On almost every Thursday afternoon, a small, non-descript building in Federal Way comes alive with community members patronizing the no-cost food pantry of the Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington (PICA-WA).
“Everybody is coming to our food pantry, not just Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NH/PIs),” shared Sili Savusa, who joined the PICA-WA team three years ago as their executive director. She beamed with pride when she recounted how Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline immediately reached out to help with the food pantry when news of possible cuts to SNAP benefits came out recently.
“Relationships matter in the work of taking care of community,” she added. “We just need to know how to work in systems, and identify partners that have the means to support and provide capacity.”
PICA-WA is a statewide community-based nonprofit that aims to establish a cultural home, center community power, and advocate to further the wellness of Washington state’s NH/PI communities, physically, culturally, socially, and spiritually. They do this by delivering a number of services.
In addition to their food pantry that is part of the Pasifika Food Networks program, they also provide Wellness Navigation for community members who need support with basic needs, Cultural Weaver services for Elders, and Youth Navigation services for their health and well-being. They also convene a statewide Pasifika Village Council to help advocate for the unique needs of the NH/PI community through supportive policies on the local, state, and national levels.
While the organization is still fairly new, PICA-WA’s work is nevertheless grounded on decades of community organizing and advocacy.
“We’ve been coming [to Washington state] since the 1950s. Many have come over because of economic opportunities and benefits, and really trying to improve their quality of life,” Savusa said, of her community and also of her own family. “My father came here through his brother who was in the military and was stationed at the naval base in Bremerton. That’s ultimately how we landed here.”
From the Pacific Islands to Washington State
The Pacific Island region encompasses a vast area of the world, and is populated by different peoples and cultures speaking different languages. The United Nations recognizes 14 Pacific Island Countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Additionally, there are a number of non-sovereign territories that are dependencies of other nations. A couple of the most well-known examples of non-sovereign territories include Hawaiʻi, which is a US State, French Polynesia, which is an overseas country of France, and West Papua, which is a province of the Republic of Indonesia.
Six jurisdictions are considered U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). Among the USAPIs, there are three US territories—American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam—that are not sovereign, have no direct representation, and are governed by the US federal administration. There are also three sovereign nations—Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of Palau, and Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI)—that have special relations with the U.S. through Compacts of Free Association. Residents of the three U.S. territories are considered U.S. nationals and are able to freely move around the U.S. Residents of the freely associated states are able to travel to, as well as live and work in the U.S., visa-free.
There is substantial commerce, interaction, movement, and interconnection between these Pacific Island states and beyond. The USAPIs are brought together by a shared history of colonialism and coming into the U.S.’ sphere of influence. It is also because of the U.S. that many of them arrived here in Washington. Native Hawaiians and the Chamorro in Guam have faced displacement due to the building of US military bases over their lands. Many Marshallese have been displaced by nuclear testing, most famously in their Bikini Atoll, and many more continue to face cancers and other consequences of the testing.
In general, the Pacific Island region is facing a health crisis due to non-communicable diseases, which include cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, exacerbated by the lack of adequate facilities in their homelands to treat them. As a result, over the decades, many Pacific Islanders have made the difficult decision to leave their homelands and find new homes elsewhere, “to improve the health and wellbeing of family members, and so that their kids could get a quality education,” Savusa shared.
According to a 2020 report compiled by the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA), 94,943 WA residents identified as NH and/or PI alone—comprising roughly 0.68% of the state’s total population. Native Hawaiians comprise the largest NH/PI ethnic group, followed by Samoans, Guamanians/Chamorro, Micronesian, Marshallese, Fijian, and Tongan. The majority of NH/PIs in the state reside in King County, followed by Pierce, Snohomish, Clark, and Spokane counties.
According to a report by Asian Americans Advancing Justice, from 2010 to 2020, the NH/PI population has increased nationwide by nearly 30%, making it the third fastest-growing racial group in the country.
According to Savusa, Boeing brought many Pacific Islanders here in the past; local poultry farms have also brought in many Marshallese. And like with Savusa’s uncle, many also joined the US military.
Pervasive issues facing NH/PI communities
While many NH/PIs migrated to Washington state for better opportunities, some still experience socio-economic disparities after they arrive. According to the same report from CAPAA, as of 2020, many recently-arrived migrant populations like Micronesians speak English “less than very well.” Such language gaps can severely affect NH/PIs’ ability to navigate the local political and social landscape or find opportunities for betterment and support.
One example that Savusa cited was that when there was a push for Washingtonians to obtain a Real ID, many Micronesians struggled applying for one themselves, and PICA-WA had to step in to provide them with assistance. Language barriers—coupled with a lack of knowledge and experience in the U.S.—can make it difficult for many NH/PIs to find jobs or apply for small businesses. Faced with limited opportunities, 12.3% of NH/PIs in King County were living below the poverty line in 2020, compared to 8.3% of Asians in the county, and 7.6% of the total population of King County.
