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At the Centre of Everything

  • Virginie H. Tafilagi-Takala
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Indigenous Pacific Islander Eco-Literatures
This chapter is in the book Indigenous Pacific Islander Eco-Literatures
© University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu

© University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Map of the Pacific Islands xii
  4. Editors’ Introduction xiii
  5. Creation Stories and Genealogies
  6. Introduction 3
  7. Maps to the Ancestors 5
  8. Ikurangi 10
  9. At the Centre of Everything 12
  10. Black Stone 14
  11. Grace Mera Molisa 16
  12. Our stories are within us 21
  13. Inside Us the Dead 23
  14. Beginning 30
  15. Offspring of Oceania 32
  16. Notous and Falcons 35
  17. Gata (with a mechanical jaw) 37
  18. Shore Song 40
  19. Tåno I Man Tao 42
  20. Matariki 44
  21. Ars Pasifika 46
  22. Masu 48
  23. Tooth of the Moon 51
  24. Déwé Gorodé 53
  25. Into Our Light I Will Go Forever 55
  26. Ocean and Waterscapes
  27. Introduction 57
  28. Ocean Birth 61
  29. Prelude to Lagimalie 63
  30. Rivers in the Sea 64
  31. star language 65
  32. Na Wai Eā, The Freed Waters 67
  33. Mahealani Perez-Wendt 78
  34. Clouds and Water 80
  35. Children of the Shoreline 86
  36. Atlas 96
  37. Ocean Pictures 99
  38. To Hånum-Måmi, i Nanå-ta 102
  39. anatomy of a storm 114
  40. Great World 116
  41. From “The Ocean in Us” 117
  42. Kantan Tåsi (Song of the Sea) 120
  43. Land and Islands
  44. Introduction 123
  45. To Island 127
  46. GAFA 128
  47. Migration Story 131
  48. fa’ñague / fuh-nyah-ghee/ 137
  49. Guam’s Place Names Continue to Be Challenged 139
  50. makua smiles back 149
  51. Absorb the maunga 151
  52. Wistful Thinking 152
  53. Wao / Vao 154
  54. Throughout the Islands 157
  55. And. now. 158
  56. LET THE MOUNTAIN SPEAK 159
  57. From The Missing King 160
  58. I-Land-Ness 162
  59. From “The Summer Island” 164
  60. Papa-tu-a-nuku (Earth Mother) 170
  61. Mother’s Chemo Cycles 171
  62. Flowers, Plants, and Trees
  63. Introduction 173
  64. And so it is 177
  65. Family Trees 179
  66. Friend 181
  67. In truth, I have gathered you all from the same garden 183
  68. LANGAKALI 184
  69. Native Species 188
  70. Blood in the Kava Bowl 191
  71. DER TRAUM 193
  72. Lele Nā ‘Uhane o Nā ‘Ohi‘a 200
  73. lei-making 201
  74. tala 204
  75. What the bush really wanted 205
  76. Trongkon Nunu 206
  77. Gathered by Plants: Some Decolonial Love Letters 210
  78. Star Pines 218
  79. To Hear the Mornings 219
  80. Make Rope 221
  81. Animals and More-than-Human Species
  82. Introduction 225
  83. Taonga 229
  84. Chasing the Sun’s Rays 232
  85. Kuita and the Flame 233
  86. Kāne Kōlea 236
  87. Fish & Crab 238
  88. Fish Tickling 239
  89. Fish Girl 240
  90. Excerpt from Anggadi Tupa: Harvesting the Storm 243
  91. “Pues adios, Paluma! Esta agupa’!” 250
  92. Red and Yellow 254
  93. Fanihi 256
  94. Olik 259
  95. DA LAST SQUID 260
  96. Hawaiians Eat Fish 264
  97. Wayne Kaumualii Westlake 265
  98. Kāhea Before the Approach of Makahiki 266
  99. My Jesus Is a Monk Seal 270
  100. Climate Change
  101. Introduction 273
  102. More than Just a Blue Passport 277
  103. Puka-Puka—Taui‘anga reva, climate change 281
  104. Chief Telematua’s Speech to the United Nations 283
  105. Jacinda Adern goes to the Pacific Forum in Tuvalu and my family colonises her house 284
  106. Nice Voice 286
  107. c entangled letters of the alphabet washing the ocean a mix 287
  108. Surely uncertain 288
  109. Homes of Micronesia 289
  110. Pacific Islanders March for Self-Determination 293
  111. The letter of the day 296
  112. The Word of the Day 298
  113. Moa Space Foa Ramble 299
  114. Water Remembers 301
  115. Ewi am lomnak 303
  116. Tāwhaki 304
  117. Unity 315
  118. Dear Matafele Peinam 317
  119. Environmental Justice
  120. Introduction 321
  121. The Broken Gourd 325
  122. Meramu Nafkah Meratapi Lahan 327
  123. From Potiki 330
  124. A Letter to My Brother 336
  125. Looking for Signs 338
  126. HANUABADA 341
  127. bilum, for rosa 346
  128. Air Conditioned Minds: The Problem of Climate Control in Guåhan 347
  129. On Being Indigenous in a Global Pandemic 349
  130. Go Home, Stay Home 354
  131. Kū‘oko‘a: Independence 357
  132. A meditation on pain, solidarity and 2020 362
  133. Muri Lagoon—Te Tai Roto o Muri, Rarotonga 364
  134. O le Pese A So‘ogafai 367
  135. To Pōhakuloa 369
  136. Bombs in Paradise 371
  137. No ordinary sun 377
  138. Poem for March 1st—Commemoration of the U.S. Bombing of Bikini Island 378
  139. Monster 381
  140. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner 383
  141. We Are Called 386
  142. Afterword 387
  143. Contributors 389
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824893514-007

