Moana by Jared Bush (review) Mārata Ketekiri Tamaira, Vilsoni Hereniko, Tagi Qolouvaki, J Uluwehi Hopkins, Candice Elanna Steiner

The Contemporary Pacific, Volume 30, Number 1, 2018, pp. 216-234 (Review)

Published by University of Hawai'i Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2018.0016

For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/683746

[ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ] 216 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018)

Māui and Moana. Still image from the feature animated film Moana, © Disney 2016. Reproduced with permission.

Moana. Computer-animated ­feature opened up a valuable opportunity film, 107 minutes, color, 2016. In for people in the Pacific to wrestle English, translated into ­numerous with a complex set of concerns that languages. Written by Jared Bush; are not often discussed in such public directed by Ron Clements and and ­candid ways and from so many John Musker. Original story. Pro- perspectives. This forum attempts duced by Walt Disney Animation to maintain the momentum of those ­Studios, distributed by Walt Disney discussions in order to enable us to ­Studios Motion Pictures. 3d Blu-ray, continue thinking through the film us$34.95. in ways that are reflexive, balanced, and open-minded. Although the four Few films have stimulated as much reviews included here represent but passion and difference of opinion a small sample of the much larger as Disney’s Moana, which opened discourse surrounding Moana, I hope to global audiences in 2016. In the they offer readers not grand answers Pacific context in particular, vibrant so much as rich and varied insights and vigorous debates about the merits that can help generate deeper ques- of the film and Islander participation tions and continuing conversations. in its making proliferated in aca- mārata ketekiri tamaira demic circles, in homes and class- tcp Book and Media Reviews Editor rooms, and on social media outlets like Facebook. Moana made waves *** across the Pacific—big ones. Although the churning waters have gradually When I go to see a movie, as soon subsided over the several months as the lights go out, I pray silently: since the film’s release, there neverthe- “Please, please, tell me a great story!” less remains much to discuss. Moana I anticipate the unfolding of a story so book and media reviews 217 compelling, so powerful, so resonant mises, or concessions, depending on with my hopes and dreams that, for your point of view, are often made the duration of the movie, the rest in order to suit the dictates of the of the world does not exist. When marketplace at the expense of cultural my wishes come true, I am a happy authenticity. man. But what is a great story? For Set in the Pacific about two thou- me, it is a tale that takes me on an sand years ago, Moana is Disney’s ­emotional journey that feels like life, latest effort to tell a story rooted in real or imagined. The more honest an indigenous culture—in this case, and authentic the representation of Polynesian. Disney took into account life, the more the story of the movie previous academic criticisms of its will resonate with me. When this stereotypical portrayals of indigenous ­happens, my faith in the transforma- peoples in earlier movies (such as tive power of story is restored. I leave Pocahontas and Lilo & Stitch) and the cinema feeling I have been empow- sent directors Ron Clements and ered in some way and that, because John Musker to Fiji, Sāmoa, French of the story I have just experienced, Polynesia (Tahiti), and New Zealand I have learned something important to undertake research. Disney also about myself or about our common created an “Oceanic Story Trust” ­humanity. consisting of scholarly and cultural A compelling and resonant story consultants knowledgeable about the on screen depends on many different Pacific. In addition, Disney consulted factors, most of which are not obvious with other knowledgeable individu- to the average filmgoer. Most of us als on various aspects of Polynesian judge a film by what we see on screen, cultures, including consultations with with little or no attention paid to the the master navigator Nainoa Thomp- various forces at play during prepro- son on Polynesian voyaging traditions duction, production, and postproduc- and practices. The use of Polynesian tion. This review of Disney’s Moana, actors to voice most of the speaking however, takes into account some of or singing roles in Moana, as well as the factors at play during the process meticulous attention to details about of making this film that influenced the the landscape, vegetation, and ocean, final product on screen. For example, made Moana the first major film by a filmmaking is a business that is often Hollywood studio that largely looks at the mercy of the dictates of the and feels Polynesian. Due to these marketplace: sales agents, funders or efforts, Moana is the most accurate investors, and exhibitors and distribu- representation of Polynesia by a major tors jostle each other for attention. Hollywood studio to date, from the The happy marriage of art (in the first moving images about Hawai‘i form of a fictional story that speaks to in 1898 up to this time of writing in our common humanity) and commerce 2017. (meaning it is a financial ­success) is But in spite of Disney’s best inten- therefore an elusive goal that is not tions, capitalism’s impulses to pro- always attainable, in independent as duce blockbuster movies (read: “huge well as mainstream cinema. Compro- profits” at the box office) resulted 218 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018) in several objectionable creative Moana’s way, each one more challeng- ­decisions that aptly illustrate what ing than the one before. On finding can happen when cultural authentic- Māui (a task her deceased grand- ity collides with the dictates of the mother had encouraged her to under- marketplace. Well-known stereotypes, take), Moana pleads with him to assist proven tropes, and decisions based on her in her mission. Māui is reluctant box-office appeal rather than cultural at first but succumbs to her persistence accuracy influenced the narrative, ren- and agrees to teach her the naviga- dering the final story sold to the public tional art of wayfinding. Working culturally authentic for the most part, collaboratively, they kill the fictional but glaringly inaccurate, if not offen- fiery monster Te Kā. As Te Kā’s outer sive, in certain areas. shell disintegrates, the goddess Te The final version of Moana that Fiti is freed and the land, shaped in ended up in movie theaters around the the form of a beautiful long-haired world is worth seeing, several times Polynesian woman, wakes up from her if possible. A dazzling feast for the prostrate position to welcome Moana eyes created by the latest technologi- and Māui. More importantly, flowers cal advances in animation and visual bloom again. While Māui retreats to effects, Moana succeeds as an unprec- obscurity, Moana returns to her home edented cinematic achievement for island of Motunui to discover that the Disney. It is remarkable to view and blight that had infected the nuts of experience what money and talent the coconut trees has been cured and can produce. The film’s focus on the the abundance of the land restored. Pacific’s most impressive historical Moana succeeds her father to become achievement—voyaging on double- the island’s chief, and the Island- hulled canoes and populating the ers begin voyaging with ever greater Pacific Islands long before European frequency till double-hulled canoes steamships arrived—helps to debunk traverse the Pacific