- polynesia, micronesia, melanesia
- purpose of this lecture: to bring awareness to an erased peoples
- oral traditions being a big reason why pasifika peoples aren’t well-known
- why did i join this program?
-> to learn more about myself and other asian/pi cultures
-> to increase my knowledge of history to share with the next generation - terisa siagatonu – “ethnic studies” (poem)
-> “when ethnics study ethnic studies, it is not school anymore” - this program is a privilege!!
- PI representation is rare, both PI and mixed PI
- debunking disney and other narratives
- moana – was it good representation?
-> imo: no, because they mushed all the cultures they could together
a good start but it’s not enough - 20+ different cultures included in maui’s “your welcome” song
- considering religions and cultures outside of catholicism as myth + legend as erasure and delegitimizing
-> esp. happens with PI cultures; seen as lying, “it was just a dream/a story” - the impact of representation affecting people’s perceptions of certain groups
- lilo and stitch -> disney has been selling her story for profit and making her narrative interchangeable
-> her design has changed depending on the animator, but stitch’s hasn’t
->stitch is profitable, but not lilo
-> running gag that gantu is samoan in the lilo and stitch cartoon series - these stories aren’t being told by their people, it’s all being done for profit
- tatu and the “bro” aesthetic
-> tatu as a right of passage + connection to family; sacred; can take hours or days to finish - disney’s discontinued maui costume as an example of tatu appropriation
- tatus in indigenous cultures were never meant to be sold
- ecotourism + globalization
- sports and other physical means as standard forms of success for PI’s
-> football, rugby, military, and other forms of entertainment + physical labor - colorism as categorization for success
- american samoa and guam as #1 recruitment centers for US military
-> complexity of being american territories + being a US national - “samoan soldier” (song)
-> appropriation of black culture + hip hop - using PI folks to fuel foreign military powers
-> islands being central for war; used for land, storing supplies, testing grounds for weapons, etc. - guam was bombed shortly after pearl harbor + then japan occupied them (after the US evacuated themselves) for 2 1/2 yrs
- this (colonization) isn’t history, it’s happening right now
- litekyan/ritidian
- “racial paradise” -> race+sex=???
-> fetishization of mixed people - “the discourse of aloha”
- many of the islands had matriarchs before colonization – now hypermasculinity + gender binary issues
- asian folks on the islands – “settlers, not immigrants”
pasifika lecture notes
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