A Guest Post by Chelsea McCracken<\/em><\/p>\n As a Disney heroine, Moana is defined by her confidence. Throughout the film, she repeats almost as a mantra, \u201cI am Moana of Motunui. Aboard my boat I will sail across the sea and restore the heart of Te Fiti.\u201d In the emotional climax of the film, \u201cI Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors)\u201d, Moana draws on her pride in her identity and heritage as inspiration to fulfill her mission. In this recording (audio only)<\/a>, Moana praises her homeland, her ancestors, and herself.<\/span><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mcNyvKCITRk<\/a>\n [cue starts at 1:10]<\/span><\/p>\n Who am I? This scene brings to mind the <\/span>Polynesian art of oratory<\/span><\/a>, known as \u2018\u014drero.<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>orero<\/span><\/i> generally practiced three types of speech :<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> the <\/span>fa\u2019ateni<\/span><\/i>, to praise the beauty of a land or a man<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> the <\/span>fa\u2019atara<\/span><\/i>, to prove his superior power and technique to the listener<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> the <\/span>\u2018a\u2019ai<\/span><\/i>, used to narrate a legend<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Prior to colonization, <\/span>oratory played an extremely important role in Polynesian society<\/span><\/a>. It was practiced on ceremonial occasions and was usually reserved for elites and in particular, men.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At heart, each Polynesian had to be his own \u2018\u014drero. It was for him a guarantee, a way to survive. A means of asserting his identity, his uniqueness, his belonging to a clan, a tribe, a land.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Traditional oratory was nearly wiped out by colonization, one aspect of which was the colonial suppression of Polynesian languages. (As late as 2010, a European court ruled that French Polynesian assemblywoman Sabrina Birk-Levy <\/span>could not speak her native language before Parliament<\/span><\/a>.) In recent years, French Polynesian schoolteachers have created an innovative program as part of the Polynesian cultural revitalization project: all Polynesian children, boys and girls, are trained in \u2018\u014drero in school. The teachers view it as a way to inspire their students with confidence in their heritage and themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n Each year, children from all over Polynesia compete in a televised oratory competition called Orero. Watching these kids perform is electrifying\u2014they are not cute; they are powerful. The following video shows a 2016 Orero performance of fa\u2019ateni<\/a> by 10-year-old Tuarikirau Teixeira from the island of Taiarapu-Est where, like Moana, she praises her homeland, her ancestors, and herself. <\/span><\/p>\n The video provides French subtitles for Tuarikirau\u2019s performance in the Tahitian language; an English translation is shown below.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>I am a girl who loves my island
\n<\/span>I\u2019m the girl who loves the sea
\n<\/span>It calls me
\n<\/span>I am the daughter of the village chief
\n<\/span>We are descended from voyagers
\n<\/span>Who found their way across the world
\n<\/span>They call me
\n<\/span>I\u2019ve delivered us to where we are
\n<\/span>I have journeyed farther
\n<\/span>I am everything I\u2019ve learned and more
\n<\/span>Still it calls me
\n<\/span>And the call isn\u2019t out there at all, it\u2019s inside me
\n<\/span>It\u2019s like the tide; always falling and rising
\n<\/span>I will carry you here in my heart you\u2019ll remind me
\n<\/span>That come what may
\n<\/span>I know the way
\n<\/span>I am Moana!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n