Ocean like suvs on any mistaken beliefs that Pacific a busy freeway in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Islanders only accidentally discovered The word “moana” means “ocean” new lands rather than set out purpose- in several Polynesian languages. This fully to discover them. is a fitting title for a movie in which Targeted primarily for younger the ocean is personified, especially audiences, Moana is the story of a in the way it is animated to become determined teenage girl (supposedly a friendly and supportive ally for sixteen, but she often behaves more Moana. The land on which Te Kā like a preteen) called Moana (Auli‘i reigned is also personified in the form Cravalho) who disobeys her father, of a woman, the goddess Te Fiti. The Chief Tui of Motunui ­(Temuera Polynesian worldview of the land ­Morrison), and journeys far beyond and the ocean as life forces in their the reef in order to restore the heart own right is on full display in Moana. of the fictional Te Fiti that had been Among the most thrilling aspects of stolen by Māui (Dwayne Johnson), the film are the use of tattoos (even an ancestor much revered by modern- though they are too modern to be day Polynesians. Obstacles stand in accurate for the period) to suggest that book and media reviews 219

Māui is an embodiment of Polyne- Many found this empowering, a vali- sian culture; the portrayal of belief dation of Polynesia as a region worthy in sea creatures such as the stingray of having its own “princess.” Judging as ­family totems; the careful atten- from the vast majority of accounts tion paid to the costumes (except for on the Internet as well as personal Māui’s); the physical features of the experiences of parents and relatives inhabitants of Motunui and their uses of Pacific children, Moana is a big of the land and natural resources; hit with pubescent and teenage girls, and, most important, the voyaging ­especially the music. Opetaia Foa‘i’s feats of Polynesians on their double- Te Vaka and Igelese Ete’s Pasifika hulled canoes. Clearly, Disney was Voices provided Polynesian songs and having fun with its imagination in other musical elements that compli- creating a minor ­villain in the form mented the compositional talents of of the crab Tamatoa. Entertaining as Foa‘i, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Mark this might be for mainstream movie- Mancina. The big musical numbers going audiences raised on popular propel the action forward even as culture, this particular embellishment, they stir the audience’s emotions. as well as the coconut warriors called When I arrived in Fiji for Christmas Kakamora, detracts from Disney’s and discovered that my eight-year-old expressed desire to tell a story that granddaughter had memorized the is culturally authentic for Polynesia. lyrics of “How Far I’ll Go” and loves Additionally, it would have been more nothing more than singing this song culturally appropriate for Māui and throughout the day, I was reminded Moana to encounter Moana’s grand- of the power of movies to touch mother (instead of Tamatoa) in the people’s hearts and minds. Another underworld beneath the sea (called family teenager, when asked what she Pulotu or Purotu), which many Poly- liked the most about Disney’s movie, nesian societies considered the abode replied, “When Moana sails beyond of the dead. the reef!” As soon as Disney posted trailers The depiction of Māui, on the other of their Moana on the Internet, some hand, aroused scorn on the part of Pacific Islanders started criticizing the many commentators. Some labeled film’s premise. These critics did not Māui’s size as “obese,” “buffoonish,” address the complicated, negotiated or “ugly,” as well as “inaccurate” or process of filmmaking that shaped “inauthentic.” When Disney came out the final theatrical movie but rather with a Māui costume for Halloween expressed concerns over stereotyping, during the year of its release (2016), misrepresentation, cultural theft and the complaints from Pacific Island- appropriation, cultural authentic- ers (and others too) that sizzled on ity, and exploitation of indigenous the Internet forced Disney to pull it cultures. Once the film was actually from stores. If there had been young released, many others (mainly non- Polynesian boys planning to dress up academics) lauded Disney’s efforts to as their favorite hero, the Māui option tell a story for global audiences using was no longer available. Instead, they a Polynesian girl as the protagonist. had to choose a white hero, such as 220 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018)

Superman or Batman. But rather than human. This is not what one would developing into a public discussion of find in the fictional films featuring whether it is better to have some kind preteens or teenagers made by Poly- of representation or none at all, the nesians, such as in Taika Waititi’s controversy over the Māui costume Two Cars, One Night and Boy; Tusi quickly and predictably succumbed Tamasese’s The Orator; and my own to the weight of knee-jerk identity feature film The Land Has Eyes. A politics. puritanical version of ancient Poly- The portrayal of Moana as a young nesians as asexual beings is inaccu- girl who aspires to be a voyager as rate, regardless of whether a film is well as the next chief of her people intended for children. is also problematic. As many view- Disney claims to have done ers have expressed in social and other ­thorough research into Polynesian media such as broadcast television history and culture, and yet it por- and newspapers, Moana encourages trays Māui as asexual. Moana is, of young girls and women to pursue their course, a movie made for children. dreams and venture “beyond the reef,” This is all the more reason that Māui even when their fathers warn them to as a character should not have been stay closer to home. On her deathbed, in a Disney movie, as there is no Moana’s grandmother pleads with other character in our oral literature Moana to “go!” This command to a whose male organs are as celebrated teenage girl challenges patriarchy’s and revered by Polynesian males (or enduring presence in Polynesia—in as feared by early missionaries who the past, but also in the present. Did brought Christianity to Polynesia). It ­Disney not adequately research ancient is not just Māui’s brute strength and Polynesia two thousand years ago? his shape-shifting tendencies; it is his Had Disney not heard or seen the film abilities to procreate and regenerate Whale Rider, adapted from a novel by humankind that makes him so vital as Māori writer Witi ­Ihimaera, in which an ancestor. And yet, in spite of advice the grandfather of a young Māori from the Oceanic Story Trust to steer girl called Paikea refuses to support clear of appropriating Māui as a char- his granddaughter’s desires to be the acter, let alone in a film made for kids, next chief? Like ­Paikea, Moana has Disney chose otherwise. Why? Māui is no male sibling before her (Paikea’s the only character in Disney’s Moana male twin dies at birth), but unlike who is deeply rooted in Pacific oral Paikea, Moana encounters no preju- literature, which is all the more reason dice against her being the next chief Disney should have either steered clear because of her gender. In ­Disney’s of appropriating the name or gone to version of Polynesia, gender has no great lengths to portray this ancestor importance when selecting a chief. for Pacific Islanders with the utmost Also, as depicted in this film, care and respect. There is nothing ancient Polynesians were not sexual wrong with drawing from this charac- beings. By taking away any hint of ter’s brute