I see this a lot when islanders, especially in the US use Māori Haka but don’t understand what they’re saying or how to pronounce the words. Just cos we all belong to the Polynesian triangle, we all individually have our own unique cultures that share similarities.

The more you push this labeling of "cultural appropriation" towards a person, the less appreciation we'll get when you cry WHY DONT YOU CARE...Because you told us not to. I rather as a brown person let people enjoy our culture. Otherwise don't bother putting on Pacifika festivals cause I know you'd probably overthink and overreact and put more and more obstacles into our culture. Just let it happen!

This is interesting. Because when you take a look at the history of Oceanic people such as Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian, those three groups of people share the most linguistic and DNA similarities than all the other further west and east Pacific Islanders. There is no such thing as Cultural Appropriation here because they are the same people who where separated from each other for many years. In which our cultures and languages obviously changed. This sounds more of a Social Issue based off of each separate culture wanting to be Prideful and more superior than the other. That is the fact! If your wondering I am Mela/Poly mixed. I do see some differences and Similarities in both Cultures. But in my own research and understanding of where my ancestors come from I realized the conclusion always ended at one place. Who came up with Race…Did we as the Pacific Islanders call each other Melanesian? Polynesian? Don’t forget what language we predominantly speak, Culture and currency we only use now. I will give you a hint, it’s not ours.

I'd say the term "polynesian" is also very Samoan and Tongan centric. I get they are the biggest groups (even though there are more Maori and Cook Islanders in NZ), but there are so many diverse cultures and voices that hardly get any space.

Vinaka vakalevu for holding space for these conversations!

Can't get mad at "palangi's" for "appropriating" Polynesian culture when you're breeding with them.

It's kind of funny that the topic is about appropriation & gate-keeping, and the title of the show is appropriated from African-American slang 🤔🤔🤔🤔.

im 1/4 tongan and i totally agree with everything said here. i feel like my culture is one constantly appropriated by “coconut girl” and “hawaii aesthetic” trends. it sucks because though i have direct connection to my people and my culture, nobody understands it because im white. i wore a shirt with the “live for tonga, die for tonga” text on it in tongan language and this random super liberal girl made fun of it and then when i told her to stop, she said it was fine because i was white. im constantly made fun of for my wavy big hair type, and i live in a generally white area. i dont know whether to try to fit in or show my culture despite the backlash i face. listening to you guys makes me feel really heard. ❤

Why can't we just use pacific islander instead of polynesian

I mostly use the term people of the Moana because its not a word created by the colonist, also it doesn’t divide our three shore of islands, samoan and cook island is my ethnicity, I literally see every island in the moana as family

It is ironic how much we can criticize the west and their standards while using their terms and standards such as "cultural appropriation." Overall, I believe that our culture is always changing and none of it is black and white. So, there is a very blurry line between cultural appropriation and what is actually "authentic culture." We do not know what authentic culture is anymore!!! It is always changing, our people are always moving, culture is always moving so, who are we to say someone is not Polynesian enough or their tattoo is totally unauthentic. We do not know what authentic is anymore. Of course there are situations where if someone is ignorantly displaying the Polynesian culture then yeah, it is wrong but overall, culture changes. Therefore, we can not use the phrase cultural appropriation when there is no "set culture."

The word Polynesian comes from the Greek words Poly, which means many, and nesia which means Island. Then you say Pacific Islands which is obvious because of the Pacific ocean. Why can't we just be , Samoan, Tongan Fijian, Cook Islander ,Raro Tongan. Our own identity rather than An Islander. Also, I guess people from Europe are called European, but they're from different parts of that continent. I dunno, 🤷‍♂️

Come on, don't go woke 😜 Don't fall for this silly "cultural appropriation" garbage. The term Polynesian gives us a collective voice and simply sums up the region for those who were not taught to look at a map 🤣 I love how this Channel brings together aspects from all over the region, and exposes the outside world to more than just one island group. If you are worried that we're ripping off ourselves then teach the next generation about the importance of certain aspect of the cultures instead of going down the tribalism route. I remember when island groups would fight each other and carry on because they were from a certain island. Now we have events like polyfest and outlets like this channel showing our similarities and that we can work together no matter if you're Samoan, Tongan, Cook islands, Fijian etc. Let's not fall into this PC woke Palagi rubbish. I come here mostly for the Samoan content, but I love learning more about the other islands too... Let's keep the Polynesian voice going strong and not divide and shrink our voice into our specific island of ancestry. 😜👍

