The Moanan

In this episode, we talk about the history and evolution of Māori art over time — what it reveals about Indigenous thought, identity and ways of understanding the world, and why Māori art matters in Aotearoa and beyond today.

To unpack this, we're joined by Professor Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) who is a leading Māori art and architectural historian and Professor of Architecture at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. Her research explores Māori and Pacific art, architecture, Indigenous design and cultural heritage. She is co-author of the landmark Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art, a major history of Māori art spanning centuries. 

Ngā mihi nui Prof Brown for the great kōrero!

Send us Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @themoanan
Email: [email protected]

In this weeks episode, we're joined by Rachelle Houtman & Reïnda Hully— two third-generation Moluccans sharing their experiences connecting with their heritage. 

Reïnda is completing his PhD in ethnomusicology, while Rachelle is an anthropologist. Both are part of a growing generation of young Pacific peoples around the world who are reconnecting with their heritage, strengthening their connections to home, and finding new ways to preserve and carry their culture forward.

In this episode, we talk about their experiences as young Moluccans in the Netherlands, what it means to reconnect with their heritage across generations, and the work they’re doing to keep Moluccan culture and knowledge alive for the future.

Send us Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @themoanan
Email: [email protected]

For a people living thousands of kilometres from their ancestral homeland, what does it mean to stay connected? And how are those connections sustained across generations?

In this episode, we explore the history of the Moluccan community in the Netherlands and how a thriving diaspora of more than 70,000 people continues to nurture deep ties to the Moluccan Islands. We also discuss how many Moluccan communities are reconnecting with the wider Pacific, strengthening relationships and revitalising shared cultural identities.

Joining us is educator, historian, and curator Wim Manuhutu, who offers invaluable insights into the history of the Moluccan diaspora, the community's resilience, and what it means to be Moluccan today.

Send us Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @themoanan
Email: [email protected]

There are 3000 Papuans in the Netherlands. Some who are now a part of the third-fourth generation migrants. 

In this episode, cultural historian and researcher Nancy Jouwe explores the history of the West Papuan community in the Netherlands, tracing the colonial and political circumstances that shaped their migration and diaspora. We discuss how West Papuans have maintained their cultural identity across generations, the importance of preserving language, history, and tradition, and the enduring connections they continue to foster with the wider Pacific. This conversation offers a powerful insight into the resilience of Oceania's peoples beyond the islands.

Send us Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @themoanan
Email: [email protected]

In this welcome back episode, Laki and Gen catch up on a big year of travel, learning, and growth, both personally and for The Moanan. From the Solomon Islands, Palau, Fiji, Samoa, and Australia, to WIPCE here in Tāmaki Makaurau, they reflect on what being on the ground across the region actually taught them — including hard lessons about knowledge protocols, indigenous hierarchy, and the gap between knowing the right things and doing them the right way.

They also dig into three big ideas that have come to define why The Moanan exists: historical amnesia (the forgetting of what colonisation actually did), geographic dysmorphia (New Zealand and Australia forgetting they are Oceania), and epistemological arrogance (the assumption that Western knowledge is always the superior framework).

Looking ahead, there's a lot happening including a call to our community to share  stories as The Moanan approaches its third birthday.

If you've been with us from the start — welcome home. If you're new — you picked a great time to show up.

Send us Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @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 Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @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 Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @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 Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @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 Fan Mail

The Moanan is a Pacific-lef social enterprise based in Auckland, Aotearoa. We're building a global community of thinkers, creatives, and change-makers rooted in Oceania. Whether you're from the islands or just island-curious, join our community:

Website: themoanan.com
Instagram: @themoanan
Email: [email protected]