Wai? Indigenous Words and Ideas

Ep. 47: Reflections from across Oceania and Indigenous Feminism with Lana Lopesi

Lana Lopesi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon interested in Indigenous and Women of Colour Feminisms, Contemporary Art, and Global Indigeneities. We begin this episode by reflecting on both of our recent shifts in social and political context moving from Aotearoa-New Zealand to the continental United States. This episode covers terms and the differences of scale across societies, feminisms including Sāmoan perspectives, and an analysis of various systems of power from the macro level to the internal. We conclude with a reflection on ideas, community impact, as well as consider cultural values and their entanglements within an assumed system of morality, which is gendered in particular ways.

 

Bloody Woman by Lana Lopesi.

 

Terms: Karanga (a formal or ceremonial call); karakia (ritual chant, say grace), Nafanua (Guardian/Patron/Goddess of War), Salamasina (15^th century paramount who held all four district titles as Tafa‘ifa), Vā Moana, Kaukalaikiiki/Tautalaitiiti (‘to speak above one’s age’, impudent, cheeky).

Ep. 46: Remembering Mate Ma‘a Tonga with Tēvita Ka‘ili and ‘Inoke Hafoka

Indigenous Tongan scholars Dr. Ka‘ili and Dr. Hafoka join this episode of remembering the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and the impact of Mate Ma‘a Tonga. We reflect on the background to doing research at that time and thinking about the geopolitics of sport alongside an exploration of Tongan Indigeneity. One of the iconic moments we recall is the roll of diaspora and descendant populations having the opportunity to play for Tonga with an international rule change allowing overseas players to represent a heritage country. We discuss several topics including identity across borders, the philosophy behind faiva or performance in sport, and how nationalist boundaries of identity were transcended through Indigenous depths of fonua (land, country, heritage). We conclude by sharing some thoughts on deeper relationships to ancient Tongan sport such as kasivaki (an Indigenous Tongan underwater ‘rugby-like’ game), the unifying force of global sport that transcended common ideas about identity, and a symbolic meaning of Mate Ma‘a Tonga.

 

This podcast is intended to be complimentary to the article ‘Indigenous Performances of Tongan Identity in Global Sporting Events’, written by ‘Inoke Hafoka, Arcia Tecun, Tēvita Ō. Ka‘ili, and S. Ata Siu‘ulua.

 

Terms and Basic Interpretations: Kasivaki (underwater Indigenous Tongan game played with stones and coral posts), Tauhi Vā (performance art of social-spatial relations), Faiva (performance, to relate spatially), Mālie (bravo, exclamation of a beautiful performance), Māfana (warmth, exhilaration, spiritual phenomenon), Fonua (placenta, land, country, heritage), Sipi Tau (Tongan posture or ‘war’ dance/challenge), Hikifonua (Tongan concept for ‘diaspora’ meaning to lift and transport land represented by people), Punga Tea/Punga Kapa (coral stone posts used in Kasivaki), Tautai (sea warriors/seafarers), Ukuloloto (sea diving), Mate Ma’a Tonga (give your all for Tonga, literally ‘die for Tonga’).

Ep. 45: Diversity and Institutions with Kehau Folau and Tino Diaz

Kehaulani Folau is a Madau-Moana (Oceanian) scholar and doctoral student of education, and Tino is a critical educator and activist. We discuss ‘diversity’ in the context of dominant schooling institutions, including its impact and limitations. Our talanoa/platica is inspired by recent legal acts to ban diversity initiatives, and Tino’s online commentary “DEI can’t save us, so why do we try so hard to save it?”. We critically reflect on the institutional limits of diversity initiatives, imagine a more robust political project of liberation, but also end with examples of how such initiatives despite their shortcomings have been beneficial.

Ep. 44: Returning Home and Indigenous Art with Moana Palelei Iose

This episode features Moana Iose who is an artist and Indigenous art policy consultant, as well as the founder of Salt Lake City’s Pasifika First Fridays and the Lost Eden Gallery. We begin with a look back to our global crossing of paths and our shared connections at Auckland Uni. Moana was involved in the ‘I too am Auckland’ project while she studied at Waipapa Taumata Rau (formerly Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau, a.k.a. University of Auckland), where she drew inspiration from Black student organising at Harvard to help catalyse discussions of race for Māori and Pacific students in New Zealand’s universities. We reflect on being from, living outside of, and then returning to Salt Lake City, and the complicated love we have for this place and the simultaneous frustration we have with this society. Moana shares her views and work with Indigenous art and responding to community and place, while challenging the dominant narratives that have been imposed on folks of colour. She also shares some of the story behind the fiercely local and yet internationally reaching Lost Eden gallery and the young Indigenous artists who are currently based there. We conclude with reflections on being critically conscious in our current moment, developing a sense of stewardship and connection to where we live, and valuing the significance of art in our world.

Ep. 43: Critical Tongan Studies with Ata - Part 2

Building on an earlier episode about Critical Tongan Studies, Ata and I revisit this idea and discuss the various waves that make up a rich intellectual tradition based in the regions associated with Tonga. Acknowledging the social and national construction at a particular point in time we seek to localise and unpack the context where different philosophical traditions emerged by imagining both a pre- and post- Kingdom of Tonga context. We don’t cover everything, but we spend some time on the foundational shifts in thinking and questioning based in the era when Queen Sālote Tupou III reigned. This includes commissioning research of early Tongan scholars and scholars of Tonga who would be crucial in capturing a memory of Indigenous cultural practices and arts as well as further developing a critical intellectual tradition that asked important yet challenging questions. This includes scholars like Epeli Hau’ofa, Elizabeth Bott, I. Futa Helu and more, up through to the contemporary Early Tongan Scholars and Global Tongan Scholars’ networks of today.

 

References Mentioned:

Women of Power Part 2

Tongan Society: Discussions with Her Majesty Queen Sālote Tupou

Tales of the Tikongs

Songs and Poems of Queen Sālote

Queen Sālote of Tonga

 

Ep.42: Thinking about living in and relating better to this place

This episode begins with some reflections on my experience and relations to people of place and to being mindful of where one lives, especially if one’s immediate ancestral ties lie elsewhere. I think about responsibilities and possibilities of relating differently and better to where I currently reside by digging deeper beyond the dominant understandings of Indigenous people and issues here in Utah. I highlight a variety of sources by Indigenous folks in order to respect their capacity and listening to what they have already shared by reading what is already available and putting in some work to better understand it. Topics include remembering Soonkahni (Salt Lake Valley), Indigenous identities and cultural politics in this place and remembering a more complex and nuanced reality outside of our current cultural climate crisis. I work through different words and terms and where they derive from along with a range of meanings. This episode concludes by thinking about Farmer’s historical observation of a shift from an aquatic age to a hydraulic one that underpins various issues currently faced right now in this place. An overarching theme is a practice of respecting elder cultures and perspectives in order to more meaningfully relate to place.

