The Reef People have a special and personal relationship with the ocean. They follow the Fya’o Payä, ‘the Way of Water’, a philosophy that teaches one how to live in harmony with the sea. The Fya’o Payä is essential for learning to successfully freedive, which is a skill all Metkayina learn from a young age.
A Metkayina teaching on the Way of Water:
The way of water has no beginning and no end. The sea is around you and in you. The sea is your home before your birth, and after your death. Our hearts beat in the womb of the world. Our breath burns in the shadows of the deep. The sea gives and the sea takes. Water connects all things: life to death, darkness to light.
A Reef Na’vi translation:
Fyao Paye ke sngäi, ke ’ia. Txampay pxaw nga kop mì nga. Ngari txampay lu kelku, sre sìongokx, maw kxitx. Awngari txe’lanur lu ’ekong mì frrku kifkeye. Awngari syeha palon mì ayùk atxukx. Txampay zamunge, txampay kemunge. Payìl ’awstengyem frauti: tìreyti sìn tìterkùp, tìvawmti sìn atan.
