The Value of Hawaii 2: Ancestral Roots, Oceanic Visions

Micronesian Diaspora(s)

MICRONESIAN DIASPORA(S) EMELIHTER KIHLENG I: INTERVIEW EK: Ahmw tepin kohla Seipan oh dah ke wia? Ke doadoak? When you first went to Saipan what did you do? Did you work? IR: Ehng. Doadoak nan factory. Yes. I worked in a factory. EK: Hmm. Dah ke kin wia nan factory? What did you do in the factory? IR: Wil kopwe. Re kin dehkada likou irail kin kidohng kit, wilikada kilahng ekei, song ko, koakoadihla. Fold clothes. They sew the clothes and give them to us, fold them up and give them to others, like that, as it goes down. EK: Doadoak laud? Hard work? IR: Ehng. Apw seh reirei eh, kin kiden aramas apw ngehi ongieh udahn ih kin pwangadah, ih kin lok. Yes. But we were long, lots of people, but for me I really got tired, exhausted. EK: Awa depeh? How many hours? 182 HUAKA‘I IR: Ih kin tep kulok isuh nek kulok isuh nisoutik. I start at seven and finish at seven in the evening. EK: Aoooo. Werei ieu. Wow. That’s a long time. IR: Werei ieu mwoh. Pweh tepda nimenseng eh, kohditehieu kulok isuh ni soutik, nek, klous. That was a long time. Because we start in the morning and go all the way till seven in the evening till closing. EK: Ah ih kak idek rehmw ke kin ale tala depeh awa ehu? And can I ask how much you made in an hour? IR: Ehng. Komplihdla week riau oh, ih kin aleh talah silipwukih limeisek isuh. Yes. Completing two weeks, I get $357.00. EK: Aooo. Sohte itar. That’s not enough. Ah kumwail kin lunchbreak apeh? Did you guys have lunch breaks? IR: Ehng. Eisek riau lunch, komoal lah oh kulok ehu tep, kohditehieu. Yes. 12:00 pm lunch, rest, and 1 o’clock start until finish. EK: Ah ko mehn ia kei? You and who else? IR: Mehn Pohnpei, mehn Ruk, mehn Kusaie, mehn Pilipihn. Pohnpeians, Chuukese, Kosraeans, Filipinos. EK: Wei eh, sohte mehn China iang? Oh really, and no Chinese? Kihleng, Micronesian Diaspora(s) 183 IR: Adkih mehn China meh kin deidei eng kit. The Chinese sewed for us. EK: Oh. IR: Aht kaun ko mehn Korea. Our bosses were Korean. EK: Wei eh. Ehri mehn China kau mihmi nan ehu pereh? Oh really. So the Chinese were in separate rooms? IR: Reh kin mwohd nan sehr irekdihdoh ehri kin deidei dohng kit ah se kin uhd wilik kilahng emen koakoadi. They sit in chairs in a line all the way down to us, and they sew, and give it to us, and we fold them and pass it down and onwards. (She spits betelnut juice.) Reh kin dir nan ehu sehr oh kak meh siliakan samwah mie, pweh udahn kin reirei koadihla, apw kaidehn pil ehu te, ehu room oh udahn kin line mwein kak meh wenou, ah kohla nih ehu room kak pil line wenou de isuh wen dir. They were so many on one chair, could have more than thirty because it is so long, all the way down, but not just one. One room would have a line of six to another room with six or seven, since so many. 184 HUAKA‘I II: DREAMERS 1 Ih koalauh, ei doadoak oh, ong ie ih mwauki ei kin aleh nei sent, wiahki nsenei song koh eh. Ah ei mihmi Pohnpei eh, ih sohte kin aleh songehn lapalahn sentuwoh. Apw ih men pwurala likioh, apw ih sohte men kohla ngehi pwurala Seipan. When I went, I worked, for me I liked it when I got my own money, doing what I want with it. But staying in Pohnpei, I never get that much money. But I want to go back out there, but I don’t want to go back to Saipan. my dream is to bring my two babies with me to Hawai‘i, there are lots of us there and I hear it’s the nicest get a job and eventually bring my parents to live with us too 2 they are lucky these Micronesians coming from their impoverished islands I’ve been there, they have no sewage system Filthy, nothing for them to do all day yea, so they might have to work a few extra hours I give them the American dream 3 North Pacific give me job at SeaWorld Janitor, I don’t like but cannot leave they stop paying...