A globally respected historian from the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� has earned one of the highest honors in her field, recognizing decades of scholarship that reshaped how the world understands Southeast Asia.

Professor emerita Barbara Watson Andaya received the from the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), a leading international organization dedicated to advancing research and teaching on Asia.

Andaya is widely known for her work on early modern Southeast Asia. Over the course of her career, her research has significantly influenced how historians interpret the region’s history and cultural development.

“Professor Barbara Andaya has been a true academic treasure to UH ����ԴDz� during her career, and we are absolutely delighted to see her hard work and devotion recognized by our international association,” said Miriam Stark, director of the UH ����ԴDz� .

Early Path

Known to many as “Barb,” Andaya grew up in Sydney, Australia. With parents involved in science and academia, she developed an early interest in education and research. She earned degrees in history and education from the University of Sydney and began her professional career as a high school teacher.

A shift in curriculum eventually brought her to UH ����ԴDz�, where she completed her master’s degree in Southeast Asian history as an East-West Center fellow. She later joined the faculty and was promoted to full professor in 1996.

Research Impact

Her scholarly expertise centers on the Malay-Indonesian world. Since 2014, she has published more than 30 works, including , which was recognized as an outstanding academic title. She also served as director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies from 2000 to 2006.

UH Press Honors

The recognition comes alongside additional accolades tied to UH. Two titles from the books, and , received 2026 Association for Asian Studies prizes.

The University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa has begun accepting applications for the director and publisher of the state’s only scholarly publisher, the .

UH Press was founded in 1947 and has more than 3,000 titles in print. The publisher’s primary focus is on Asian, Hawaiian, Pacific, Asian American and global studies. UH Press publishes 40–55 books a year plus more than 40 journals. The press actively supports Native Hawaiian scholars and practitioners and regularly publishes work in English and ʻōlelo �鶹��ý.

Those interested in applying can go online at the .

UH Librarian Clem Guthro is chairing the search advisory committee.

Other members of the search advisory committee:

• Cathryn Clayton
• Emma Ching
• Cheehyung “Harrison” Kim
• Kealiʻi Gora
• Mardee Melton
• Norman Kaneshiro

In a story of both serendipity and shared passion, two University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa alumni, Shoichi Iwasaki and Rumiko Shinzato, reunited after more than thirty years to co-author , the first textbook of its kind for English speakers.

The scholars bemoaned the lack of an Okinawan-language textbook in English and decided to write one themselves to preserve and teach the endangered Okinawan language. The resulting text was published by UH Press in May.

“I am passionate about letting people know the fate of the 3,000–5,000 languages that may vanish from the face of the earth in the next 100 years. Okinawan is just one of such languages,” said Iwasaki.

For Shinzato, the motivation was personal: “I wanted to give back something meaningful to my homeland, the people and our ancestors, as they have given me so much.”

While working on his master’s in at UH Mānoa, Iwasaki briefly met Shinzato, who was working on her PhD in . Years later, the professors reunited and co-wrote the recently published book.

Iwasaki credits Shinzato with the idea to structure the textbook around the story of an American exchange student living with a host family in Okinawa. Shinzato also recorded native speakers’ voices to supplement the book’s written dialogues.

Critically endangered language

According to the authors, the Okinawan language, part of the Ryukyuan language family, faces a dire future. Once the primary tongue of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawan was systematically suppressed after Japan annexed the region in 1879.

In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially declared the language “endangered.” Fifteen years later, many now consider the language “critically endangered,” as it is predominantly spoken by older generations and rarely passed on to children.

Cultural and educational impact

In �鶹��ý, the Okinawan diaspora remains an integral part of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s rich cultural fabric, with nearly 50,000 people of Okinawan descent living in the islands.

The textbook has been met with high praise from experts in the field. “I wish it had been available when I took my first steps in the language. With the learning of Okinawan made such a pleasant experience, this will become the standard English-language work, hard to beat in the years to come,” said Leon Serafim, a retired professor of Japanese and former director of the UH Center for Okinawan Studies.

The multidisciplinary center, based on the Mānoa campus, offers courses, sponsors cultural events, and supports exchange programs. UH Mānoa’s Hamilton Library houses the Sakamaki-Hawley Collection, one of the world’s most significant Okinawa-related archives.

Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: The Archaeology of Ancient �鶹��ý by renowned archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch has been reimagined and expanded in a new and updated 2023 edition. The first edition was described nearly 40 years ago as a “pioneering synthesis of ancient Hawaiian civilization from an archaeological perspective.” The new edition is a complete rewrite of the 1985 book and provides readers with a comprehensive and essential resource for understanding the fascinating archaeological history of �鶹��ý.

“This new edition synthesizes a vast array of research and literature accumulated over the past four decades,” said Kirch, professor in the at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�. “It begins with a historical review of changing archaeological practice in �鶹��ý, then delves into the origins of the Polynesians and Hawaiians, exploring eight centuries of gradual cultural change, which culminated in the unique Hawaiian culture encountered by European explorers in the late 18th century.”

Succeeding chapters of the book, co-authored with Mark D. McCoy, professor of anthropology at Florida State University, review traditional agricultural systems, the archaeology of everyday life, ceremonial and temple sites (heiau), and the cultural transformations that transpired following contact with the Western world. Six final chapters review the main archaeological sites of the principal islands.

This updated edition incorporates nearly four decades of research findings since the book’s initial publication, with significant discoveries including:

1. A revised understanding of when Polynesians first arrived in �鶹��ý—AD 1000 rather than AD 400—based on major improvements in radiocarbon dating.
2. New knowledge regarding when large heiau began to be constructed, and on the multiple functions of heiau as places of astronomical observation and men’s ritualized craft activities.
3. Appreciation of the scale and importance of the vast dryland farming systems on �鶹��ý Island and Maui, and the roles these played in the Hawaiian political economy.
4. Integration of the archaeological record of cultural change with the Indigenous Hawaiian moʻolelo (oral histories), and the recognition that these moʻolelo are real histories, not just “myth.”
5. More nuanced understanding of how the rural landscapes of the islands were transformed in the decades following European arrival.

“The real value of the book is bringing together, in one source, the results of literally hundreds of disparate studies, and making sense of them in a coherent account of the Hawaiian past. Anyone with a desire to know something about the ancient history of a particular place, or about a particular topic such as heiau, can turn to Feathered Gods and Fishhooks for a detailed synthesis along with a comprehensive bibliography of sources,” said Kirch.

Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: The Archaeology of Ancient �鶹��ý is .

In celebration of Filipino American History Month, the launched the publication of a one-of-a-kind journal devoted exclusively to the identification, gathering, preservation and dissemination of Filipino American history and culture in the U.S.

Led by Patricia Espiritu Halagao, a professor at UH ����ԴDz� and Terese Guinsatao Monberg, an associate professor at Michigan State University, the interdisciplinary peer-reviewed annual, (FANHS), showcases research by community-based and academic historians, as well as personal histories.

“I am honored and proud to have worked alongside my home institution press to create a beautiful, engaging and professional journal,” said Halagao.“It’s fitting that the FANHS Journal is published in �鶹��ý given that Filipinos make up the largest Asian American ethnic group in the state. I hope new readers will appreciate the depth and diversity of Filipino American history.”

Halagao is a part of the journal’s new leadership that spearheaded the publication’s redesign. A new section, “Collaborating with Our Ancestors,” features tribute pieces and intergenerational conversations between past and present Filipino American academic and activist leaders. In November 2023, the journal will publish Volume 11 alongside its 10-volume archive.

• Find all published volumes of FANHS’s archive on .

The journal is sponsored by the Filipino American National Historical Society, the oldest, existing national Filipino American organization in the U.S. with 43 regional chapters nationwide. In October 1992, the society hosted the first official Filipino American History Month, long before the U.S. Congress recognized the commemorative month in 2009.

“We are so excited to publish the FANHS Journal with the University of �鶹��ý Press. Working together, we can ensure that Filipino American history can be better documented and made more accessible to the masses,” added Kevin Nadal, president of the national society. “And because there are so many Filipino American historical narratives waiting to be told, we are looking forward to a long-lasting partnership with such a prestigious publishing company to help us tell these stories.”

Subscription information can be found .

A new book by three professors at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� explores Native Hawaiian cultural practices from the perspectives of 14 esteemed kumu loea, or experts.

