Talanoa

Talanoa is a traditional Pacific Island deliberation process that is centred on the ideas of open-styled deliberation, respect, tolerance, flexibility, openness, and fairness. The philosophy of the concept is passed orally from one generation to the next, with room for chiefs and speakers to amend and support the evolution of the rules.

The process begins with a ceremony. Gifts are presented as a symbol of seeking forgiveness for a past conflict. Typically, a more serious conflict evokes a more elaborate gift. Gifts are not to be bought, but are typically to be passed down through family generations, and include such things as a tubua, a whale’s tooth, mats, and cloth. Next, kava, a drink made from the roots of the kava shrub, is drunk as a symbol of acknowledging and apologizing for harsh words and wounds inflicted by all those involved.

The space is then beset with a peaceful tone for the deliberation to begin. Those who drink the kava are obliged to engage without any preconceived notions and are not to initiate a dispute during the Talanoa process, as it may result in an escalated conflict. One may, alternatively, choose to refuse to drink the kava before the proceedings begin, if they want to make a statement before participating.

When used as a means for conflict resolution between people or opposing groups, a third person serves as a mediator and facilitates the session. If the groups are whole villages, then the village spokesperson takes over as a facilitator.

Traditionally, only men were allowed to speak within the Talanoa process, and women are often the “motivating” forces – they speak forcefully in private with the men, and tell them what to do and say. A woman who is directly involved in the Talanoa is expected to speak through a man. There have been criticisms that bring to surface the patriarchal approach inherent in these gendered roles. Some suggest that the women are the real decision makers and have a great deal of influence over the process in themselves.  Youth are also not included in these spaces, as elders take precedence.

Talanoa as a mechanism has been used as a research methodology, and has also been deployed at the international level as part of the climate dialogues hosted by Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, in his capacity as the President of the UN Climate Summit, COP23, in 2017. Here, however, Indigenous, youth, and women’s voices were heard for the first time at this scale, on this issue, at the international level.

References:

Hautzinger, S. (2024). Continuing to Talanoa: Storytelling Dialogues for Youth Engagement in Climate Action and Justice. https://sustainableearthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42055-023-00070-7

Hindley, P., November, N., Sturm, S., and Wolfgramm-Foliaki, ‘E. Rolling out the mat: A Talanoa on Talanoa as a higher education research methodology. https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/2292/50488/Hindley%20et%20al.%20-%20Rolling%20out%20the%20mat%20-%20A%20talanoa%20on%20talanoa%20as%20a%20higher%20education%20research%20methodology.pdf?sequence=2

Robinson, D. and Robinson, K. (2005). “Pacific ways” of talk: Hui and Talanoa, NZ Trade Consortium Working Paper No. 36, New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), Wellington. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/66100/1/494642475.pdf