TIDES OF POLYNESIA

A thousand years of waves and winds have carried you to this very moment.
A thousand years of volcanic purge of smoke, and ash, and fire.
A thousand years of ruthless tides, and storms, and impassable walls of water.
A thousand years of warlords, and traitors, and delusional false prophets.

And yet for the first time,
Standing upon the rocks and isles hurled from the heavens,
Your destiny is uncertain.

What will these outsiders bring to our lands and home?
Work? Or gifts? Or disease?
Where will their ships lead us across the sea?
To safety? Or fortune? Or slavery? Or death?
And will we be forgiven if we abandon the divine?
By Lono? Or Ro’o? Or Tangaroa?

We ask of you, our beloved chiefs, to guide us to safety-
To keep us safe from the elements of humanity, nature, and the divine.
We ask of you, our merchant leaders, to bring us prosperity-
To find new deals, new wonders, and new ways to live our lives.
And we ask of you, our prophets, to commune with the skies and the earth-
Or perhaps, to abandon them altogether.

We ask of you to spare us.
From a storm born not of waves and lightning or any worldly danger,
But of uncertainty and fear.

And uncertainty and fear alone.

DISCLAIMER: This is a fictional ceremonial address created for the purposes of the committee narrative. It draws on poetic and narrative elements described in Martha Beckwith’s Polynesian Mythology, including mythological deities such as Tangaroa, Lono, and Ro‘o, as well as common themes in Polynesian oral traditions. It is not a reproduction, adaptation, or translation of any specific prayer, and is not intended to represent or replicate sacred or ceremonial practice.