Thread by @siobhonm

it’s #AAPIHeritageMonth & I’m sick of the Pacific Islander erasure in all these #AAPI lists so here’s a personal thread of PIs whose work makes me proud to call Oceania our shared home

[one for every day in May but this is by no means comprehensive so add your faves as well]

1. Hermana Ramarui, Belau🇵🇼
poet, educator, author of The Palauan Perspectives (1984)

her poem ‘Freedom’, published before Belau gained formal independence in 1994. she reminds me that our sovereignty is worth fighting for, even when the task seems futile

2. Epeli Hau’ofa, Fiji+Tonga🇫🇯🇹🇴
author, anthropologist, educator, icon

thousands of words have been written about him & mine won’t suffice but I’ll never forget the first time I read his essay ‘Our Sea of Islands’.

I stopped feeling small.

savageminds.org/wp-content/ima…

3. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner @kathykijiner, Marshall Islands🇲🇭
poet, performer, educator, climate activist
she was the 1st Pacific Island woman I ever read. her poetry made me want to write.

one of my favorite of hers, this visual poem is stunning

4. Mau Piailug, Satawal🇫🇲
Carolinian navigator from Micronesia, canoe builder, catalyst for the cultural renaissance in wayfinding

when so many Poly/Mela islands outside of Micronesia lost this knowledge, he shared & he didn’t have to.
Hōkūle’a owes so much to his people

5. the late Mirair of Koror, Gabriela Ngirmang, Belau 🇵🇼

matriarch, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, anti-nuclear activist

led an independence movement during the assassination of Palau’s pres. as a corrupt US govt. was colluding to stop them.

her ppl won✊🏾
pacificans.com/the-woman-who-…

6. Angel Leon Guerrero Santos, Guåhan🇬🇺
political activist, senator, founding member of Nasion Chamoru

we wouldn’t have a current decolonization movement without Ånget. he & his peers faced a lot of violence for championing Chamoru rights to land & self-determination in the 90s

7. Rosalia Fejeran Mateo aka Mama Chai, Guåhan🇬🇺

Suruhåna recognized for 62 years of traditional Chamoru healing. She says yo’åmte work is about compassion & this knowledge should never be sold bc healing is for everyone — rich or poor.

8. Witi Ihimaera, Aotearoa (NZ) 🇳🇿
author, the first published Māori novelist

his book The Whale Rider, a modern retelling of a Māori legend, was adapted into one of my favorite films of all time, which was also the first movie I ever watched with an all-Pasifika cast

9. the late Dr. Teresia Teaiwa, Kiribati🇰🇮
scholar, poet, writer, community leader

she paved the way for so many Pacific academics & activists who still draw from her intellect, hope, humor, & commitment to justice.

this interview is everything
e-tangata.co.nz/korero/you-can…

10. Albert Wendt, Samoa🇼🇸
poet, novelist, scholar, educator

a pioneer in Pacific Lit. I always come back to his essay, Towards a New Oceania. he rejects the idea of a homogenous, stagnant Pacific. he sees our complex, ever-changing islands as a gift.

ethnc3990.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/wendt-…

11. Lucia Fernandez Torres, Guåhan🇬🇺

earned the title of Master Weaver & spent 60+ years perfecting her craft. Japanese WWII soldiers, US presidents, the Pope — all held her baskets. she wove to survive, to delight, & to sustain Chamoru knowledge because she loved her people.

12. Merata Mita, Aotearoa(NZ)🇳🇿
Māori filmmaker (writer/director/producer) & activist

pioneer of indigenous film, decolonized the screen, directed Patu! (documentary covering the violent protests against apartheid when SAfrica's rugby team toured NZ c.1981)

Mita was the first Māori woman to solely write and direct a dramatic feature film, Mauri (1988).

def watch MERATA on Netflix. it’s her story as a struggling mother/filmmaker/activist choosing to center indigenous lives in an industry that marginalizes us.