Ka Māno Wai: The Source of Life by Noreen Mokuau, Kukunaokalā Yoshimoto and Kathryn Braun shows why Native Hawaiian practices such as mālama ʻāina (caring for the land), mele (songs) and hoʻoponopono (conflict resolution) are essential to health and social justice.

The book explores the history of the practices as well as their significance within Hawaiian society, including how they are linked to Native Hawaiian health, family life and spiritual beliefs.

“Many of these practices were forced underground after the colonization of �鶹��ý,” said Braun. “There was a large potential for cultural loss, and we wrote the book to reilluminate the practices and some of the kumu who teach them.”

Using captivating storytelling, the book unfolds through 16 chapters, with 14 of those chapters dedicated to the moʻolelo (stories) of kumu loea as knowledge keepers of Native Hawaiian practices.

The book features renowned authorities in specialty areas of cultural practice that draw from ancestral ʻike (knowledge), including: Kamanaʻopono M. Crabbe, Linda Kaleoʻokalani Paik, Eric Michael Enos, Claire Kuʻuleilani Hughes, Sarah Patricia ʻIlialoha Ayat Keahi, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, Lynette Kaʻopuiki Paglinawan, Sharon Leinaʻala Bright, Keola Kawaiʻulaʻiliahi Chan, Charles “Sonny” Kaulukukui III, Jerry Walker, Gordon “ʻUmi” Kai, Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie and Kekuni Blaisdell. Photographs by Shuzo Uemoto capture these kumu loea in their practices.

“We believe that Ka Māno Wai is a resource that supports the university and the Thompson School’s strategic imperative in fulfilling its kuleana to Native Hawaiians and �鶹��ý,” Mokuau said. “In this book, kumu loea share their life’s work on ancestral practices that hold deep value for improving health and advancing social justice for Native Hawaiians and others.”

“We are humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to be in the presence of such esteemed and beloved culture keepers and to share their journey,” said Kukunaokalā Yoshimoto. “We hope that their stories will inspire all generations to holomua (to progress, advance), to continue cultivating their gift and to share their story. You’ll never know who will be inspired!”

Highlighted stories

There was a large potential for cultural loss, and we wrote the book to reilluminate the practices and some of the kumu who teach them
—Kathryn Braun

One chapter explains the history of the practice of kaula, or rope making, and tells the story of Sonny Kaulukukui III, who grew up in Kalihi and learned kaula from his uncle. Strong ropes that were meticulously hand-braided from plant fibers, such as olonā and hau, were essential to Native Hawaiians for fishing and constructing homes. The chapter weaves together the story of Kaulukukui’s family and the history of the practice.

Another chapter focuses on lāʻau lapaʻau, which is the use of Hawaiian medicinal plants and prayers in healing. At the Waimānalo Health Center, Sharon Leinaʻala Bright has worked to integrate the practice into conventional Western health care by working alongside doctors.

Other chapters highlight the practices of ʻōlelo (Hawaiian language), lomilomi (massage) and ʻaiaola (using traditional Native Hawaiian foods to improve health).

Class integration

The book is now being used as the course textbook for Ke Aʻo Mau, a program for UH undergraduate and graduate students who are committed to culturally responsive interventions for Native Hawaiians and other populations.

In writing the book, the authors were grateful for the generosity of all the kumu who shared their practices.

“These kumu loea hold the answers to the connections between the past, present and future,” Mokuau said.

Ka Māno Wai: The Source of Life is published by UH
UH Press and available for purchase on their and on .

A publication detailing the story of the internment of Japanese Americans in the islands was recognized as this year’s best book in any field of history written by a �鶹��ý resident. The Kenneth W. Baldridge Prize was presented to respected writer and filmmaker Tom Coffman for his book, .

The prize has been awarded since 1993, honoring the life and work of its namesake, Kenneth W. Baldridge (1926–2021), a longtime history professor at Brigham Young University (BYU)–�鶹��ý, and was announced by the �鶹��ý chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta honor society at its annual regional conference on April 1.

As described in the statement accompanying the award, Inclusion is “a gripping read of a period and series of events that are still discussed in the politics and history of �鶹��ý today. It is based on extensive research into primary documents and is exhaustive in its attention to detail in narrating the twists and turns in the story of the internment (and not) of Japanese Americans in the islands.”