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Map of the Pacific Islands xii
  4. Editors’ Introduction xiii
  5. Creation Stories and Genealogies
  6. Introduction 3
  7. Maps to the Ancestors 5
  8. Ikurangi 10
  9. At the Centre of Everything 12
  10. Black Stone 14
  11. Grace Mera Molisa 16
  12. Our stories are within us 21
  13. Inside Us the Dead 23
  14. Beginning 30
  15. Offspring of Oceania 32
  16. Notous and Falcons 35
  17. Gata (with a mechanical jaw) 37
  18. Shore Song 40
  19. Tåno I Man Tao 42
  20. Matariki 44
  21. Ars Pasifika 46
  22. Masu 48
  23. Tooth of the Moon 51
  24. Déwé Gorodé 53
  25. Into Our Light I Will Go Forever 55
  26. Ocean and Waterscapes
  27. Introduction 57
  28. Ocean Birth 61
  29. Prelude to Lagimalie 63
  30. Rivers in the Sea 64
  31. star language 65
  32. Na Wai Eā, The Freed Waters 67
  33. Mahealani Perez-Wendt 78
  34. Clouds and Water 80
  35. Children of the Shoreline 86
  36. Atlas 96
  37. Ocean Pictures 99
  38. To Hånum-Måmi, i Nanå-ta 102
  39. anatomy of a storm 114
  40. Great World 116
  41. From “The Ocean in Us” 117
  42. Kantan Tåsi (Song of the Sea) 120
  43. Land and Islands
  44. Introduction 123
  45. To Island 127
  46. GAFA 128
  47. Migration Story 131
  48. fa’ñague / fuh-nyah-ghee/ 137
  49. Guam’s Place Names Continue to Be Challenged 139
  50. makua smiles back 149
  51. Absorb the maunga 151
  52. Wistful Thinking 152
  53. Wao / Vao 154
  54. Throughout the Islands 157
  55. And. now. 158
  56. LET THE MOUNTAIN SPEAK 159
  57. From The Missing King 160
  58. I-Land-Ness 162
  59. From “The Summer Island” 164
  60. Papa-tu-a-nuku (Earth Mother) 170
  61. Mother’s Chemo Cycles 171
  62. Flowers, Plants, and Trees
  63. Introduction 173
  64. And so it is 177
  65. Family Trees 179
  66. Friend 181
  67. In truth, I have gathered you all from the same garden 183
  68. LANGAKALI 184
  69. Native Species 188
  70. Blood in the Kava Bowl 191
  71. DER TRAUM 193
  72. Lele Nā ‘Uhane o Nā ‘Ohi‘a 200
  73. lei-making 201
  74. tala 204
  75. What the bush really wanted 205
  76. Trongkon Nunu 206
  77. Gathered by Plants: Some Decolonial Love Letters 210
  78. Star Pines 218
  79. To Hear the Mornings 219
  80. Make Rope 221
  81. Animals and More-than-Human Species
  82. Introduction 225
  83. Taonga 229
  84. Chasing the Sun’s Rays 232
  85. Kuita and the Flame 233
  86. Kāne Kōlea 236
  87. Fish & Crab 238
  88. Fish Tickling 239
  89. Fish Girl 240
  90. Excerpt from Anggadi Tupa: Harvesting the Storm 243
  91. “Pues adios, Paluma! Esta agupa’!” 250
  92. Red and Yellow 254
  93. Fanihi 256
  94. Olik 259
  95. DA LAST SQUID 260
  96. Hawaiians Eat Fish 264
  97. Wayne Kaumualii Westlake 265
  98. Kāhea Before the Approach of Makahiki 266
  99. My Jesus Is a Monk Seal 270
  100. Climate Change
  101. Introduction 273
  102. More than Just a Blue Passport 277
  103. Puka-Puka—Taui‘anga reva, climate change 281
  104. Chief Telematua’s Speech to the United Nations 283
  105. Jacinda Adern goes to the Pacific Forum in Tuvalu and my family colonises her house 284
  106. Nice Voice 286
  107. c entangled letters of the alphabet washing the ocean a mix 287
  108. Surely uncertain 288
  109. Homes of Micronesia 289
  110. Pacific Islanders March for Self-Determination 293
  111. The letter of the day 296
  112. The Word of the Day 298
  113. Moa Space Foa Ramble 299
  114. Water Remembers 301
  115. Ewi am lomnak 303
  116. Tāwhaki 304
  117. Unity 315
  118. Dear Matafele Peinam 317
  119. Environmental Justice
  120. Introduction 321
  121. The Broken Gourd 325
  122. Meramu Nafkah Meratapi Lahan 327
  123. From Potiki 330
  124. A Letter to My Brother 336
  125. Looking for Signs 338
  126. HANUABADA 341
  127. bilum, for rosa 346
  128. Air Conditioned Minds: The Problem of Climate Control in Guåhan 347
  129. On Being Indigenous in a Global Pandemic 349
  130. Go Home, Stay Home 354
  131. Kū‘oko‘a: Independence 357
  132. A meditation on pain, solidarity and 2020 362
  133. Muri Lagoon—Te Tai Roto o Muri, Rarotonga 364
  134. O le Pese A So‘ogafai 367
  135. To Pōhakuloa 369
  136. Bombs in Paradise 371
  137. No ordinary sun 377
  138. Poem for March 1st—Commemoration of the U.S. Bombing of Bikini Island 378
  139. Monster 381
  140. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner 383
  141. We Are Called 386
  142. Afterword 387
  143. Contributors 389
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