13. [playing catch-up]

it took a while to undo the colonial self-hate from the flat iron adolescent years, but my sisters & I finally love our textured manes.

so today’s Pasifika feature begins with this thread of glorious Melanesian hair
🇫🇯🇵🇬🇳🇨🇸🇧🇻🇺

14. Eriko Fufurefa, Papua New Guinea🇵🇬
founder & director of Kafe Women’s Association for 13yrs

She’s been a crucial support for sexual abuse survivors of gender-based violence in PNG, even when her own govt. dismisses these as petty domestic issues.
vimeo.com/243790037?ref=…

15. Francis Toribiong, Palau🇵🇼
diver, conservationist

inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame for pioneering the diving industry in Palau.
“We live because the sea lives,” he says in Oscar-nom documentary The Living Sea (1995)

16. Libby Hakaraia & Tainui Stephens, Aotearoa (NZ)🇳🇿
producers, directors

they founded the Māoriland Film Festival, an Ōtaki-based showcase of indigenous voices & storytelling in film. every March, thousands in NZ gather to celebrate indigenous filmmakers across the globe.

17. Sia Figiel, Samoa🇼🇸
novelist, poet, pioneer

Where We Once Belonged was the first novel published in the US written by a Samoan woman. It’s a story about womanhood, pasifika survival, how colonial wounds fracture our villages & families, how we carry history’s scars

18. Haunani-Kay Trask, Hawai’i
author, professor, producer, activist

named one of the most influential Hawaiians in modern history, Trask has been a key figure in Hawai’i’s sovereignty movement.
a radical, uncompromising mother of a revolution

19. Terisa Siagatonu, Samoa🇼🇸
poet, educator, community organizer

showed my students her poem “Raise Up” & I’ll never forget the discussions that followed.
her words unearthed their fear, anger, & hope as island kids wary of the future. @terisasiagatonu

(the final 10 of this very lengthy #AAPIHM list are Chamorus whose current projects make me want to create something that matters, that heals, that challenges, that grows.

Guam is better bc of them.)

20. Anna Marie Arceo aka Saina Guinifi of Chief Huråo Academy🇬🇺
educator, current president of Chamoru Affairs

30+ years perpetuating the Chamoru language & culture, she founded Guam’s most successful immersion school. a generation will be that much closer to fluency bc of her.

21. Cara Flores of Duk Duk Goose Inc. & Nihi! 🇬🇺
director, producer, educator, activist

Nihi! (one of her many projects) focuses on Chamoru, culture-based educational videos & TV programs that inspires our island kids to love their Micronesian selves & our land+ocean.

✨shameless plug but you should definitely 100% subscribe to Nihi! Kids on youtube & watch their recent series called Kids Talk where nenis have candid conversations with leaders, elders, & cultural perpetuators in our community!

newest episode here :)✨

22. Julian Aguon of Blue Ocean Law🇬🇺
attorney, author, activist,

founded @blueoceanlaw for the sole purpose of aiding our indigenous Pacific peoples in our centuries-long fight for human rights, self-determination, & environmental justice in a modern colonial hellscape

23. Dr. Lisa Natividad, chairperson of the Guåhan Coalition for Peace and Justice🇬🇺
professor, social worker, activist

she’s built a crucial connection between Japan’s anti-nuclear movement & Guam’s fight against militarization — strength in solidarity

24. Johnny Sablan🇬🇺
iconic Chamoru musician

idk how to measure cultural impact. I just know there’s a generation of Chamorus who fall in love with their island every time they hear a Johnny Sablan song. his music makes you want to speak & embody the language — that’s a gift

25. & 26.
Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero & Michael Bevacqua of Independent Guåhan🇬🇺
writers, professors, activists

leaders of the current grassroots decolonization movement. they’ve been in this fight for years & I’m more hopeful for Guam’s sovereign future bc of their work.

27. (so help me gawd I’m gonna finish this thread)

Melanie Mendiola, project director of Farm to Table Guam🇬🇺

when a majority of the produce we consume on this island is imported, she’s out here supporting local farmers & ensuring our families eat food that’s grown here.

28. Melvin Won Pat-Borja🇬🇺
poet, educator, activist

he’s the kinda teacher whose SHS creative writing class records an album that addresses cultural identity & the pangs of adolescence. I cried listening to it.

…thernhighcreativewriting.bandcamp.com/releases

29. & 30. Steven Castro McManus and Andresina Sengebau McManus🇬🇺🇵🇼
(ok fine yes these are my literal parents BUT honestly??)

they’ve put in 40 yrs of community work — teaching, counseling, pastoring, & coaching in the Marianas for more than half their lives. my heroes✊🏾