strength and shape-shifting sexuality throughout the film, Polyne- abilities, but why use exactly the same sians are portrayed as less than fully name? How about calling this char- book and media reviews 221 acter Pulu, for example, or another Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa. The name of no historical significance? myth of the dusky maiden waiting Perhaps Disney insisted on using Māui for the white man to take away her because the name Māui suggests (in a virginity suggests that the Polynesian misleading way) that their narrative males around her are asexual. In fact, is accurate and rooted in an authentic in almost all these Hollywood movies, historical past. In addition, although the males are portrayed as part of the it was Disney’s prerogative to cherry- flora and fauna, seen but not heard, pick what to listen to and what to innocent and naive, and, being devoid ignore from members of its Oceanic of a phallus, are therefore incapable Story Trust, the hostile responses of continuing their race. They are Disney received from many Pacific eunuchs, in other words, much like the Islanders affirmed the value of not coconut trees without nuts that grace just having cultural consultants but of Waikīkī Beach, the infected coconuts actually listening to their advice. Sadly, on the trees of Disney’s Motunui, or so much of the backlash from academ- the Polynesian wooden carvings whose ics and scholars of Pacific history and penises were chopped off by the early culture could easily have been avoided, missionaries. had Disney confined their narrative to Disney perpetuates this trope in the realm of fictional characters. It is Moana. A beautiful maiden, yet again, possible to portray a revered ancestor is a chief’s daughter. And yes, she is accurately and with dignity on screen a virgin. Who or what is she waiting and still not hurt the box office. But for? Is she waiting for the white male this would require great sensitivity who is yet to arrive? Why isn’t there and close collaboration with cultural even a glance in her direction by the experts beyond the superficial (size, boys or men as she walks past? In hair, tattoos). Had Disney’s portrayal ancient Polynesia, she could have been of Māui been handled with the kind married at the age of sixteen. Instead, of sensitivity they would have given Disney’s Moana suggests not only that a Jesus or Mohammad character, the Polynesian males have no sexual they might have done better at the desire or interest in the most beauti- box office. ful and interesting girl/woman on the The Hollywood movie trope of island, but also that she is waiting (in the asexual Polynesian male and the Paradise?) for the white man (or trav- “available” Polynesian female has eler from outside) to arrive. Moana, as been around since the beginning of a medium through which viewers pro­ the twentieth century. In these fic- ject their secret desires, is extremely tional narratives, a Caucasian male successfully at this subliminal level: the ventures into “Paradise” (Hawai‘i, girls and women identify and applaud Tahiti, Sāmoa, for example) and falls her defiance of patriarchy, while white in love with the chief’s daughter, who (or nonwhite) males outside Polyne- is always a virgin. The irony here sia searching for a holiday destina- is that Polynesia, at the same time, tion are seduced by the beauty of the is often portrayed as a hotbed of “dusky maiden,” as well as the sand, ­unbridled sexuality, as in Margaret the sea, and the sky. When Hawaiian 222 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018)

Airlines, to extend this ­collusion of tions) that are justifiable in a work of interests, paints Moana and Māui on fantasy. the shiny, sleek sides of their air- Disney’s story in Moana is an planes and sells Moana merchandise inspiring one that has roots in ancient (blankets, children’s ­storybooks, etc) Polynesia but is not stuck in the past. as they fly in thousands of travelers, It is a testament to the power of the male and female, to the islands of imagination to take historical and Polynesia—where they can also go to cultural elements from Oceania, ele- stores and buy snacks or similar goods ments that have always been available with Māui and Moana painted on the to Pacific Islanders, to construct a nar- packaging—capitalism and tourism rative that takes storytelling “out of become collaborators in feeding the the lagoon and beyond the reef.” Like insatiable appetite to “consume” the Moana’s father, many scholars and native: orally, visually, and sexually. academics from the Pacific are critical The dusky maiden Moana remains of Disney’s audacity to do the equiva- unattached, and therefore available, lent of what Moana does in their care- for male and female tourists or visitors fully constructed fictional story. The venturing into Paradise. youthful Moana knows relatively little There is some truth to the argument about her historical and cultural past that Disney’s Moana is a fantasy, and and yet she dares to venture into the even though Disney sent a creative great unknown in order to “save her team to carry out research on several people.” In Disney’s foray into Polyne- islands, the film’s narrative should not sian history and culture, the contribu- be expected to provide a realistic por- tions of members of its Oceanic Story trayal of Polynesia’s past (or ­present). Trust as well as other cultural consul- Contrary to the thinking of those tants enabled it to make some remark- for whom fantasy is nothing more ably accurate and authentic cinematic than pure entertainment, ­inaccurate representations. representations, even in fantasy, can When I first saw Moana, one of be “dangerous” in the ­following the things I found most remarkable is ways, as history tells us: Depictions Disney’s magnificent personification of ­indigenous peoples as simple and of the land in the form of the goddess without agency or ambition can Te Fiti. To see the land arise from its ­support arguments for their annihi- slumber then morph into the shape of lation or the appropriation of their a larger-than-life long-haired Poly- lands. Portrayals of people as uncivi- nesian woman, a colorful wreath of lized or cannibalistic can help justify flowers and leaves around her head, actions to steer them to the light, the her slender arms and upper body all light being Christianity. On the other the way down to her waist covered hand, there are other inaccuracies, in green foliage, is to see Polynesian such as Māui tweeting on his paddle, beliefs about the land being female that provide harmless comic relief and validated in cinematic language in nothing more. These are deliberate a way I had never seen on screen tropes to entertain a contemporary before. A second thrilling moment audience (rather than misrepresenta- (which occurs at the micro-level and book and media reviews 223 may therefore be easy to miss) occurs non-instrument ways in what we call soon after Moana has accomplished wayfinding today. what she sets out to do, which is to Were the members of Disney’s destroy the fiery Te Kā and restore the “Oceanic Story Trust” merely pawns heart of Te Fiti. Māui stands before in Disney’s profit-making agenda? I Moana, then shape-shifts into a hawk believe there was a sincere desire by as he has done before. But unlike all Disney to tell a story about Polynesia the previous times, Māui the hawk that is informed by Polynesian world- flies away from Moana in a ­manner views, values, and aesthetics. This informed by ancient Polynesian desire coincides with the desires of protocols of respect. As the hawk lifts Pacific Islanders for cultural