Episode Overview

In this episode, we explore indigenous approaches to behavioural health, the power of faith and culture in healing, and how Micronesian communities are navigating contemporary mental health challenges. From addressing youth suicide to reframing Western models through indigenous wisdom, we ask: what does it look like when local knowledge leads the way in community wellbeing?

About James Arriola

Our guest is James Arriola, founder of Brabu Behavioural Health Services based in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands where he was born and raised. With over 15 years of experience in evaluation, training, and service delivery, James has dedicated his career to faith-centred, culturally responsive, and indigenous behavioural health across Oceania. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Pacific Behavioural Health Collaborating Council, supporting leadership across American Samoa, Northern Marian (CNMI), Guam, Micronesia (FSM), Marshall Islands (RMI), and Palau.

Micronesia

James reminds us that Micronesians are very much part of the Pacific, even though often left out of regional conversations. He speaks to the unique mental health issues facing Micronesian communities and how solutions already exist within our own indigenous knowledge systems. As a proud Chamorro, James offers both insight and advocacy, calling for greater recognition of Micronesian voices in global and regional wellbeing efforts.

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

Episode Overview
In this episode, we explore indigenous approaches to behavioural health, the power of faith and culture in healing, and how Micronesian communities are navigating contemporary mental health challenges. From addressing youth suicide to reframing Western models through indigenous wisdom, we ask: what does it look like when local knowledge leads the way in community wellbeing?

About James Arriola
Our guest is James Arriola, founder of Brabu Behavioural Health Services based in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands where he was born and raised. With over 15 years of experience in evaluation, training, and service delivery, James has dedicated his career to faith-centred, culturally responsive, and indigenous behavioural health across Oceania. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Pacific Behavioural Health Collaborating Council, supporting leadership across American Samoa, Northern Marian (CNMI), Guam, Micronesia (FSM), Marshall Islands (RMI), and Palau.

Micronesia
James reminds us that Micronesians are very much part of the Pacific, even though often left out of regional conversations. He speaks to the unique mental health issues facing Micronesian communities and how solutions already exist within our own indigenous knowledge systems. As a proud Chamorro, James offers both insight and advocacy, calling for greater recognition of Micronesian voices in global and regional wellbeing efforts.

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

Between the 1960s and 1990s, 193 nuclear explosions were conducted in Māohi Nui (French Polynesia) by France.

In our latest episode with researcher & environmental justice advocate Vehia Wheeler (Māohi Nui) we explore the history of these explosions and the lasting effects our region. We also talk about the challenges of connecting our English-speaking and French-speaking islands with one another + much more. 

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

We're joined by Lefaoali'i Dr Dion Enari - an Associate Professor from Unitec Institute of Technology, matai (chief) and sogaimiti (wearer of the Samoan tatau). In this episode he shares his research insights on the experiences of diasporic communities and highlights the tensions of fa'alavelave (giving), knowledge gate keepers and weighs in on the debate of who should be 'worthy' of our culture treasures such as chief titles and tatau. 

He offers his unique insight as an academic and a matai. As someone in the diaspora who has the experience of living in the homeland. He also shares his personal story of having received the tatau and challenges some popular narratives surrounding the tatau. 

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

We are releasing our final Flags of the Moana tshirt drop! Listen in to see how you can win yourself a free tee 😉 tshirts will be available via themoanan.com

Dr Zaramasina Clark is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is of Tongan descent and was raised in Fiji. She speaks to her experiences growing up “halfcaste” and growing up with “multiple homes” across Moana Oceania. 

Her research in biology focusses on the health and wellbeing of people, in particular, our people of the Pacific. She talks about her journey to become a biologist and how science can improve the lives of our people. 

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

Asetoa Sam Pilisi is a community leader and current PhD Candidate of Niuean and Samoan descent. He has done youth work and community work for many years in Auckland, New Zealand and Western Sydney, Australia - particularly with Pacific youth. He currently is completing a PhD in Public Health at the University of Auckland focussing on wellbeing, burnout, duty, service and collectivism in the local Oceanian community. 

He also is an active community leader in local Niue communities. Niue is one of the smaller islands of Oceania located in "West Polynesia" near Samoa, Tonga, Tokelau, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Rotuma, Uvea and Futuna. With only 1564 living in Niue and 34,944 Niue peoples living in Aotearoa New Zealand, the language is at risk of being lost.

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world. We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms — including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Email [email protected]

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

We'd love to hear from you - we have a talanoa episode coming up! Send us your written or voice recorded messages via email or instagram for us to discuss on an episode. Send those through before the end of March. 

In this episode we have Vaitoa Teaiwa Mallon (Banaba, Kiribati, Samoa, Irish) & Hele Christopher-Ikimotu (Banaba, Kiribati, Niue) who shed light on the history and current realities of the people of Banaba - an island whose story has been largely forgotten. 

We talk about the over exploitation of their island by foreign mining companies and how this had led to the complete destruction of the islands resources to the point where the island can no longer sustain life. So much so that Banabans have relocated to the island of Rabi, Fiji. 

While we talk about a painful past, Vaitoa & Hele also share stories of resilience with Banabans across the diaspora continuing to maintain and hold onto their culture and identity as proud Banabans. 

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

We’d love to hear from you – we have a talanoa episode coming up! Send us your written or voice recorded messages via email or instagram for us to discuss on an episode. Please submit before the end of March 2025. 

Innez Haua PhD is a Māori scholar based at Macqurie University in Sydney, Australia. With hundreds of thousands of Māori living in Australia, Haua researches how her people connect to their cultures while living away from home. Australia’s indigenous peoples include hundreds of Mobs and Clans of First Nations peoples as well as Torres Strait Islanders - those indigenous to the islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea. 

Dr Innez refers to “so-called Australia” as Te Whenua Moemoea, which means the land of dreaming in te reo Māori, honouring how First Nations’ conceptualise their home. She also speaks about ‘manuhiri-tanga’ asking what it means to be a good guest and what it means to be indigenous on other peoples’ indigenous lands. 

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

We’d love to hear from you – we have a talanoa episode coming up! Send us your written or voice recorded messages via email or instagram for us to discuss on an episode. Please submit before the end of March 2025. 

Dr Sam Manuela (Cook Islands) is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand who is well known in the field for his research on areas regarding Pacific ethnic identities and wellbeing. 

In this episode, Sam speaks to the role of science within Pacific communities and how western science and indigenous knowledges can compliment, rather than compete, with one another to achieve the best outcomes for Pacific communities. 

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]

We’d love to hear from you! We have a talanoa episode coming up! Send us your written or voice recorded messages via email or instagram for us to discuss on an episode. Please submit before the end of March 2025. 

Reverend Billy Wetewea is an indigenous Kanak leader based in Kanaky New Caledonia 🇳🇨 on a mission to spread awareness about what is happening in his homelands. Kanaky has been home to indigenous Kanak for thousands of years, with some of the richest cultural and natural resources in the world. 

In this episode, our guest speaks to what’s been happening in New Caledonia and how the sociopolitical conditions came to a head in 2024 when the French army was deployed to take care of the “civil unrest.” Mainstream media and news outlets were banned from travelling to New Caledonia but, in this episode, we hear from a local Kanak that’s been on the ground. 

Send us a text

The Moanan is not just an educational platform but an online community — connecting diasporas all over the world.

We’d love to connect!

Find us on all podcast streaming and social media platforms @themoanan

Email [email protected]