Our culture has to be the core of our resistance in West Papua and Kanaky

By: Jahra Arieta

May we all rise to meet each other and embody our obligations.
as we all walk within the talanoa and visions of our treasured tubuna Epeli Hau’ofa, we must remember that the ocean does not merely connect us geographically. it binds us morally, weaves us intimately, and physicalises an eternal obligation + assignment we have to each other as Tagata Moana collectively and as groups of nations.

‘Tagata Moana’, as a time-space-vata of our belonging, cannot be + never has been static. it refuses a disembodied fantasy of passive oneness. it is a doing. bodied. a constant actioning. a relentless pouring. a collective reaching. a willingness to protect.
(praise be to the names, minds, and hands of our gafa and beyond that made it so, that have made space in our current realities for us to even have these words).

the Tok Talanoa gathering last weekend from Studio Kiin + community reminds me that if revolution is the mouth that calls/answers, then our language must be housed there too. as i learn and remember vosa vakaviti, i learn and remember myself. may i be of use. may i be of use. may i be of use. the honour of being of use.
may we all push our language and our memory to its edges so that it can return to its original form: to water, to the moana, to the vanua. pour the salt memory and soil language back into our body so that our flesh believes it is a Sea of Islands yet again.

we draw breath from our fearless tubuna Haunani-Kay Trask, “Our culture has to be the core of our resistance, the core of our anger, the core of our mana. That’s what culture is for. What drives independence in all of us today is resistance. To resist what they are doing to our islands and to us.”

we exhale,

“FREE WEST PAPUA. FREE KANAKY. FREE KURDISTAN. FREE PALESTINE. FREE CONGO. FREE SUDAN. FREE KENYA. FREE AOTEAROA. FREE SO-CALLED AUSTRALIA. FREE HAWAI’i. FREE TURTLE ISLAND. FREE ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, WATERS, LANDS, SKIES, AND CREATURES. TOITU TE TIRITI. DEMILITARISE OCEANIA. PROTECT ANIMAL LIFE. INTIFADA INTIFADA! THE GLOBAL COLONIAL PROJECT IS FALLING.” Ropate Kama

martyr honouring artwork on jacket originally posted by @kanaky.resistance ✊🏾
vinaka to @ropate_kama for continuing to share ‘Vata’ with me 🌀