Wai? Indigenous Words and Ideas

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,...

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...

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 politic...

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. Wh...

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,...

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 20th century commercial representations of the Pacific and issues of skilled performances and musical innovation entangled within race, power, and colonialism. Discussi...

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.

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...

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...

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 ex...

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 19th century in Tonga by the Vava‘u codes that would later inform the modern national con...

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 e...

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.

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 ou...

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...

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 simi...

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, capita...

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...

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 prevalen...

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 understa...

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 tran...

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 pra...

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...

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 a...

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...