‘Our greatest challenge is losing the stories that make us who we are’ — Matai

Under the bright lights of the Miss Pacific Islands pre-pageant interview in Nadi, Miss Cook Islands Petra Matina Matai delivered an emotional reminder that the Pacific’s greatest threat is not climate change or migration — but silence.

She called for urgent action to preserve indigenous languages, warning that their loss would erode the very identity of Pacific peoples.

Speaking at the event in Fiji, Ms Matai said her research centred on safeguarding Cook Islands Māori, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has classified as endangered.

“Our greatest challenge is not losing our islands. It is losing the stories that make us who we are,” she said.

For Ms Matai, language is more than vocabulary — it is belonging.

“Language is not just words. It lives in the way we greet one another, in the songs we sing to our children and in the prayers whispered by our elders. It teaches us not only how to speak, but how to belong,” she said.

Responding to questions about the Cook Islands diaspora, she acknowledged a growing decline in fluency among younger generations living overseas.

“I was fortunate to be raised in my culture and learn our language, but I have seen fourth- and fifth-generation families who do not speak it,” she said.

She encouraged families to actively promote language use in churches, cultural performances and everyday conversations, urging communities not to treat culture as ceremonial, but as lived experience.

Addressing concerns that technology may widen generational gaps, she said modernisation should strengthen, not replace, tradition.

“Technology and culture should collaborate. Our culture is not something we visit. We practise it every day,” she said.

Ms Matai called on elders to pass down knowledge intentionally and challenged Pacific youth to use digital platforms to celebrate and promote indigenous languages.

“If we choose to protect it, culture will always be our future,” she said.