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In Everything Ancient Was Once New, Emalani Case explores
Indigenous persistence through the concept of Kahiki, a term that
is at once both an ancestral homeland for Kanaka Maoli (Hawaiians)
and the knowledge that there is life to be found beyond Hawai'i's
shores. It is therefore both a symbol of ancestral connection and
the potential that comes with remembering and acting upon that
connection. Tracing physical, historical, intellectual, and
spiritual journeys to and from Kahiki, Emalani frames it as a place
of refuge and sanctuary, a place where ancient knowledge can
constantly be made anew. It is in Kahiki, she argues, and in the
sanctuary it creates, that today's Kanaka Maoli can find safety and
reprieve from the continued onslaught of settler colonial violence,
while also confronting some of the often uncomfortable and
challenging realities of being Indigenous in Hawai'i, in the
Pacific, and in the world. Each chapter of the book engages with
Kahiki as a shifting term, employed by Kanaka Maoli to explain
their lives and experiences to themselves at different points in
history. In doing so, Everything Ancient Was Once New proposes and
argues for reactivated and reinvigorated engagements with Kahiki,
each supporting ongoing work aimed at decolonizing physical and
ideological spaces, and reconnecting Kanaka Maoli to other peoples
and places in the Pacific region and beyond in ways that are both
purposeful and meaningful. In the book, Kahiki is therefore traced
through pivotal moments in history and critical moments in
contemporary times, explaining that while not always mentioned by
name, the idea of Kahiki was, and is, always full of potential. In
writing that is both personal and theoretical, Emalani weaves the
past and the present together, reflecting on ancient concepts and
their continued relevance in movements to protect lands, waters,
and oceans; to fight for social justice; to reexamine our
responsibilities and obligations to each other across the Pacific
region; and to open space for continued dialogue on what it means
to be Indigenous both when at home and when away. Combining
personal narrative and reflection with research and critical
analysis, Everything Ancient Was Once New journeys to and from
Kahiki, the sanctuary for reflection, deep learning, and continued
dreaming with the past, in the present, and far into the future.
That Indonesia's ongoing occupation of West Papua continues to be
largely ignored by world governments is one of the great moral and
political failures of our time. West Papuans have struggled for
more than fifty years to find a way through the long night of
Indonesian colonization. However, united in their pursuit of
merdeka (freedom) in its many forms, what holds West Papuans
together is greater than what divides them. Today, the Morning Star
glimmers on the horizon, the supreme symbol of merdeka and a
cherished sign of hope for the imminent arrival of peace and
justice to West Papua. Morning Star Rising: The Politics of
Decolonization in West Papua is an ethnographically framed account
of the long, bitter fight for freedom that challenges the dominant
international narrative that West Papuans' quest for political
independence is fractured and futile. Camellia Webb-Gannon's
extensive interviews with the decolonization movements' original
architects and its more recent champions shed light on complex
diasporic and inter-generational politics as well as social and
cultural resurgence. In foregrounding West Papuans' perspectives,
the author shows that it is the body politic's unflagging
determination and hope, rather than military might or influential
allies, that form the movement's most unifying and powerful force
for independence. This book examines the many intertwining strands
of decolonization in Melanesia. Differences in cultural performance
and political diversity throughout the region are generating new,
fruitful trajectories. Simultaneously, Black and Indigenous
solidarity and a shared Melanesian identity have forged a
transnational grassroots power-base from which the movement is
gaining momentum. Relevant beyond its West Papua focus, this book
is essential reading for those interested in Pacific studies,
Native and Indigenous studies, development studies, activism, and
decolonization.
Found in Translation is a rich account of language and shifting
cross-cultural relations on a Christian mission in northern
Australia during the mid-twentieth century. It explores how
translation shaped interactions between missionaries and the
Anindilyakwa-speaking people of the Groote Eylandt archipelago and
how each group used language to influence, evade, or engage with
the other in a series of selective "mistranslations." In
particular, this work traces the Angurugu mission from its
establishment by the Church Missionary Society in 1943, through
Australia's era of assimilation policy in the 1950s and 1960s, to
the introduction of a self-determination policy and bilingual
education in 1973. While translation has typically been an
instrument of colonization, this book shows that the ambiguities it
creates have given Indigenous people opportunities to reinterpret
colonization's position in their lives. Laura Rademaker combines
oral history interviews with careful archival research and
innovative interdisciplinary findings to present a fresh,
cross-cultural perspective on Angurugu mission life. Exploring
spoken language and sound, the translation of Christian scripture
and songs, the imposition of English literacy, and Aboriginal
singing traditions, she reveals the complexities of the encounters
between the missionaries and Aboriginal people in a subtle and
sophisticated analysis. Rademaker uses language as a lens, delving
into issues of identity and the competition to name, own, and
control. In its efforts to shape the Anindilyakwa people's beliefs,
the Church Missionary Society utilized language both by teaching
English and by translating Biblical texts into the native tongue.
Yet missionaries relied heavily on Anindilyakwa interpreters, whose
varied translation styles and choices resulted in an unforeseen
Indigenous impact on how the mission's messages were received. From
Groote Eylandt and the peculiarities of the Australian
settler-colonial context, Found in Translation broadens its scope
to cast light on themes common throughout Pacific mission history
such as assimilation policies, cultural exchanges, and the
phenomenon of colonization itself. This book will appeal to
Indigenous studies scholars across the Pacific as well as scholars
of Australian history, religion, linguistics, anthropology, and
missiology.
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