UNIVERSITY OF HAWAl'I LIBRARY Pacific News from Manoa NEWSLETTER Of THE CENTER FOR PACIFIC ISLANDS STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I April-June 2005 INSIDE Distinguished Artist for 2004. During his residency in April News in Brief ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... .... .... .... 2 of2004, he showed films of Black Grace performances and CPIS Hosts Extemal Reviewers .................... 2 de-scribed his own evolution as a dancer and the passion and F LAS F ellowsliips A warded .. .. .. .. .. 2 soul that infuses the dancers in his company. 1-J.e also described his work with young people in the Auckland Meller Award S11bmiS$iolls Solicited ........ ..... 2 community. Culture Moves! Dance in Oceania ................. 3 Indigenous Encounters: Grad Papers ltivited .... 3 Black Grace's appearance in Honolulu is coordinated by A Conversation with Filmmaker Sima Urale . .. 3 the Community Services Department of the UHM Outreach HAA to Host Pacific Exhibition .. .. ... ... ... ... 6 College. It is supported in part by the East-West Center Arts Pacific Scholars Attend Caribbean Conference . 7 Program and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Occasional Seminars and Presentations .... ... 7 Tickets may be purchased starting 26 September from any Visitors to tire Center .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ... .... ... ... 8 UH ticket outlet, online at <www.etickethawau.com>, or by Faculty Activities ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...... ... ... ..... 8 phone at 808-944-2697. Student and Alumni Activities . ... .. .. ... ...... 9 The Contemporary Pacific 17:2 .................. JO A VIA WILL BE FULBRIGHT-CNZ Publications, Moving Images, and CDs ....... 11 PACIFIC WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE Conferences ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....... ... ..... ... ... 13 Donna Tusiata A via, poet, Bulletin Board ... ... ...... ... ....... ... ...... .... ... .... 14 performer, and children's book writer, will be the BLACK GRACE DANCE COMPANY Fulbright-Creative New TO DEBUT IN HONOLULU IN Zealand Pacific Writcr-in­ OCTOBER Residence at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies Black Grace, New Zealand's preeminent dance company, will for tbree months, beginning make its Honolulu debut Saturday, 22 October 2005, at 22 August. New Zealand­ Leeward Community College. The acclaimed dance company bom and of Samoan and has earned rave reviews in New Zealand, Australia, the Palagi descent, A via Netherlands, and Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1995 by published her first collection artistic director Neil Ieremia, the all-male company features of poetry, Wild Dogs Under Tusiata Avia six dancers of Pacific Islander and Maori descent. While their My Skirt, in 2004. to dance movements reflect their Polynesian heritage, they also widespread critical acclaim. Wild Dogs began as poetry for integrate contemporary dance, as well as an athletic, martial the page, but it developed another life, intertwining poetry arts style. The New York Times on 16 August 2004, echoing and theatre and eventually becoming a one-woman show. the enthusiastic response that met their performances at the During her residency at the center, A via will be working Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, described dance that was on a second collection of poetry and developing a second "startlingly fresh and full of invention, humor and infectious theatre piece. According to Avia, "My writing has always exuberance." Black Grace will return to Jacob's Pillow, one been around issues that I feel passionately about: the search of the premiere North American dance festivals, in August for and creation of identity, being of mixed heritage, 2005. "outsiders," isolation, nationality and universality, unearthing Neil Icremia, the CEO of Black Grace Dance Company, the past, the views from inside and outside ... the uneasy was the Center for Pacific Islands Studies Visiting place of those who stand between, the richness and flexibility 4.1 -· ---~ Pacific News from Manoa April-June 2005 of Pacific peoples and cultures, the universality of human experience." CPIS HOSTS EXTERNAL REVIEW Avia has Lraveled widely, and her travels to places such as In April 2005, as part of its regular review process. the staff Sydney, London, Russia, and Siberia have had a profound and faculty of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies hosted an impact on her writing. Earlier this year she traveled to external review team composed of Brij V Lal (professor and Christchurch, New Z.Caland, to be Pacific Artist-in-Residence former head of Pacific and Asian History in the Research at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian Canterbury University. As part of her residency at the Center National