Wai? Indigenous Words and Ideas

This episode builds on the previous discussion with Dr. Aporosa and explores some of the Tongan kava stories compiled in the book Tongan Tales and Myths (Gifford, 1924). Tongan intellectual 'Inoke Hu'akau's position is that kava stories are part of a cosmological identity based in stories of creation, kava, and the Gods. Hu'akau has proposed that kava stories are constructed for social and political purposes, which "serve as the mode of operation for society" (see 'Kava: A mitre touch of a master political architecture', 2018, Lo'au University Research Journal). Kava stories, meanings, and interpretations are considered alongside some current issues such as the regional kava codex, which relates to quality and safety in kava production and consumption. This episode seeks to demonstrate how kava stories relate to various ancestral and current issues and concludes with a contemporary kava song composition that seeks to remember ancestral connections and knowledge. This episode is complimentary to the documentary film Kava Rootz which is available to watch online.

Luka is Samoan, Han Chinese, and Ashkenazi Jewish, autistic, dyspraxic, and fa‘atama. They join this episode to share some of their research that critically looks at climate action and justice. While Luka is inspired by the pressing necessity of Pacific climate justice, and supports the declared aims of the movement, they have struggled with the engagements with gender and disability within it. Who has the power to represent "the Pacific" and how? In which images? We discuss how language is important but never perfect, tackling terms like Pasifiqueeredisabled and the acronym c.h.e.p. that Luka coined in their research in order to identify and confront both multiply marginalised and multiply privileged peoples. Among other topics, Luka explains the social construction of disability as well as its limitations via a disability justice lens, while also exploring Indigenous ancestral perspectives of difference that highlight neurodivergent people’s strengths. Other topics include Tāvāism and ‘Afa Music and if you are interested in more information about the song at the end you can follow this link of Luka.

Terms: Tauiwi (Indigenous peoples or non-European peoples in Aotearoa), perisex (non intersexed person), intersexed (individuals born with any of a variety of sex characteristics that do not fit typical binary notions of male and female), gender sexuality divergent (divergent gender and sexuality to heteronormativity), C.H.E.P. (cisgender hetero-[sexual, romantic, platonic, aesthetic] enabled perisexed), Fa‘afafine (Sāmoan gendersexuality community, often feminine of centre), Fa‘atama (Sāmoan gendersexuality community, often masculine of centre), Fa‘a'afa (Sāmoan gendersexuality community, link), neuro divergent (describes people whose brains, sensory systems, and forms of communication have been Othered, especially through colonial biomedical structures), neuro normative (describes people whose brains, sensory systems, and forms of communication have been normalised and rewarded, especially through colonial biomedical structures), Takatāpui (describes "Māori who identify with diverse genders, sexualitieis, and sex characteristics", link), ‘afa (coconut sennit rope).

Glossary of additional terms that you might find useful related to this episode: https://translanguageprimer.com/full-index/

This kōrero/talanoa with Teri (Ngāti Hineoneone) and Shane (Tagata Sāmoa) shares some of their stories about growing up on and near the Whanganui river, their experience working in public service, and some insights on the recent sci-fi film release of Dune. We unpack some words and concepts relating to identity and worldview, issues of accessibility and ethics in libraries and government sectors, treaty rights, and socio-political, ecological, and cultural insights on the film Dune (with spoilers).

There are a variety of words and terms in Te Reo Māori, Gagana Sāmoa, and Lea faka-Tonga throughout, here is a list of some of them with some basic introductory interpretations:

Māori: Papa kāinga (home base, communal Māori connection to land), awa (river), marae (ancestral courtyard and complex), hui (meeting/gathering), tangi (funeral, to cry), te ao mārama (concept for a world of knowledge and understanding), te ao Māori (Māori worldview), Māoritanga (Māoriness, culture), whakapapa (layers, genealogical consciousness, ancestry), mana whenua (local territorial authority), mātāwaka (Māori kinship generally), turangawaewae (where one stands, has authority to stand), iwi (tribe, extended kinship group), hapū (sub-tribe, intimate kinship group, clan), haukāinga (true home place, deep connection to place), te ao Pākehā (European/western worldview), kaitiaki (guardian, protector), Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), mātauranga (knowledge), mauri (life force), tapu (protections, setting apart), taonga (treasure, precious), ipu whenua (vessel for placenta), pito (navel, umbilical cord), tikanga (protocol, correctness), kaupapa (purpose), kaumātua (elders), kuia (grandmother elders), tohunga (master expert, grandmasters), pūtea (funds) … Hohoko (Tongan for making a connection, genealogy), Melenaite Taumoefolau (Tongan linguistic scholar referred to), afi  (fire, home fire, care for), masi saiga (Sāmoan for coconut biscuits), kopai (Sāmoan for dumplings), Papalagi/Papalangi/Palagi/Pālangi (Sāmoan and Tongan for European, distant foreigner).

