Indigenous Studies Commons^™

My Pigeon, From The Samoan, Caroline Sinavaiana

Pacific Studies

This poem is a lyrical elegy expressing love, longing, and loss through the metaphor of a pigeon in flight. Rooted in Samoan tradition, it evokes a deep emotional landscape where nature mirrors the ache of separation. The forest becomes both a literal and symbolic space of mystery and mourning, as the speaker watches and waits in vain for a beloved who has disappeared. Through its gentle cadence and sensory imagery, the poem captures the enduring ache of absence and the hope—however faint—that love might return on silent wings.

Dialoguing Across The Pacific: Kūkā Kūkā And The Cultivation Of Wahine Maoli Identities, Noelani Goodyear-Ka'opua, Lana Sue Ka‘O ̄Pua

Pacific Studies

Hilihewa ka mana‘o ke‘ole ke kūkākūkā. As thoughts can become miswoven when there is no discussion, so it is with our identities as Wahine Maoli, Native Hawaiian women, and the ensuing choices we make about how to live in this world. Other recent collaborative articles by Kānaka Maoli have used kūkākūkā to refer to face-to-face “talk-story” sessions. This kūkākūkā is different, as one of us is living in Hawai‘i and the other in California. We used e-mail and telephone conversations to enable kūkākūkā spanning distances of time and space. As we communicate across generations and across our ocean home, we …

Not Exotic, Lisa Kahaleole Hall

Pacific Studies

This sensual poem explores desire and self-discovery through the metaphor of mangoes—ripe, tart, messy, and irresistible. The speaker recalls the intense flavors and sensations of mango eating, paralleling them with a complex, bold woman who resists sweetness in favor of spice. It captures the tension between sharp edges and tender longing in a relationship that ripens slowly, but promises depth and heat in time.

Maori Women Researching Ourselves, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku

Pacific Studies

This essay, based on a keynote address titled "Maori Women and Research: Researching Ourselves," explores the significance of Maori women conducting research on their own identities, experiences, and communities. Challenging the dominance of non-Maori scholarship, the author advocates for self-representation and sovereignty in knowledge production. Drawing from intergenerational dialogue, collective reflection, and lived realities, the essay unpacks questions of gender, cultural protocol, positionality, and access within Maori society. It highlights the layered complexities faced by Maori women researchers—navigating traditional expectations, community dynamics, and academic gatekeeping—while affirming the transformative power of research as a tool for empowerment, reclamation, and cultural continuity.

Walking With My Grandmothers #2, Jewel Castro

Pacific Studies

Artwork portrays three women, two are grandmothers.

Prologue: Special Issue Women Writing Oceania–Weaving The Sails Of Vaka, Caroline Sinavaiana, J. Kehaulani Kauanui

Pacific Studies

This editorial introduction to Women Writing Oceania reflects on the physical, emotional, and spiritual toll of neocolonial legacies in the Pacific, especially among indigenous women. Editors, writing as activist-scholars, discuss the urgency of storytelling as survival, anchoring their reflections in personal experiences with illness, loss, and the weight of cultural and academic responsibilities. Framed by the broader health and social crises facing Oceanic communities, the collection is both testimony and tribute—dedicated to resilience, community, and the healing power of collective indigenous voice.

Piharamata Tumahai Smoking Her Taho, Marie-Hélène Villierme

Pacific Studies

Photograph of an elderly woman smoking.

Niudity (I-Iv), Teresia Teaiwa

Pacific Studies

The "Niudity" poem sequence by Teresia Teaiwa explores the layered metaphor of the coconut (niu) to reflect on identity, vulnerability, and postcolonial femininity in Oceania. The poems interweave bodily imagery with cultural symbolism—where the coconut’s husk, shell, and flesh represent stages of exposure, resilience, and inner worth. In playful yet poignant verse, Teaiwa deconstructs the idea of nudity into niudity—a state shaped not just by nakedness, but by misrecognition, resistance, and cultural disguise. Her fictional dictionary entries parody colonial linguistic authority while empowering indigenous reinterpretation. The final poem subverts expectations with sharp commentary on exploitation, voice, and …

Tradition, Jewel Castro

Pacific Studies

A painting of a woman's chest, opened to reveal people, perhaps her heritage.