Terms: Soonkahni (Salt Lake Valley in Newe Taikwa-Shoshoni Language), Piapaa (Big Water, Sea, a name for the Great Salt Lake in Newe Taikwa), Pia Okwai (Big Flow/River, a name for Utah’s Jordan River in Newe Taikwa), Newe (The People), Neme (The People), Nuuchiu (The People), Nuwuvi (The People), Diné (The People), Awahko (Sucker fish in Newe Taikwa), Paa Kateten (One name for Utah Lake in Newe Taikwa).

Suggested Reading List: History and culture - Darren Parry’s Bear River Massacre; Forest Cuch’s (Ed) A History of Utah’s American Indians; We shall remain – Utah documentary series; Dora Van et. al’s History of Unita Valley Shoshone Tribe of the Utah Nation. Non-Indigneous writers/producers - Black hawks mission of peace by Philip Gottfredson and The Black Hawk War Utah’s Forgotten Tragedy documentary film; Utah’s Black Hawk War by John Alton Peterson; On Zion’s Mount by Jared Farmer; Place and Personal Names of the Gosiute Indians of Utah by Ralph V. Chamberlin. Linguistic – Drusilla Gould and Christopher Loether’s An Introduction to the Shoshone Language; University of Utah’s Shoshoni Language Project.

Ep. 41: Intro and Background to Tongan Coloniality with Ata

Ata and I have just published a paper on Tongan Coloniality which this episode provides a brief introduction to as well as a bit of background behind this research project.  Prior to successfully publishing this paper we were getting blocked within academia when making attempts to discuss Indigenous issues from a Tonga context in relation to global perspectives. Questions of Tongan Indigeneity have regularly been raised due to the dominant idea and definition of Indigeneity based on minoritized people within ancestral homelands, predominantly in settler-colonial nations. Tonga also has a popular narrative of ‘never being colonised’ so this project initially confronted the scholarly audience in Pacific Studies, Pacific Anthropology, and Indigenous Studies in order to be able to eventually do the work we want to and have the conversations we’d like to in that arena. However, this episode is aimed at a broader and more public audience in mind. We explain why we are challenging popular assumptions and ideas directly by drawing from Tongan scholars and scholars of Tonga and the Oceanian region, while making links to ‘Global South Third World’ perspectives. Topics include coercion into British protectorate status, the role of Christianity, capitalism, and nation-state formation. We end with a teaser on Tongan Indigeneity from Ata’s current doctoral research and insights of how critical consciousness is a long-standing tradition in Tonga.

Terms: ASAO (Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania), Cognitive Dissonance (a concept from the field of psychology to identify the mental stress of paradox or contradictions, by altering how one processes information to make a contradiction fit within the consistency or belief one is socialised or accustomed to already, despite evidence from new information that is contrary to it), TRA (Tongan Research Association, formerly the Tonga History Association), Bad Faith (Lewis Gordon draws from Sartre’s concept of ‘bad faith’ and applies it to anti-blackness such as the bad faith practiced in the modern fears of Black consciousness; we apply it in this podcast in the principle of avoiding personal torment by ignoring evidence that reveals a reality contrary to a cherished belief; related to cognitive dissonance), Wansolwara (Tok Pisin, Bislama, Pijin for the Salt Water Continent of Oceania), Tåsi (Sea or Ocean in Chamorro, the Indigenous language of Guåhan/Guam), Moana (Big or Deep Ocean, Oceania in eastern Oceanic languages from the ‘Polynesian’ region), ‘Uta (plantation or commonly interpreted as ‘the bush’ in lea faka-Tonga), Kolo (town, city, or dense settlement in lea faka-Tonga), Motu (island, at times in reference to ‘outer island(s)’ in lea faka-Tonga), tu‘a (later in time, periphery, outer/outside/marginal, or else in reference to lower ranking people currently also conflated with 17th century British notions of class and interpreted as ‘commoner’).

Ep. 40: Family Culture Shock

This episode takes a sneak peak into one of our whānau hui (family meetings/gatherings) where we reflect on a recent move we have made. The tamariki (children) share some insights and observations of living in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and now in Soonkahni (Salt Lake), including nationalism in schools, political ideologies, language, and foods. My partner and I reflect on their comments further and share some thoughts about accessing and living in these different places. We conclude with some observations about inequity between these places and differing societal values and culture(s).

Ep. 39: Fahu (A Chiefly Relative) with Dorothy Savieti

This episode features post graduate student Dorothy Savieti who has been interested in and researching fahu (chiefly sister, aunt, relative, etc.) within Tongan culture and society. She shares an introduction to thinking about this significant identity and role within family clans that are commonly known for their ceremonial position and function in life events. We discuss how there are a variety of perspectives and understandings throughout time, as well as ongoing changes occurring, while highlighting some of the debates over defining fahu in our contemporary context. Fahu remain significant despite various views and Dorothy’s early stages of research reveals complexity and additional considerations to continue to explore. She concludes with some summarising thoughts and reflections on different sources to consider when researching culture.

Terms: Mehekitanga (fathers sister – paternal auntie); ‘Ilamutu (brother’s term for his sisters children who are genealogically superior in chiefly rank as nieces/nephews); Fakafotu (we didn’t use this term in the podcast, but it is the sisters term for her brothers children who are genealogically inferior in chiefly rank as nieces/nephews); Fahuloa/Lohuloa (paternal grandfather's sister, one’s father's mehekitanga, paternal great auntie); Koloa (treasures made by women like tapa – fine mats); ‘Eiki (Chief/ly, high ranking person); ‘Eikiness (Tongan English vernacular for chiefliness/chief/chiefly, high ranking); Tu‘a (Peripheral or lower ranking, associated with being younger in rank, contemporarily often interpreted through classed conflations with rank with terms like ‘commoner’); Liongi (lower ranking relation in a particular context); Ta'ovala (waist mat of which there are different kinds that have different meanings).

Note: In Tonga(n) cultural phenomena someone may be in a chiefly or higher ranking position where they receive gifts, tributes, and are served in one context - while in a different context may find themselves in a non or less chiefly role that makes offerings, tributes, and is in service to other chiefs or higher ranking positions. Chiefly rank is important, but its manifestation is often dependent upon contextually specific relationships in particular moments.

