polynesians, through cross-cultural interaction of Polynesians living inNew Zealand,especially theSamoanfa'afafine,Third Genderpeople who hold a special place in Samoan society.^[1]

Terms and etymology[edit]

According to the Cook Islands Maori dictionary (1995) 'akava'ine is the prefixaka( "to be or to behave like" ) andva'ine( "woman" ),^[2]or simply, "to behave as a woman". (Antonym:'akatāne( "act manly, or tomboyishly" ).^[2]^[3])

The New ZealandMāoriwordWhakawahinehas a parallel meaning, and theSamoanwordfa'afafineand theMalagasyword sarambavy.

According to Alexeyeff,Akava'ineis aCook Islands Māoriword for women who have an inflated opinion of themselves, draw attention to themselves in ways that disrupt groupness, do not heed others' advice, or who act in a self-serving or self-promoting way.^[4]

Sometimes the wordlaelaeis also used typically when implying criticism or ridicule offemininebehaviour displayed by a man, for example being described aseffeminateorhomosexual.^[4]Laelae is the colloquial Cook Islands term, it is similar toraeraeused in Tahiti.

The wordtutuva'ine(meaning "like a woman" ) is used less frequently and normally refers to across-dresseror adrag queen.^[4]^[5]

Homosexuality is illegal for males in the Cook Islands,^[6]but there is a transgender movement in the Pacific Islands to decriminalize LGBT rights.^[7]

History[edit]

Pacific Islanders have a long history of integration, positions of authority, respect and acceptance towardsgender-variantindividuals.^{[citation needed]}After the arrival of English missionaries during the 19th-century, this quickly began to change.^{[citation needed]}

Marshall (1971:161) denied that there were "homosexuals" onMangaiain the Cook Islands, while estimating there were two or threeberdache"men on Mangaia who enjoy women's work, may have a feminine figure, and—to some degree—may dress like a woman" (Marshall 1971:153). "There is no social disapproval of the indications of transvestism". The boys and men he observed who enjoyed and excelled at women's work and who "are frequently called upon to assist in cooking, feasts, sewing pillowcases, and cutting out dresses and dress patterns" and "show no apparent wish for male sexual partners".^[8]Beaglehole (1938:287) also asserted of another locale in the Cook Islands that

perversions, in the sense of sexual practices that take the place of sexual intercourse, are probably unknown inPukapuka.This is without prejudice to acts or feeling attitudes that may accompany ontogenetic character development in the strict analytical sense but which, even if they occur may not properly be classed as perversions. There is no word in Pukapukan speech to indicate homosexuality, nor could informants say that it ever occurred. At present there is one youth in Yato village who is said towakawawine(be like a woman): between 16 and 17 years old, he appears fully developed physically but has a rather effeminate high-pitched voice. He wears men's clothes. He does not stroll about the village as do other young men who congregate first in one open house, then in another, for gossip. He performs general women's work, make plaited and beaded objects, sews more than is usual for a male, and cooks. He also does a little men's work, fishing, nut gathering and husking, and sennit-making. He occasionally wrestles with other men but does not participate in most sports. Peculiarities in his behavior are noticed by fellow villagers but not commented upon openly.

Nearly two decades later Beaglehole (1957:191) did not follow-up on thewakawawine—or even recall him—in writing that

Homosexuality is an unknown practice inAitutaki.Only two instances of berdache-like behaviors could be recalled by informants. Two adolescent boys gave up fishing and gardening in favour of women's work and acquired a high reputation in the community for their skills at housework, embroidery and mat-making. One boy ultimately married and adjusted to a man's role; the other left the island and settled elsewhere.

Contemporary culture[edit]

In the late 1990s, the termlaelae,a borrowing from the TahitianraeraeorRae rae,was the most commonly used term to describe "traditional" transgender categories and individuals considered to be "gay".^[9]

The usage of the Māori word'Akava'inefor a transgender person seems to be recent, as no evidence of it as an established gender role in Cook Islands Māori society: it is not documented in the various detailed written encounters of the Māori people during the pre-Christian era to the mid-late 1800s to early 1900s, although these accounts are almost all by Westerners and missionaries. In contrast, Transgender people are mentioned in records of Samoa (Fa'afafine),Tahitiand Hawai'i (Māhū).^[10]

Homosexuality was outlawed in the Cook Islands for men whereas women were always free to have homosexual relations.^[6]

Some'akava'inetake part in the making oftivaevae(quilts), an activity traditionally done by the women of the community.^[11]

Te Tiare AssociationInc (TTA) was formally incorporated on 30 November 2007 at the Rarotonga High Court; an organisation set up to bring together 'akava'ine in the Cook Islands, to help nurture, strengthen and educate them so that they can help themselves. On 21 June 2008, there was the official launch of TTA and the launch of a partnership between TTA and the Pacific Islands Aids Foundation.^[12]^[13]

References[edit]

^Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu."3. – Gender diversity – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand".teara.govt.nz.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-07-03.Retrieved2015-03-06.
^^a ^bJasper Buse; Raututi Taringa (1995).Cook Islands Maori Dictionary.p. 51.ISBN 978-0-7286-0230-4.Archivedfrom the original on 1 October 2015.Retrieved27 July2013.
^Kalissa Alexeyeff (2009).Dancing from the Heart: Movement, Gender, and Cook Islands Globalization.University of Hawaii Press. p. 105.ISBN 978-0-8248-3244-5.Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2015.Retrieved27 July2013.
^^a ^b ^cKalissa Alexeyeff (2009).Dancing from the Heart: Movement, Gender, and Cook Islands Globalization.University of Hawaii Press. p. 104.ISBN 978-0-8248-3244-5.Retrieved27 July2013.
^G. G. Bolich, Ph. D. (2007).Transgender History & Geography: Crossdressing in Context, Volume 3.Psyche's Press. p. 289.ISBN 978-0-6151-6766-4.
^^a ^bInternational Lesbian and Gay Association (2006)."LGBT World legal wrap up survey"(PDF).p. 4. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2012-03-10.
^"The Talanoa Trans Pacific Equality Project."".Archived fromthe originalon 2019-09-06.Retrieved2018-08-13.
^Stephen O. Murray (2002).Pacific Homosexualities.iUniverse. pp. 134–135.ISBN 0-595-22785-6.
^Niko Besnier; Kalissa Alexeyeff, eds. (2014).Gender on the Edge: Transgender, Gay, and Other Pacific Islanders.Hong Kong University Press. p. 8.ISBN 9789888139279.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-05-22.Retrieved2015-08-18.
^"Mangaian Society - NZETC".nzetc.victoria.ac.nz.Archivedfrom the original on 2014-10-06.Retrieved2014-10-01.
^Walter E. Little; Patricia Ann McAnany (16 October 2011).Textile Economies: Power and Value from the Local to the Transnational.Rowman Altamira. p. 72.ISBN 978-0-7591-2061-7.Archivedfrom the original on 27 September 2015.Retrieved27 July2013.
^"Te Tiare Association Inc".Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2015.Retrieved24 August2015.
^Matt Akersten (2008)."Supporting our sisters in the Pacific".GayNZ. Archived fromthe originalon 8 September 2015.Retrieved24 August2015.

Bibliography[edit]

Alexeyeff, Kalissa (2009).Dancing from the heart: movement, gender, and Cook Islands globalization.University of Hawaii Press.ISBN 978-0-8248-3244-5.
G. G. Bolich Ph.D. (2007).Transgender History & Geography: Crossdressing in Context, Volume 3.Psyche's Press.ISBN 978-0-6151-6766-4.
Murray, Stephen O. (2002).Pacific Homosexualities.iUniverse.ISBN 0-595-22785-6.
Buse, Jasper; Taringa, Raututi (1995). Bruce Biggs; Rangi Moeka'a (eds.).Cook Islands Maori dictionary.The Ministry of Education, Government of the Cook Islands.ISBN 978-0-7286-0230-4.
Marshall, Donald S.; Suggs, Robert C., eds. (1971). "Sexual Behavior on Mangaia".Human Sexual Behavior, Variations in The Ethnographic Spectrum.New York: Basic Books.ISBN 9780465031573.
Beaglehole, Ernest (1957).Social change in the South Pacific; Rarotonga and Aitutaki.London: Allen & Unwin.
Beaglehole, Ernest & Pearl (1938).Ethnology of Pukapuka.Honolulu: B.P. Bishop Museum Bulletin, 150.

[1] Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu."3. – Gender diversity – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand".teara.govt.nz.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-07-03.Retrieved2015-03-06.

[BuseTaringa1995-2] Jasper Buse; Raututi Taringa (1995).Cook Islands Maori Dictionary.p. 51.ISBN 978-0-7286-0230-4.Archivedfrom the original on 1 October 2015.Retrieved27 July2013.

[Alexeyeff2009-3] Kalissa Alexeyeff (2009).Dancing from the Heart: Movement, Gender, and Cook Islands Globalization.University of Hawaii Press. p. 105.ISBN 978-0-8248-3244-5.Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2015.Retrieved27 July2013.

[Dancing_from_the_heart-4] Kalissa Alexeyeff (2009).Dancing from the Heart: Movement, Gender, and Cook Islands Globalization.University of Hawaii Press. p. 104.ISBN 978-0-8248-3244-5.Retrieved27 July2013.

[5] G. G. Bolich, Ph. D. (2007).Transgender History & Geography: Crossdressing in Context, Volume 3.Psyche's Press. p. 289.ISBN 978-0-6151-6766-4.

[International_Lesbian_and_Gay_Association_2006_4-6] International Lesbian and Gay Association (2006)."LGBT World legal wrap up survey"(PDF).p. 4. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2012-03-10.

[7] "The Talanoa Trans Pacific Equality Project."".Archived fromthe originalon 2019-09-06.Retrieved2018-08-13.

[8] Stephen O. Murray (2002).Pacific Homosexualities.iUniverse. pp. 134–135.ISBN 0-595-22785-6.

[9] Niko Besnier; Kalissa Alexeyeff, eds. (2014).Gender on the Edge: Transgender, Gay, and Other Pacific Islanders.Hong Kong University Press. p. 8.ISBN 9789888139279.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-05-22.Retrieved2015-08-18.

[10] "Mangaian Society - NZETC".nzetc.victoria.ac.nz.Archivedfrom the original on 2014-10-06.Retrieved2014-10-01.

[LittleMcAnany2011-11] Walter E. Little; Patricia Ann McAnany (16 October 2011).Textile Economies: Power and Value from the Local to the Transnational.Rowman Altamira. p. 72.ISBN 978-0-7591-2061-7.Archivedfrom the original on 27 September 2015.Retrieved27 July2013.

[12] "Te Tiare Association Inc".Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2015.Retrieved24 August2015.

[13] Matt Akersten (2008)."Supporting our sisters in the Pacific".GayNZ. Archived fromthe originalon 8 September 2015.Retrieved24 August2015.

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Terms and etymology[edit]

History[edit]

Contemporary culture[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]