I first saw Saumo's painting "Diaspora Cultures: This is Not a Coconut" in an exhibit of art students' work at the UH Art Gallery in 2012. Years later, I still couldn't get the painting out of my mind. Riffing on the famous "This is Not a Pipe" painting by Magritte, this piece works on just so many levels. Not only is it showing that a work in Samoan language, using Pacific styles and motifs, and addressing Pacific Islander issues can be just as deep and meaningful as something in French, it also hints at a range of important issues facing Pacific Islanders, as symbolized by the consumption of coconut purchased in a can, from a Hawaiian-branded company, but grown and/or packaged in Thailand; the alienation of the traditional foodstuffs of the people from its natural form, the appropriation of the idea of "Hawaii" to sell products, and the ensnarement of Pacific peoples and the natural riches of their islands into (arguably) exploitative and expropriative networks of global capitalism. I emailed Saumo years later, in 2016, to say I cannot get this painting out of my mind, and he responded kindly, enthusiastically, and offered me an extremely reasonable price, taking the time and effort to touch up some spots where the paint had flaked, wrapping it up very nicely to ship to me, and so forth. He was even kind and understanding with me when I flaked and, for a few months, said that actually, on second thought, I couldn't afford the painting after all, and then, on third thought, yes, I can.  After I received it, the painting immediately went up on the wall in my TA office, quickly becoming a topic of conversation among my students and my fellow historians. I was proud to display a piece of Pacific art in our overwhelmingly US-centric History department, and glad for the attention it received. If I ever manage to accumulate a larger personal art collection, this will always have a pride of place as the cornerstone, the first piece I ever bought.