Te ha'amata.

It feels like just yesterday. I was knee-deep in writing my thesis for the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa about the varied and dynamic migrations of Māʻohi in French Polynesia when I was called te reo ura by my mentor. That thesis project resonated with me because it allowed me to research my genealogical ties to French Polynesia through the lens of contemporary migration and movement in a way that I felt was not represented in any academic literature that I had yet to come across.

Carving out a new conversation about a topic that might be received as obscure, or one that challenged long held and static beliefs about a place such as Tahiti, inspired the vision of reo ura, said of someone who speaks with strong, fiery conviction. Bold new conclusions that shines a light on the everyday movements and identities of Pacific Islanders that is Hau'ofian in thought and Tuhiwai Smith in method, is reo ura. My research relied heavily on historical evidence that speaks to the nuanced and meaningful layers (upon layers) that built many lifetimes of stories. I was present in those stories. As was my mother, my family, my grandparents, my great-grandparents and many, many more who exemplified this phenomena, but that held no place in current frameworks of understanding Tahiti and her islands, and its people. To be te reo ura became a personal mantra, speaking truths about the lived realities of the Māʻohi that I had the privilege to interview for that project, is what becoming reo ura meant to me then and is what it still means to me today.

This blog represents a continuation of that journey that began 5 years ago. Te Reo Ura will be a home to the on-going research dedicated to my dissertation project on the historical lived realities of Māʻohi in diaspora at the History department at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa. It is a place for the archival/historical work that is continually in motion but that is fiercely red ('ura) on the page. And at the same time it also so much more. It is years of thinking deeply about a piece of myself that simultaneously continues to carve out space for others. The exploration further promises to be impactful and so so thrilling.

Maeva. Welcome.