It’s the legend of a boy who lost his mother, and the evil stepmother who replaced her…The stepmother didn’t provide the boy with enough food, nor the mat to use as clothing, nor a kite woven from leaves, so he could play. She was cruel and uncaring, not noticing how her decisions pushed the child toward depression and sadness. He had a strong spirit but was unable to provide for himself. The boy suffered in silence, afraid to complain to his stepmother or father, who didn’t notice or didn’t care, either. One day, however, the boy was out fishing with his father. When his father dived beneath the waves after a fish, a bird appeared and started talking to the boy. It was his mother, reincarnated. Why are you crying, the bird asked her son. No reason, the boy said. The bird pecked at the son for lying to her. And when the father re-emerged from the waves, the bird flew away. This scene repeated itself three times before the boy had the courage to tell the truth: That his stepmother and father weren’t feeding him, that he had no mat, no kite. He finally gained the courage to confront his father and stepmother about this, too. When he stood up for himself, his mother, the bird, returned. She appreciated his quiet, respectful resistance to injustice — so she turned the boy into a bird. The boy-bird flew away from his father and the evil stepmother, forever changed. The father died in sorrow, searching for his lost son. If only he had noticed the trouble sooner — had recognized the severity of the situation. Then maybe he could have saved his son. And himself.

– Oral story told Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, written by John D. Sutter

 Material decolonization on Kwajalein is a daunting task. Economic dependency and impending climate change mean the fate of the Marshall Islands is at the mercy of powers beyond their control. Yet for Native futurity to exist it must not be tied down by these impossibilities. Rather, an ethic of incommensurability defies limitations. It stands before the wall of entrenched colonialism and walks right through. An ethic of incommensurability imagines all the possibilities, and in that act opens them to reality.