University), Karen Nero (director of the Macmillan for Pacific Islands Studies, Avia will give a public Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of performance. Canterbury, Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand), and Robert Underwood (former acaderrtic vice president of the NEWS IN BRIEF University of Guam). The team, which spent a week at the center, met with Native Hawaiian Law Center Established core and affiliate faculty and staff, graduate and undergraduate The UHM Richardson School of Law received a federal grant students, university admmistrators, and the director and staff of approximately $600,000 to establish a Center for of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. The center's primary Center. They were asked to look at the center's programs, focus will be education, research, and the preservation of funding. and structure, as well as its articulation with other invaluable historical, legal, traditional, and customary university and regional programs. Center faculty, staff, and materials. The center will also be doing extensive community students will review the team's comments and ouLreach work throughout Hawai 'i. It will offer new courses recommendations over the course of the coming year. The and encourage and support Native Hawaiian law students as center's last external review was in 1999. In addition to the they pursue legal careers and leadership roles. The center's external review, the university conducts its own internal director is Melody Kapilialoha MacKenLie. review of the center's programs every five years. New Brochure Describes CPIS Programs The Center for Pacific Islands Studies recently updated its FLAS FELLOWSHIPS AWARDED program brochure. The 20-page color brochure features The Center for Pacific Islands Studies awarded four Foreign information and photos of the center, its core and affiliate Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for the faculty, and its student, publications, and outreach programs, 2005-2006 acaderrtic year. This Pacific fellowship is made as well as the Pacific Collection at Hamilton Library. To possible by a grant to the center from the US Department of request a free copy of the brochure, send an e-mail to Edu.cation. It is designed for graduate students enrolled. at UH [email protected]. Manoa who arc combining language Lraining with area studies. The new awardees are • Shawn Barnes, an anthropology student doing research The Center for Pacific Islands Stu.dies on ancient human interactions in the Pacific, focusing on School of Hawaiian, Asian & Pacific Studies Samoa; University of Hawai'i at Miinoa 1890 East-West Roa.ti • Alexander Morrison, an anthropology student conducting Honolulu, HJ 96822 USA research on historic preservation issues and policies in Phone: (808) 956-7700 Samoa and American Samoa; Fax: (808) 956-7053 e-mail: [email protected] Kevin Riddle, a Pacific Islands studies student who is David Hanlon, Director studying Samoan and hopes to work with non­ Letitia Hickson, Editor governmental organizations in the Pacific; and The newsletter can be rea.d online at: • Kelley Esch, an anthropology student studying the http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/Newsletter.htm Items in this 11ewsle1ter may be freely reprinted. conservation of natural and cultural resources in Tahiti. Acknowledgment of the source would be appreciated. To receive the newsletter electronically, contact the editor at the MELLER AW ARD SUBMISSIONS e-mail address above. The University of Hawai'i at Manoa is an The Norman Meller Research Award of $250 is given Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution. annually to the best MA research paper at UH Manoa that is in the social sciences or humanities and focuses on the 2 t I • Pacific News from Manoa April-June 2005 Pacific Islands. Both Plan A theses and Plan B research papers and portfolios are eligible. Submissions may be made GRADUATE STUDENT SUBMISSIONS by students or by nominations from the faculty, and are not INVITED FOR INDIGENOUS limited to students in the Pacific Islands studies MA ENCOUNTERS program. The UH Center for Pacific Islands Studies invites graduate Dr Norman Meller. a political scientist and founding students to submit works to Indigenous Encounters: director of the center who passed away several years ago, Exploring Relations Between People in the Pacific, as part of bequeathed the gift to the center that makes this award the center's Occasional Paper Series. While much of Pacific possible. To be eligible for the next award, papers completed studies scholarship is framed in terms of the relations during the 2004-2005 academic year must be submitted by between indigenous peoples and colonizers, or between the 30 September 2005 lo Prof. David Hanlon. Center for Pacific West and the Islands, Jndige11ous Encounters seeks to Islands Studies,