Ep. 38: Cos-Maya-Politan with Genner Llanes-Ortiz

Yucatec Maya Anthropologist Genner Llanes-Ortiz joins this episode from his current position as research chair of digital Indigeneities at the Bishop’s university in Canada. He shares some of his background in anthropology, Indigenous rights, and linguistics throughout the world. We discuss Dr. Llanes-Ortiz article Cos-Maya-Politan Futures where he coins this term to identify cultural and historical heritage that is contemporarily mobilised in the Maya region and transcends modern national borders through (re)connections. While a sense of ‘cosmopolitanism’ for Maya is not something novel with a long history of being open and connected to larger worlds, this is a response to the 21^st century moment, and the digital circulation of music and film that contemplates what it means to be Maya today. This leads into a discussion on Yucatec-Maya representation in the film Wakanda Forever. There are some spoilers, but we reflect on this film within a larger context of some previous Maya representation in pop culture, the opportunities that have emerged at this time, as well as some ongoing structural limitations that leave us wanting for more. The significance of the representations in this film in multiple contexts are considered along with hopes that it will inspire more questions.

Terms: Maya T’an (Yucatec-Maya spoken language); Cos-Maya-Politanism (term coined by Dr. Llanes-Ortiz referring to a Mayan based perspective that is open to a bigger world); Milpa (derived from Nahuatl meaning cultivated field or corn field); Cenotes (deep hole that results from collapsed limestone bedrock that  exposes ground water at the bottom); Chaj Chay or Pok ta’ pok (Mesoamerican ball game); Mexica (Aztec/Nahuatl); Nantat (ancestors in Highland Maya languages such as K’iche’); Palenque/Maroon (autonomous communities throughout Central America and the Caribbean of primarily formerly enslaved Indigenous Africans who freed themselves, who at times lived with or in relation with local Indigenous Amerindian peoples).

Ep. 37: Hohoko ‘a e To‘utangata (Intergenerational Consciousness) with David Taufui Mikato Fa‘avae

David Fa‘avae joins this episode bringing with him his experience as a Tongan/Sāmoan with ties to Niue, and as a founder of the early Tongan scholars network, a Senior Research Fellow at Waipapa Taumata Rau (University of Auckland), and Senior Lecturer at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato (University of Waikato). Ata and I discuss with Dave some of his intellectual background that seeks to respond to community needs, as well as some of his research interests with intergenerationality, education, and developing critical depth in the terms and concepts we use. Dave shares the positive and important aspects of intergenerational relationships that can alleviate tensions and provide worthwhile wisdom and practices that provide grounded pathways for future generations. We discuss challenges in dominant institutions of schooling as well as their legacies, and the significance of education. We consider Epeli Hau‘ofa’s scholarship and the importance of engaging with messy intellectual terrains, facing a greater complexity that requires multiple lenses, while also upholding Indigenous relational ethics, which are also critically confronting external and internal power dynamics.

 

Terms: Hohoko 'a e To'utangata (inter-generationality, intergenerational and genealogical consciousness); Loto Tonga (in Tonga, the center of Tonga, term that refers to Tongans positioned in the Kingdom of Tonga); Tu’a Tonga (outside of Tonga, the periphery of Tonga, term that refers to Tongans positioned outside of the Kingdom of Tonga in NZ, AUS, US, etc.); Mokopuna (grandchild); Tauhi Vā/Tauhi Vaha‘a (Mediating relationships, upholding kinship/clan and socio-spatial points of relation); Mamahi‘i Me‘a (passion and devotion – both Tauhi Vā and Mamahi‘i Me‘a are among the Faa‘i kaveikoula ‘a e Tonga or Four golden pillars of Tongan culture and society as emphasized by HRH Queen Sālote Tupou III); ‘Eiki Mokopuna (chiefly grandchild or chiefly grandchildren, a unique intergenerational relationship); Tapu (protections, restrictions, commonly considered as ‘sacred-ness’); Ha‘a (lineage, clan); Vā (relation, point between/of relation/connection); Mānava (to breathe, give life); Manava (womb); Mana (potency, honour, prestige); Whakapapa (platformed layers of connection, origin, genealogy); Si‘ota‘aki (harmful criticism, harmfully taking apart another’s views or stories); Si‘o (to see or perspective); Ta‘aki (to unpack or take apart); Si‘o-Ta‘aki (reconceptualized as “to deconstruct perspectives, reveal underlying causes, and change understandings”); Post-humanism (a field of studies that looks beyond the human or anthropocentrism/humancentrism, may also confront the assumed universals or presumed hierarchy of humanity and/or the concept of the human); Hoa (partner/companion in both lea faka-Tonga and te reo Māori), Hoa-Haere (close friend, partner, or comrade in te reo Māori), Hoariri (enemy/antagonist in te reo Māori, comprised of partner/companion and anger, sometimes interpreted as angry friend).

Ep. 36: Reading, Thinking, and Writing about Race with Lana and Ani

Returning guests: Philosopher, writer, and PhD student Anisha Sankar and soon to be Assistant Professor of Pacific Island Studies at the University of Oregon and author of Bloody Woman Lana Lopesi.

Contents: This episode gives some background to the anthology project Towards a Grammar of Race in Aotearoa New Zealand to be published by Bridget Williams Books in Sept/Oct 2022. We reflect back on the beginning of a reading group that culminated into this project, drawing from Jodi Byrd’s The Transit of Empire: Indigenous Critiques of Colonialism,  Frank B. Wilderson III’s Afropessimism, Lisa A. Lowe’s The Intimacies of Four Continents, Otherwise Worlds: Against Settler Colonialism and Anti-Blackness, and more. Reading and thinking with challenging theoretical perspectives, through different points of views and disciplines, offered productive tensions that better spoke to the messy and complex realities of our modern world. This background assisted us in finding language to navigate the local and global discourse and experience of race and power, such as debates between ethnicity vs. race in a New Zealand context. This project sought to bring together different authors, understandings, ideas, and experiences of race together. We confront a lack of societal consensus or shared language to even discuss race by putting these diverse positions together in what we call, ‘towards a grammar of race’. Grammar is both linguistic and philosophical, as the rules that give structure to language and to society. Ani and Lana also share a bit about their chapters in the book and we end with a critical reflection on ‘accessibility’.