authentic- off the ground and slowly withdraws ity. But what does “cultural authentic- backward, it remains facing Moana, ity” actually mean? In representations its wings flapping like two hands that are based on historical facts, cul- clapping. Finally the hawk turns its tural authenticity becomes a lightning back to Moana and flies away into the rod for all kinds of colliding perspec- distance, seemingly awed and humbled tives that are difficult to mediate by Moana’s unprecedented success. successfully. For example, should one Similarly, I am awed by how be culturally authentic to the past or much Disney managed to get right to the present? Because cultures evolve in Moana, in ways big and small. and change, cultural authenticity has Like Māui, I withdraw backward as I to realign with time and place. Wear- applaud Disney and its creative team ing loincloths or penis sheaths while for imagining and imaging a fictional shopping at Neiman Marcus are there- world about ancient Polynesia that fore inappropriate, even though they is culturally authentic for the most may still be authentic in the highlands part. Disney’s Moana transcends of Papua New Guinea. The comfort the geographical confines of a single level of the audience also has to be island or country located within taken into account. Most of us have Oceania. In fact, the name Māui been too missionized to be comfort- can be found in the mythology not able having dinner with anyone who only of Polynesia but of Micronesia is hardly wearing anything. Similarly, and Melanesia as well. In this sense, Māui’s sexual conquests and prowess Disney appropriately invokes Epeli would be inauthentic in an animated Hau‘ofa’s “sea of islands” and the film for children. The solution then is ocean that ­connects the islands to each to create a fictional character, using other. But ­inevitably, by focusing on the power of the imagination. Polynesia as a cultural region, Moana Albert Einstein, the German-born unintentionally masks the contribu- theoretical physicist who devel- tions of ­Micronesia and Melanesia oped the theory of relativity, wrote: to double-hulled canoe voyaging “Imagination is more important than several thousand years ago, as well knowledge.” He is right, because as to the revival of canoe voyaging imagination builds on knowledge but in recent years using the wind, stars, transcends the knowable. Imagina- seas and swells, birds, fish, and other tion unshackles the mind to create 224 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018) stories that encircle and embrace the film, will see Moana and be inspired, universe within its generous reach. even empowered, to “venture beyond Seen from this perspective, Disney’s the reef,” when the time and the Moana reminds me of the transfor- opportunity is right for them. mative power of story: stories that My hope is that one day a Polyne- build on accurate knowledge of sian girl will grow up to be a visionary ­history, culture, and human nature filmmaker with access to resources can ­create fictional worlds that reflect that would make it possible for her to or resemble reality and exist beyond tell a story that is more accurate, more critical reproof. When such fictional authentic, even more entertaining, worlds are dreamed into existence, than Disney’s Moana. She might look for the duration of the story’s unfold- back to the first time she saw Disney’s ing, I am able to suspend my disbelief. Moana and acknowledge the experi- This is what story has done for me: it ence as a defining moment that fired fired my imagination as a young boy her imagination and motivated her to listening to my father telling me my become a filmmaker. Maybe part of island’s so-called myths and legends. her motivation would be to ­represent By identifying with the heroes of these Polynesia and Polynesians on screen stories, including stories of Māui’s with more integrity and cultural incredible feats and adventures, I authenticity. Until that happens, let us found sustenance and hope in a future join the children in their song. Yes, let beyond poverty. the children sing! “See the line where Most children who live in urban the sky meets the sea, it calls me / centers or the city no longer have And no one knows, how far it goes / access to the stories of their ancestors If the wind in my sail on the sea stays and depend on our modern mythmak- behind me / One day I’ll know, if I go, ers such as Disney to provide them there’s just no telling how far I’ll go!” with children’s stories. For a change, vilsoni hereniko Disney has chosen to tell a fictional University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa story rooted in ancient Polynesia and has gone to great lengths to be *** accurate and authentic. However, by appropriating the name Māui, an Let me begin at home, or more accu- ancestor of the Polynesians, Disney rately, with home: Fiji/Viti (fisi, fiti, blurred the line between fiction and whiti in various Polynesian tongues). nonfiction. Nonetheless, Moana is a Some years ago, while living in San story of great imagination and beauty. Francisco, this Fijian-Tongan queer I saw Moana seven times, once in 3d, woman first heard whisper (over the and each time not only did I enjoy the Fijian feminist coconut wireless) of storytelling, but I saw details I had Robert Nicole’s dissertation work, missed before. Polynesia as a cultural which later became his book Dis- region has been “animated” in the turbing History: Resistance in Early most powerful medium in the world Colonial Fiji (2010). In one chapter, for storytelling. I am confident that Nicole (a Fijian-Swedish historian children, the intended audience of this and literary scholar) traces in the book and media reviews 225 colonial archive the everyday resis- who they are. This, Grandma Tala tances of Fijian women to colonial (the village crazy lady and story- and indigenous patriarchal control of teller) repeats, is because Māui has their bodies, movement, sexuality, and stolen the heart of Te Fiti (the island/ labor, including their refusal to marry goddess from whom all life comes), and their choice to divorce, to leave thereby giving life to the lava goddess, homes, husbands, and villages, as Te Kā, whose fury has made voyag- well as their widespread (and driven- ing dangerous. A savior is awaited, underground) practices of indigenous Grandma Tala narrates, who will find methods to control fertility and child- the heart of Te Fiti and restore life. So bearing, including abortion. While begin Moana’s adventures to find and Nicole takes pains to ensure that we persuade Māui to undo his wrong, do not read these everyday resistances rescue his hook from Tamatoa, escape as organized or even anachronistically the Kakamora (named for Solomon as “feminist,” I imagine my response Islands legend-beings whom Disney alongside that of other Fijian women “interprets” as coconut-clad pirate reading these pages about our women villains), “defeat” Te Kā, and deliver ancestors: neimami uto/yalo (our Te Fiti her heart. hearts/spirits) pushing hard at the While the feminist storyline limits of our rib cages. (not written nor directed by native Which takes me to another time: women—certainly none of the women when flying home as an undergradu- or men on the Oceanic Story Trust is ate one summer, I sat beside a sweet, credited with this narrative power) is elderly, palagi (white) couple from the Disney-formulaic, it is still powerful. United States, who expressed ­surprise Moana defies custom, tabu (taboo), at my choice to pursue women’s the normative, and follows her ­studies. How, they asked, does a Fijian “crazy” bubu, mimicking the