Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor and Ricardo Trimillos, renowned professors who have made lasting contributions to the and the greater community, were celebrated as on February 10. The 49th annual ceremony paid tribute to individuals who have significantly enriched the cultural tapestry of the islands.

Trimillos, a professor emeritus of was recognized for his profound influence on the preservation and perpetuation of the islands’ cultural, musical and artistic traditions.

“This is an honor that was completely unanticipated, but it also is an important way station to where I have been, and the people that helped me to get there,” Trimillos said. “Looking out over the assembled audience I was moved to see how many parts of my life were represented by the five tables of friends and students who attended and supported me. I haven’t processed the entire experience, but it is certainly one of the high points of my retirement age!”

• Related UH News story: UH ����ԴDz� professor honored by International Council for Traditional Music and Dance, August 1, 2023

McGregor, a professor emerita and trailblazer in the field received acclaim for her steadfast dedication to education, cultural preservation and shouldering efforts to stop the bombing and heal the island of Kahoʻolawe.

“In honoring me, really it’s honoring my mentors, my colleagues at the Department of Ethnic Studies, as well as my students and those who I have worked with in the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana and my own ʻohana,” said McGregor. “Because whatever I’ve accomplished it’s always been with a team of people.”

• Related UH News story: Ethnic studies professor Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor honored, June 16, 2020

Honoring excellence

Living Treasures of �鶹��ý was created by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of �鶹��ý in 1976, inspired by the Living National Treasures of Japan. It honors those unique to the islands who demonstrate excellent and high standards of achievement in their particular fields and continue to make a significant contribution towards enriching our society.

In addition to the two UH ����ԴDz� professors, 2024 honorees include UH ����ԴDz� alumna Sarah Keahi, a notable kumu ʻōlelo (Hawaiian language teacher) and advocate, award-winning composer and educator Julian Keikilani Ako and historian Douglas Chong, a former employee at and lecturer.

Those honored in previous years include dozens of UH employees and alumni.

A record $3.5-million gift to the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa from the Barbara Barnard Smith Foundation will fund the music department’s first-ever endowed chair. The newly established Professor Barbara Barnard Smith Endowed Chair supports the university’s desire and commitment to revitalize its ethnomusicology program and honors the legacy of the late revered UH Mānoa professor who died in 2021.

• Related �鶹��ýNews story: In memoriam: Barbara Smith, ethnomusicology program founder, July 3, 2021

“This is the first major grant from the Barbara Barnard Smith Foundation and the board is very pleased that it will recognize Professor Smith’s legacy at the University of �鶹��ý while supporting the University’s commitment to enhancing the ethnomusicology program,” said Gregory Smith, the foundation’s president and nephew of the beloved professor.

UH Mānoa’s ethnomusicology program educates students in world music with a special focus on Asia and the Pacific. In addition to the newly created Professor Barbara Barnard Smith Endowed Chair, the grant also provides for two additional faculty positions, and will bolster a range of enhancements to the ethnomusicology program, including student support.

“The Barbara Barnard Smith Foundation grant is a truly transformative one,” said UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno. “It will build on the amazing legacy of Professor Smith and the internationally recognized ethnomusicology program she pioneered, as well as secure UH Mānoa’s future significance in the field. I am deeply grateful for this grant and the profound impact it will have on students, faculty, performance, and scholarship.”

Impactful legacy

Smith was a trailblazer in the ethnomusicology field, which focuses on the study of musical traditions from around the world in their social and cultural contexts. Arriving at UH Mānoa as a young faculty member in 1949, Professor Smith found herself immersed in a tapestry of cultures that she had previously not known. She set out on a path to educate herself in numerous musical traditions of �鶹��ý, the Pacific and Asia that led to the founding and development of one of the nation’s earliest programs in ethnomusicology, which is internationally recognized today.

• Related �鶹��ýNews story: The legacy of a long life in music, June 8, 2020

The impact of Professor Smith’s work can be seen in her students, among the earliest of whom were legendary �鶹��ý musicians Herb Ohta and Eddie Kamae. Graduates of the program Smith founded continue to hold influential positions throughout �鶹��ý, the greater U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and the Pacific region.

