No. 739 Helen “Ginger” Tuilevuka, 2008

File — Box: 72, Folder: 12

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Helen Tuilevuka (b. 1986) was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She moved to California and also lived in Utah. She spent most of her life in Gallup, New Mexico. She also lived in Las Vegas for a short time and in Ireland with her husband for a while. She moved to Utah her junior year of high school because she wanted to get used to Utah before attending Brigham Young University. Her mother is Tongan Samoan and her father is Cherokee. She was raised by her grandma and her aunts and uncles as well as her mother. She is married to a Fijian man and they have one daughter. Helen talks about her mother’s life. Her mother’s family was in a Polynesian music group that toured the country. Helen’s mother ran away from the group and ended up as a singer in Tennessee. She met Helen’s father at a recording session. She learned Tongan from her grandmother when she was little but does not know it well now. She had a lot of responsibility as the oldest in her family. From her Samoan aunts and uncles she learned the importance of coming together as a family and the importance of respecting elders. She learned most of her cultural traditions from her grandma and her aunts and uncles. Helen talks about struggling to find her cultural identity. She has never fully delved into her Cherokee side and she did not really learn about her Polynesian culture until she was living away from her mother. In New Mexico, she wanted to be Hispanic because that was the dominant culture. There were no Polynesians in her high school in New Mexico and people did not even know what Polynesian was. Since moving to Utah she has been interested in learning about Polynesian culture from her elders. She describes meeting and dating her husband. Her husband is from Fiji and has different ideas of dating and culture that surprised Helen. They practice a lot of Fijian traditions in the home now. She learned the importance of education from her grandparents. Her parents were lax when it came to school so she had to stay motivated on her own when she was living with them. Her family always supported her and told her she could do whatever she wanted. Helen discusses her religion and her religious background. She was baptized in the Mormon church but was not very active until she moved to Utah in her junior year of high school. Her grandmother really reinforced the importance of religion. She became more active as a Mormon because she was tired of the lifestyle she was living and wanted to change.
Project: Pacific Islanders.
Interviewer: Savani Aupiu.

Dates

2008

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.