Terms: Incommensurability is a term borrowed from mathematics that refers to having no common measure, and is used in reference to Afropessimism, which uses the term to confront the inadequacies to theorise Black suffering and Anti-Blackness in other theoretical camps, positions, or traditions; Paranoid and reparative reading are references to Eve Sedgwick’s book Touching Feeling – Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity and particularly the chapter ‘Paranoid reading and reparative reading, or you’re so paranoid, you probably think this essay is about you.’; Colonial imaginary refers to the intellectual, aesthetic, and historical production of a modern euro-imperial consciousness and reality.

Ep. 35: Marks of Identity with Jacob Fitisemanu and ’Inoke Hafoka

This episode features educator and city councilperson Jacob Fitisemanu along with community leader and educator 'Inoke Hafoka. They discuss some of the background to a recent community tatau/tātatau event that took place in Utah. We learn some of the background to the history of Ocean peoples in Utah and move into the beginning of this group’s tatau journeys with tufuga Li'aifaiva before the pandemic took off, which finished two years later once travel restrictions eased. We discuss ideas and concepts of identity and mobility through the desire for continued relevance of tatau/tātatau in a US diaspora context. We confront some common perceptions and the role of going ‘nerd mode’ to learn more and challenge prevailing ideas with more complex and pluralistic understandings. We also engage with the importance of context and the significance of having access in one’s place of residence where community building can occur through collective participation in ancestral ritual events.

Terms: Apisā ('sacred home/house', set apart sleeping quarters or ritual setting), Tapua'i (to set apart, protect, make 'sacred'), Au/Hau (Tattooing chisel comb in Sāmoan/Tongan), Tatau/Tātatau (Sāmoan/Tongan language for tattoo, etymological origin of the word tattoo in English).

Ep. 34: Balance and Protocol with Richard White

Grant training specialist for ANA (Administration for Native Americans) and Diné (Navajo) educator Rich White joins this episode to share some stories and wisdom on a variety of topics including facing challenges in education, seeking balance in life, and relational knowledge in protocol. We challenge dominant ideas of fixed trajectories, the importance of being flexible and mobile in grey areas, and moving in and out of multiple worlds. In addition, we also reflect on other themes such as land acknowledgements, Boba Fett, research, sacrifice, community, place, and being a critically conscious observer.

Terms: Diné (The People), Hózhó (balance principle, to walk in beauty), Utz Kaslemal (K’iche’/Kaqchikel for live well, good living, buen vivir), matrilineal (kinship based on mother or female lines), matrilocal (societies based or focused on one’s wife’s or mother’s community), ECS (Education, Culture, and Society program at the University of Utah).

Ep 33: Kava Tonga Part 2

This episode starts by contextualizing current issues and how kava is connected to them. I also confront some of the various impacts of commodification and commercialization within a larger context of ecological and economic crisis. Is kava threatened of being gentrified? Do you know where your kava comes from and how it was processed, what it contains, or how it got to you? Have you thought about the different varieties of kava, their parts, or its chemical composition? I conclude with an ancestral Tongan kava story and a contemporary song that seeks to remember it.

Ep 32: Kava Tonga Part 1 - Stories, Meanings, and Current Issues

This episode builds on the previous discussion with Dr. Aporosa and explores some of the Tongan kava stories compiled in the book Tongan Tales and Myths (Gifford, 1924). Tongan intellectual 'Inoke Hu'akau's position is that kava stories are part of a cosmological identity based in stories of creation, kava, and the Gods. Hu'akau has proposed that kava stories are constructed for social and political purposes, which "serve as the mode of operation for society" (see 'Kava: A mitre touch of a master political architecture', 2018, Lo'au University Research Journal). Kava stories, meanings, and interpretations are considered alongside some current issues such as the regional kava codex, which relates to quality and safety in kava production and consumption. This episode seeks to demonstrate how kava stories relate to various ancestral and current issues and concludes with a contemporary kava song composition that seeks to remember ancestral connections and knowledge. This episode is complimentary to the documentary film Kava Rootz which is available to watch online.

Ep. 31: PasifiQueereDisabled Perspectives with Luka Leleiga Bunnin

Luka is Samoan, Han Chinese, and Ashkenazi Jewish, autistic, dyspraxic, and fa‘atama. They join this episode to share some of their research that critically looks at climate action and justice. While Luka is inspired by the pressing necessity of Pacific climate justice, and supports the declared aims of the movement, they have struggled with the engagements with gender and disability within it. Who has the power to represent "the Pacific" and how? In which images? We discuss how language is important but never perfect, tackling terms like Pasifiqueeredisabled and the acronym c.h.e.p. that Luka coined in their research in order to identify and confront both multiply marginalised and multiply privileged peoples. Among other topics, Luka explains the social construction of disability as well as its limitations via a disability justice lens, while also exploring Indigenous ancestral perspectives of difference that highlight neurodivergent people’s strengths. Other topics include Tāvāism and ‘Afa Music and if you are interested in more information about the song at the end you can follow this link of Luka.

 

Terms: Tauiwi (Indigenous peoples or non-European peoples in Aotearoa), perisex (non intersexed person), intersexed (individuals born with any of a variety of sex characteristics that do not fit typical binary notions of male and female), gender sexuality divergent (divergent gender and sexuality to heteronormativity), C.H.E.P. (cisgender hetero-[sexual, romantic, platonic, aesthetic] enabled perisexed), Fa‘afafine (Sāmoan gendersexuality community, often feminine of centre), Fa‘atama (Sāmoan gendersexuality community, often masculine of centre), Fa‘a'afa (Sāmoan gendersexuality community, link), neuro divergent (describes people whose brains, sensory systems, and forms of communication have been Othered, especially through colonial biomedical structures), neuro normative (describes people whose brains, sensory systems, and forms of communication have been normalised and rewarded, especially through colonial biomedical structures), Takatāpui (describes "Māori who identify with diverse genders, sexualitieis, and sex characteristics", link), ‘afa (coconut sennit rope).

Glossary of additional terms that you might find useful related to this episode: https://translanguageprimer.com/full-index/

 

Ep. 30: River Roots, Public Service, and Dune with Teri and Shane Ta‘ala

This kōrero/talanoa with Teri (Ngāti Hineoneone) and Shane (Tagata Sāmoa) shares some of their stories about growing up on and near the Whanganui river, their experience working in public service, and some insights on the recent sci-fi film release of Dune. We unpack some words and concepts relating to identity and worldview, issues of accessibility and ethics in libraries and government sectors, treaty rights, and socio-political, ecological, and cultural insights on the film Dune (with spoilers).

