Te Reva Nei Au: A Podcast for Tahitian American Families

Kura Ora! Season 2 continues with our next episode featuring Terava Casey. This episode is all about genealogy & the importance of our families guarding family history, records & photos as we think about passing down this sacred knowledge & information to the next generation. This is a topic I highly revere, I started diving deep into learning my own children's Ma'ohi genealogy to better understand who they are. I am so grateful I had a chance to interview Terava Casey who is a Pa'umotu/Kanaka Maoli scholar finishing er PhD on Pa'umotu history, oral traditions & genealogy in the Pacific History Department at the University of Hawai'i. She received her Master's in Pacific Island Studies at UH Manoa on the Tahitian diaspora in Hawai'i. Terava & her husband are the proud parents of 5 children, living on the North Shore of O'ahu.

Terava / O'ahu, HI

'ia ora na! Season 2 kicks off STRONG with Moenau Rivera, CEO & Founder of Porinetia Adventures as well as Poly-Lingual, the 1st online platform to learn Reo Tahiti (the Tahitian language). Moenau was raised on the islands of Tahiti & Ra'iatea before coming to the USA in 2006. We talked a lot about her thoughts & observations on how the Ma'ohi culture is portrayed here in California. In addition, she has put a call out to the fellow Tahitian families living in the States to also support the perpetuation of Reo Tahiti the way she & her husband have greatly done so.

Moenau / Orange County, CA.

Kura Ora! In our final episode of Season 1, we have reached the sunny state of New Mexico where we hear from Heimiri. Heimiri was raised on Mo’orea island & is now here in the USA raising her beautiful family with the love of her life, Rafael. This episode is named “MANUIA TO TERE” not only to mark the success of our Podcast’s first season but it is also a phrase to mark the end of a successful journey for Heimiri. In this case, Heimiri’s personal journey led her across the Pacific to where she is today: a life of culture, heritage & love all around her. Heimiri / Santa Fe, NM.

'ia ora na! In this episode, we hear from Lauretta Smith. Lauretta (we call her Lolo) has been in Los Angeles for a few decades. Being raised on Mo'orea island, she had come to the United States with her son's father in the early 1980s. Tatie Lolo is a huge supporter of our Tahitian American Families and Couples group and she has been a big proponent for our big Tahitian American families gatherings starting with the big (unofficial) one that happened in L.A. last year in 2021.

Lauretta / Los Angeles, CA (USA)

Kura Ora! In this episode, we hear from Tyrone a.k.a Boy. Boy’s parents left Tahiti in the 70’s to come to Hawaii, where he was born. After spending his early childhood years in Tahiti, he went back to Hawaii to go to school and has been there ever since. Boy is a well respected leader in the Tahitian drumming world, known for his knowledge & years of experience with his family troupe TE VAI URA NUI he learned from his parents how to weave the Ma’ohi culture into the fabric of his life outside of their homeland. Now raising 3 daughters with his wife Nisa, the two do their best to pass on both Ma’ohi and Japanese traditions so their family is well rooted. This interview ran really long because there was just so much to talk about! I hope you guys enjoy.

Tyrone / Honolulu, Hawai'i (USA)

'ia ora te nuna'a! A quick and small break from the interview episodes, we dissect everything about visas between the U.S. and French Polynesia. I also go into a little history about why some Tahitians have come to live in the U.S. -

Disclaimer: this episode is not to be taken as LEGAL advice but rather as just documented experiences and tauturu (support). If anyone wants to get in contact please email me at [email protected] - mauruuru roa!

Kura ora! In this episode we hear from Anthony Waipa Manaois. A 1st generation Hawaiian raised in the Bay Area, Uncle Anthony gives us to a powerful oral history of his family's background, the creation of their Halau (Hula Halau O Nalua) and how the group Otea Api also gradually became one of the most well known & loved traditional Tahitian dance groups outside of French Polynesia. We learn about he & his wife (Nathalie Teura)'s love story & how she came over to the U.S. from French Polynesia - only to also set and establish roots in both the Bay Area AND Rangiroa (Tuamotu) for them to raise their daughter Turereura in her fenua 'ai'a.

Anthony Manaois / Rangiroa, French Polynesia.