It is clear that NH/PIs face unique challenges and need greater support compared to other populations. But due to their relatively small population size and relatively recent arrival to Washington state, Savusa feels they can be easily overlooked.
“I feel like we’re under the radar,” she said. “It’s a continuing dilemma of being invisible in community and non-profit spaces, so how do we get people to know us, even though we’re a small population set in the data?”
Such issues have only been exacerbated in the past year alone with Trump’s second administration and the slew of federal policies cutting essential social safety net programs.
“He is destroying access to support for families,” Savusa shared. “He’s trying to make poor people poorer. Erasure is happening, and this is what it looks like.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Savusa believes it all comes down to structural racism. Beyond providing direct services, it is also important to discuss such matters with community members to help them understand what is at stake, and how to respond to challenges.
“I feel like those kinds of conversations need to be elevated or sped up,” Savusa said. “When it comes to talking about oppression and marginalization in communities such as NH/PIs, it is important to help our community members understand: this is how the institutions are working. How do you understand that in a way that doesn’t paralyze you—that you don’t get discouraged?”
Interethnic partnerships and solidarity
Savusa draws strength and inspiration from her own family. Born and raised in King County, she grew up watching her parents organize their own community way back in the 1970s. In an earlier IE interview in 2018, Savusa recounted that her father was himself a Samoan matai, or hereditary chief, who started the Samoan chief’s council in Seattle and also helped found the Samoan National Chief’s Council in the 1980s. Savusa also recalled her mother, who drew on the work happening within Southeast Asian community and refugee populations and advocated for bilingual education for Samoan students.
“My mother and father kind of exuded that community spirit. ‘Who is your neighbor? Let’s figure out how to work with them,’” said Savusa, who noted that her parents constantly had guests and visitors in their home. “They loved meeting other people who look like them. They knew that when it comes to solving big problems, it takes a village.”
“They knew that we need to learn from the successes of our brothers and sisters,” Savusa continued.
In 2000, Savusa helped create the first ethnic-specific Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) in the nation, the Samoan Pacific Islander PTSA. It helps build culturally-responsive ways of learning and teaching, improving educational outcomes for NH/PI students. She also advocated for the disaggregation of student demographic data to encourage better reporting.
In 2016, Washington state legislation passed HB 1541—sponsored by WA State representative Sharon Tomiko Santos—which aims to close “opportunity gaps” in education. Savusa considers the passage of the bill to be another great example of inter-ethnic and interracial solidarity.
“What does liberation look like for communities of color?” Savusa asked. “There’s been a lot of anti-racist work here in this region that has been really helpful as we go through times like this.”
Savusa joined the White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA) in 2012, where she served as executive director for over a decade. It was during her leadership when WCCDA launched the White Center Community HUB to create a place of “Hope, Unity, and Belonging,” where working families can find affordable housing along and essential services that nurture their stability and create greater opportunity.
For the White Center Community HUB’s capital project, Savusa was adamant that land acknowledgments are not a hollow promise.
“One of the things that I knew that we wanted to make sure that we figure out was how to eventually return the land to Duwamish [tribe],” said Savusa. “We want to build their capacity to be able to manage [it] if that’s what they want to do—but how do we make sure that they’re named and that this land is honored as their land?”
Savusa also makes sure the spirit of reciprocity infuses her relationships and community-building efforts.
“I am who I am because I knew of the path that my African American brothers and sisters, my Native American, my Asian, [and] Latino brothers and sisters took,” said Savusa. “It is important to make sure that the young people who are around the work understand this was happening—understand the history of racism, but also make sure that people all have the analysis around race and racism… because we cannot do it alone.”
For Savusa, the important thing is learning from each other and from those that came before us to figure out how to counter the ways racism works.
“I think the work is so much stronger when we work together across cultures. Because what we do here at PICA-WA is for everybody, not just Pacific Islanders, and so, having that values-centered [approach] really helps to kind of strengthen the way that we look at liberation for communities as a whole.”
“I’ve appreciated the assistance of my Asian brothers and sisters, who have reached out specifically to ensure that Pacific Islander communities are also being seen at this time,” said Savusa. “We know we’re a smaller population, but I know that what’s happening now is definitely a collective effort, and the more that we can work across cultures, I think the communities are better off.
Savusa remains a pillar not only of the NH/PI community, but also the local community in Seattle and King County. She received an International Examiner Community Voice Award in 2006, a Martin Luther King Medal of Distinguished Service in 2023, and the CAPAA Vanguard Award in 2024.
Adrian Alarilla, PhD, is a program evaluator, writer, researcher, and filmmaker. Born and raised in the Philippines, he is currently based south of in Seattle, and has a PhD in History from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Besides contributing to the International Examiner, he is an associate with Alaska-based consulting firm Stellar Group, and has worked with Tribal, governmental, and nongovernmental agencies in Alaska, Hawaiʻi, and the Pacific Islands.