 

There are a variety of words and terms in Te Reo Māori, Gagana Sāmoa, and Lea faka-Tonga throughout, here is a list of some of them with some basic introductory interpretations:

Māori: Papa kāinga (home base, communal Māori connection to land), awa (river), marae (ancestral courtyard and complex), hui (meeting/gathering), tangi (funeral, to cry), te ao mārama (concept for a world of knowledge and understanding), te ao Māori (Māori worldview), Māoritanga (Māoriness, culture), whakapapa (layers, genealogical consciousness, ancestry), mana whenua (local territorial authority), mātāwaka (Māori kinship generally), turangawaewae (where one stands, has authority to stand), iwi (tribe, extended kinship group), hapū (sub-tribe, intimate kinship group, clan), haukāinga (true home place, deep connection to place), te ao Pākehā (European/western worldview), kaitiaki (guardian, protector), Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), mātauranga (knowledge), mauri (life force), tapu (protections, setting apart), taonga (treasure, precious), ipu whenua (vessel for placenta), pito (navel, umbilical cord), tikanga (protocol, correctness), kaupapa (purpose), kaumātua (elders), kuia (grandmother elders), tohunga (master expert, grandmasters), pūtea (funds) … Hohoko (Tongan for making a connection, genealogy), Melenaite Taumoefolau (Tongan linguistic scholar referred to), afi  (fire, home fire, care for), masi saiga (Sāmoan for coconut biscuits), kopai (Sāmoan for dumplings), Papalagi/Papalangi/Palagi/Pālangi (Sāmoan and Tongan for European, distant foreigner).

Ep. 29: Early 20th Century Hawaiian Music and its Global Impact with Andrea Low

Prior to opening the main discussion the host contextualises the current delta variant lockdown that is resulting in an online semester delivery that Dr. Andrea Low is helping out with. There are a couple of examples given of early 20^th century commercial representations of the Pacific and issues of skilled performances and musical innovation entangled within race, power, and colonialism.

Discussion with Dr. Low begins at 14:16

Curator and ethnomusicologist Andrea Low joins this episode to discuss the invention of the kīkā kila (Hawaiian steel guitar) by La‘ie, Oahu local Joseph Kekuku, as well as her grandfather the ukulele maestro Ernest Ka‘ai, and more. We explore Hawaiian musical inventions, contributions, and global transmission, such as traveling troupes. Early 20^th century commercial musical production drew from many sources across various racial and cultural lines, whose marginalised interactions led to crosscurrents of exchange and inspiration. From Mexican/Paniolo/Latin vaqueros (cowboys) arrival in the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, bringing Spanish guitars, to the musicians that emerged after the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani’s monarchy, who travelled around the world performing their unique musical styles. The kīkā kila and slack key guitar sounds from Hawai‘i found their way across the region and the world, influencing various Pacific/Moana/Wansolwara musics, delta blues, country western, and more. We end on the ideas of cosmopolitanism during this period and some local adaptations, such as Bill Savesi and the legacy of the orange ballroom in Auckland.

Ep. 28: The Loki Series and Time with Ata

This episode reviews and reflects on recent pop culture alongside Ata Siulua. We discuss the Loki series and some possible ways to interpret concepts of time in the show. From the time variance authority as a metaphor of colonisation to nexus events that re-calibrate time, with a mix of insights, laughs, and a bit of ranting throughout.

Ep 27: Latin America and Oceania with 'Inoke Hafoka and Tino Diaz

Educators ‘Inoke Hafoka and Tino Diaz join this episode to think together about the regions of Latin America and Oceania, their ideas, peoples, and relations. We discuss ancient, colonial, religious, and contemporary entanglements, as well as solidarity, and connections, in order to explore how to speak about and build on them. From food connections to black birding (Pacific slavery) that has led to descendants from each region ending up in the other in the late 19^th to early 20^th century. Additionally, we discuss concepts that we use to learn from and with each other in our local contexts, which inspires and assists learning more about ourselves. We suggest there are unique parallels and differences that can fill each other’s gaps through learning in relation and between our perspectives and positions.

Mentions: Margarita Satini, Terisa Siagatonu

Terms: Blackbirding (kidnapping and coercion of Pacific peoples into slavery), Testimonio (bearing witness/testifiying; Latinx and Xicana educators and activists have used testimonio as a teaching and activist tool to express collectively experienced realities), Borderlands (term coined by Gloria Anzaldúa in the context of the US/Mexico border to identify fragmented and connected identities that straddle material and metaphysical borders, which has been extended as a metaphor for the friction of permeable space between cultures, nations, peoples, identities, etc.), Nepantla (Nahuatl/Nawat word that means ‘middle’ or ‘in the middle’, which is used by borderlands and Chicanx/Latin studies and scholars to identify a state of ‘in between-ness’), Tā-Vā (see episode 15), Kumala/Kumara (Tongan/Māori words for sweet potato).

Ep 26: Addictive Behaviours and Culture with Edmond Fehoko

Public health and Pacific studies scholar Edmond Fehoko joins this episode to discuss his research on problem gambling, addictive behaviours, and culture among Tongan men. He confronts sensitive topics head on such as gender issues, exploitation of cultural values, family impact, and religion.  We discuss traditional games of chance and new contexts of contemporary gambling practices, class status, large church donations, and future research interests that extend into digital harms online. Due to the topics discussed and potential listeners this is listed as E, since there is no T, for Tapu.

 

Terms: Mālō e Lelei (common Tongan greeting), Mālō e Laumalie (chiefly Tongan greeting), Misinale (Tongan transliteration of missionary, refers to locally based annual fundraising for Tongan Methodist church denominations), Kolisi Tutuku (refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Mormon] Liahona high school alumni association and their fundraising for reunions, etc.), Fatongia (Tongan for duty/responsibility), Sika (Tongan game of spear throwing), Lafonga (game played in Tonga, Sāmoa, and Fiji [Lavo], a Tongan version involved throwing coconut shell disks as close to the end of a mat on the ground, knocking over another’s disk [tupe], while keeping yours on the mat and close to the edge), Mate Ma‘a Tonga (lit. die for Tonga, refers to giving your all for Tonga/Tongan culture, also the rugby league team currently known as Kau To‘a), Pokies (term for poker machine, poker), TAB (racing and sports gambling in NZ), faka‘apa‘apa (Tongan cultural value of respect), Mamahi‘i me‘a (Tongan cultural value of loyalty and devotion), Tauhi vaha‘a/vā (Tongan cultural value of upholding social-spatial relations), Loto to (Tongan cultural value of modesty and humility).