unruly woman become a feminist? I answer: water to cross the forbidden line (so to my mother, my aunties, my bubu queer speak) and sail beyond the reef. (grandmother) and her sisters, my While she might seem to tow the indi- great-grandmother—I recognize/know vidualist line, Moana (unlike Disney’s mana through them. Ariel [The Little Mermaid], who aban- Moana, Disney Empire’s latest dons the ocean/her people) chooses animation film, is a coming-of-age-via- not just to follow her ­passion but also voyaging story (a literary wayfinding), to serve her people and the ocean, the story of a Polynesian girl named which she loves. It is this loloma/ for the ocean, whose courage and love, aloha for the ocean, for Grandma together with the help of the ocean, Tala, and for her people that inscribes the demigod Māui, the spirit of her mana (wahine) within this otherwise Grandma Tala, and so many voyager formulaic Disney tale. It is her father’s ancestors, saves her people, her island rigidity that forces Moana to journey home, Motunui—life itself—from cer- alone instead of with him or with tain extinction. Once upon a time past peers; nonetheless, she is accompa- and Polynesian, people have forgotten nied at every step by her ancestors. the art of seafaring, have forgotten Further, it is no small thing that over 226 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018) the duration of this quest she becomes are nonsensical). Alternately, Grandma a master navigator, trained by none Tala tells Moana, “But once you know other than Māui. what you like, well, there you are.” One of many reasons feminism is It turns out our voyaging ancestors disdained by indigenous and nonindig- (closeted in caves by fear of what lies enous alike is because it can function beyond the reef) are as queer as we as queer bait. As one drop in a queer are; “Do you really think our ances- ocean of Islanders (who watched the tors stayed within the reef?” Grandma film), I am sure I am not the only one Tala asks. Indeed, we know the way. to “side (eye)” the potentially queer When baby Moana meets the ocean subtext in this Disney narrative. The (foreshadowing the film’s end), there tension Moana feels between the is no doubt that it has chosen her. ­village/her father’s/patriarchal tabu, Perhaps in response to her kindness to her desires to be “the perfect daugh- its creatures (she saves an “innocent” ter,” to roll with the role given her, to baby turtle from “predatory” birds), be happy “right where [she is],” and or in recognition of her genealogy (she the drive to follow her own path form is chiefly and comes from voyagers), the first third of the film, such that or because she is its namesake (often she is moved to sing in despair, “I’ll be connoting kinship), the ocean gifts her satisfied if I play along / But the voice with queen conch shells—symbolic inside sings a different song / What is here of female voice and leadership, wrong with me? . . . What’s beyond as well as female sexuality, fertility, that line? / Will I cross that line?” genealogy—parting so that Moana (“How Far I’ll Go,” by Lin-Manuel can collect them from a trail of spiral Miranda). Moana’s yearning, despite formations in the seafloor that mimic her father’s rule of law and the “nor- the koru shape of Te Fiti’s heart. The mativity” of life within the reef, is to ocean rises and begins to spiral too, break free of these binds. Her father’s looking down on her like Te Kā/ response (as with her first meeting the Te Fiti in the dramatic ending scene, ocean) is to take her back to the vil- seeming to come in close to hongi/ lage and teach her that her greatness/ honi (press noses and foreheads in destiny is synonymous with learning greeting) and anointing her maternally. “where you’re meant to be,” coinci- The affective power of this scene is dent with a scene of village men using visceral, especially with the overlaid ‘ō‘ō (digging sticks) to turn the ‘āina/ vocals of Vai Mahina of Te Vaka. On vanua (land), and Miranda’s unfor- the soundtrack, she sings “An Inno- tunate “consider the coconut” lyrics cent Warrior,” a rewrite of Opetaia (another most phallic of Pacific signs). Foa‘i’s original track, “Loimata e The village/the land here, as opposed Maligi,” which is a memorial song for to the ocean, is heteronormative and nineteen girls aged fourteen to seven- heterosexually bound (a binary and teen and their caretaker who died in valuation imposed by Disney where a dormitory fire on Vaitupu Island in indigenous terms such as ‘āina/vanua Tuvalu in 2000. Despite the change markedly understand these as insepa- in lyrics for Disney, the mourning in rable and where hetero/queer binaries the original song, for girls who were book and media reviews 227 their nation’s future (much as Moana argument about the importance of is visioned as Motunui and Oceania’s women’s leadership in stewarding future), remains. Although Disney Oceania (or, perhaps more appro- pulls out all its stops with large-eyed, priately, aloha ‘āina). This is not at baby-doll Moana, the ocean her own all a stretch, considering the roles of marine aquarium, what is also com- (extra)ordinary women throughout municated (and I would argue is most ­Oceania, such as those in the Nuclear felt by its Pacific audience—in truth, Free and Independent Pacific move- we have grown up learning and feeling ment, or Gabriela Ngirmang and Otil deep love for vanua/‘āina in response A Beluad, women of Palau in defense to songs about home) in the weaving of a nuclear-free constitution and of the palimpsest of song, Mahina’s nation; leading women like Darlene voice, and the water’s maternal Keju and Kathy Jetn¯il-Kijiner in the embrace and play with Moana, is Marshall Islands and Micronesia, or, Oceania’s love for its daughters and in Fiji/Melanesia, Teresia Teaiwa, our own loloma/aloha for our island/ Amelia Rokotuivuna, my sister’s aunty ocean homes. Suliana Siwatibau, or Vanuatu’s Grace We must mourn too the reason so Mera Molisa; or the many female many young women died needlessly (and many queer) voyagers on our in that fire in Tuvalu: an insistence on oceans today, to point to just a hand- segregating the girls from the boys at ful of powerful (ordinary) women of Motufoua (the one public secondary ­Oceania. Critically, at the film’s end, school serving all Tuvalu’s islands) and when Moana adds to the stone pillar preventing adolescent (hetero)sexual of her chiefly ancestors, she places encounters and teen pregnancy by there the ocean’s gift of a queen conch putting bars on windows and locking shell. Her chiefdom is unmistakably students indoors. We can trace these female and more ephemeral than attempts to control and police native stone, though echoing the power of women’s bodies and sexuality to the Moana Nui. Fictive Moana has many London Missionary Society, which mana-full ancestors; I hope her fans first established the school in Tuvalu find them through their love of Moana in 1905, and to its contemporary (the character, the film, Moana Nui) progeny in the Church of Tuvalu. In and in themselves. the film there are echoes of this fear Some have asked where Māui’s of (and attempts to control) women’s divine female counterpart is in this sexuality in Chief Tui’s efforts to narrative. There is clear mirroring/ protect Moana and Motunui from the twinning here: Moana is the ocean’s ocean (Te Kā/Te Fiti—female power, namesake, and the ocean mirrors the sexuality, life). You might, if you were land in Te Fiti/Te Kā. Māui does meet a queer feminist Islander, read in this his match here, and she is Moana: Te an implicitly feminist and decolonial Kā/Te Fiti/Moana Nui Akea/a Kiwa, message