Sailing through the clouds in a metal canoe,
I knew I was perpetuating what my ancestors used to do.
They used to voyage from home to another Pacific land
to share, explore, and understand.
They shared technology, wisdom, and trees
to take back to home island and plant the seeds.
That wisdom and those trees sprouted with fruit,
forever connecting our islands via canoe.
Colonialism abruptly cut our Oceanic ties,
starving us of sovereignty and feeding us lies.
But the indigenous peoples we still remain
in our home islands, though never the same.
My family continued to speak our native tongue
but did not pass it on to me when I was young.
They raised me with culture, they raised me Chamoru
forever a child of the land–un taotao tåno.
My ancestors called on me to reconnect with our past,
so I left Guåhan for Oceania, the vast.
They called me to remember the language of the land,
to look to the stars and in the dirt, plant my hands.
In navigating the ocean, one must know from where they come
to know where one is going once the journey’s begun.
I know my past and I carry it with me
to ground me and nourish me when I am in need.
So a successful future looks like our past
because this modern lifestyle on Earth won’t last.
I am crafting this future starting with myself
by decolonizing my mind, body, and health.
I’m learning and using my language every day
as it holds our culture and our ancient way.
I’m embracing Hawai’i as my new home
incorporating her culture into my own.
I mālama ‘āina every day of the week
because the ancestors in the land have the answers we seek.
Working and doing is another way that I learn
so my work educates me as it provides the wages I earn.
I work for service-learning at KCC
to reestablish love for ‘āina in our community.
My group is rebuilding a garden at Lē’ahi
to increase the hospital’s sustainability.
I work for Central Middle After-School All-Stars
to help underprivileged students realize they’ll go far.
I teach them sports, lessons for life
and that they can attend college no matter the price.
I interned at Kāko’o ‘Ōiwi over the summer,
an opportunity for myself and Hawaiians to learn from each other.
They taught me how to plant kalo and manage a farm.
I shared Chamoru culture and linked with them by arm
to make Hawai’i sustainable, starting with our lives
with the ‘ulu and hō’io ferns that grow and thrive.
I work with Mālama I Nā Ahupua’a
making Hawai’i sustainable through various lo’i and mala.
We connect students with the land they live on
to mālama native ecosystems and culture before they’re gone.
My journey in Hawai’i has not been easy
but my humble beginning is a tool for me.
My family was never rich nor poor,
lived simply and shared with those who needed more.
We used what was around us, everything that we had,
caring for the good and fixing the bad.
My family provided for me as I was in school
which enabled me to excel in everything I pursued.
My family and culture built me tough
to be resourceful when the sea gets rough.
Because resourceful is what I have to be
to sustain my life here in Hawai’i.
I continue to pay for tuition and rent on my own.
Working multiple jobs is all I’ve known.
KCC tuition I am able to manage and pay,
but I cannot afford Mānoa, so my education will be delayed.
From FAFSA, I don’t receive any financial aid
because of the amount my parents get paid.
But they are unable to help me paying their bills and debt.
Together though apart, we ensure ends are met.
They grew me to work hard and earn what I need
to work well with others so we all succeed,
so we can craft a future better than our present state
of colonization and militarization before it’s too late.
Hagan Guåhan Mariånas 