tags:: #author #Tonga #Samoa #NewZealand --- Lagi-Maama (Toluma‘anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu & Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai) “We get excited”. Let this be the beginning of Lagi-Maama Academy & Consultancy’s (Lagi-Maama) biography. A cultural organisation based in Aotearoa New Zealand, Lagi-Maama was set up in 2018 by Toluma‘anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu, of Samoan heritage, and Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, of Tongan heritage. Rather than give individual biographies, the pair insists on being presented through the work they do together “as soa/hoa or pair”, their shared beliefs, and the things that give them balance. “We connected because we cried about the same thing: the non recognition of our communities as vessels of our ancestors’ knowledges.” Since then, the two have been standing in cultural institutions’ knowledge gaps and advocating for better institutional practice: the respectful representation of Indigenous knowledges, the recognition of its value, and an understanding of its different structures. Their work connects and builds bridges between institutions and communities through research and writing; community connection and engagement; curatorial advice and critique; capacity and capability building; cultural intelligence and cross-cultural approaches. Though they recognize and celebrate many Indigenous onto-epistemologists, Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu Professor ‘Ōkusitino Māhina holds a particularly special place: he gifted Lagi-Maama its name “because of who we are and what we must do to live up to our name.”  Toluma‘anave and Kolokesa hold conversation as two people do the four corners of a bedsheet: arms extended forward, in a gesture of welcome. But making space for people to come and “be themselves fully” is hard work: “We get as many growlings as compliments from our communities”. An important aspect of their work, in this respect, is talanoa: the knowledge and practice of talking critically yet harmoniously, and of thinking expansively for the collective betterment. They are one another’s first responder, finish one another’s thoughts in joyful and passionate bursts: “Yes, we are often laughing while working!” They also dance sometimes, as a means to being mentally and physically balanced. Toluma‘anave and Kolokesa are in for the long game of providing Indigenous narratives for generations to come.  “The collective goal is to permanently shift the imposed knowledge axis to recognition and support of a status quo where Indigenous knowledges are embedded and implemented in the minds and hearts and practices of all cultural institutions.”