Nesian Women Spotlight

Throughout the month of March, those of us in the U.S. have celebrated Women’s History Month. While the mainstream media highlights many women leaders and activists, they rarely include Nesian women.

Unlike in the Western world, women have significant cultural importance in most Pacific societies. Serving leadership roles within their families and the greater community, Pacific women are considered sacred and essential.

Most Pacific Islander cultures, especially in Micronesia, are traditionally matrilineal and matriarchal; women serve as the head of the household, and property rights are passed down generationally amongst them––as opposed to the men of the family.

Women play an equal role in upholding Pacific families, participating in fishing, weaving, healing, disaster management, and passing down cultural knowledge.

Despite our tradition of honoring Pasifika women, they are rarely mentioned in the mainstream media, nor are they represented in many local Pacific governments and political institutions. This section features five important Pasifika women who have advanced our local struggles and empowered our communities.

Haunani-Kay Trask (1949-2021)

Haunani-Kay Trask was a Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) activist, professor, poet, and a leader in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. She founded and directed the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai’i Mānoa.

Dame Whina Cooper (1895-1994)

Dame Whina Cooper was a well respected Māori kuia (elder) and activist who worked to secure Māori access to ancestral lands and improve the health of Māori women. In 1975, she led the 1000 kilometer hīkoi, or land march, from Te Hapua to Wellington, which protested Māori land loss from settler colonialism. The hīkoi pushed the New Zealand government to acknowledge and compensate Māori peoples for displacement and land dispossession. Throughout the hīkoi, she and other activists chanted, “Not one more acre of Māori land.”

Milikini Failautusi

Milikini Failautusi is a Tuvalaun activist, whose work tackles climate change, gender inequality, and women’s health justice. A member of Pacific Climate Warriors and Pacific Young Women’s Leadership Alliance, Failautusi has encouraged young Pasifika women to be not just victims of climate change, but active agents to create change.

Monaeka Flores

Monaeka Flores is a CHamoru activist and the leader of Prutehi Litekyan, an activist group based in Guåhan that seeks to return CHamoru land that was stolen by the U.S. military. Military presence has stolen ancestral land from hundreds of families, destroyed numerous cultural sites and Indigenous graves––some of which are over 4,000 years old––, and polluted the surrounding area, exposing CHamorus to hazardous waste and other toxic chemicals. Litekyan encompasses 57 acres of land that was stolen to develop a live firing range, which will have devastating consequences for CHamorus and the entire local ecosystem.

Elizabeth Kité

Elizabeth Kité is a climate activist and the founder and CEO of Tonga’s first youth-led organization, Take The Lead. Her organization seeks to educate and empower aspiring Tongan leaders––especially Tongan women, who seek to enter male dominated industries like business and technology.

Pasifika Women Leaders of the Polynesian Panthers

The featured image for this articles captures Pasifika women leaders of the Polynesian Panthers, a revolutionary New Zealand-based organization that fought against racial discrimination in Aotearoa. They set up homework centers, food banks, and other community measures to protect Pacific Islander immigrants and Indigenous Māori locals who were subject to racist housing policies and worker abuses. Learn more at: POLYNESIAN PANTHERS

Nesian Jams: “With This Kiss” by Kamalei Kawa'a

The Voice 2024 contestant Kamelei Kawa'a serenades with his wedding vows turned into love ballad, "With This Kiss."

With This Kiss was dedicated to Kamalei's wife, Cierra Kawaʻa, as a special tribute.

Written as his vows, Kamalei performed the song for her on their wedding day.

The heartfelt promises he made to Cierra have now become the same commitments he makes to their daughter, Hulaleʻa.

On their 2nd wedding anniversary, Kamalei chose to release the song as a reminder of the promises they exchanged and to inspire others to do the same.

As you listen to this beautiful mele, we hope it evokes cherished memories of your loved ones and serves as a reminder of the promises you have made to them.

May you hold onto those commitments dearly. “With this kiss, kuʻu aloha, you’ll be mine no nā kau a kau, hoʻoheno ka puʻuwai, you'll be mine with this kiss.”

Credit: Coconet Tv

Nesian Reads

US created fishing sanctuaries hurt Pacific Islander fishers

• A new sanctuary proposed by Biden will harm tuna fishing in Amerikan Sāmoa and Hawai’i, disproportionately hurting local Indigenous fishers
• American fishing and wildlife sanctuaries in the Pacific and other Indigenous lands are rooted in colonialism
  • They assume Indigenous people do not know how to sustainably manage their own land and ecosystems
  • They prevent Indigenous cultural practices like fishing and farming by limiting access to traditional food sites

UH study shows Pacific Islanders intentionally shaped landscapes through controlled fires

• Area burned by fires created lands for open savanna vegetation and farming on Micronesian islands like Yap, Palau, Guam, and Saipan

Solomon Islands rebuild traditional cultural spaces to increase Indigenous education

• ‘Kastom Keepers’ organization has built fae fae, or sharing spaces, which were purposefully designed by ancestors to exchange knowledge between older and younger generations

Nesian Talk

Practicing our ancestral languages is crucial to understanding our cultural heritage. This week we will learn the different words that Pacific languages have for women.

Lea fakatonga

woman : ta’ahine

Gilbertese

woman : aiine

Te reo Māori

woman : wāhine

elderly woman; matriarch : kuikui

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi

woman; female; wife : wahine

Fino’ CHamoru

woman : pålao'an

women : famålao'an

Nesian Proverb

e au le inaʻilau a tamaʻitaʻi

the women’s row of thatch reached the top of the house first

This traditional Sāmoan proverb is a metaphor that reminds us of the strength and knowledge of Pasifika women, who can accomplish anything they set their minds to.

Source: Inaugural Sāmoana Lecture Series to feature three Samoan women scholars