The only appropiation that annoys me is when people get Polynesian tattoos and don't know what it is

I like the conversation... great job just talking about it and bringing up those areas of concern that I hear about often. From a humankind standpoint, we are appropriating ALL. THE. TIME. Think about the music you make, the food you make, the art you make, the God(s) you worship. For me, what I see as we become a more conscious / more woke world, at this point it comes down to Intent and Disrespect. Educating yourself, building relationships with artists and communities, creating your own stories - I think that's a path thru this appropriation issue. I want everyone to keep in mind though that everything evolves. Time keeps marching on and as it does, new things will continue to factor in to a culture. For example, if I know my Samoan people well, I'm pretty sure when the tatau first came to Samoa people hated it and it was frowned upon. Those patterns were new at some point, made by an artist, and it probably pissed some people off, just like anything new would do when first introduced to a culture. And a lot of new things have developed since then. New patterns, new meanings, new methods, new people. Evolving, and still pissing people off along the way. So if people wanna gatekeep, cool. Love it. It's a big part of what keeps it special. If people wanna share with the world, that's cool too, cuz it feels so amazing to be seen when we come from such an invisible part of the world. Be pissed off when someone fucks it up. Rejoice when one of us does something different and crosses over. It all adds to the story of who we are - we are from the Ocean, and the ocean is always moving, the people are always migrating; we and the Ocean are always changing and evolving. I always imagine time and culture as a giant mat to weave, and this is our generation's time to weave this part of our people's story. May we all fai fa'alelei...

If you say your poly in a comment section.... People think polyamory and look at you like your a swinger 😭😭😭

I think you will find that people who use the term Polynesian have always included every other pasifika island, not many know or knew there was two terms. Polynesian is the English term that was exclusive, Pasifika is obviously our people's wording that is inclusive of all islands in the south pacific. It's just about Awareness and Education rather than saying Polynesian term is problematic.

🙄Cmon now you are not asking the rock about his tattoo of rip when you meet for the first time. Calm yourself

I have a friend who grew up in Australia, which is obviously not part of Polynesia, unless maybe you count Norfolk Island. He is Kanaka Maoli, or at least his father was…so he can “whakapapa” back to Hawai’i. There is a significant Polynesian community in Australia, but the only other Hawaiians he knew were in his own immediate ‘Ōhana. He knew more Samoans, Tongans, and Maori than Hawaiians.

wokeys 😂

Great Conversation to educate the masses

Well in that case. Since we here on this WOKE 🐂💩. If y’all ain’t MĀORI. STOP DOING THE HAKA❗️

Why focus on the things that separate us and create cultural lines in the sand. If someone who isn't samoan gets tattooes that are inspired by the samoan style.. that's admiration not appropriation. You're very thinly covering separatist ideology with cultural appropriation and retention. it's such a redundant argument when even before the palagi came to Polynesia we were all mixed and a jumble of cultures. Now add the fact that most islanders in Australia, NZ or the US weren't born in the islands and adopted Western culture.. and you have a real mixing bowl. "Protecting" your culture shouldn't exclude other people from showing "respect" and "appreciation" in their own way. We shouldn't be dictating. I mean ffs Karen isn't even a samoan name.. why we all being Karens now 🤣

Talk about cultural appropriation but the title of this show appropriates aave

Even if you wishful thinking about being the opposite sex...weird people

Typical liberal mindset

why does knowing the capital of Guam matter? that was so irrelevant lol the rocks tattoo artist is actually known in the space for Polynesian tattoos. He knows his Shit, and has spent time on the islands of the cultural tataus, gaining the stripes needed, did you guys not do your homework?

Lesssgooooo

The drums playing in the background is very distracting.

Sa’o lelei!

Hawaiian Samoan here.And I hear what ur saying.I have Hawaiian and Samoan tatau tattoo.I have a off subject question. Are people from Guam even Polynesian..In school we learned that they are Filipino that migrated to Guam.I know there pacific islander but I don't see them.in the Poly triangle..No disrespect to any Polynesian or Chamorro Guamanians..just asking