Scholar transforming how Pacific knowledge is understood

University of Auckland doctoral candidate Teuila Hughes is reflecting on the country that shaped her childhood - Fiji. How it nourished her creativity and laid the foundations for her future research.

A dance artist, teacher and PhD candidate in Dance Studies, Hughes' doctoral research explores the embodied, relational and ancestral knowledge carried through Siva Sāmoa. While her academic work is grounded in Sāmoan cultural practice, the journey began decades earlier in Fiji she says.

Born in Darwin, Australia, Hughes moved with her family to Suva when she was just two years old and spent the next 15 years there.

"Fiji shaped much of my childhood and continues to influence who I am today," she says.

Her mother is Sāmoan, from Vaimoso and Manono in Upolu, while her father has Australian, Armenian and Welsh heritage. Growing up in Suva, Hughes remained closely connected to her Sāmoan roots through regular trips to Apia to visit extended family.

"Those regular visits allowed me to grow up surrounded by family and gave me opportunities to connect more deeply with my Sāmoan culture and identity," she says.

Family life revolved around the ocean. Hughes, her siblings and parents were all passionate outrigger canoe paddlers, spending much of their time training and competing together. But alongside sport, dance quickly became a central part of her life.

Some of her earliest memories involve learning Siva from family friends in living rooms and front yards, before performing at family gatherings across both Fiji and Sāmoa.

"Dancing became a way for me to connect with family, culture and my sense of being Sāmoan and from the broader Pacific region," she says.

At the age of 12, her growing passion led her to the renowned Oceania Centre at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, where she trained under the late Sāmoan choreographer Alan Alo. Looking back, she now recognises she was immersed in one of the Pacific's most influential creative environments.

Among those she occasionally glimpsed was celebrated writer and scholar, the late Dr Epeli Hauʻofa, whose thinking would later become foundational to Pacific scholarship.

"Looking back, I can now appreciate how much I was absorbing during those years without fully realising it," she says.

"The people, relationships and creative environments that surrounded me continue to shape not only the work I do, but also how I understand myself and who I am today."

Her love of dance eventually brought her to Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, where she enrolled in a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance Studies. She recalls how it wasn't an easy transition.

Arriving with a background rooted in Pacific cultural dance practices, Hughes found herself navigating unfamiliar Western dance forms and academic frameworks.

"There were moments when I felt like an imposter and wondered, 'Who am I, this girl from the islands, to be in this space?'" she recalls.

Those experiences ultimately became a catalyst for deeper exploration. Through postgraduate study, Hughes began recognising that the knowledge she carried from family, culture and community was not separate from academia, but a valuable contribution to it.

Today, her doctoral research explores Siva Sāmoa as embodied knowledge, focusing on vā and the relationships that underpin Sāmoan ways of knowing and being. Through her work with fellow practitioners, she has deepened her understanding of ancestral knowledge and Indigenous Pacific research methodologies.

The journey has also strengthened her commitment to supporting future generations of Pacific scholars.

"When we talk about smashing the brown ceiling, I don't think it is only about Māori and Pacific people entering spaces from which we have historically been excluded. It is also about changing those spaces once we are there," she says.

As a teacher, Hughes is passionate about encouraging students to recognise the value of the knowledge they already carry.

"I want them to know that they do not have to leave their families, cultures or ways of knowing at the door in order to belong within academic spaces," she says.

"It is crucial that they bring these relationships and knowledge systems with them, because they are integral to who they are and to what they contribute."

As Fiji Language Week celebrates the languages, cultures and communities that connect the Pacific, Hughes says she remains grateful for the formative years spent in Suva and the lasting influence Fiji has had on her life.

Following the completion of her PhD, she hopes to continue teaching, researching and creating work centred on Pacific ancestral knowledge, embodiment and healing, while helping open pathways for future Pacific and Indigenous scholars.

"What matters most to me is that the next stage continues to deepen my own cultural learning, creates pathways for other Pacific and Indigenous scholars and artists, and allows the knowledge and relationships developed through this journey to be carried forward in ways that serve our communities."