Beyond language: Dr Caleb Marsters on building Pacific futures

As Cook Islands Language Week is celebrated across Aotearoa, University of Auckland academic Dr Caleb Marsters says language revitalisation must be part of a broader conversation about strengthening Cook Islands and Pacific communities, institutions and futures.

A senior lecturer in Pacific Studies at Waipapa Taumata Rau, Marsters is a proud Cook Islands Māori scholar whose research explores Pacific well-being, men's mental health, youth development, education and sport. Across his work, a common theme emerges: Pacific people thrive when belonging, cultural identity, family connections and Indigenous knowledge are nurtured and valued.

Born and raised in Auckland with whakapapa to Rarotonga and Palmerston Island, Marsters has become a leading voice on the intersection of culture, well-being and Pacific futures.

"Our reo carries far more than words," he says. "It carries our 'enua, bloodlines, histories, relationships, values, and ways of knowing and being that have sustained our people for generations.

"When we create opportunities to hear, learn and use our reo, we strengthen our connections to one another, our homelands and our ancestors."

His research shows that Pacific well-being cannot be understood through individual behaviours alone. It is relational, shaped by family, culture, spirituality, belonging and the wider conditions in which people live.

"For many Pacific peoples, well-being comes through connection," he says. "Our reo connects us to community, homelands and the knowledge systems of our tūpuna."

Yet Marsters says conversations about revitalisation must acknowledge the historical realities experienced by Cook Islands families in Aotearoa.

"In my own family, people had their Māori names changed or shortened at school and in the workplace," he says. "Some were discouraged from speaking their language and taught, directly or indirectly, that English was more important for education, employment and success."

Given the pressures to assimilate and the dominance of English, he says it is unsurprising that many Cook Islands families lost fluency within one or two generations.

"Our families didn't simply decide that reo no longer mattered," he says. "They were navigating a society that treated English as superior and Pacific languages as less useful and less relevant."

For many parents, prioritising English was a practical response to unequal conditions. They came to New Zealand seeking work, supporting family back home and creating opportunities for their children.

These experiences did more than reduce the number of speakers. They also shaped how generations of Cook Islanders understood the value of their language, culture and knowledge systems.

"We now see much more celebration and pride in Pacific languages because of decades of Māori and Pacific activism and community work," says Marsters. "But the old ideologies haven't disappeared. English remains the default language of education, employment and economic participation, while Indigenous and Pacific languages are often treated as peripheral."

For Marsters, revitalisation is about more than increasing speaker numbers. It requires recognising the intellectual, cultural and social value embedded within Pacific languages.

"Our reo gives us access to ways of understanding relationships, responsibilities, community, spirituality, the environment and what it means to live a balanced life," he says.

"It doesn't provide a magic solution to every problem. But it offers another foundation from which to interpret the world, question what we've been taught as normal, and decide which values should guide us forward."

At the same time, he cautions against turning language revitalisation into another source of pressure or shame for Pacific peoples in the diaspora.

"Many people are struggling to get by right now. Learning a language can feel like one more obligation in a life already organised around work, rent, bills, childcare and family responsibilities," he says.

"A person can love their culture deeply and still not have the time, energy, money or opportunity to learn their reo. That doesn't make them any less Māori. Being Māori is forever."

Language choices, he argues, cannot be separated from socioeconomic realities.

"Many families are navigating a system that rewards long working hours, individual achievement and constant productivity while leaving little time for language learning and cultural revitalisation.

"If revitalisation depends entirely on individuals finding spare time and resources they don't have, it will fail. We risk making people feel guilty for circumstances they never created, while institutions avoid responsibility."

The Pacific Language Weeks programme in Aotearoa plays an important role in creating pride, visibility and awareness, he says, but symbolism alone is not enough.

"Language Weeks are beautiful and they matter. But they can also allow institutions to appear supportive without making serious, long-term commitments to the language and its people."

Meaningful commitment requires accessible language programmes, well-supported teachers, adequately resourced community organisations, immersion opportunities and investment in the media and creative spaces where many Cook Islanders encounter their reo in everyday life.

This is particularly important for young Pacific people growing up in Aotearoa.

"They shouldn't have to wait until adulthood, experience a crisis of identity or reach university before discovering the depth of their culture and the richness of their reo," says Marsters.

"They deserve opportunities to learn how their ancestors interpreted the world, organised relationships and responsibilities, and navigated the Pacific while holding fast to their values."

For this reason, he believes Pacific Studies should have a meaningful place throughout the education system.

"Pacific Studies in primary, intermediate and secondary schools helps young people encounter this knowledge before they've been taught that Pacific histories, languages and ideas sit outside formal education."

For Pacific students, this validates their cultures as intellectually rich and significant. For non-Pacific students, it deepens understanding of Aotearoa itself.

"You can't fully understand Aotearoa, its history or its future without understanding the Pacific and the peoples whose labour, resources, cultures and relationships have helped shape this country."

Marsters says Pacific Studies and language education must be properly resourced, taught with depth and recognised within formal education structures.

"This isn't about adding a few Pacific words or cultural activities to appear more inclusive," he says. "It's about recognising Pacific knowledge as knowledge."

Despite concerns about language loss in Aotearoa, Marsters remains hopeful. He points to the continuing strength of language and culture in the Cook Islands and the commitment of families, elders, teachers, artists, churches and communities both at home and across the diaspora.

"We are incredibly fortunate to have our homelands, where our cultures and languages continue to be lived and developed," he says.

He also rejects the idea that Cook Islanders living in Aotearoa are somehow less authentic.

"As Pacific scholar Dr Epeli Hau'ofa reminds us, we are connected rather than separated by the sea. We cannot allow colonial ideas to diminish the ways we connect and belong as Cook Islanders."

Ultimately, Marsters believes revitalisation should bring people closer together, not become another test of cultural authenticity.

"The purpose of revitalisation should not be to create another standard against which our people feel they are failing," he says.

"It should help people recognise the richness that is already theirs, understand the forces that separated many of us from it, and create real opportunities to reconnect.

"The task now is to build institutions that value that knowledge and make it accessible to future generations. That can give our young people deeper roots from which to navigate the world and greater freedom to decide for themselves what a good life looks like, whether they become fluent or not."