Ep 25: Songwoman Orator - Seini Taumoepeau

This episode introduces songwoman and orator Seini Taumoepeau who is also known by her Hip Hop alias SistaNative. She shares some of her background, history, and philosophy as an orator, songwoman, lyricist, poet, rapper, and journalist. Seini also shares some of her experience learning from and with the local Indigenous Australian knowledge system of songlines. The meaning of song and sound is explored in relation to a hohoko consciousness and to its role in shaping the world one lives in. Seini shares stories of navigating and embracing different Indigenous contexts and networks of knowledge, while asking the questions: what is next and what is my contribution? She broadens and ruptures ideas of identity as a Tongan woman creative with a fluid adaptability that is based in fakafonua, which she utilises to fulfill her responsibility as a knowledge keeper and maker. Voyaging through shifting contexts of time and space SistaNative thrives in the state of transformation, responding to multiple relationships that are held in the present.

 

Topics: Indigenous spirituality, music, performance, Tonga, Oceania.

Terms: Bundjalung country (Indigenous peoples and place in what is currently also known as Byron Bay, Australia; rainbow region), Sorry Day (Australian national day of healing that has occurred annually since 1998 to commemorate the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples), Moanan (of the Moana, Oceanian). Tongan terms: hohoko (genealogical, genealogy, making connection), ma‘ulu‘ulu (Tongan sitting dance), fakafonua (of the land, people, heritage, custom), fakasiasi (of the church, Christian, religious), siasi (church, Christian), fonua (land, people, culture, placenta…), kāinga (village clan, extended family, see episode 10), fahu (chiefly sibling, eldest sister), mehekitanga (one’s father’s fahu, eldest paternal auntie).

Bands mentioned: Coloured Stone, Stiff Gins.

Songs in order of appearance:

-The Fat - The Last Kinection featuring SistaNative (from the Album NUTCHES).

-1,2,3, Kids song in Pitjantjatjara.

Performed by: SistaNative, Robert Champion, Kirsty Heffernan, Tapaya Edwards. Produced by Morganics.

-Old Tree (Fu‘u Heilala ‘o Tapungatata). Languages: English & Tongan. Written by: Seini ‘SistaNative’ Taumoepeau. Tauta‘ehoko Patron: Lavinia ‘Alofaki Finau Tupetaiki. Performed by: SistaNative & Stiff Gins (Nardi Simpson & Kaleena Briggs). Recorded at: ABC Studios - Ultimo, Sydney Australia.

-Prophet Blackness Demo – SistaNative (Bounty75) with 'Vee-Jay' Vadim Juste-Constant.

Airleke Ingram – Production.

-The 5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art' (APT5) opening.

-Me‘etu‘upaki (Tongan voyaging prayer song/paddle dance).

Performed by: Seini Taumoepeau.

Ep 24: Tātatau with Terje Koloamatangi

Tufunga Tātatau Terje Koloamatangi from Small Axe Studios is featured in this episode. He shares some of his journey and background with tātatau Tonga (customary Tongan tattoo), from receiving and learning from Su‘a Suluape Paulo II to practicing and developing the art further. Tātatau was banned in the early 19^th century in Tonga by the Vava‘u codes that would later inform the modern national constitution. We discuss some of the misconceptions that have resulted, and Koloamatangi shares his research-based approach to mark making, working through terms and concepts to (re)discover further layers of meaning. Placement, aesthetics, ethics, and tools are explored through Kolomatangi’s philosophy that approaches tātatau as a way of making marks beyond isolated patterns or moments in time by living the practice. You can follow him on IG at: @terje_k @smallaxenz.

 

Terms: Tātatau/Tatau (Tongan/Sāmoan for tatoo), Fetu’u (star in Tongan), Tu‘i (paramount chief in Tongan), Ngatu (tapa, paper mulberry tree barkcloth), Ngatu ‘uli (highly valued black tapa barkcloth), Kautau (pertaining to war, e.g., war clubs), ‘Au (tatau hand tools), Peka/Pekapeka/Alapeka (Tongan for bat, bat pattern, thick bands that wrap around the waist), Pe‘a (Sāmoan for bat, bat pattern, sometimes used to refer to the malofie), Mālōfie (masculine Sāmoan chiefly markings on the waist and thighs), Va‘a (Sāmoan for sea vessel, Vaka in Tongan), Kalia (Tongan version of the double hulled sea vessel), Tāvaka (term for masculine Tongan chiefly markings on the waist and thighs coined by Tufunga Tātatau Aisea Toeutu‘u), Tufunga/Tufuga/Tohunga (Master of skill/craftsperson in Tongan/Sāmoan/Māori), Makauka (a Tongan way of using lines in tattooing), Tāvā (time-space Tongan philosophy, see episode 15), Tāmoko (customary Māori tattooing that follows protocol), Kirituhi (skin art in Māori).

Ep 23: Wa, Me'a Kai, Food - Part 2

In part 2 I build on the question, where does our food come from? What can be recovered or re-made? I explore the transmission of knowledge through food production and preparation, as well as the function of vulnerability when eating. Examples from Mesoamerica, Abya Yala, Turtle Island and the Moana/Wansolwara reveal colonial legacies in the contemporary challenges for sustainability, as well as embedded knowledge in ancestral food relationships.

Ep 22: Wa, Me'a Kai, Food - Part 1

This episode is an introduction to thinking about the social, cultural, and political significance of food. Food justice, food sovereignty, food ways, food security/insecurity, health, and more are considered. I also reflect on staple foods and ritual foods further to explore the social and cultural functions and purpose of food and life sources.

Ep 21: Moana Cosmopolitan with Lana Lopesi

AUT doctoral candidate Lana Lopesi joins this episode, bringing a rich background in art, writing, and scholarship. We cover several topics and begin with the question; how do we hold on to the changes that once seemed impossible yet became ‘essential’ when global crises collided? We also discuss the relationships that are forged in the undercommons of the university and what that looks like in our context. Lana introduces the ‘Moana Cosmopolitan’, a concept she has coined and developed that seeks to identify current practices of being locally rooted in Oceania, yet globally mobile as digital natives. How can we better understand differences that intersect online, while holding multiple layers of connection and tension at the same time? We discuss the possibilities of moving beyond comfortable ideas by working through messy and often clumsy conversations. Seeking to remember our dynamic identities, we challenge fixed and problematic narratives of authenticity, giving room and language for an already present practice of inhabiting and belonging to many worlds.

Topics: Society, Education, Relationality, Mobility, Oceania.