Prior to opening the main discussion the host contextualises the current delta variant lockdown that is resulting in an online semester delivery that Dr. Andrea Low is helping out with. There are a couple of examples given of early 20th century commercial representations of the Pacific and issues of skilled performances and musical innovation entangled within race, power, and colonialism.

Discussion with Dr. Low begins at 14:16

Curator and ethnomusicologist Andrea Low joins this episode to discuss the invention of the kīkā kila (Hawaiian steel guitar) by La‘ie, Oahu local Joseph Kekuku, as well as her grandfather the ukulele maestro Ernest Ka‘ai, and more. We explore Hawaiian musical inventions, contributions, and global transmission, such as traveling troupes. Early 20th century commercial musical production drew from many sources across various racial and cultural lines, whose marginalised interactions led to crosscurrents of exchange and inspiration. From Mexican/Paniolo/Latin vaqueros (cowboys) arrival in the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, bringing Spanish guitars, to the musicians that emerged after the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani’s monarchy, who travelled around the world performing their unique musical styles. The kīkā kila and slack key guitar sounds from Hawai‘i found their way across the region and the world, influencing various Pacific/Moana/Wansolwara musics, delta blues, country western, and more. We end on the ideas of cosmopolitanism during this period and some local adaptations, such as Bill Savesi and the legacy of the orange ballroom in Auckland.

This episode reviews and reflects on recent pop culture alongside Ata Siulua. We discuss the Loki series and some possible ways to interpret concepts of time in the show. From the time variance authority as a metaphor of colonisation to nexus events that re-calibrate time, with a mix of insights, laughs, and a bit of ranting throughout.

Educators ‘Inoke Hafoka and Tino Diaz join this episode to think together about the regions of Latin America and Oceania, their ideas, peoples, and relations. We discuss ancient, colonial, religious, and contemporary entanglements, as well as solidarity, and connections, in order to explore how to speak about and build on them. From food connections to black birding (Pacific slavery) that has led to descendants from each region ending up in the other in the late 19th to early 20th century. Additionally, we discuss concepts that we use to learn from and with each other in our local contexts, which inspires and assists learning more about ourselves. We suggest there are unique parallels and differences that can fill each other’s gaps through learning in relation and between our perspectives and positions.

Mentions: Margarita Satini, Terisa Siagatonu

Terms: Blackbirding (kidnapping and coercion of Pacific peoples into slavery), Testimonio (bearing witness/testifiying; Latinx and Xicana educators and activists have used testimonio as a teaching and activist tool to express collectively experienced realities), Borderlands (term coined by Gloria Anzaldúa in the context of the US/Mexico border to identify fragmented and connected identities that straddle material and metaphysical borders, which has been extended as a metaphor for the friction of permeable space between cultures, nations, peoples, identities, etc.), Nepantla (Nahuatl/Nawat word that means ‘middle’ or ‘in the middle’, which is used by borderlands and Chicanx/Latin studies and scholars to identify a state of ‘in between-ness’), Tā-Vā (see episode 15), Kumala/Kumara (Tongan/Māori words for sweet potato).

Public health and Pacific studies scholar Edmond Fehoko joins this episode to discuss his research on problem gambling, addictive behaviours, and culture among Tongan men. He confronts sensitive topics head on such as gender issues, exploitation of cultural values, family impact, and religion.  We discuss traditional games of chance and new contexts of contemporary gambling practices, class status, large church donations, and future research interests that extend into digital harms online. Due to the topics discussed and potential listeners this is listed as E, since there is no T, for Tapu.

Terms: Mālō e Lelei (common Tongan greeting), Mālō e Laumalie (chiefly Tongan greeting), Misinale (Tongan transliteration of missionary, refers to locally based annual fundraising for Tongan Methodist church denominations), Kolisi Tutuku (refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon] Liahona high school alumni association and their fundraising for reunions, etc.), Fatongia (Tongan for duty/responsibility), Sika (Tongan game of spear throwing), Lafonga (game played in Tonga, Sāmoa, and Fiji [Lavo], a Tongan version involved throwing coconut shell disks as close to the end of a mat on the ground, knocking over another’s disk [tupe], while keeping yours on the mat and close to the edge), Mate Ma‘a Tonga (lit. die for Tonga, refers to giving your all for Tonga/Tongan culture, also the rugby league team currently known as Kau To‘a), Pokies (term for poker machine, poker), TAB (racing and sports gambling in NZ), faka‘apa‘apa (Tongan cultural value of respect), Mamahi‘i me‘a (Tongan cultural value of loyalty and devotion), Tauhi vaha‘a/vā (Tongan cultural value of upholding social-spatial relations), Loto to (Tongan cultural value of modesty and humility).

