This page serves as a community archive of online events and will also highlight active struggles.
March 8, 2021
As we move through pandemic, political crisis, and unrelenting settler colonial violence in our world, we are nourished and inspired by the deep knowledge and beauty Indigenous creations.
In celebration of our survivance, please join us on International Women’s Day for Rematriation and Indigenous Feminisms: Creative Visions Across Borders with artists, scholars and poets from Huichin/Oakland, Hawai’i and Aotearoa/New Zealand including: Dr. Ngahuia te Awekotuku, Joy Lehuanani Enomoto, Bean Kaloni Tupou, Victoria Montaño, Jean Melesaine, Viola Le Beau, Inés Ixierda, Hosted By Dr. Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu.
December 17, 2020
Distinguished Pacific Islander poets, storytellers and leaders present an evening of poetry, storytelling and song in honor of the renowned Samoan poet, novelist, and playwright Albert Wendt. Tongan scholar and poet Dr. Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, with assistance from poet activists Kevin Henderson and Lisiate Vuna, hosts this celebration of Pacific Islander communities and their unremitting struggles for self-determination. Our Moana Nui; We are Pacific Islander Studies is part of a series of programs advocating for the California Department of Education to reinstate Pacific Islander Studies and Arab American Studies in the Ethnic Studies curriculum.
November 19, 2020
An evening of Talanoa with distinguished Tongan Women Scholars: Dr. Finausina Tovo, Dr. 'Ilaheva Tua'ono, Dr. Lee Kava, 'Esiteli Uhamaka (PhD Candidate, Stanford University) and Vaimoana Niumeitolu (Poet and Artist), facilitated by Dr. Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu. This event aimed to highlight the continued survivance of Pacific Islander communities and their unremitting struggles for self determination. This project is part of a series of events petitioning the California Department of Education to reinstate Pacific Islander Studies and Arab American Studies into the Ethnic Studies curriculum. For accommodations, questions, and concerns, please contact the PI Initiative at UC Berkeley at calpiinitiative@gmail.com. This event was co-sponsored by Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), Pacific Islanders at Cal (PAC), and the Pacific Islander Initiative at UC Berkeley.
September 2018
An event to celebrate the launch of the Critical Pacific Islands Library Research Guide. The library guide was developed in collaboration with Sine Hwang Jensen, Thomas Mangloña II, Betsy Rohney, Kay Parker, and Carly Kajiwara, members of Oceania Asian Pacific American Student Development center, and serves as a starting point for researchers, community members, and students interested in resources Pacific Islander Studies. The guest speakers were Craig Santos Perez, Terisa Siagatonu and Dr. David Ga’oupu Matthew Palaita.
From Support Pacific Islander Studies website:
The California Department of Education has been engaged in a process to develop an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) for the state of CA. This Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, overseen by the Instruction Quality Commission (IQC), will serve as a guide for the CA K-12 system and Ethnic Studies courses across the state. The curriculum has gone through multiple revisions and is set to be completed by March 2021. Our young students deserve to see themselves in school curriculum and for far too long we have been erased from the texts and classroom discussions. We are in a crucial moment and we must take a stand.
News and Resources:
Mauna Kea is a sacred volcano that stands 13,796 feet above sea level, claiming the highest point in the state of Hawaii. It is considered by the Kānaka Maoli or native Hawai'ians to be one of the most sacred sites of ancestral origin. According to Kānaka Maoli history, Mauna Kea is a direct descendant of Earth Mother, Papahānaumoku, and the Sky Father, Wākea and home to many dieties. Mauna Kea is a living embodiment of the history, spirituality and ecology of Hawai'i, and also the site of important burial grounds and archeological sites.
The Thirty Meter Telescope is a proposed extremely large telescope (ELT) sponsored by the University of California and Caltech that would be built on Mauna Kea. A global grassroots movement has risen up to defend sacred land and prevent the desecration of Mauna Kea that construction of the TMT would entail. Locally, a student- and community-led movement at UC Berkeley are demanding that the University of California divest from the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Follow Mauna Kea Protectors at UC Berkeley on Facebook for more information.
News and Resources:
Indigenous Americas Working Group, "UC should stop funding Mauna Kea telescope construction," The Daily Californian, April 2, 2019.