Abstract:
The act of blowing of the conch shell derives from ancient Polynesian custom(s), that invites the attention of the God(s) and peoples; in acts of invoking direct communication between peoples, place and spirit. The call of the conch shell ‘ili le pū’ opens ethical, embodied metaphysical encounters for people, spirit and place (not only the act of human capacity, but the materiality of the shell-ocean-air-breath-life). Within this paper, the sound of the conch is explored to ‘logologo atu’ as an expressive act that moves beyond conventions of language, representation and an expectation of fixed meanings. Working with both indigenous Pacific epistemology and posthuman philosophy, the intention for this paper is to approach research engagement and ethics that are ontologically based on forms of life rather than ideas and ideals of universality (Matapo, 2016). Coming to know the self in relation to others, past and present, the cosmos, land, seas, and skies, is something done within a Pacific collective that understands itself as part of a greater whole (Meyer 2014). As a Samoan Pasifika doctoral student traversing Pasifika education research, I ask how the act of the conch shell call ‘ili le pū’ may further the collective spirit of Pacific indigenous wisdom(s) in Pasifika education research. Furthermore, how an ontology of presence (Mika, 2015), that is both generative and embedded, may (re)connect Pasifika peoples in and with Oceania (Hau’ofa,1994; 2008).