In his book, Coffman focuses on a group of individuals called the Council for Interracial Unity, among which were the men shown on the book’s cover: Hung Wai Ching, Shigeo Yoshida and Charles Hemenway. Hemenway, legacy member of the UH Board of Regents after whom UH ����ԴDz�’s Hemenway Hall is named, was influential in advocating for Japanese Americans during WWII.

Previous authors who received the Baldridge Prize for their UH Press-published titles include UH ����ԴDz� professors Ned Bertz, Davianna McGregor and Leonard Andaya, and BYU—�鶹��ý professor Isaiah Walker.

Edward J. (Ned) Shultz, a professor emeritus of at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�, will receive one of the highest honors bestowed upon Korean studies scholars around the world, the Yongjae Award on March 10.

“When I was informed that I had received this award, I must confess surprise, and then thinking this is a real honor but there are many other people deserving of this award,” said Shultz. “My specific area of interest is Koryŏ history (918–1392), which is an overlooked period in Korea’s history, so in that respect, I was pleased that the Koryŏ kingdom was getting some focus.”

Shultz has spent nearly 50 years teaching UH students about Korea’s compelling history. His teaching career started in 1975 at and would expand to and then the ����ԴDz� campus.

The Yongjae award, bestowed by , was created to pay homage to the institution’s first president who served as a minister of education during the Korean War.

From �鶹��ý to Korea

Shultz, a Boston native, first came to �鶹��ý in 1966 and received training in Hilo to become a Korea Peace Corps volunteer. He was assigned to serve in the city of Pusan in South Korea and worked at Kyongnam High School. Upon returning to the islands, Shultz earned an MA and PhD at UH ����ԴDz�.

Through the years, his teaching path at three UH campuses paralleled work to uplift civic and cultural programs that focus on Korea and Koreans in �鶹��ý. Shultz is currently president of the Korean American Foundation, and served as director of the at UH ����ԴDz� (1998–2004).

“In many respects my involvement in Korea and its history is very much thanks to �鶹��ý’s centrality in the study of Asia,” Shultz said.

He has authored numerous Korean studies articles, and in 2000, published Shultz’ book, , which was translated and published in Korea in 2014.

Future works

Shultz is currently working on a number of projects related to his area of expertise. Yonsei University just published his translation of Koryŏsa chŏryo (Essentials of Koryŏ History). He is also a member of an editorial team working on the translation of works on Koryŏ dynastic history which is set to be published by UH Press.

is the publisher of a forthcoming book series in an emerging field that has been recently awarded a $120,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The grant will support initiatives related to the book series (Global Asias MAP), coedited by Tina Chen and Charlotte Eubanks of Penn State.

Global Asias is a conceptual approach to the study of Asia and its multiple diasporas. Drawing on work from three distinct interdisciplines—Asian studies, Asian American studies and Asian diaspora studies—the series will stage intellectual exchanges between and across disciplines and fields to reimagine scholarly knowledge production about the fundamentally transnational and global nature of Asia-focused worlds and epistemologies.

The three grant initiatives include outreach, support for editorial development, and making the series titles widely available via open-access publishing to reach a global audience, especially in Asia.

“We are pleased to be the publisher of the Global Asias book series and are grateful to Tina Chen and Charlotte Eubanks for contacting the Henry Luce Foundation for their support,” said UH Press acquisitions editor Stephanie Chun. “The books not only will complement UH Press’s extensive list of titles on Asia and Asian America, but also engage scholars interested in looking beyond area or discipline studies to think about Asia globally and its multiple diasporas in new ways.”

The first volume in the series, , tentatively scheduled for publication in 2024, will bring together a diverse group of contributors, with chapters by junior and senior scholars. The Global Asias MAP editors are currently proposing about one to two books a year after the inaugural volume, which they hope will solidify Global Asias as a vibrant, multidisciplinary field of academic knowledge production.

While sponsored by the Penn State Global Asias Initiative, Global Asias MAP selected UH Press for its proven record in publishing Asian studies scholarship, as a leader in East-meets-West publishing for 75 years. In addition to its deep commitment to publishing works on �鶹��ý, its latest and backlist titles offer some of the most-respected scholarly books and journals covering Asian, Asian American, Pacific and global studies.