Woven Worlds, Konai Helu Thaman

Pacific Studies

This poem beautifully portrays the act of weaving—both literal and metaphorical—as a shared practice of memory, creativity, and cultural continuity. The speaker reflects on how hands, once weaving traditional materials like voivoi (pandanus), now craft art through movement and color. Together, the weavers form a collective bond, connecting generations and geographies in a creative act that honors ancestral legacy and reimagines the world through shared expression.

Communicating Tradition In Samoan American Art: An Artist’S Reflection, Jewel Castro

Pacific Studies

This reflective essay explores the profound influence of Samoan tradition—particularly the sasa dance—on the author's identity and artistic practice. Through vivid childhood memories of her great-aunties' powerful and spiritually charged performances, the writer illustrates how traditional movement becomes a portal to ancestral connection and cultural affirmation. As a Samoan American artist, she uses these embodied experiences as inspiration for her installation-based storytelling environments, blending painting, sculpture, sound, scent, and space to express tradition as a living, multisensory force. Grounded in both memory and innovation, the essay positions tradition as a universal, transformative language that transcends cultural barriers and invites shared …

2nd Stanza, "Samoa," From Meet You In Hawaiki, Rosanna Raymond

Pacific Studies

An image of a woman with a poem.

Walking With My Grandmothers #3, Jewel Castro

Pacific Studies

An artwork portraying a woman flanked by two women, her grandmothers.

Vol. 30, No. 1/2 (2007): Pacific Studies Full Issue; Special Issue: Women Writing Oceania: Weaving The Sails Of Vaka, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies Brigham Young University–HawaiʻI

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US $26.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, …

Indians In Unexpected Places (Book Review), Jeffrey P. Cain

English Faculty Publications

Book review by Jeffrey Cain:

Deloria, Philip J. Indians in Unexpected Places. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004. ISBN: 9780700613441; 9780700614592 (pbk.)

Native American Heritage, South Dakota State University

Ethnic History

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from South Dakota State University.

Native Americans, Southwest State University

Ethnic History

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Southwest State University, Marshall.

Indian Gaming And Tribal Sovereignty: Vulnerable, Provisional, Contested, Sandra Faiman-Silva

Anthropology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exhibition Review Of "Cosmophilia: Islamic Art From The David Collection, Copenhagen", Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

THIS EXHIBITION WAS organized by the Isabella V. McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College. It is accompanied by a catalogue of the same title published in 2006 by Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, who also seived as curators, selecting objects in collaboration with the David Collection. The exhibition contains more than I 00 outstanding objects of Islamic art and includes more than 20 significant textiles, which represent diverse geographic origins (Yemen, Spain, India, Egypt, Central Asia, Turkey and Iran); with dates ranging from the 7th through the 19th centuries. Linen, cotton, wool and silk, traditional textile materials, …

Vanishing Points, Deformed Planes, Negative Spaces, Empty Solids And Topological Genius – Or, How I Got Lost In Bilbao, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Midsummer’s green along the flanks of the Pyrenees in Basque country welcomed us as we drove from Donostia (San Sebastian) west to Gernika and Bilbao. The mountains to the south physically separate this area of northern Spain from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. To the north lies the Atlantic with its vast expanse of water, gentle waves lapping at the shore. The mountain slopes here are profoundly uplifted and folded – nature’s deformations of the plane – and the steep valleys and rushing rivers exhibit visible geometric perspectives of geological forms. To be here in summer makes one especially …

American Indian Heritage Month, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Ethnic History

Photographs of a display of government documents from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Meet Our Native Americans, Poplar Creek Public Library

Ethnic History

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Poplar Creek Public Library, Illinois.

Photograph Of The Extraction Crew, Steve Shaffer

Indian Head Rock Project

Photograph of the Indian Head Rock extraction crew on the day of the Rock's removal.

