Ua lawa mākou i ka pōhaku: Native Hawaiian Experiences in Librarianship
Presentation | Friday, May, 19 2023 | 1:15pm – 2:15pm
Hawaiʻi is illegally occupied by the U.S. with a sole reliance on an industry that perpetuates the myth of “aloha spirit” and Hawaiʻi as a harmonious melting pot. Meanwhile, Native Hawaiians consistently make up the highest rates of houselessness and incarceration while being priced out of our homeland. Although tired of being the “resilient” Natives stuck in survival mode, Kānaka Maoli ʻonipaʻa (remain firm) in our aloha for this land and our people, pushing back against the systems that were designed to eliminate us in hopes that one day, we will be free. Libraries in Hawaiʻi are not immune to upholding white supremacy and settler colonialism through a false sense of neutrality, policies, and procedures that are detrimental to Kānaka Maoli. In this presentation, Shavonn Matsuda and Kawena Komeiji will share their journeys as Kanaka librarians actively challenging the existing power and racial structures in Hawaiʻi libraries.
[This presentation will not be recorded.]
Presenters: Kawena Komeiji & Shavonn Matsuda / Resources & links
Kawena Komeiji is from Nuʻuanu, Kona, Oʻahu with ancestral roots in Waialua and Koʻolauloa moku. Kawena currently lives and works in Honouliuli, ʻEwa, Oʻahu as the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Resources Librarian in the James and Abigail Kuaihelani Campbell Library at the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu. As an aloha ʻāina ʻoiaʻiʻo and a fierce proponent for ea, she enjoys working with the lāhui Hawaiʻi and giving back to this ʻāina that has sustained her ʻohana for generations.
Shavonn Matsuda is from Hāna, Maui, Hawaiʻi. Shavonn is the Head Librarian at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College. She earned a PhD in Indigenous Studies from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiarangi, a Master’s in Library & Information Science from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and concurrent bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Hawaiian Studies. and archives. Contextualized within the broader Indigenous context of resistance and reclamation, her research focuses on Indigenous knowledge organization and Kanaka epistemologies for the purpose of improving access to libraries and archives.