Parade of nations

The opening ceremony on Monday will be a very colourful affair with all the Maeva Nui outer islands team participating along with the Maeva Nui overall winner Oire Nikao.
Coordinator of the Pacific Mini Games opening ceremony Mauri Toa says it is going to be a bit unusual in that each country will be given a turou (welcome) that is unique to the island that will welcome them into the BCI Stadium.
Oire Nikao has been given the privilege of welcoming Team Cook Islands, with Manihiki island welcoming Palau, the last country to host a mini games, as well as American Samoa.
Fiji has a large contingent of athletes and officials and they will be welcomed by the island of Rakahanga. Tongareva (Penhryn) will welcome French Polynesia and the Federated States of Micronesia. Pukapuka will turou Kiribati and Guam followed by a turou for Nauru and New Caledonia by Nukuroa (Mitiaro). Atiu has the privilege of welcoming Niue and Norfolk Island. Aitutaki will welcome Northern Marianas and Papua New Guinea and Mauke will turou the Solomon Islands contingent. Samoa and Tokelau will be welcomed by the Cook Islands’ most southern island, Mangaia. Oire Arorangi gets to welcome the islands of Tonga and Tuvalu. The last islands to enter the arena will be Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna with the host country Team Cook Islands at the end of the parade. The Maeva Nui winner for 2009, Oire Nikao will give them all a rousing welcome to complete the Parade of Nations.
But that’s not all …
According to Mauri Toa, as each country reaches their rest location in the centre field, their welcome will be completed by an offering of Ata Ma’anga (food) as befitting the welcoming of guests into the home.
Each team will receive a kikau kai full of nu.
If everything goes according to the programme, the nations will be in the middle of the stadium for approximately three hours, so the kikau of nu will be a welcome respite for them as they become spectators of the opening ceremony.
To prepare for the opening ceremony Justine Nicholas brought students from Takitumu, **ikaveka College, Arorangi, Nikao, Avatea and Avarua to perform an item before the official part of the opening starts.
This will of course start with the opening prayer service by the Religious Advisory Council, followed by the arrival and hoisting of the official SPG flag, oath of athletes, oath of officials followed by speeches.