Abstract

The multivalent Hawaiian concept of kuleana refers to responsibility and privilege, with further meanings that reference land and familial relations. Kuleana has become a defining value and orientation in the decolonization of archaeology and anthropology in Hawai‘i, in line with ‘Ōiwi (Indigenous Hawaiian) research methodologies as practiced in the university and in the community. This talk will make the case for a “kuleana anthropology” that foregrounds responsibility and relationality in community and ‘āina (lived and living environments) by discussing the North Shore Field School, a 9-year collaboration between the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the Kamehameha Schools (a Native Hawaiian educational institution), and the Waialua Hawaiian Civic Club. Initiated as an archaeological methods training program in 2012, it shifted in 2017 to become a collaborative collection and curation of oral histories from the North Shore on O‘ahu. While located specifically in Hawai‘i, this field school and its articulation of kuleana anthropology point to broader Native Pacific resurgences of sovereignty and lifeways that are transforming the discipline in Oceania.

Please join us on Zoom for this presenation

Please register via the following link: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAlcuyuqDMoGNdzURvukC4zZXqGp5d6uhUn