Panels & Presenters: Day 1

Over twenty years ago, at a keynote address for the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, Konai Helu Thaman argued the importance of recognizing and including the perspectives, knowledge, and worldviews of indigenous peoples of Oceania in higher education. Just a few years prior, Linda Tuhiwai Smith provided a vocabulary to articulate the many insidious impacts of histories of colonialism in the Pacific not only on the lived experience of communities but also on the systems of research and knowledge-building created in service of colonial projects. Their work was a clear call for decolonizing research, the classroom, and the academic project more widely, and for us to figure out how to make them work for our communities.

This groundswell of decolonial work has reshaped political and economic imaginaries, inspired projects of reclamation and resurgence, and materialized curricular change. In its wake, we can ask: How do power, place, politics, and proximity shape how we teach the Pacific? What insights might be drawn from program-building successes and failures? How do we navigate connections, tensions, and even fractures in this shared project? Finally, given the contemporary moment, how much have these innovations changed the academy and what threat do they pose? Drawing on two current projects that together help to reflect on the shifting grounds of Pacific studies, this talk considers how the foundational work of the past shapes our present and how it might help us meet our futures. 

Lisa Uperesa is an interdisciplinary Pacific scholar whose teaching and research interests include movement and mobility in the Pacific and beyond; sport, gender, and community; colonialism and U.S. empire; and deep and contemporary Indigenous knowledges and embodied practices. She is Associate Professor and Morgan and Helen Chu Chair in Asian American Studies at UCLA.  Lisa also serves as the interim faculty lead supporting the Native American and Pacific Islander Bruins Rising Initiative. She is the author of the award-winning book Gridiron Capital: How American Football Became a Samoan Game (Duke University Press, 2022). 

What are the variety of programs in Hawai'i and on the continental U.S. that have made the study of Pacific Islanders in the Pacific and in diaspora possible? This presentation pays particular attention to Area Studies- and Ethnic Studies-related programs that have emerged in the last thirty years. Many conference attendees are award of these programs, their faculty, and their alumni, of course. But it will be helpful for me to create a poster of some sort that maps and chronicles the history of such programs that have contributed to the ongoing development of Pacific Islands studies and related fields of study.

John P. Rosa is Associate Professor of History at UH Manoa. Previously he was one of the founding faculty of Asian Pacific American Studies at Loyola Marymount University (1998-1999) and Asian Pacific American Studies at Arizona State University (1999-2006) where he worked with Kanaka Maoli and Pacific Islander diasporic communities in Los Angeles County and the Phoenix Metropolitan area. He is the author of Local Story: The Massie-Kahahawai Case and the Culture of History (UH Press, 2014). 

The Manoa Pacific Islands Program was struggling thru the 70's. The program had annual conferences and a series of Working Papers. Carl Deufer Kept it together with effective support from Len Mason, Norm Meller and others.  Other prominent faculty were not  supportive of area studies and the program was threatened.  Fortunately  a collective voice led to the hiring of Bob Kiste as full time Director.  Federal money had become available for area studies, and Bob capitalized on that creating the only National Area Studies Center for the Pacific Islands Bob also obtained private funds to support the Journal and monograph series. The DOE grants included outreach to UHH and our Pacific speakers program benefitted enormously. Bob's strength was in gaining islander respect and bringing islanders to the center as resource people and faculty. It has been a who's who in Pacific Studies. Holding the annual conference in Hilo in gave us the encouragement to develop our own small 21 credit certificate program in 1992. 

Craig Severance taught cultural anthropology and Pacific Studies at U H Hilo from 1977 to 2007.  He collaborated with CPIS during that period and developed UHH's Pacific Islands Studies Certificate Program, serving as coordinator until retirement.  His focus has been on teaching and student mentoring.  His applied policy anthropology focus shifted toward Western Pacific Fisheries in the early 90's and he served on the Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council until 2024.  He chairs the Council's Social Science Planning Committee and stays active in fisheries. 

The Pacific Islands were divided, in the 19th century, into three geographical categories known as Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. These categorizations had their origins in the writing of J S C Dumont d’Urville in 1832 and G L Domeny de Rienzi in 1836–1837.  Although they are still in use, they have deleterious implications for the Pacific. For example, Melanesia remains characterized by black skin color, which is influenced by the conceptual race theory of the 19th century. Micronesia’s framing as a ‘sea of little lands’ creates a small and unimportant perception of the region. Polynesia was portrayed by RL Stevenson, Herman Melville, and many others, as representing the exotic paradisial “South Pacific,” a capital of sensual pleasures, a counter to the West’s perceived puritanism. These categorizations were translated into written representations in ethnographic work and government documents and correspondences that powerfully influenced European approaches and interactions with the Pacific region.

Joseph D. Foukona was born and raised in Honiara, Solomon Islands. He received his LLB and LLM degrees from the University of the South Pacific in 2000 and 2001, and an LLM from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2003. He completed a PhD on land, law and history at the Australian National University. Joseph was a lecturer for ten years at the University of the South Pacific. He has undertaken research on customary land tenure, climate change and natural disaster displacements and relocation, urban land, land reform, constitutional, and governance issues in the Pacific. Through research, training, and teaching experience Joseph has detailed working knowledge of development and governance, land, law, and history in the Pacific region. His work has been recognized through professional associations, publications, and academic awards.

