Pacific efforts in last century's global wars will be recognised this month, with the dedication of a new monument that pays tribute to the role played by Pacific soldiers in World War I and II. 

The tribute takes the form of a nearly five-metre high conch shell installation made of bronze and is adorned with poppy flowers. 

Designed and made by Samoan-Tahitian-Cook Islander Michel Tuffery, the conch shell has been installed in the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington and will be a permanent installation in the growing memorial garden.

Mr. Tuffery worked with architects from Herriot, Melhuish and O’Neil Architects to create “Te Reo Hotunui o Te Moana nui a Kiwa" (The deep sigh of the Pacific.)

He told the Samoa Observer he wanted it to be as big as possible, to make a statement about the size and contribution of the Pacific.

The memorial is intended to fill a void on national A.N.Z.A.C. Day commemorations, where the Pacific story had not been told.

“I just wanted to make a huge statement that it’s our turn to tell stories, it’s our families that need to tell their stories,” Mr. Tuffery, who was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2008, said. 

The conch shell itself is inspired by a rarely told story from the first World War. Cook Island soldiers deployed to the French town of Arras were said to have served in the tunnels alongside the Maori Battalion and the New Zealand Tunnelling company. 

According to the stories, they left a shell behind in the tunnel as a reminder of their presence. Mr. Tuffery first heard about this unknown piece of history while working at a French University and he soon boarded a train to Arras, a city 180 kilometres north of the capital. He began a search for the shell and other markers of the service of the soldiers who carved their names and prayers on the walls of the Arras tunnels. 

He thought the shell would serve as the perfect symbol when the Ministry of Culture and Heritage (M.C.H.) called for design submissions for a new Pacific Islands memorial for Pukeahu in March 2018.

“Here in Wellington have this tunnel that goes under Pukeahu, the memorial site, called the Arras and no one knows what that means," he said. 

“Then this competition came up and I thought the synergy was perfect, it just made sense to create the conch shell with the poppies. It took three or four years to do all the research.

“A lot of people didn’t realise Pacific islanders served with the Maori Battalion, nobody knows about the Fijian contingent serving in the First World War so those are the stories I am looking forward to coming out of this."

Before working on this project, Mr. Tuffery was working on the national effort to commemorate the First World War's centenary in Wellington. 

He collected the names of all the Pacific soldiers who fought in the war and projected them alongside thousands of other names on the walls of New Zealand's Dominion Museum, where they were displayed behind the war memorial and the tomb of the unknown warrior.

“I heard stories emotional stories when I was projecting the names of the families coming down on the museum but it was a really proud moment,” he said.

“It is beautiful, we need to acknowledge those families [whose] men never came back.”

M.C.H. Te Pae Mahara Memorials Manager, Brodie Stubbs, said since the Pukeahu idea was created and built, a Pacific memorial was always in the works.

“By acknowledging the contribution of Pacific nations, we also recognise the shared history that strengthens our bond today," he said. 

“Now, more than ever, the well-being of New Zealand’s people, economy and environment is closely linked to the well-being of the Pacific region in which we live.”

The Pacific conch shell joins six other international memorials that symbolise the shared experiences of conflict, and commitment to global peace, Mr. Stubbs said.

They speak to the relationships between New Zealand and Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Turkey, Belgium and France.

M.C.H. will be holding a public dedication on Saturday 27 March at the site to unveil the memorial and remember those who served in and were lost to war. The launch will be livestreamed on Facebook. 

Mr. Tuffery said he is excited for how Pacific communities will interact with, and interpret the memorial.

Before Pacific stories were known and discussed as part of the war memorial effort, Mr. Tuffery said it was not uncommon for islanders to feel like outsiders on A.N.Z.A.C. Day. 

“Emotionally it’s somewhere they can go to be part of the significant ceremony we have every year on A.N.Z.A.C. Day.  There was a void. Now we have our memorial in the capital, it makes sense and we can feel like we’re part of it.

“No matter where you come from you can go there and have a moment with your family and be part of something really significant on A.N.Z.A.C. Day.”