Galumalemana Afeleti Hunkin was born in Fale'ula, Western Sāmoa, in 1945. He became the foundation tutor of Sāmoan language and culture at the Pacific Islanders' Educational Resource Centre, Auckland, in 1977. Four years later he was appointed director of the Wellington Multicultural Educational Resource Centre. He is now a senior lecturer in Sāmoan studies at Victoria University.