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Arieta Tegeilolo Talanoa Rika

The foundation of recovery Interview by Shantel Wetherall

Double-page scan from the Rare with Google 2020 publication featuring portait of Arieta Tegeilolo Talanoa Rika.

Arieta Tegeilolo Talanoa Rika is a writer, Pacific storyteller, and founder of Talanoa: The Home of Oceanic Storytelling. With over ten years experience in social impact and non-profit communications across Australia and the Pacific, she has dedicated her career to writing for positive change in vulnerable communities.

Seismic events can crack the deepest foundations. Things fall apart. Yet what remains is often as telling as what is lost. These are the raw materials of transformation and the building blocks for sustainable practice.

Double-page scan from the Rare with Google 2020 publication of Arieta Tegeilolo Talanoa Rika with a group of children.

SW: Arieta, can you tell us a little about who you are and where you are from.

AT: My full name is Arieta Tegeilolo Talanoa Rika. So I have a typical Fijian name. I'm a Fijian and Tongan woman, born and currently living in Sydney, Australia. I would like to recognize the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. And also given that this is going into something written, I would definitely like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. And of course pay my ongoing respect to elders past and present, to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

My cultural heritage is definitely relevant because it informs my work being Fijian and also Tongan. I'm a communications professional. I specialize in writing and I'd like to think of myself not so much as a storyteller, but as a story gatherer, particularly in the field of social change. My culture and where I'm from definitely informs my perspective in my approach towards my work. I definitely feel that I'm a third-culture person.

SW: You are the poster child. I love that you now work in communication. I don't think that's an accident…

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    RARE ACKNOWLEDGES THE INDIGENOUS LANDS ON WHICH WE WORK AND CREATE