Christina Akanoa, the Assistant Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYU-H), is making significant strides in understanding the contributions of Cook Islands women in sustainable growth and political involvement.
Chaille Faye Kioa, BYU–Hawaii alumna from Tonga who majored in political science, was one of nine students selected to attend the field study at the United Nations Headquarters in the first week of Spring Semester.
Laie is home to Pacific Islanders who grow up mixed within different cultures, shared Caryn Lesuma, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts & Letters and a Laie native. Many are seeking a sense of who they are, just as she did when she was younger, said Lesuma. As a part-Samoan, she added, she grew up trying to figure out who and what she represented.
As Proclaim Peace conference attendees walked into the Aotearoa Village at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the last day of the three-day event, they witnessed a rare Maori ceremony that BYU–Hawaii alumnus Seamus Fitzgerald said he had only seen twice in this lifetime. After the attendees were seated, Fitzgerald and Aotearoa Village Manager Kim Makekau did a call and response oration in Maori. Conference attendees said there was a tangible spirit in the air that they felt.
In 2017, Hali’a Moe said she and her husband, Sterling Moe, visited Utah and tasted cookies from Crumbl and Chip. Intrigued by the taste, Moe said she wanted to figure out why these cookies tasted like nothing she ever had before. “So I was like, ‘I want to try to recreate that,’” she said.