This episode introduces songwoman and orator Seini Taumoepeau who is also known by her Hip Hop alias SistaNative. She shares some of her background, history, and philosophy as an orator, songwoman, lyricist, poet, rapper, and journalist. Seini also shares some of her experience learning from and with the local Indigenous Australian knowledge system of songlines. The meaning of song and sound is explored in relation to a hohoko consciousness and to its role in shaping the world one lives in. Seini shares stories of navigating and embracing different Indigenous contexts and networks of knowledge, while asking the questions: what is next and what is my contribution? She broadens and ruptures ideas of identity as a Tongan woman creative with a fluid adaptability that is based in fakafonua, which she utilises to fulfill her responsibility as a knowledge keeper and maker. Voyaging through shifting contexts of time and space SistaNative thrives in the state of transformation, responding to multiple relationships that are held in the present.

Topics: Indigenous spirituality, music, performance, Tonga, Oceania.

Terms: Bundjalung country (Indigenous peoples and place in what is currently also known as Byron Bay, Australia; rainbow region), Sorry Day (Australian national day of healing that has occurred annually since 1998 to commemorate the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples), Moanan (of the Moana, Oceanian). Tongan terms: hohoko (genealogical, genealogy, making connection), ma‘ulu‘ulu (Tongan sitting dance), fakafonua (of the land, people, heritage, custom), fakasiasi (of the church, Christian, religious), siasi (church, Christian), fonua (land, people, culture, placenta…), kāinga (village clan, extended family, see episode 10), fahu (chiefly sibling, eldest sister), mehekitanga (one’s father’s fahu, eldest paternal auntie).

Bands mentioned: Coloured Stone, Stiff Gins.

Songs in order of appearance:

-The Fat - The Last Kinection featuring SistaNative (from the Album NUTCHES).

-1,2,3, Kids song in Pitjantjatjara.

Performed by: SistaNative, Robert Champion, Kirsty Heffernan, Tapaya Edwards. Produced by Morganics.

-Old Tree (Fu‘u Heilala ‘o Tapungatata). Languages: English & Tongan. Written by: Seini ‘SistaNative’ Taumoepeau. Tauta‘ehoko Patron: Lavinia ‘Alofaki Finau Tupetaiki. Performed by: SistaNative & Stiff Gins (Nardi Simpson & Kaleena Briggs). Recorded at: ABC Studios - Ultimo, Sydney Australia.

-Prophet Blackness Demo – SistaNative (Bounty75) with 'Vee-Jay' Vadim Juste-Constant.

Airleke Ingram – Production.

-The 5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art' (APT5) opening.

-Me‘etu‘upaki (Tongan voyaging prayer song/paddle dance).

Performed by: Seini Taumoepeau.

Tufunga Tātatau Terje Koloamatangi from Small Axe Studios is featured in this episode. He shares some of his journey and background with tātatau Tonga (customary Tongan tattoo), from receiving and learning from Su‘a Suluape Paulo II to practicing and developing the art further. Tātatau was banned in the early 19th century in Tonga by the Vava‘u codes that would later inform the modern national constitution. We discuss some of the misconceptions that have resulted, and Koloamatangi shares his research-based approach to mark making, working through terms and concepts to (re)discover further layers of meaning. Placement, aesthetics, ethics, and tools are explored through Kolomatangi’s philosophy that approaches tātatau as a way of making marks beyond isolated patterns or moments in time by living the practice. You can follow him on IG at: @terje_k @smallaxenz.

Terms: Tātatau/Tatau (Tongan/Sāmoan for tatoo), Fetu’u (star in Tongan), Tu‘i (paramount chief in Tongan), Ngatu (tapa, paper mulberry tree barkcloth), Ngatu ‘uli (highly valued black tapa barkcloth), Kautau (pertaining to war, e.g., war clubs), ‘Au (tatau hand tools), Peka/Pekapeka/Alapeka (Tongan for bat, bat pattern, thick bands that wrap around the waist), Pe‘a (Sāmoan for bat, bat pattern, sometimes used to refer to the malofie), Mālōfie (masculine Sāmoan chiefly markings on the waist and thighs), Va‘a (Sāmoan for sea vessel, Vaka in Tongan), Kalia (Tongan version of the double hulled sea vessel), Tāvaka (term for masculine Tongan chiefly markings on the waist and thighs coined by Tufunga Tātatau Aisea Toeutu‘u), Tufunga/Tufuga/Tohunga (Master of skill/craftsperson in Tongan/Sāmoan/Māori), Makauka (a Tongan way of using lines in tattooing), Tāvā (time-space Tongan philosophy, see episode 15), Tāmoko (customary Māori tattooing that follows protocol), Kirituhi (skin art in Māori).

In part 2 I build on the question, where does our food come from? What can be recovered or re-made? I explore the transmission of knowledge through food production and preparation, as well as the function of vulnerability when eating. Examples from Mesoamerica, Abya Yala, Turtle Island and the Moana/Wansolwara reveal colonial legacies in the contemporary challenges for sustainability, as well as embedded knowledge in ancestral food relationships.