The Moanan

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 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'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 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’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 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’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 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’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 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]

Is University still the pathway to prosperity for our communities?

How are Indigenous knowledges valued within Western Universities? 

Bula vinaka! 

In this episode we are joined by Associate Professor Sereana Naepi, a Fijian researcher and lecturer in Aotearoa, New Zealand. We chat about the Indigenous experience at University's, how Indigenous knowledge is (or isn't) valued in Western education - and why this is. Plus, 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]

Leali’ifano Prof. Albert Refiti is a Samoan academic whose work spans multiple disciplines. Originally trained in contemporary architecture, his recent work has been in Pacific Indigenous concepts and theories such as vā. 

In this episode we talanoa about his work relating to vā/wa, differences between the diasporic and communities in the islands as well as the future of Pacific thought.

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]

Prof. Jioji Ravulo, a Fijian researcher, shares insights on supporting Pacific communities in Australia. His work covers mental health, substance use, youth engagement, and decolonial approaches to education and society, emphasizing culturally informed solutions to modern challenges.

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]

What do our ancestral connections mean for us today? 

In this EP we chat with Dr Emalani Case a Kanaka Maoli academic, activist, teacher, and writer. She shares with us her interpretation of Kahiki the ancestral homeland of Kanaka Maoli and what it means to have love for home. We talk about what it means to be Indigenous today away from home and often on the land of other Indigenous Moanans. She also speaks to us about what our shared past means for our shared futures as people of Moananuākea. 

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 excited to share Szn 2 with you! 

This a little introduction of what to expect this season. 

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]