E Like Me ka he’e/Swimming Like the Squid: An Account of an Indigenous Art/Design Educator in a Global Context

Abstract

Founded as bastions of European knowledge, universities in the Pacific were established to serve as vehicles to promote western knowledge and civilization among indigenous people. Nearly a century later, through the influence and advocacy of indigenous island scholars who have made gradual inroads into academic roles, many of these same universities have themselves been transformed through the inclusion of Pacific knowledge, pedagogies, language and culture. In this chapter, a Pasifika academic will share his view of the role of Pacific indigenous knowledge, pedagogies, language and culture in the academic life of universities in the Pacific region.

* Trans. ‘like an octopus’. (A reference to a Hawaiian proverb about the ability of the octopus to transform its shape and colour to suit its environment).

E like me ka he’e: Practising ‘Pasifika’ Academia in a Pacific University

* Trans. ‘like an octopus’. (A reference to a Hawaiian proverb about the ability of the octopus to transform its shape and colour to suit its environment)

Eia au `O Pi’ikea,

Mai na Pua`ali`i a Hawai`i Nui Kua Uli,

Mai loko mai o Na Ali`i`aimoku o Maui Nui A Kama

Mai ka Pûhaka o Kaulaheanuiokamoku

Ka Niaupio o Kekaulike me Kekuiapoiwa

Mai Keawepoepoe me Kanoena

Hânau ka Mahoe ura o Kame`eiaumoku me Kamanawa,

`O Kame`eiamoku ka mea i loaa ai ka Lehua kea o Ka`ûpûlehu,

Kû mai o Kepo`okalani, noho me Alapa`i, hânau o Kapelakapuokaka`e,

Kapelakapuokaka`e noho me Kaua â Kûkapu, hânau o Kamakea,

Kamakea noho me Kaleimakali`i, hânau o Ka`ainahunali`ili`i,

Kû mai o Kamakaopiopio a Kaleimakali`i, noho me Paoa,

Paoa mai Kâlia mai, mai Kahiki mai

Mai te Hauraki mai, Mai Te Pito o Te Henua Mai,

Mai Taptapuatea mai,

Kû mai ka `umi kumamamalua, te ura, `O Aulani ke keikamahine

Noho `o Aulani me Kahikiena – Hâ`ena ka lani e

Hânau o Kalaeone, o Kamakaopiopio, o Pi`ikea Makua,

Pi`ikea Makua noho me Iwalani a Keawepo`o`ole

A`u ke kupu nei.

Kû mâkou iho nei, I mua nei, I hope nei.