Terms: Undercommons (see Moten and Harney, 2013: relationships between people are sites of learning and study, a community of intellectual refugees), Moana Cosmopolitan (locally grounded in Oceania, while being physically, intellectually, and digitally mobile), Whakapapa (Māori word for genealogy, lineage, descent, layers), Teu Le Vā (see Anae, 2016: Sāmoan relational ethics of both secular and sacred respect and reciprocity through the space in between; to nurture and/or tidy up relational space).

Ep 20: Matariki with the Tamariki

My sons Ezra (11) and Taine (9) join me in this episode to discuss what they have learned about stars and seasons through cosmic connections. They are students at home, of life, and in the Kura Wānanga Te Puna Waiora at Sylvia Park School. They share experiences and lessons from Māori cosmology and Matariki. We talk about the new year approaching and the role of story, reflection, and more.

Topics: Seasons, Place, Story, Indigenous Knowledge, Youth.

Terms: Matariki (Māori New Year), Tamariki (Children/Youth), Maramataka (Māori Lunar Calendar), Atua (Ancestor ‘deity’, Supernatural being), Kaitiaki (Guardian, Steward), Ranginui (Sky/Heavens, Sky Father), Papatūānuku (Land/Earth, Earth Mother), Tāne Mahuta (Atua/Kaitiaki of forest and birds), Tāwhirimatea (Atua/Kaitiaki of wind and weather), Tūmatauenga (Atua/Kaitiaki of war/conflict and people/mortality), Whānau (Community of relatives/relations).

Ep 19: Transforming Solidarity

This episode explores our current global moment including the Black Lives Matter movement, and the topic of solidarity, relationality, and transformation. How can messy solidarities recalibrate towards more meaningful relations? I reflect on how dilemmas of 'not being heard' can hinder the potential for creating better relationships. I explore alternative ways of thinking about connection and similarity that does not undermine the importance of difference. Exploring the possibilities of holding complex understandings at the same time, what is the transformational possibility of this moment? I conclude by offering a lens to understand individual, communal, and societal transformation through Mayan and Tongan concepts of Zero.

Topics: Solidarity, Relationality, Racism, Black Lives Matter, Tongan Noa and Mayan Waix (Zero). 

Terms: Racism (System of power that produces inequity across racialised constructions of groups of people, which is supported by ideas that assume behaviours or characteristics of people can be determined by arbitrary phenotypically visible differences such as skin colour, hair texture, or eye shape), Mana (potency/honour), Tapu (protections), Noa (balance/neutralization), Waix/Taj (equilibrium/zero).

Ep 18: Colonial Disparities and Neurodiversity with Sandra Yellowhorse

Diné scholar Sandra Yellowhorse joins this episode and we begin by discussing our experiences between the U.S. and Aotearoa/New Zealand. We consider how the Covid-19 pandemic reveals ongoing social and political issues, as well as how settler colonialism impacts and amplifies disparities on the Navajo Nation. Sandra also shares insights on some of her work to challenge the harmful colonial, capitalist, and individualistic constructions of ‘disability.’ Critical and Indigenous perspectives instead offer a more inclusive view of autism as neurodiversity, which moves towards more holistic understandings of belonging and contribution in community.

Topics: Colonialism, Political Economy, Ableism, Special Education.

Terms: Diné (Diné bizaad/Navajo language word meaning “the people”), settler-colonialism (imperially supported system of domination that attempts to replace original inhabitants with an occupying society of settlers), Navajo Nation (Indigenous territory/sovereign nation that covers parts of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico in the U.S.), Capitalism (a profit-based economic system premised on privatisation, where the means of production are controlled by an elite minority), Neurodiversity (a perspective that challenges deficit views of social, cognitive, and behavioural differences).

Ep 17: Good Living and Textiles with Diana Albarrán González

Diana Albarrán González joins this episode to discuss decolonial research, Indigeneity, and design. Diana has been living in Aotearoa doing research with textiles and weaving at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). We begin our discussion on the complex and complicated Indigenous identities of Mesoamerica and “Latin America” and their entanglements with race, class, and colonialism. Diana shares some of her work with Tsotsil/Tseltal (Mayan) weavers, patterns, and materials in the highlands of Chiapas. We discuss Indigenous rights and collective intellectual property and how textiles are the books that the colonial project could not burn. We conclude with an exploration of alter-native pathways beyond our current paradigm towards living a fair and dignified life.

Topics: Identity, Indigeneity, Textiles, Weaving, Global Power Dynamics, Gender. 

Terms: Mestizo/Mestizaje (Spanish colonial concept of ‘racial mixing’ between Amerindians and Europeans), Lekil Kuxlejal (Tsotsil/Tseltal concept of a balanced, fair, and dignified life), Buen Vivir (Concept of good living/living well that was inspired by the Andean concept of Sumak Kawsay of being culturally rooted, community grounded, and ecologically sustainable), Cosmovísion (ancestral eco-cosmic worldview), Neoliberalism (current economic system of deregulated capitalism, enclosure of public systems, and privatization).

Ep 16: Researching Kava with Aporosa

In this episode 'Apo' Aporosa who is based at Te Huataki Waiora School of Health at the University of Waikato joins me to discuss kava research. After introducing kava (piper methysticum) and its spread, he explains how it is a cultural keystone species across Oceania. Yaqona (kava) is also tied to identity and cultural values. We discuss contemporary issues including some myth-busting of prevalent misconceptions of kava and its effects. We conclude this episode with Apo sharing some preliminary insights on his most recent research on kava and driving, as well as making some comments on kava quality issues. 

Topics: Kava, Identity, Diaspora, Research, Health 

Terms: Yaqona (iTaukei/Fijian word for kava), Wai ni Vanua (Ceremonial name for yaqona meaning the water of the land, culture, and people), Vakaturanga (Fijian cultural values of chiefliness, respect, and humility), Mana (Honour, potency).

Ep 15: Time and Space with Tēvita Ka‘ili

In this episode, Tēvita Ka‘ili who is BYU-Hawai‘i’s Dean and Professor in the faculty of culture, language and performing arts; shares his knowledge and experience learning and constructing Indigenous theory. We discuss some of the history, background, critiques, and evolution of Tāvāism (Tongan time-space theory). Additionally, we explore contemporary applications of Tongan philosophy to understanding social and ecological rhythm, connection, and our current global moment.

Topics in this episode include philosophy, identity, anthropology, Indigeneity, tempo-spatiality, relational ethics, food and environment.

