Adults are older than children and are people whom they should fear.
Personally from a childʻs perspective, I think this statement is kind of accurate. Growing up it was kind of instilled in us to be respectful to adults, which in that way made us fear adults. So maybe in that same way, thatʻs what this sentence statement meant to infer. Maybe it could also be a cultural insight, not too sure...
Symbolically, the umbilical cord ties not only women to their children but also all family members together as well as people to their land and material goods. The umbilical cord (bwije- ) is the semantic root and symbolic basis of the matrilineage bwij and is also related to the term for land, bwidej.
this reminded me of the hawaiian term piko which can also be looked as your belly button, the giddys on your head, and your reproductive organs. The piko on your head symbolized your connection to your ancestors. The piko as your belly button symbolized the connection to you parents. The piko as your reproductive organs symbolized the future. Thereʻs also another piko that symbolized your deep and personal connection to a place or particular land. Like for example oneʻs piko could be Mauna a Wākea. I thought it was very beautiful to see another key cultural component shared with another ethnic group throughout Oceania.
Jojol̗āār is a word that roughly approximates to “a chick without its mother,” and it is an analogy used to describe people who have been evicted from their land, like the people of Enewetak, Bikini, and many of the islets of Kwajalein (Tobin 2002, 332). Without its mother (the land), the chick is left to starve and suffer. Losing one’s land thus means losing one’s identity, power, and “face.”
This kind of reminded me of the many diasporic communities many people from Oceania experience. I also wonder if the Marshallese communities in Utah and elsewhere on the continent would still refer to themselves as a chick without its mother? Because although they do not own land, they still have a heavily Marshallese community which thus strengthens their identity and power. So in a way that place of their community becomes their land (their new home) that they all care for, thus keeping their agency intact.
Many of the Tongans in Maui reported that there are more Tongan cultural events on Maui than in Tonga (Addo 2013; Small 1997, 70–71)
One can allude that this statement is true because this diasporic community are trying to hold onto their culture in a place that is foreign to them.