critiquing colonial and native even Hine-nui-te-pō (Māori goddess Christian patriarchal heteronormativ- of death); after all, Māui attempts to ity (for this we can thank Te Vaka). steal life itself from the goddess, the One can read in Moana a clear result being death. Pele can also be 228 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018) read in the power of the two most problematic and not our own, it is powerful gods in the narrative: Te undeniably fashioned by Oceania, Fiti/Te Kā (from the lava, life). Sadly, and for that we can thank those of us Disney’s imposition of uncomplicated who participated in its making. When binaries of hetero/queer, land/ocean, I consider this putative economy of Te Fiti (beauty, life, feminine)/Te Kā “selling out,” of scarcity, I think of (the grotesque, death, non-feminine) my own bubu, Ro Litiana Qolouvaki reinscribe colonial and heteropatriar- Mataitini, and her unbounded practice chal understandings and undermine of generosity and loloma (not excep- the possibilities of mana wahine and tional, but part of our Oceanic geneal- of Oceania in Moana. ogy). Yes, we must protect indigenous It is decidedly not okay that Disney rights to story, to tradition, to place. appropriates and commodifies our Yes, we must heed Epeli Hau‘ofa’s stories, our gods, our mana; and call to steward our (an expansive, certainly, as scholar-activists like Tina generous pronoun) Oceania. And, I Ngata have made clear, it is abhorrent recognize too in our people’s desire that this appropriation made plastic to share our stories and traditions will only add to the great garbage with pride this generosity and love for patches clogging the oceans—our vanua (culture, mana, as well as land, oceans—that support life. There is a ocean, and all living beings): a deco- lot to be critical of here, including the lonial economy of abundance in the lack of Pacific and female representa- face of capitalism/Death. The power tion in the film’s crew of writers and and mana of our stories, like the directors, its Polycentricism, and the water/Moana, like our people, cannot messianic narrative that would single be contained by Disney formula or out one chiefly Polynesian girl from magic—it will not be bound by reef or her community as its savior, even if binaries; it spills over, runs beneath, Moana doesn’t do it alone. Disney’s soaks through. And we people of work, ultimately, is not a call for Oceania—whether or not literate in humanity to responsibly steward our Disney and the hegemony it stands in oceans; we understand it as a capitalist for—are astute readers of signs and dream machine. The loloma/aloha we fluent tellers and navigators of story. feel in response to this story is in echo We do know where we come from, to our own reflections and reflections and we will find our way. of our beloved Oceania. For more, we tagi qolouvaki must look to our own work. Hawai‘i Community College Counter to those of us who would label as “sell-outs” the many art- *** ists, scholars, and practitioners who consulted or otherwise worked on this “No one goes beyond the reef. It’s film, as well as the audiences who love dangerous!” This is one of Chief Tui’s it, like many Oceanians (including several outbursts throughout Disney’s those in pro- and anti-Moana camps), Moana, in his repeated attempts to I believe in the transformative power prevent his daughter, the movie’s of stories. As much as this story is namesake, from setting sail. The chief book and media reviews 229 is voicing Disney’s imagined reason an appropriate opening for Moana. for the thousand-year period during However, Polynesians also embed which Polynesians allegedly paused in specialized knowledge within those their seafaring expeditions. Although histories; they are entertainment, the idea that Polynesians ever feared libraries, and curriculum all rolled the ocean is difficult to accept, into one. This is where the film Moana ­Disney’s Moana makes up for this makes a successful voyage: it presents infraction in other ways. Most impor- to us a Māui who is legend but also tant, the film portrays Māui not as real, and who is not only a hero who myth but as a real figure who teaches accomplishes isolated feats of epic the art of seafaring to the people of proportions but also our teacher in the the Pacific. art of wayfinding. When foreigners The movie opens with Grandma first came to the Pacific Islands and Tala telling a group of toddlers the recorded our histories, they relegated dramatic story of the origins of Māui to the realm of fable. Each story the people of Motunui Island. The focused on an isolated but supernatu- account begins with Te Fiti, a god- ral feat, like snaring the sun or fishing dess who is herself the first island up islands, all performed by a magical and whose heart has the power to being whom Western scholars assume create life. Over time, others begin never really existed. Authors like to crave such power and attempt to ­Elsdon Best or W E Westervelt pre- steal her heart, but it is the demigod sented a combined general theme that Māui who accomplishes the theft. Māui was a kind of Hercules, strong His action awakens Te Kā, the lava but reckless and egotistical, who monster, whose chaos reverberates ­provided for the needs of humans. throughout the ocean, spreading death What does not emerge through these and destruction from island to island. foreign versions is Māui’s role as From this point on, seafarers set out teacher of all skills that relate to but do not come back, and the villag- seafaring and ­navigation, along with ers of Motunui soon decide to cease his continuing presence in the Pacific all deep-sea voyaging expeditions, world. Yet, somehow, Disney’s writers generating a ban that ends up lasting a and ­producers saw past the published thousand years. A very young Moana rhetoric and resurrected Māui’s true is the only toddler in the group who purpose. is not terrified by this tale, and she is Māui may be the main character in riveted as Grandma Tala reveals that Western narratives about him, but in a chosen one will someday find Māui this movie he shares the spotlight with and take him to Te Fiti to restore the Moana, who becomes student, hero, heart to the island and save them all. and leader. This relationship brings to We then find out that the ocean has the fore Māui’s role as teacher. Moana chosen Moana for this important task. starts her journey with the intent of Pacific societies pass on histories seeking out Māui. This is the same through storytelling, making the voyage that any prospective naviga- scene in which Grandma Tala relays tor makes in that Māui represents the Motunui’s origin story to the children practical skill set a wayfinder needs 230 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018) to learn on his or her journey from integral part of the Māui story and the amateur to master, and it is depicted wayfinding body of knowledge. in the film segment where he teaches Film animation allows us to venture Moana how to sail. Over the course into the world of magic, where ani- of the expedition, Moana learns from mals can talk and objects have person- her mentor and becomes a skilled alities. While this is characteristic of wayfinder in her own right. Then, Disney films, the choice to portray Te although Māui was expected to be Fiti, Te Kā, and the ocean as charac- the one to return the heart to Te Fiti, ters in the movie is in alignment with Moana ends up accomplishing this Pacific beliefs. Like Māui, they are heroic feat. In short, Moana becomes treated not as myth but as actual ­living Māui. She is transformed into the beings. Our land