Wai? Indigenous Words and Ideas

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 wh...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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 beyo...

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.

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 center...

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.