Excerpt from Gaye Evans's speech at the 1st Heiva, Norfolk Island in January 2020.

"MAUATUA TERAURA WAHINEATUA TOOFAITITEVARUA TEIO OPUARAI FAAHOTU TEATUAHITIAA TEEHUTEATUAONOA T INAFANAEA MAREVA

Orlem gehl tek lornafe dem, de thing dem bin lern from dems madha

TIINA FANIIA'S salan miek a byuuteful clorth. Se gliez et soe kaa wet wen rien en giw orf wan swiit smael simmes wan flauwa

TOH U FA IITI from Huahine. Dem miek a byuuteful klorth

TERAURA miek a brait 'ahu se dekariet et

MAUATUA miek a fain san bliich klorth

Sam a dem tek a tuuls lorngfe dem ornaa shep; thing fe miek a 'ahu, en a aute shuut ena katen se raep et ap guud soe el plant et wen dem get wesaid dem gwen.

En wen dem get deya, dem planta yaam ena tieti; yolo de pilahai; rig a rohd fe ketch a fish.

Lorngfe dems tools; dem thing fe plant dem bring lorngfe dem; en dems noewen, dem miek dems nyuu laif. En dem staat auwas.

Se rait et ina buk that domain weside yu goe orn Pitcairn, yu el ya dem gehl.

Singen, daansen, kuken, nersen, berthen, chaanten, wiiwen, lauwen, faiten, klaiyen, planten, pienten, prieyen, diyeden en lewen.

En de saun a dem biiten. Biiten autem taapa. En hetieh aklan."

In January 2020 Norfolk Islanders held their first Heiva. In her opening speech, Gaye Evans of the Council of Elders honoured and dedicated the event to our Polynesian foremothers, the women who left their homes and families forever and traveled on the Bounty settling Pitcairn Island. Gaye named each of the 12 women who were founders of the Pitcairn and Norfolk Island people and spoke to their enormous contributions, strengths, and refined skills. This was the first Norfolk Island community event that I have witnessed dedicated to our ancestresses, their names pronounced correctly. With a history long observed, written, and presented through a Eurocentric male lens, these women had all but disappeared from view with their male counterparts, mutineers of the Bounty and the male leaders of the Pitcairn community receiving accolades and exclusive focus. This print is about the reappearing of our grandmothers in our communal identity and their names upon our tongues.

Sue Pearson Bio Sue Pearson is a and descendant of the mutineers of the HMS Bounty and the Polynesian women who settled on Pitcairn Island in the 18th Century, and later Norfolk Island. Sue grew up on Norfolk Island and though she now lives most of the year in New Zealand she maintains strong ties with her home, family, and land. Sue has a BA Visual Arts at Newcastle University, Australia 1986, and has continued a fine art practice exhibiting internationally ever since. Pearson's interpretations of her personal heritage, narratives, and ideas are at sometimes easily accessible and at other times personally coded or in a visual language understood by Norfolk Islanders. Pearson creates works that share the stories of her life, thoughts, home, and heritage and provide vehicles for connections on a range of levels of experience. Sue is deeply inspired by the patience, innovation, practicality, and creativity of her Tahitian foremothers who were great tapa cloth (bark cloth) makers and printers, and the joining spaces that have formed through the sharing of work, stories, and life with others.