The has awarded a lifetime membership to the ’s Ricardo Trimillos for his years of advocacy, service and academic contributions.

Trimillos is a professor emeritus in ethnomusicology and Asian studies at UH Mānoa. His career has been dedicated to helping build the ethnomusicology program in tandem with his former professor and mentor, Barbara Bernard Smith, the founder of the program. He has worked with the to establish the , which will support a visiting international scholar-in-residence at every two years “to enrich the study of world music at UH and to encourage the study of Asian and Pacific music and expressive culture.”

History of research, mentorship

Trimillos’ contributions and milestones are not limited only to the discipline/field of ethnomusicology. He has excelled as an educator, mentor, scholar, researcher, arts advocate, performing artist and collaborator across disciplines, cultures and continents.

As an educator and mentor from 1982 to 2021, Trimillos chaired 31 . As a scholar and researcher ,Trimillos’ interests were diverse: western classical music (including opera), Japanese classical music, Filipino musical traditions, Hawaiian music, and education and pedagogy. He published articles in diverse scholarly journals such as Music Educators Journal, Society for Ethnomusicology, ICTM Yearbook, American Folklore, Association for Asian Studies, International Journal of Music Education, Asian Music, Folklife (Smithsonian Institute), and the Music Educators National Conference. In the past five years, Trimillos has continued to serve as the Editor for Asian Music: the Journal of the Society for Asian Music. Trimillos’ research covers a broad range of issues that intersect with ethnomusicology and cross-cultural performance. Over the last few decades, he has expanded his research to address issues of gender and socio-sexual identity in the performing arts of �鶹��ý, the Pacific Islands and Asia.

As an arts advocate, Trimillos organized and ran the Festival for Ethnic Music and Dance for the UH Mānoa . Through that program, Trimillos mentored ethnomusicology graduate students in applied ethnomusicology. Trimillos also supported the ’s Performing Arts Program and worked with Dick Via to collaborate on programming. He was on the Smithsonian Folklife Festival planning committee when �鶹��ý was the featured state in the 1989 Folklife Festival on the Mall in Washington, D.C. He worked to support the development of folklife programs in �鶹��ý and assisted with the Folk Arts Apprenticeship grants at the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Trimillos has taught upper-level courses that students needed to meet degree requirements for graduation. As a continuation of his life’s focus and his promise to his mentor, he actively advocates with the university for the internationally renowned ethnomusicology program.

Long respected as a champion for the study of music and dance from �鶹��ý, Asia and the Pacific, University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� Professor Emerita Barbara Barnard Smith, who founded the university’s died on the evening of July 3. Colleagues and former students gathered to virtually celebrate the veteran professor’s 101st birthday on June 10.

Loved ones released this statement:
“She was a beloved colleague, teacher, mentor, and friend. Although we are saddened by her passing, we honor and celebrate a life well lived. One of her requests (instructions!) was ‘…and be sure to emphasize my long and amazingly wonderful life.’”

Barbara Smith turns 100: The legacy of a long life in music
—June 8, 2020

“Barbara was not only one of our most influential academic leaders but a highly engaged community member in �鶹��ý and throughout the region,” said UH President David Lassner. “I’m one of the many whose life was touched by her work here. And her remarkable year-long 100th birthday celebration demonstrated just how deep her impact was around the world.”

“Barbara Smith was an extraordinary person who has touched so many lives as a mentor, an advocate for minority cultures, and a generous philanthropist,” said UH ����ԴDz� Ethnomusicology and Asian Studies Professor Emeritus Ricardo D. Trimillos, one of Smith’s first graduate students. “For me she was all these, but above all she was a dear friend. Her passing is not a time for sadness, but a time to honor and celebrate a life well lived.”

“The Music Department is saddened by the recent news of Professor Barbara Smith’s passing. Professor Smith was to say the least an institution at the UH ����ԴDz� Music Department,” said Laurence Paxton, Music Department chair. “Barbara established the ethnomusicology program here in the department. She then worked tirelessly to establish this new and vibrant field of study nationally and then internationally. The reputation of our ethnomusicology program soon received an international reputation around the world as the finest and most prestigious school of its kind. We here in the department celebrate Professor Smith’s accomplishments and salute her for a “life well lived.” Her influence on students was extraordinary and her guidance and mentoring of new faculty in this field was legendary.