Tongan terms and concepts used in this episode include: Fatongia (sacred duty or responsibility), Mana (potency, honour), Tapu (protection, sacred), Tā (to beat or strike, rhythm, ‘time’), Vā (point between, spatial-relational connection, ‘space’), Tauhi Vaha‘a/Tauhi Vā (An art/value of nurturing relationships/relational space), Fonua (land, ancestral heritage, placenta), Kava (ancestral elixir commonly used in contemporary social gatherings, life events, and for various rituals and ceremonies in Tongan society).

Ep 14: Socially Conscious and Physically Distant

This episode critically reflects on some of the social consequences of Sars-Cov-2/Covid 19 spreading across the globe. Drawing from Indigenous commentators, personal experiences, and observations what are the implications of the concept of 'social distancing'? Can we be 'socially intimate/conscious' while being physically distant instead? Also, how do crises have the potential for both social transformation as well as intensified exploitation?

Ep 13: American Sāmoa with Alema Leota

The attorney Alema Leota joins me in this episode to discuss current issues in American Sāmoa. We begin with him giving an introduction to the background of the territory and then discuss the perpetuation of culture, fishing rights, land and ocean space in some of his work. We then discuss a different case regarding American Sāmoans becoming natural born citizens vs. nationals. While some are praising the decision, others are not, and we explore the complexity of the issue.

Ep 12: Imagining Elsewhere with Anisha Sankar

Anisha Sankar joins this episode and shares how naming and identifying power and oppression within systems of colonial capitalism are often dismissed through gaslighting. We discuss how courage and creativity can challenge power through the deviant act of imagining elsewhere. Ani also shares insights from her publication on the poetics of relation, which offers critical hope towards healing and transformation.

Ep 11: Body Sovereignty with Ashlea Gillon

Ashlea Gillon of Ngāti Awa shares some of the research from her latest publication, 'Fat Indigenous Bodies and Body Sovereignty: An Exploration of Re-presentations'. We discuss bio-power and some of the connections between bodies, women, and land. Ashlea also shares critical perspectives on body positivity using Kaupapa Māori research approaches. Indigenous perspectives on gender and consent are also explored using Māori cosmology and lessons from the Atua, Hine-Nui-Te-Pō (Great woman of the night). DISCLAIMER: This episode is marked E (explicit) because there is no T (for Tapu) option, which is to say we discuss sensitive and gendered topics openly through a noa (neutralized) state in this recording.

Ep 10: Kāinga Moana with Ata Siulua

This episode builds on Ep 9 on CTS and introduces some of Ata Siulua's research on family and Indigenous kinship. We discuss rethinking assumptions that are made about the definition of 'family' and interrogating the role of colonial perspectives on Indigenous social systems. Ata shares Indigenous perspectives of kāinga (Tongan for clan, village, extended family) and we discuss how it is connected to other relational concepts to place and people across the Moana (Ocean) and beyond. *Warning: unfortunately there were sirens in the background during a brief moment while recording, just a heads up in case your driving.

Ep 9: Critical Tongan Studies with Ata Siulua

This episode includes Tongan scholar and researcher Sione Ata Siulua who grew up in Utah and is currently based in Tokomololo, Tongatapu. We discuss Critical Tongan Studies (CTS) and make a case for its local and global relevance. Ata sets the conversation up with data on the amount of publications that have been made about Tonga to which we then critically interrogate the who, what, where, and when. We discuss the importance of contextualizing history, reflecting on identity, and how critical perspectives can expand our understanding. 

Ep 8: Questioning Diaspora

This episode introduces and explores some of the ideas behind the term and concept of diaspora. Diaspora is often focused on geographical space and distance, which is argued needs to expand and include time in order to understand the experience of dislocation. Using a variety of sources to understand this experience and its consequences, it is suggested that moments that collapse time and space of the diaspora paradigm through knowledge, ritual, or otherwise, facilitates potential healing moments.

Ep 7: Exploring Terms - Modernity and Indigeneity

In this episode I introduce some ideas about Indigeneity, and some of the meanings of Indigenous, in attempts to have a working definition of the concept since it is central to this podcast project. Additionally, I explore how it is a concept and term that is intertwined with the paradigm of modernity, a constructed reality that is recent in the depth of human history. This is just an introduction to exploring the ideas behind these words. *Warning: If you are listening to this episode while you're driving please be aware there were a couple of moments when ambulances were passing by and it can be heard in the background of the audio, just be aware of that. Thanks for listening.

Ep 6: Indigenous Linguistics with Te Whainoa Te Wiata

In this episode I have a kōrero (talk/yarn/conversation) with Māori linguist Te Whainoa Te Wiata. He introduces linguistics and shares some of his research on developing a Māori and Indigenous approach to understanding language. We discuss language, culture, identity, communication, metaphors, and more.

Ep 5: 'Baby Yoda' Mayan Connection

This episode picks up on the conversation about Indigenizing 'Baby Yoda' and the process of making connections in pop culture when there are limited representations in media. I make the case for a Mayan connection to the socio-political issues in 'The Mandalorian' series, considering what Indigenous children from Mesoamerica continue to face today. Indigenous icons and ideas are also identified in the broader Star Wars universe, including philosophical connections in Oceania with mauri/mo'ui (life force) and mana (potency, honour, authority...).

Ep 4: You can be an intellectual

In this episode I reflect on Ibram X. Kendi's commencement speech where he asks the question "are you an intellectual?". In hopes of broadening how we think about knowledge and who counts and what counts as intellectual, my educational journey is analyzed by contrasting the differences between school and education. The invitation is to include anyone with a hunger to know and ideas that exist beyond academic settings.

Ep 3: Solstice Tamales: Mayan Diaspora Perspectives on Corn

This episode shares an adapted seasonal family tradition, from Christmas tamales to Solstice tamales. Including some brief guest contributors, tamales and corn is introduced. Indigenous relationships to food is explored with the example of corn and Mayan cosmology.

Ep 2: 'Tis the Season for Who? Calendars and Indigenous Time

This episode is a reflection on growing up in Utah and the way time is arranged through commercial holiday consumerism. Ideas about time are explored and how they are tracked by different calendar systems with insights from Mayan and Tongan perspectives. Alter-native approaches to this time of year and season are considered, including the Mayan calendar and Indigenous time generally that is centered in place.

Ep 1: Introduction and Identity - Wai? Words and Ideas

In this inaugural episode. The host explains the meaning behind the name of the podcast, Wai? (Words and Ideas), and the scope of themes anticipated to be covered on this site. This episode introduces the host by critically reflecting on identity, including ideas of culture and worldview and how they are formed, shaped, evolve, and negotiated in society.