In the wake of �鶹��ý Archaeology Week (September 26–October 2), the joins two non-profit organizations to launch the , an open-access title that will soon accept submissions for its inaugural issue.

The new journal will be co-edited by Mara Mulrooney and Jillian Swift, who are both affiliate graduate faculty at UH ����ԴDz�. The two editors developed the publication as a forum to bring together important research and conversations around archaeology, history and heritage management in Polynesia. The editorial board is comprised of UH faculty including Professors Patrick V. Kirch (anthropology, UH ����ԴDz�), Ty P. Kawika Tengan (ethnic studies, UH ����ԴDz�), Seth Quintus (anthropology, UH ����ԴDz�) and Peter Mills (anthropology, UH Hilo), among others.

“The Journal of Polynesian Archaeology and Research will continue the tradition of publishing cutting-edge results of archaeological research in �鶹��ý and throughout Polynesia, as well as providing a forum for discussion and debate regarding archaeological practice in the region,” noted Kirch. “I expect that the journal will be an essential resource for both scholars and the engaged public.”

Free and open access

For more than three decades, both of the journal’s sponsoring organizations—the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology and the Easter Island Foundation—have been committed to promoting research and dialogue on the archaeology of Polynesia. While distribution of previous publications were limited to members, this new journal will be published open-access and freely available to all readers.

This fall, the editors will review manuscripts through the journal submission system (forthcoming) and publish the first issue in 2023 on , UH’s open-access, digital institutional repository for both the university community and researchers around the world.

The Journal of Polynesian Archaeology and Research will replace two journals that will cease publication, Hawaiian Archaeology (published by the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology) and Rapa Nui Journal (published by UH Press in collaboration with the Easter Island Foundation). Throughout the past 30 years, Rapa Nui Journal published more than 33 volumes, and Hawaiian Archaeology published 15 volumes and four special publications. The archive of both publications will also be freely available via eVols.

The recently released the largest and most comprehensive collection of Cambodian literature available in English to date. Published in September 2022, Out of the Shadows of Angkor: Cambodian Poetry, Prose, and Performance through the Ages, is featured in the biannual publication .

Assembled over 30 years, the book features:

• 14 centuries of literature, from ancient transcriptions to a graphic novel excerpt (full color).
• Rescued literature nearly lost during Cambodia’s civil war, the Khmer Rouge regime, and its aftermath.
• Literature never before available in English, including translations of Khmer, Sanskrit and French works, alongside pieces penned in English by writers of the Cambodian diaspora.

“[T]his book seeks to bring Cambodian literature out of the shadows of the great temples of Angkor and out of the ashes of a war that killed most of the country’s authors and destroyed countless irreplaceable books, whether by fire, neglect, or being turned into cigarette wrappers or toilet paper,” wrote Sharon May, one of the anthology’s five guest editors.

The book includes passages from Reamker, an adaptation of the Hindu Ramayana, and works from the Cambodian Golden Age, including Khun Srun on political repression. Emerging writers, poets, musicians and performers are also featured pushing boundaries with diverse reflections on contemporary Cambodia and the diaspora.

Members of the UH community can view the works for free via .

is the companion volume to (spring 2004). Both appear as part of the ����ԴDz� series.

More on the ����ԴDz� editors

Out of the Shadows of Angkor was produced by the distinguished and long-standing editorial team Frank Stewart and Pat Matsueda, from the UH ����ԴDz� . This is their penultimate issue, produced prior to their retirement in fall 2022. Their final issue will feature the literature of Burma, to be published in winter 2022.

Stewart is a writer, translator and founding editor of ����ԴDz�: A Pacific Journal of International Writing. He is a professor emeritus of English at UH ����ԴDz�.

Matsueda has been managing editor of ����ԴDz� since 1992.

The ����ԴDz� journal will continue to be published by UH Press and sponsored by the UH ����ԴDz� Department of English.

Thongchai Winichakul’s powerful book, , published in 2020 by the , was awarded the 2022 . The award was announced during a hybrid ceremony at the 12th EuroSEAS Conference held June 28–July 1 in Paris-Aubervilliers.

