A Collaborative Creative Work

These three works are first framed with a poem collated by Mere Taito. The cover art, Ka Pō Hoʻihoʻi - Black as the Spectrum in Unity (2020), builds upon a conversation ignited by Dr Sarah Jane Moore’s Lunar Mother, and her invitation to collaborate. The dialogue began via zoom connecting Dr. Moore with three other Pacific scholars based at the University of Waikato in Kirikiriroa-Hamilton, Aotearoa-New Zealand: Dr David Taufui Mikato Fa’avae from Tonga, Mere Taito from Rotuma, and Dr Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu from Hawai’i.Upon reflecting on the poems “Fạgi”, “Tạn Folu”, and “Ho’ag Ne Sȧs Ta”, Mere Taito expresses how her creative project speaks to Ka Pō Hoʻihoʻi (2020), as it is also way of "returning, a returning to her heritage language Fäeag Rotuạm ta which has become rusty and broken along the way because of the lack of 'proper keeping'.” Her creative contribution summarises her present work toward a creative doctorate. Dr Fa’avae communicates how he calls “potent spiritual energies that ignite the loto, laumālie, and ‘atamai (soul, spirit, and mind).” Thus, also articulating potentiality, which he explores within cultural sources, maau (poetry) and faiva (dance). All of the submissions express the vitality of language, culture, genealogy, poetry, creativity and identity.

Tupuna Wahine, Saina, Tupuna Vaine, Matua Tupuna Fifine, Mapiạg Hạni

From various parts of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, we have come together as Indigenous scholars to weave stories of our grandmothers in the archives. From our own sea, land and skyscapes to the diasporic realities of generations of movement, migration and contact with ourselves and outsiders, we trace some of the stories and lineage, emanating from our grandmothers, that have led us into the archives. In distinctive ways we acknowledge our grandmothers’ guidance, presence, and inspiration for the research that we do. But we also see that their presence in and beyond the archives can challenge the very notions of what an archive is and how it is imagined from Indigenous worlds. In this article, we navigate from the centre to the edges of our research, attending to the paths we follow and forge as Indigenous researchers inspired by our grandmothers

The hanuju of writing each other in Aotearoa during COVID-19 and the coexisting event(s) of the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement

Every poem has a creation talanoa: a story of how it was written. In a Rotuman context, ‘talanoa’ or story, can either be a ‘rogrog/o’ or ‘hanuju’. From conception to final drafting, the creation hanuju can reveal the often-volatile relationship between a poet’s internal self-talk and external historical and contemporary experiences. Memories (shaped by external experiences) will feed mulling, reliving, and reimagination (internal self-talk) and can consequently and impulsively set off the content, tone, form, and literary techniques of a poem into unanticipated directions. It is not uncommon for a poet to step away from a stanza and reflexively ask, ‘How did I get here?!’ Other external factors of poetic crafting are the social and political climate of the time of writing, the purpose and specifications of a commissioned task, and research. Research is necessary if a poem insists on wandering into ragged and unfamiliar territory. Of all these factors, current socio-political climate is perhaps the most influential in mobilising communities and individuals to engage in creative thinking and writing.        This article is a one-way (because as a reader, you are not in the position to interrupt me) hanuju of my creative process of writing the poem Writing each other during COVID-19 and the concurrent event(s) of the BLM movement. This hanuju critically discusses the themes of remember-ing obedience, mov-ing over in honour of disobedience, and conced-ing power that emerged as a vison for unity and kotahitanga. In essence, this hanuju is largely a story of disobedience: a celebration of my mapiga (grandmother) Lilly’s gift of Rotuman language storytelling and the centring of the Rotuman language in a poem written for a predominantly mixed audience in the Waikato region of Aotearoa

He wahine māia, he wahine toa: A Gathering of Reflections on the Work of Haunani-Kay Trask

In 1985, Haunani-Kay Trask visited Aotearoa contributing critical perspectives to a Pacific studies conference at the University of Auckland. Observing the disturbing absence of Indigenous women speakers at the conference, Dr. Trask finished her keynote early, giving her remaining time to two Māori women, Atareta Poananga and Titewhai Harawira. As a group of Indigenous Pacific women negotiating our own place in the academy, this conscious political act is one of many forms of Haunani-Kay Trask’s activism that has inspired us. From various parts of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, we come together to weave stories of our engagements in the intellectual and activist work of Haunani-Kay Trask. In distinctive ways, we acknowledge Dr. Trask’s legacy and reflect on the inspiration and insight that her work has provided for us as Native daughters of the Pacific and as emerging scholars. Drawing on our own unique sea, land, and skyscapes, our histories of colonialism and resistance, and our creative and intellectual journeys, we share the multiplicity of ways in which Haunani-Kay Trask’s work speaks to our hearts and minds. Reflecting on her work as a scholar, poet, and activist, we weave together our words of respect, love, and admiration, and we consider the ways in which her scholarship continues to have ongoing relevance to us all