gods are female, next master navigator for her people. just like Te Fiti and Te Kā, and any In this same way, Māui still exists as seafarer will tell you that the ocean mentor for all apprentice navigators speaks to them. Also true to Polyne- past and present. sian culture is when Grandma Tala The relationship between Moana dies and transforms into a manta ray, and her mother, Sina, also reinforces allowing her to still remain present the connection with Māui for Polyne- in Moana’s life. In Hawai‘i, deceased sians. Sina, variously pronounced as ancestors become ‘aumakua—ani- Hina (or Hine) in many Polynesian mals or other natural elements (such languages, appears in nearly all Māui as sharks, owls, or even smoke) who histories, variously as his mother, continue to protect family members. sister, or ancestor. She is a goddess in Perhaps audiences across the world Polynesia, and it is often because of will dismiss all of these depictions as her parentage that he is a demigod. In typical Disney fantasy, but for Pacific some versions, Māui only receives his peoples, these extra layers make the supernatural powers after following characters in this film recognizable. his mother into the underworld and While the film’s resurrection of participating in a special ceremony. Māui’s true role in Polynesian society However, in Disney’s origin story, is significant, there are inconsisten- Māui had human parents who threw cies in the storyline that must be him into the sea when he was born. addressed. Most prominent is the idea, The gods rescued the infant, imbued noted earlier, that Polynesians ever him with immortality, and gave him feared the ocean. Moananuiākea, the a fishhook with supernatural pow- vast body of water that binds together ers. Although the movie producers peoples of many islands, receives some chose to go with an origin story that recognition when Māui declares, “The disconnects Māui’s lineage from his Ocean used to love when I pulled up supernatural gifts, they still paid hom- islands, ‘cause your ancestors would age to Sina/Hina’s traditional role by sail her seas and find them. All those making her Moana’s mother. Many new lands, new villages . . . it was Polynesians recognize Sina/Hina as the the water that connected them.” moon, an important figure in celes- Epeli Hau‘ofa articulated the Pacific tial navigation, which makes her an mindset best by calling this expan- book and media reviews 231 sive landscape “our sea of islands,” supposed to have existed in its current as opposed to the Western view of location for a thousand years, but its isolated “islands in a far sea.” There- population had not yet grown too big fore, inventing fear of the ocean as to be supported by a single lagoon. the reason for a thousand-year pause But perhaps the most ironic inconsis- in Polynesian seafaring only supports tency is the fact that Chief Tui named the Western, fear-based idea. There his daughter Moana, yet he continu- are also some instances when both ally insists on keeping her away from Māui and Moana speak disrespect- the ocean. According to Polynesian fully to and about the ocean, walk- naming practices, such a name almost ing a very precarious line in terms of guaranteed that she would end up Polynesian propriety, especially for at sea. seafarers. After asking the ocean for Overall, the illustrations try to help during a storm, Moana ends up homogenize all Polynesian cultures, shipwrecked on an island, unharmed. which opens the movie up to other Out of ­frustration, she kicks at the criticisms (which I will leave to my water in anger and screams, “What? I very capable colleagues). There are said help me! And wrecking my boat? distinct differences among Island Not helping!” She adds, insultingly, nations in language, music, dance, “Fish pee in you all day!” Yet once she dress, tattooing, and practices realizes she has been delivered directly ­revolving around food, to name a few. to Māui, she neglects to apologize Despite this, Moana provides Polyne- to the ocean for her outburst. In sians with heroes and history that they another instance, Māui calls the ocean can identify with. Māui is describing “straight-up kookie-dukes.” In Poly- the skill of wayfinding when he states nesian tradition, each of these would that it is about “knowing where you have been more than enough cause are by knowing where you’ve been,” for the ocean to never help either of but this also refers to Polynesian them again and might even incite the pedagogy and the entire storehouse of ocean’s anger. Polynesian knowledge. We know how Another inconsistency is that, to move forward by always looking in the movie, Māui’s bird form is a back to the actions of those who came hawk; since this demigod represents before us. Moana helps us do that by all things involved with seafaring, resurrecting Māui as the figure of a this has to be Disney taking fictional real body of knowledge that is still license, as the hawk is a forest-based being pursued today. It is one leg of bird. English versions of Māui legends our voyage back from the Western indicate that he turned into a pigeon, label of “myth,” bringing us that which also stays close to land. It is far much closer to “history.” more likely that Māui’s bird form is j uluwehi hopkins a tern or a noddy, both of which are University of Hawai‘i– used by navigators to find their way West O‘ahu while at sea. In another instance, logic must be temporarily suspended when *** one realizes that Moana’s village is 232 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018)

Sitting in a packed movie theater in bination of new and old allowed the Honolulu, Hawai‘i, on 23 Novem- music team to weave Pacific Island ber 2016, I eagerly anticipated the memories into the film, adding depth first moments of a film that I had for viewers familiar with the original been waiting many years to see: Walt songs. One striking example of this is Disney Studios’ Moana. Set in the the reworking of “Loimata E Maligi” Pacific Islands two thousand years into the new pieces “An Innocent ago, the animated feature film tells the Warrior” and “Know Who You Are” story of Moana, a teenage girl who (their shared melody is later reprised sets sail on a dangerous voyage to orchestrally in “Toe Feiloa‘i”). While save her people. As someone actively I had known prior to the premiere researching Moana, I had learned that the team had incorporated this a great deal about the film and its song, originally written to lament music before attending the premiere. the death of eighteen young girls and Watching ­trailers and listening to the their supervisor in a dormitory fire in soundtrack, which Disney released Tuvalu in 2000, it wasn’t until I saw just prior to the film’s debut, I had the new songs’ roles in the film that heard many ­familiar voices, sounds, I began to see the layers of meaning and songs, but it wasn’t until I saw that this revisiting allows. During them partnered with the visuals that “An Innocent Warrior,” the ocean, a I realized how tightly the filmmakers character in the story, chooses Moana, had woven them into the story world. a baby girl with her whole life ahead Despite the care taken in creating of her, to carry out the difficult and the music, however, it has become dangerous task of restoring the heart apparent to me that this care does not of the goddess Te Fiti. When the music always extend as far beyond the edit- returns in “Know Who You Are,” ing floor as it should. In this review, I Moana carries out this task, realizing briefly describe my initial impressions the truth and bravely facing the deadly of the music after seeing both the fires of Te Kā