Wayfinding Under the Stars
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This voyage follows a mother–son practice of vā wayfinding —an Indigenous method of relational navigation and critical autoethnography. Through poetic fragments, intergenerational talanoa (relational dialogue), and moments of spiritual encounter, the narrative traces how Sāmoan diasporic identities are held, fractured, and rewoven across shifting relational currents. Grounded in vā tapuia (sacred relational space) as both ontology and method, this work shows how knowledge arises through collective witnessing, ethical refusal, and genealogical responsibility. Here, story becomes ceremony, silence becomes epistemology, and memory becomes a navigational star. Aligned with Presence Tense , this voyage reveals histories shaped through relational accountability and ancestral presence. Vā wayfinding emerges not as metaphor but as lived epistemology—formed through ’āiga, spirituality, and the ongoing work of becoming—inviting readers toward futures guided by story, presence, and Indigenous relational ethics.
Authors: Fetaui Iosefo, Joshua Iosefo
Institution: University of Auckland
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,400
OpenAlex ID: W4417013010