My all time favourite poem is called Ode by Arthur O'Shaughnessy and here is a small snippet of it for you:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
One rainy day (today), I got a brilliant idea to do something similar and then call it Ode to the Motherland but as you can see below, it isn't my best work:
We are the weavers of life,
And we are the champions 'til the end.
We are the descendants of Nafanua,
Full of honour and pride.
I come from a long line of strong Sāmoan people.
Their blood flows through us like ocean currents.
Therefore, the grass in 685 is better ....
Yeah so not quite the masterpiece, still not flowing with the poetry writing energy but it did give me something to think about in regards to honouring the Motherland.
I thought back to the uproar from some of the coloniser descendants of this country when there were some Sāmoan NRL players who pledged their allegiance to Sāmoa for this year's Rugby World Cup, over the country they currently live in and play for. Probably a better topic for above mentioned coloniser descendants would be for them to look at their own relationship with the original/traditional owners of this land and give the indigenous natives their land back but that's a conversation for another time.
Anyway, to see some of these people actually throwing the term 'ungrateful' out there, amongst many other racist and ugly words - this made me so angry. So here I am putting some therapy work into practice by healthily releasing my feelings so it doesn't rage inside of me and then I accidentally 'Black Adam' the building (if you haven't seen Sāmoa's favourite Uncle, The Rock's latest movie then you won't get my very humorous reference/joke).
First of all, just because something isn't understood does not mean it's a bad thing. The Sāmoan diaspora in Australia is massive and I would bet if you spoke to any, they would all be grateful to call this country home but also have a love for our place of origin. Culture and connection to the homeland is an amazing thing but only if you have it, those without culture will never understand what this means. To me, there's such a beautiful sense of belonging and honour that we as Sāmoans have with our homeland and ancestors. I guess it's easy for them to underestimate the value that our small island nation brings which we overcompensate with our big hearts (and our big mouths - home of our famous hyena laughs).
Anyways, for me it's something I think about a lot. I've been in Australia since I was a baby so of course I understand how blessed I am to live in this wonderful country but as I have come to learn about myself and my genealogy - it is in these findings that I understand the connection to our ancestors and everything they have done for me to live the life I live. To each individual, representing their motherland means different things but ultimately we are all connected.
If you have seen the movie Thor: Love and Thunder, there's this scene where they say "For Asgard" before they were about to do something brave (I've forgotten the exact details of the scene but you get the picture). It was nice because the physical place of Asgard had already been destroyed but they didn't care because Asgard isn't a place, it's a people. So if the Sāmoan diaspora would like to remind themselves why we honour our homeland and our ancestors, just yell out "For Sāmoa" as if you're about to fight for the safety of the Universe and I think you'll remember very quickly - it's for our people!
If that fails, then maybe with a heart full of gratitude - remember the struggles of our parents and their parents and so on. Remember that the line doesn't end with you and you will one day be someone's ancestor - to honour these people and their sacrifices is to honour oneself. Remember all the hope and dreams they once had, the ones you currently have and the ones our future generations will have.
So to wrap up my Sunday night ramblings I may not ever finish my poem above but it's been an amazing reminder for me that I have so many stories that I need to share. I want to tell stories of our people but rather than carry it on my own, I am reminded that I have my ancestors to help me ( I actually saw this in a dream but that's also another conversation for another time).
Until next time, thanks for reading xx