The judges noted the book’s strengths, “This emotionally powerful book is about the history of the memory of a turning-point event in Thai politics, the state-organised killing of students at a university in Bangkok…What really sets it apart is the author’s centrality to the narrative. Thongchai Winichakul was a leading activist in October 1976; he survived the massacre and has played a central role in the remembrance of the event since that date. In this respect, the book is a masterpiece of reflexive scholarly writing, as the author skillfully and sensitively navigates the challenges of his own positionality in the story he tells. …Moments of Silence [is] a truly remarkable work, and—rare thing indeed—an eloquent scholarly expression of deep emotion and sadness, itself a monument to those who died.”

Born in Bangkok and a U.S. resident since 1991, Winichakul is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His first book, , also published by UH Press (1994), received the 1995 Harry J. Benda Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. Still in print, Siam Mapped continues to be used as a textbook in courses at universities across the U.S.

The biennial EuroSEAS Humanities Book Prize recognizes the best academic book on Southeast Asia published in the humanities—including archaeology, art history, history, literature, performing arts and religious studies. EuroSEAS aims to stimulate scholarly cooperation within Europe in the field of Southeast Asian studies. Every two years it brings together hundreds of specialists on Southeast Asia from all over the world for its international conference.

• Read more UH Press stories at UH News.

Prominent historical figures Father Damien, a Belgian priest who cared for leprosy patients on Molokaʻi, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. are celebrated by the in two issues. The biannual publication, relaunched previously published issues to pay homage to both men, who were born in January.

“In these issues we honor the sainted missionary Father Damien, and also remember Dr. King’s connection to �鶹��ý,” said ����ԴDz� journal editor Frank Stewart. “During the Selma March in 1965, he, John Lewis, and other leaders wore lei sent in solidarity to Selma by Rev. Abraham Akaka, who met Dr. King at the University of �鶹��ý the year before.”

The �鶹��ý State government recently recognized January as Kalaupapa Month in honor of the place on Molokaʻi’s remote north shore where Damien cared for leprosy victims. (winter 2011) presents Aldyth Morris’s play Damien in its entirety and a set of images reproduced from glass-plate negatives made in Kalaupapa in the early twentieth century. The images are from the collection of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts United States Province. Morris was a �鶹��ý playwright who received the �鶹��ý Award for Literature in 1978 and worked for many years at UH Press.

(summer 2020) features photographs from the 1960s by Danny Lyon from his book Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement. Lyon was the first photographer of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and was jailed alongside King. Working next to activists such as Julian Bond and Howard Zinn, Lyon captured sit-ins, church bombings, speeches by John Lewis and other leaders, and the arrest and jailing of protestors.

Launched in 1989, ����ԴDz� brings the literature of Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas to English-speaking readers and has published more than 60 volumes. The award-winning literary journal includes American and international fiction, poetry, artwork, and essays of literary interest.

Members of the UH community can view the works for free via .

A paper by a linguist who specializes in ʻōlelo �鶹��ý (Hawaiian language) challenges conventional understandings about the origins of Hawaiian and other East Polynesian languages.

William H. “Pila” Wilson, a Hawaiian studies professor at recently published his research in in June. The publication is the only one of its kind devoted exclusively to the study of Indigenous languages of the Oceanic area and parts of Southeast Asia.

“The paper provides data that Hawaiian (language) is not most closely related to Marquesan, but is related more closely to a group of languages that includes Tahitian and New Zealand Māori,” said Wilson. “Within that relationship Hawaiian is still distinct. I propose based on the data that �鶹��ý was first settled from the Northern Line Islands. My paper provides further evidence that East Polynesia was settled not from Sāmoa but from the Central Northern Outliers.”

Wilson’s ongoing research that East Polynesia was settled by people from small Polynesian outlier islands, meaning islands outside the main region of Polynesian influence. His latest article confirms that people from those outliers sailed directly east into the Phoenix and Line Islands and that �鶹��ý was then settled from the Northern Line Islands. The Line Islands, also known as the Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands, are a chain of coral islands and atolls located nearly 2,000 kilometers south of �鶹��ý at the equator.

“For some 50 years Polynesianists believed that East Polynesia was settled from the Sāmoa area with �鶹��ý then settled from the Marquesas,” Wilson explained. “However, no one could connect the archaeological or linguistic record from Sāmoa directly with that of East Polynesian.”

.

