‘Across the Divide of Death’

Selina Tusitala Marsh farewells Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard.

 

Across te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa we mourn the death of Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard, the acclaimed and influential American Samoan scholar, poet, teacher and environmentalist.

Sinavaiana was born on Tutuila island and grew up in the American South. After she graduated from Sonoma State University she returned to Sāmoa to teach high school. ‘At twenty-three,’ she wrote in Alchemies of Distance (2002), ‘I began to learn about being Samoan.’ After thirty years she returned to the US, awarded an MA in folklore from the University of California Berkeley, and a PhD in American studies from the University of Hawaiʻi. She became a professor of creative writing and Pacific literature at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

 

.

Damon Salesa, Vice-chancellor of Auckland University of Technology and author of An Indigenous Ocean, says that ‘Caroline was a powerful and authentic voice, whose work as a scholar was both pathfinding and enabling, bringing literary criticism and indigenous Samoan criticism and culture into intersection.’

Selina Tusitala Marsh, the first Pacific Poet Laureate of New Zealand, was in Sydney when she received word of Sinavaiana’s death. She describes her as ‘a groundbreaking Samoan poet and activist who set the Pacific literary world ablaze with her powerful words and tireless pursuit of social justice. To me and countless other Pacific writers, she was our first literary Nafanua, a fierce warrior goddess wielding the pen to fight for Indigenous rights and to give voice to our people’s struggles.

‘Sinavaiana fearlessly confronted the painful legacies of colonialism and diaspora that have shaped our communities. Her poetry wove together deeply personal reflections with sharply political messages, inspiring us to find courage and resilience in the face of adversity. With every line, she affirmed the beauty, strength and mana of our Samoan heritage.

‘Though we mourn Sinavaiana’s passing as a profound loss, her spirit and impact live on through the many lives she touched. She reminded us that we all have a voice to stand up for our beliefs, speak truth to power, and work towards a more just, equitable future for Pacific peoples everywhere.

‘As I reflect on her legacy, I hear her rallying cry echoing through the generations – urging us to raise our pens and our voices to carry on her life’s work. May we honour Sinavaiana by celebrating our cultures and beliefs, asserting our rights, and lighting the way for others, as she so brightly lit the way for us.

Ia manuia lau malaga, Sinavaiana. Fa’afetai tele lava, thank you, for your inspiration, mentorship and enduring gift of language. Thank you for lighting the way.’

In Alchemies of Distance, Sinavaiana said that poetry ‘has taught me something about distance, about crossing the divide. One thing I’ve learned is that distance has implications, among them, loss and journey.’ She described the symbolic ‘Ua alu atu le afi – passing the fire’ ritual at Samoan gatherings: ‘We call out to each other and the other side answers. We pass the fire back and forth. If the ancestors are with us, this is how we pass it across the divide of death.’

Writing of the sudden death of a former student, Sinavaiana spoke of how during ‘her journey from the earthbound world I will cultivate my vā with her with a tangi, a poem of lament’.

The poem we publish here is a tangi written for Sinavaiana by Selina Tusitala Marsh.

 

Resurrection

for CSG

 

Running along the banks

of the eeling river

glistening under

Morten Bay Figs laden

with flying foxes

black with orange collars

hanging like fat furry mangoes,

where flocks of cockatoo

nest, squawking ivory eggs

high in the branches

of gum trees shedding leaves

and bark like curling skin.

Under the veil of soft morning

light in Parramatta park

I saw a crumpled pizza box

lying in the dewy grass.

 

The ripped cardboard box

spoiled the perfect view

and I tut tut tutted running past:

thoughtless picnickers

where were the cleaners?

It’s been three days already

I’d pick it up myself

but I’m running for time

training on my off day

and there were no bins in sight

how long would I have to carry

someone else’s blight

in an otherwise

serene landscape?

 

2Ks later I run past bins

surely no one would’ve expected me

to have carried someone else’s rubbish

that far?

 

Meantime

my beloved friend’s body

has been found

hammered, cut, and crumpled

in a locked bathroom

in Samoa

in the home of our mutual friend

whose unmedicated

Bipolarism must have pulled her

into its pit

and she couldn’t,

or wouldn’t,

get out of it

instead

she pulled those around her down

into hell

 

No one can believe

the Police report

a hammer and small knife

used to end the life

of my beautiful friend

who in Edinburgh

just months before

gave me the Buddha beads

from her wrist

to ease my troubles

she helped me think through

a friendship that had for too long been heavy

she did an I-ching reading

‘Sister, cut her free.’

 

When we spoke of our mutual friend

likewise she said

‘I’ll keep her at arm’s length to save my strength’

yet

months later I saw

she was helping run

creative writing workshops in Samoa

I wrote her “Be careful”

Meaning be careful with your energy, time and money

I never foresaw danger to her body

 

Headlines blast:

‘Playwright charged for gruesome murder’

our mutual friend’s photo

frontpage, centre

And we are filled with blue grief

And we are filled with black rage.

Insane fucking bitch. Crazy evil witch.

 

And yet

 

I ran by a crumpled pizza box

this morning

for the third day

in a row

waiting for resurrection.

 

.