by Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa. Edited by Katerina Teaiwa, April K Henderson and Terence Wesley-Smith. Published by Victoria University of Wellington Press, 2021. Reviewed by Cabrini Makasiale

Tulou atu. Indeed! I can feel the wet sweat and taste the salty brine of the mighty Pacific Ocean. Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa writes with her canoe paddle pen as she explores and describes what she experiences in academia. She studied and lectured in the three universities of Fiji, Hawaii and Wellington.

Sweat and Salt Water is a collection of 15 of her articles. They cover Pacific Studies, militarism and gender and native reflections. She writes of her struggle in academia to critique the dominating colonial and post-colonial study methods and the academic opinions that demean indigenous learning styles inherent in Pacific peoples.

If you are interested, curious and/or a researcher of Pasifika peoples, their beliefs and way of living, this book awaits you. You will need time, a coconut tree and a desk in the LI-BRA-REE to gain from the fullness of Sweat and Salt Water. Both settings are essential.

In March 2017, aged only 48, Teresia “sailed away”. In our Pasifika way Teresia is only a breath away. Read her work and you will inhale the pungent odour and wafting perfume of her reflections.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 271 June 2022: 27