”Now it is our responsibility in our department, UH ����ԴDz� and with all the UH campuses to continue her work and ensure that this program of cultural study continues to flourish far into the future. I, the music faculty and students will continue to remind everyone that the study of “world music” is an integral part of our mission here at UH. We will also encourage interdisciplinary studies with other likewise departments whose programs align with this important mission, aiding in building a robust reputation as a university of diversity, inclusion and celebration of the cultural arts of all nations. Barbara Smith began this auspicious work and now we need to maintain its validity and support its growth!” said Paxton.

Barbara B. Smith’s legacy

A native of California, Smith began her career at UH ����ԴDz� in 1949 teaching piano and music theory, after earning her master’s degree in music literature from the Eastman School of Music. She then became interested in her students’ diverse ethnic backgrounds, but realized that what they were learning was limited to Euro-American culture.

• Related UH News story: Tribute concert for 100-year-old ethnomusicology champion, November 27 2020

Smith, fondly known as “Miss Smith” to her students, learned to perform the music of various ethnicities and introduced classes in hula and Hawaiian chant, Korean dance, Chinese butterfly harp and Japanese gagaku (court music). A partnership with the East-West Center after the 1960s brought visiting scholars and performances of world music, dance and theater to �鶹��ý, which resulted in the formation of master’s and doctorate programs in ethnomusicology at UH ����ԴDz�.

UH ����ԴDz�’s ethnomusicology program is internationally-recognized, and graduates have become advocates in culture and the arts throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. Among Smith’s earliest students were Herbert Ohta (Ohta-san) and Eddie Kamae, both recognized artists in the Hawaiian music industry.

After retiring from full-time teaching in 1982, Smith remained engaged with the university through fieldwork, research advocacy and mentoring international graduate students. She even continued mentoring dissertation students virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smith’s accolades include being named a “living treasure” by the UH ����ԴDz� Colleges of Arts and Sciences; recognition as a “pioneer” by the Honolulu City Council; the 2018 �鶹��ý Arts Alliance Alfred Preis Honor; and the Governor’s Award for the preservation of Hawaiian Language, Art and Culture.

To honor Smith’s wishes, there will be no memorial service. Her ashes will be scattered at her favorite surfing spot, as longboarding was a cherished pastime during her early years at UH ����ԴDz�. Messages of condolence can be sent to her ʻohana through the professor’s email account barbaras@hawaii.edu. Donations in her memory can be made to the , the arts program or the .

More than 100 former colleagues and students from around the world gathered virtually to surprise ethnomusicology leader Ricardo Trimillos, professor emeritus in the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� and former chair, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. One of Trimillos’ legacies was starting the in 2017 with the .

The milestone birthday party also served to raise funds to bring a foreign scholar of ethnomusicology to campus for a semester. UH ����ԴDz� Professor Christine Yano is one of Trimillos’ former students. Yano is spearheading the “80 for 80” with a goal of raising $80,000 within a year from Trimillos’ 80th birthday.

“Ethnomusicology is about diversity and the richness of individual cultures,” Trimillos said. “Because UH ����ԴDz� is on an island, our students do not readily have opportunities to meet other leading scholars in the field or to bond with student peers from other programs. The fund was created expressly to bring non-American ethnomusicologists to UH, so that our students come into contact with different and current approaches and perspectives in the field.”

“Ric has been the public face of ethnomusicology at UH, especially since the retirement of Barbara Smith. Although he retired a few years ago, he remains at the forefront of what ethnomusicology means in �鶹��ý and at UH,” Yano said. “Each contribution is a vote of love and support for someone who has spent his career giving so generously of himself to students and extended community.”

.