to return what had been film’s premiere and the sing-along edi- stolen. It is a very moving scene on tion in theaters. For those who have its own, but to me, given the original not yet seen Moana, please note that song’s background, it seems almost as this piece does contain spoilers. if Moana knows the girls’ story and The musical world of Moana draws her strength from their memory. emerged out of a collaboration among The incorporation of such memo- three composers: Opetaia Foa‘i, Lin- ries in the music of Moana, along Manuel Miranda, and Mark ­Mancina. with the prominence of Pacific Island Together, they combined new compo- instruments, rhythms, and languages, sitions with existing songs by Foa‘i’s can be credited to Foa‘i’s influence. South Pacific fusion group, Te Vaka, Drums, for instance, populate the film including “Loimata E Maligi,” from both visually and aurally. Sometimes Nukukehe (2002); “Papa E,” from they are apparent in the action on Te Vaka (1997); and “Logo te Pate,” screen, with characters visibly inter­ from Havili (2011). Rather than a acting with them to produce sound, as mere recycling of material, this com- in the cave on the island of Motunui, book and media reviews 233 during the attack of the Kakamora, ing icon or text. I reassured myself and in Tamatoa’s lair under the sea. that the sing-along treatment was Other times, the action and music probably just reserved for the songs imply performers just out of view, that are sung by particular characters as when Motunui villagers practice in the film or that have been the most dancing. The rest of the time, drum heavily marketed. When “We Know rhythms and timbres contribute to the Way” began a few songs later, songs and score without any appar- however, I felt indignant. The Samoan ent source on or off the screen. More and Tokelauan parts, which are sung important than the instruments, by characters onscreen (the voyagers), however, are the Pacific Island voices were not included in the sing-along, singing Pacific Island languages. Past while the English parts, which have no and present members of Te Vaka, as origin in the scene, were. Even though well as the University of the South I already knew the words, I was upset Pacific’s Pasifika Voices choir, directed to see what appeared to be a blatant by Igelese Ete, lent their remarkable othering of Pacific languages. Curious, voices to the film, making possible I later checked both the subtitles and one breathtaking piece after another. the closed captioning on the dvd and Because music in Pacific Island cul- digital versions of the film, and they tures is largely logogenic (word-born), are no better, with “(SINGING IN privileging song texts over everything FOREIGN LANGUAGE)” plastered else, these performances—by musi- across the bottom of the screen instead cians whose dedication to communi- of the song text. Given everything ties in the region began long before Pacific Islanders have put into this Moana was even an idea and will film—about the Pacific Islands and set continue long after its current popu- in the Pacific Islands—Disney should larity fades—could be considered the have done more to privilege their single most important component of actual words here instead of writing the film’s music. them off as “foreign.” In the Honolulu With the film created and released, movie theater, however, some of my however, a major question that fellow audience members chose to sing remains is how far Disney will go along anyway, eventually joining in for to privilege these words in subse- every part of “Know Who You Are,” quent repackagings of the film and bouncing icon or no. its music. I found an early answer in I have restricted my discussion here the film’s sing-along edition, which I to just a few of my surface impressions saw on 28 January 2017 at Consoli- of the music of Moana, but there are dated Theaters at Ward in Honolulu, many, many more layers to consider Hawai‘i. I was beyond excited to get and critique. To those thinking about to see Pacific Island languages receive seeing the film, I definitely encourage the sing-along treatment, which often you to do so (though if you rely on involves an icon that bounces across closed captioning, you will unfortu- onscreen text as it’s sung. But as soon nately need to supply your own texts as the movie began, my heart dropped. for some of the songs, even if you “Tulou Tagaloa” had no accompany- know the languages). The musicians 234 the contemporary pacific • 30:1 (2018) who took part in the film did a beauti- Foreigners visit the island in steady ful job, and their work alone makes but hardly overwhelming numbers, the experience worth it. Depending on arriving in thrice-weekly planes from your background and experiences, you Port Moresby or, less often, by yacht may find layers of meaning embedded or cruise ship. They come, MacCarthy within the film that move you to tears, avers, in search of a glimpse of “the but you may also find issues that move primitive” living their true and real you to action. I have found plenty of life. They come in search of “authen- both. While there is much to celebrate, tic” experience, which they more or there is still a long way to go. less conceive in static, precapital- candice elanna steiner ist, pre-Christian terms as well as in National Geographic clichés—eg, University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa the “islands of love.” As such, they *** take photos carefully framed so as to avoid including evidence of culture Making the Modern Primitive: change, and they complain when they Cultural Tourism in the Trobriand are asked to pay their subjects for the Islands, by Michelle MacCarthy. right to do so. Tourists make their way Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i off the beaten track for a chance to see Press, 2016. isbn 978-0-8248-5560- a moral way of life, or lifestyle, which 4, x+270 pages, map, figures, notes, they fear is disappearing in the face glossary, references, index. Cloth, of global capitalism and missionary us$68.00. Christianity. They desperately want to see “the real thing,” so much so that Can we ever leave Kiriwina? Making they even disparage each other in a the Modern Primitive: Cultural Tour- kind of touristic hierarchy of value. ism in the Trobriand Islands returns us Independent travelers view themselves there once again. Not for a new study as superior to those in groups, and of intertribal exchange, or to return both see themselves as superior to to the ambiguities of the father in tourists on the big cruise ships. What matriliny, or to research chiefs, or to is more, they feel angst about how develop a new concept of reciprocity, they themselves subvert Trobriand or to reanalyze Trobriand magic, or culture by commodifying it. to appreciate the island as the birth- For their part, MacCarthy sug- place of anthropological methods, or gests, the Kiriwinians see the dimdim to come to grips with how the place (foreigners) as a more or less homog- took on a special significance among enous kin group from abroad who Bronislaw Malinowski’s descendants. bear material resources, and, in that No. Michelle MacCarthy’s new sense, they treat them like intertribal ethnography, based on fieldwork in trading partners with whom they 2009–2010, returns us to Kiriwina for want to initiate and sustain long-term another purpose, which is to probe the reciprocal exchange relations. In short, discrepant meanings of “cultural tour- they would like to see tourists as kula ism” from three points of view: hosts, men and women. But, of course, this is guests, and anthropologists. a wish that cannot be fulfilled. Villag-