"The Desired Effect": Pontiac's Rebellion And The Native American Struggle To Survive In Britain's North American Conquest, Joseph D. Gasparro

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Ravaged by war and in debt after its victory in the French and Indian War, Britain was not only recuperating, but rejoicing over the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763. This treaty officially ended the fighting and gave Britain all of the land east of the Mississippi River, formerly owned by the French. The ink on the treaty was barely dry when a new insurgence arose in British occupied North America. Native Americans, dissatisfied after the war with their position as conquered people and not as allies, rebelled collectively against British colonists and forts along the frontier. Before …

Working With Navajos: A Case Study Of A Diversity Training Programme, Bruce Carolan

Other resources

This paper critically analyzes – in a qualitative, exploratory way – a diversity training programme designed by Mr. Marshall Plummer, the former Vice President of the Navajo Nation, called ‘Working with Navajos.’ My research query is whether the training programme is consistent with theoretical models for developing intercultural sensitivity, particularly M.J. Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. (Bennett, 1993; Bennett & Bennett, 2004) My research has included a document review and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with key informants, including Mr. Plummer.

The Arc And The Sediment, Christine Allen-Yazzie

All USU Press Publications

Gretta Bitsilly, gin-steeped mother of two and self-proclaimed expert at standing outside the margins of ethnicity and peering in, has been all but eclipsed by the world that eludes her--as a wife, a writer, a skeptic in "the other land of Zion," Utah. Gretta has set off to Fort Defiance, Arizona, where she hopes to convince her Navajo husband, who has escaped not from his family but from alcoholism, to come home.

Over a sputtering two-steps-forward, one-step-back desert journey, Gretta is diverted by chance, seizures, an inconstant memory, and the disjointed character of her irresolute quest.

She is fueled by …

Shoshonean Peoples And The Overland Trails, Dale L. Morgan

All USU Press Publications

This compilation of Dale Morgan's historical work on Indians in the Intermountain West focuses primarily on the Shoshone who lived near the Oregon and California trails.

Three connected works by Morgan are included: First is his classic article on the history of the Utah Superintendency of Indian Affairs. This is followed by a previously unpublished history of early relations among the Western Shoshoni, emigrants, and the government along the California Trail. The book concludes with an important set of government reports and correspondence from the National Archives concerning the Eastern Shoshone and their leader Washakie. Morgan heavily annotated these for …

Marketplace Plants Used In Ceremonial Cleansing Among Andean Qechuans Of Ecuador, Sushma Shrestha

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Ceremonial cleansing plays a vital role in indigenous societies where ‘folk illnesses’ such as susto (fright) are common. Indigenous Andean Qechuans commonly use cleansing plants to treat susto, and related ‘folk illnesses’.The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare market plants and to define methods and knowledge used in ceremonial cleansing among Ecuadorian Qechuans. Interviews were conducted with 22 vendors at 13 marketplaces. Regression Analysis (RA) determined preferentially selected plant families and residual value of RA determined the highest and lowest preferentially selected plant families.Hierarchical cluster analysis and coefficient of similarity demonstrated the relationship between marketplaces and cleansing …

From Folding And Cutting To Geometry And Algorithms: Integrating Islamic Art Into The Mathematics Curriculum, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Drawing upon visual forms of expression prevalent in Islamic arts and architecture, this workshop offers handson experience for understanding basic concepts in geometry, with reference to algorithms in processes of patternmaking. Art teachers and math educators may learn a variety of strategies for classroom teaching, adaptable for K-12, to acquaint students with principles underlying patterns in Islamic art. Such patterns relate to the history of mathematics at a time when Baghdad was an intellectually vibrant center of patronage, and al-Khwarezmi was engaged in the development of what we now call algebra and algorithms. Students may explore these ideas through their …

Indigenous Scientific Literacies In Nalo Hopkinson’S Ceremonial Worlds, Grace L. Dillon

Indigenous Nations Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasingly our critical tradition is recognizing the prevalence of issues of indigeneity in sf. Whether this emerging emphasis reflects keener powers of observation on the part of readers or shifting preferences on the part of writers, it is clear that, as the idealism of a Golden Age melts into the dross of colonial aftermath, sf is beginning to reflect the West's rising awareness that manifest destinies, whatever fashion they wear, wield a violent science in pursuing control and care little for the cultures they displace and erase. Nor is it surprising that a genre noted for its pioneering exploration of …