Surprise birthday

Former students and UH ����ԴDz� alumni Yano, Mayco Santaella, Made Hood, Teri Skillman and Pattie Dunn helped plan Trimillos’ surprise party via Zoom. Also part of the planning committee was Frederick Lau, former music department faculty member, who is now at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

After overcoming the initial shock of the surprise, Trimillos said he was delighted that the planning committee was able to bring attendees from the different facets of his life, including “my family, my German host family from 1961, the university, the East-West Center, cultural organizations, professional organizations, the local Filipino, Japanese and Hawaiian communities, the local arts community, and former students now pursuing successful (mostly academic) careers in the U.S., Asia and Europe.”

Distinguished career

Trimillos’ research focused on Asian performance, Hawaiian music and dance, and the music of Muslim groups in the Southern Philippines. His publications in three languages include pieces on Asian Americans, world music in higher education, cross-cultural implications for the arts, interrelationships of the arts, Philippine ritual and Hawaiian music. Trimillos is also an active performer of the Japanese koto.

Trimillos earned a PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles; an MA in ethnomusicology from UH ����ԴDz�, sponsored by the East-West Center; and an undergraduate degree in music and English literature from San Jose State University. He also completed advanced study at the Ateneo de Manila in the Philippines and University of Cologne in Germany.

This work is an example of UH ����ԴDz�’s goal of (PDF) and (PDF), two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

—By Marc Arakaki

A musical lineup of all stars honored Professor Emerita Barbara Barnard Smith, who celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year. “A Centennial Celebration,” presented by the , premiered November 24, and .

The concert featured music by Professor Donald Womack, Associate Professor Takuma Itoh, Professor Emeritus Takeo Kudo, Professor Emeritus and lecturer Byron Yasui, UH ����ԴDz� PhD graduate Yoko Sato and current PhD student Christopher Molina; performances by Professors Jonathan Korth and I-Bei Lin, and lecturers Darin Miyashiro, Aaron Salā, Anna Womack, Todd Yukumoto and Christopher Blasdel; and music and performances by Kenny Endo, Raiatea Helm and many more.

In memoriam: Barbara Smith, ethnomusicology program founder
—July 3, 2021

“As a champion for the study of music and dance from �鶹��ý, Asia and the Pacific, and as the founder of UH’s , Barbara Smith has created a remarkable legacy,” said Professor and UH Contemporary Music Ensemble Director Thomas Osborne. “Not only has she had a substantial impact on the field of ethnomusicology, but she has also opened new avenues of collaboration between composers and performers from different cultures. Here at UH ����ԴDz�, our composition program is unique because of its focus on intercultural music and our faculty and students regularly compose for non-western instruments, especially those of East Asia.”

Osborne added, “Because of Barbara’s vision, UH has become a hub for this emerging trend in contemporary music. This concert is a tribute to that vision, and these performances of contemporary works show that traditions are never static; they are very much alive, and always changing.”

Barbara B. Smith’s legacy

A native of California, Smith came to UH ����ԴDz� in 1949 to teach piano and music theory, after earning her master’s degree in music literature from the Eastman School of Music. She then became interested in her students’ diverse ethnic backgrounds, but realized that what they were learning was limited to Euro-American culture.

Smith learned to perform the music of various ethnicities and introduced classes in hula and Hawaiian chant, Korean dance, Chinese butterfly harp and Japanese gagaku (court music). A partnership with the East-West Center after the 1960s brought visiting scholars and performances of world music, dance and theater to �鶹��ý, which resulted in the formation of master’s and doctorate programs in ethnomusicology at UH ����ԴDz�.

After retiring from full-time teaching in 1982, Smith remained engaged with the university through fieldwork, research advocacy and mentoring international graduate students. She even continued mentoring dissertation students virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smith’s accolades include being named a “living treasure” by the UH ����ԴDz� ; being recognized as a “pioneer” by the Honolulu City Council; the 2018 �鶹��ý Arts Alliance Alfred Preis Honor; and the Governor’s Award for the preservation of Hawaiian Language, Art and Culture.

