In his influential essay Our Sea of Islands, Epeli Hauʻofa challenges the widespread view that Pacific Islands are too small, isolated, and dependent to thrive. He argues that this perspective reflects colonial confinement and belittlement, while historically Oceania was a vast, interconnected world of mobility, exchange, and seafaring. Hauʻofa emphasizes that Pacific peoples continue to expand their horizons through migration, kinship networks, and resource circulation across the ocean. By reframing the Pacific as a “sea of islands” rather than “islands in a far sea,” he presents an empowering vision of Oceania as expansive, resilient, and central to global futures.

Hau’ofa, Epeli. 1994. “Our Sea of Islands.” The Contemporary Pacific 6(1): 148-161.