Biography
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Born
19 May 1955 (age 70)
Tigilau Ness is a Niuean New Zealand activist and reggae artist, and performs as Unity Pacific. Ness was one the founders of the reggae group the Twelve Tribes of Israel in the 1970s, and started a band called Unity in 1975. He formed the Unity Reggae Band in 1985, but did not release an album until 2003. His struggles against injustice and problems faced growing up in New Zealand, feature on "From Street to Sky".
Ness is a political activist and first generation Pacific Island New Zealander. After being expelled from high school in 1971 for refusing to cut his afro, he was involved in founding the Polynesian Panthers, a Polynesian rights group modelled after the Black Panthers.
He was active in opposing aparthied South Africa and the 1981 Springbok Tour and was subsequently arrested during a protest march then sentenced to nine months in Mount Eden Prison. Ness also took part in Maori land protests including the occupation of Bastion Point. He converted to Rastafarianism during this period.
Ness also appears as the narrator in Merata Mita's documentary DREAD which tells the history of the Rastafarian Movement in the Ngati Porou community of Ruatoria.
Tigilau Ness is the father of popular hip hop musician Che Fu, and often performs as a member of Che's backing band The Krates.
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