• Related UH News story: The legacy of a long life in music, June 8, 2020

—By Marc Arakaki

“A celebration of a person’s 100th birthday is not unusual when a person reaches that milestone in life; however for me, though I never expected to reach it, the year 2020 is more important as the 70th anniversary of my moving to �鶹��ý, and even more important as the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the MA degree in Music with concentration in Ethnomusicology. I deeply appreciate the extensive celebration of my 100th birthday.” —Barbara B. Smith

A pioneer for cultural diversity for the and the state, who has championed the music and dance of �鶹��ý, the greater Pacific and Asia, Professor Emerita of Music Barbara Barnard Smith will celebrate her 100th birthday on June 10.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a year-long celebration honoring Smith and her contributions and achievements included a series of concerts, museum exhibitions and an international symposium, The Barbara B. Smith Conference on Ethnomusicology. The conference, which coincided with her 100th birthday, has shifted to webinars on Zoom. All other canceled events may be rescheduled to a later date.

Smith, fondly known as “Miss Smith” to her students, immersed herself in the music of Asia and the Pacific, and advocated for its integration into the music department. She established and developed the internationally-recognized at UH ����ԴDz�, whose graduates also became advocates in culture and the arts throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. Among Smith’s earliest students were Herbert Ohta (Ohta-san) and Eddie Kamae, both recognized artists in the Hawaiian music industry.

In memoriam: Barbara Smith, ethnomusicology program founder
—July 3, 2021

While Smith retired from full-time teaching at UH ����ԴDz� in 1982, she remained engaged with the department and university through her fieldwork, advocacy for research and as a mentor to international graduate students. Her relentless dedication and commitment was evident as she continued to mentor dissertation students, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Barbara Smith is one of the true treasures of �鶹��ý and our university,” said UH President David Lassner. “She is both a highly-recognized academic and an engaged community member with a remarkable generosity of spirit. Her impact throughout �鶹��ý and the Asia Pacific region, and on the thousands of people she has has touched directly and indirectly, cannot be measured.”

Making an early impact

Smith, who had earned her master’s degree in Music Literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., came to �鶹��ý in 1949 to help develop the UH ����ԴDz� . The California native was hired to teach piano and music theory for the department in its infancy.

She was immediately interested in her students as people and their ethnic backgrounds, and was also impressed with how eagerly they were learning what she was teaching them. However, Smith came to realize that it was contributing to their problems of self-esteem because what they were learning at the university was limited to Euro-American culture. While they did not criticize her for it, she felt she was contributing to their problem.

That triggered Smith to push for a course that would acknowledge the artistic validity of the music of her students’ heritages. However, she could not find anyone willing to develop such a course. Rather than returning to the continental U.S. to look for other job prospects and “feel guilty for the rest of my life for failing to meet the deeply felt needs of those who had come to trust me, I devoted myself to trying to learn enough to teach an introductory course about their music. I have never regretted my decision to stay,” explained Smith.

She began to learn to perform the music of various ethnicities. Then she introduced classes in hula and Hawaiian chant, Korean dance, Chinese butterfly harp and Japanese gagaku (court music) at the music department. When the (EWC) was established in the 1960s to bring together people of the U.S., Asia and the Pacific to research and study in �鶹��ý, Smith recommended that EWC and UH ����ԴDz� could learn from visiting scholars and performances of world music, dance and theater.

These seeds blossomed into the master’s and doctorate programs in ethnomusicology at UH ����ԴDz� that emphasize learning from “living cultures” in �鶹��ý and the surrounding Asia Pacific region.

Students sing her praises

The program developed through the years with the help of one of Smith’s former students and now a professor emeritus of ethnomusicology and , Ricardo Trimillos.

“Barbara has been a valuable mentor, a wonderful colleague and a good friend,” said Trimillos. “It has been a joy to see a vision of ethnomusicology flourish in �鶹��ý built upon her two ‘pillars’: a commitment to intellectual rigor and a respect for artists and their communities.”

For Terry Liu, the program built a foundation for a successful career in the arts. The former executive director of the �鶹��ý Arts Alliance and administrator for the National Endowment for the Arts, said “The ethnomusicology program at UH ����ԴDz�, a rainbow bridge to mālamalama, lit my path in life.”

Smith was a mentor to many students, including Patricia Dunn. A student at UH ����ԴDz� in the 70s, Dunn accepted an invitation from a friend to take a new Javanese dance and music lecture class, which made her “fall through the looking glass.”