Dance challenges (particularly on TikTok) are one of the latest social media trends that draw engagement from dancers of all skill levels and non-dancers alike. Recently, Pacific Islands dances have joined the list of global dances featured in these challenges.  On one hand, dance challenges seem to spark an interest in and awareness of Pacific Islands dances; on the other, they can disrupt norms, protocols, and values of these dance traditions. In what ways does a short video clip meant to garner “likes” undermine the deeper meaning and context of a dance?  What are the long-term impacts of self-taught learning (watch, copy, perform) versus intentional teacher-to-student transmission of dances? How does the viewer access the quality and accuracy of a performance on a platform where all information is presented as equal?  This presentation looks at specific examples of recent dance trends/challenges of hula and ‘ori to explore these questions. 

Chai Blair-Stahn is of Central American, Caribbean, and European ancestry.  He was born in California and raised in Arizona. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from the University of Puget Sound and graduated with a Master’s of Arts in Pacific Islands Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2014.  Since 2018, Chai has been a lecturer in Hawaiian Studies and Pacific Islands Studies at Leeward Community College, O’ahu, Hawai’i.  He is a student of both hula in Ka Pā Hula O Ka Lei Lehua and of ‘ori Tahiti in Tahiti Mana School of Dance. 

The climate crisis is becoming increasingly severe, particularly for Pasifika peoples, and is compounded by colonial forces such as militarism. Indigenous Pacific Islander artists wield their ancestral knowledges to amplify their stories of climate change impacts and advocate for solutions that center Indigenous epistemologies. This project demonstrates Indigenous Pacific Islander visual art as climate artivism framed through the Chamoru cultural concept of inagofli‘e, which is a form of love and care that literally translates to “to really see each other.” For this project, I interviewed 11 Pacific Islanders residing in Hawai‘i to unpack what climate justice means for their respective communities and how they envision climate-just futures for their islands and Oceania. Considering these stories with my own, I created a body of visual artwork that articulates these envisioned futures, embodies Indigenous sovereignty, and advocates for decolonization and demilitarization as climate action. 

Gillian Dueñas is a Taotao Tåno artist and scholar who was born and raised in the lands of the Suquamish people (Bremerton, WA). She earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Social Work from the University of Washington, Seattle, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Pacific Islands Studies at UH Manoa. Her work weaves together visual art and critical scholarship to advocate for decolonization and demilitarization of Indigenous lands in Oceania as well as honor her ancestral legacy of creativity and storytelling. 

He toka tū moana, he ākinga nā ngā tai (A standing rock in the sea, lashed by the tides, is resilience) provides the conceptual grounding for this paper, which explores the role of Indigenous practice-led and place-based dance research within Moana Nui a Kiwa. We examine how embodied approaches to pedagogy, grounded in Indigenous epistemologies of land, sky, and sea, foster resilience, relationality, and cultural vitality within tertiary education. Drawing on our experiences delivering Pacific dance and performance papers at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, we critically consider how embodied learning practices reconfigure the boundaries of Pacific Studies by positioning the body as a site of knowledge creation, cultural transmission, and intellectual inquiry. These pedagogical approaches highlight the significance of dance not merely as performance, but as a methodology that communicates complex ideas, emotions, and genealogies. In dialogue with Epeli Hau‘ofa’s vision of Oceania as a creation sustained by “countless people in all walks of life”, our paper situates Indigenous dance praxis as central to the continuity and community of Pacific Studies. We argue that practice-led research offers both a decolonial critique of dominant academic frameworks and a generative method for advancing Indigenous Arts as catalysts for social justice, wellbeing, and the nurturing of mana Oceania futures.

Tia Reihana (PhD) is passionate about the arts as a means to make sense of the world. With over 30 years of experience in education, her passion for dance has afforded her numerous opportunities to work extensively in professional, community, and institutional settings across Australia, the Pacific, North America, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Currently a Senior lecturer in Dance Studies at Waipapa Taumata Rau, The University of Auckland, her work is responsive to Indigenous communities and their critical considerations of current dance environments, and how we might foster confidence and belonging in the nexus between arts education and Indigenous research methodologies. At the University of Auckland, Tia is also a co-director of the Centre for Co-Created Ageing Research. Tia's expertise spans Arts, Education, and Health, making her a vital voice in understanding the challenges and opportunities within formal education systems and beyond.

Teuila Hughes is a doctoral candidate and Graduate teacher in Dance Studies at Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland. As an afakasi Samoan woman, artist, teacher, and researcher, her work explores socio-cultural narratives of identity and the sustainability of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and becoming. Guided by the revitalisation of Indigenous wisdom through embodied, creative practices, her work seeks to open pathways for healing, community-building, and cultural continuity. Her extensive experience in dance teaching, choreography, and curriculum development has taken her across various landscapes including Fiji, Samoa, Hawai‘i, Colombia, and China. Teuila’s current research, grounded in Indigenous Oceanic methodologies, explores relational embodiment in the practice and performance of Siva Samoa.