Miss Smith’s gift was more than the pedagogy of learning music and dance but one of opening up the world…
—Patricia Dunn

Dunn, who now serves as an undergraduate student advisor in the Asian studies program, credits Smith for her vision and desire to have her student’s ethnic roots reflected in the curriculum.

“Miss Smith’s gift was more than the pedagogy of learning music and dance but one of opening up the world to a girl born and raised just over the hill in the next valley over,” she said. “She instilled a curiosity and appreciation for the cultures the world could offer and an understanding of what made us unique and yet also the same.”

Another of Smith’s students was Dean R. Anderson Sutton, who pursued his MA in ethnomusicology starting in 1971. With an interest in the music of Asia, he had heard from his undergraduate professors the praises of Barbara Smith and the UH ����ԴDz� program that she founded.

“Knowing I had been introduced to Asian music at Wesleyan, where the emphasis had been primarily on performance, she looked me squarely in the eye, smiling, and said, ‘Here at UH we put more emphasis on the ‘ology’ in ethnomusicology,’“ Sutton said of his first encounter with Smith. “All of the graduate students in the program soon learned that she was a demanding teacher, with high standards: no tolerance for sloppy writing or superficial research, nor for anyone who did not treat with respect the musicians with whom they studied.”

Sutton added, “We learned by her example to prioritize ethics in our encounters and clarity and consistency in our writing. For that guidance I remain very grateful.”

Chiao-Wen Chiang is a PhD student and fellowship recipient in the ethnomusicology program. Chiang recalled Smith recently joined a two-hour thesis defense held via Zoom due to COVID-19. “She sat through the entire session and provided comments,” she said. “I’m very impressed with her energy and enthusiasm for learning, and for continuously showing her support to students, the program and the field. Prof. Smith and her Aloha spirit inspire me profoundly.”

A pioneer of music and cultural diversity

As a woman and an academic, Smith can be credited with a number of firsts. She was the first UH professor to study the music of Asia and the Pacific. She was the first woman and non-Japanese person to drum for local Bon Dance observances as a member of the Iwakuni tradition. She was the only non-Japanese person to be accepted by the Japanese koto (zither) master Michio Miyagi as a student. She produced the first performance instructional film for hula, with kumu hula Eleanor Hiram demonstrating the mele “Ula no Weo.” She released the first long play recording ever of an extended performance of the Korean classical music genre sanjo, performed by kayakeum (zither) virtuoso Hwang Byong-ki. She was the first American and the first woman to undertake field research and the collection of music in the various regions of Micronesia in the 1960s and 70s.

Beyond her contributions to the university, Smith has been a role model for cultural citizenship. At EWC where she maintains an active interest in the arts program, she planned and developed short-term training courses for mid-career cultural workers from Asia and the Pacific in arts development and management. In 1961, she organized court testimony to protect the Hawaiian musical instrument ʻulīʻulī from being exploited by a foreign businessman. She has supported cultural and education projects for the Bishop Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art and the former Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Perhaps her most significant contribution to the �鶹��ý cultural community is as editor for the completion of The Queen’s Songbook, an annotated anthology of the compositions by Queen Liliʻuokalani. Smith has continued to be a supporter of projects in ethnomusicology, contemporary music and Asia Pacific cultural performance but humbly takes no credit and insists her generous donations remain anonymous.

Among her many accolades are earning the distinction as a “living treasure” from the UH ����ԴDz� ; being recognized as a “pioneer” by a resolution of the Honolulu City Council; the 2018 �鶹��ý Arts Alliance Alfred Preis Honor; and the Governor’s Award for the preservation of Hawaiian Language, Art and Culture.

Smith has left a lasting impact on those she has taught and touched at UH ����ԴDz� and in the state of �鶹��ý, which she has proudly called her home since arriving some 70 years ago.

Sutton’s sentiments are undoubtedly shared among the many students fortunate to have been under Smith guidance. “(Due to) the ongoing legacy of the program she built and has actively sustained, even long after her official retirement, music at UH and in the wider community would not be what it is today without her efforts. Mahalo nui loa, Professor Emerita Barbara B. Smith!”

Email for more information on the 2020 Barbara B. Smith Webinar Series: A Legacy for Ethnomusicology.

—By Arlene Abiang