Challenging conventional beliefs

Wilson’s work published this summer shows the step-by-step development of East Polynesian languages from ancestral languages spoken in the outliers.

“Linguists began to accept my proposal but questions remained as to exactly where in East Polynesia did those initial outlier-derived people first settle,” Wilson said. “Now in the journal Oceanic Linguistics, I provide linguistic evidence answering that question.”

Wilson also identifies the specific area within that homeland from which the Hawaiian language originated. He has determined that the original settlers of East Polynesia sailed nearly 2,000 miles directly east from the Central Northern Outliers to colonize a formerly uninhabited swath of the Central Pacific stretching some 2,300 miles west to east and some 1,200 miles north to south. This area includes the Phoenix Islands, Line Islands and Marquesas Islands. Wilson said there is evidence that colonists of this area continued to keep in contact with each other. However, the huge distances involved resulted in linguistic differentiation.

Wilson does not dismiss a Marquesan connection to Hawaiian language. He provides evidence that although the Marquesas were not the immediate source of the first Hawaiians, the navigational skills of the early East Polynesians resulted in continued contact and the borrowing of some words between different East Polynesian languages.

“Hawaiian borrowed some words from Marquesan, but those words are marked as such by reflecting a Marquesan sound system rather than the sound system characteristic of Hawaiian,” Wilson said. “That core sound system of Hawaiian provides the evidence of its ancestors living in the low coral Line Islands and before that in the Central Northern Outliers far to the west.”

For more go to .

E-commerce giant, Amazon announced it has selected an award-winning journal published by the as a 2021 grant recipient through its (ALP). The biannual publication, , has featured writing in English and in translation, particularly from the Asia-Pacific region, and is among a list of 80 ALP recipients collectively awarded a total of more than $1 million. ����ԴDz� will utilize the grant funding to support its program and operations.

“We’re grateful to Amazon for recognizing the outstanding work being done by the University of Hawaii Press to make ����ԴDz� a leader in international literary publishing,” said Frank Stewart, the journal’s editor and an emeritus professor of English at UH ����ԴDz�. “We could not have achieved excellence without the support of the Press and Dr. Laura Lyons, the interim associate vice chancellor for academic affairs.”

• Related UH News story: UH Press journal earns national recognition, $15K grant, April 21, 2021

ALP helps writers tell their stories and find their readers, empowering writers to create, publish, learn, teach, experiment and thrive. Since 2009, Amazon has provided more than $14 million in grant funding to more than 150 literary organizations, assisting thousands of writers. This grant will help support the production of two ����ԴDz� issues set to be published in 2021.

“The Amazon Literary Partnership awards grants to innovative groups who create a deep impact on the lives of writers and the broader literary and publishing community,” said Alexandra Woodworth, ALP program manager. “We are delighted to support all of this year’s grant recipients and commend their continued commitment to nurturing a vibrant and diverse literary landscape.”

����ԴDz� has about 8,000 subscribers in 100 countries. UH faculty and staff can read for free on .

����ԴDz� has editorial offices in the UH ����ԴDz� and is supported by the .

Activism comes in many forms and for Craig Santos Perez that form is poetry. The professor pens award-winning poems that express his fear and frustration from global issues such as climate change, toxic waste and human violence. In 2020, Perez, an Indigenous Chamorro published Habitat Threshold, a book filled with poetry that addresses the dark aftermath of ecological colonialism in �鶹��ý, Guam, and the larger Pacific.

In May 2021, Perez’ book earned the prestigious gold which honors published works about the environment and social justice.

“I feel very fortunate to receive this recognition, which was a bright moment during the pandemic,” he said.

It’s that very blend of poetry and environmental justice that Perez infuses into his courses at UH. For the past 10 years he has taught creative writing, environmental poetry and Pacific Islander literature in the at UH Mānoa.

“My goal is to inspire my students to write and care about ecological issues and climate change…I love teaching at UH because of our diverse student body and our emphasis on environmental and place-based learning,” Perez said.

This spring, Perez racked up yet another accolade. He landed a spot on the 2021 an annual list of 50 emerging leaders in climate, sustainability and equity who are creating change across the nation. Grist, a leading climate media organization, selected Perez out of a pool of 1,000 nominees. The coveted list includes an artificial intelligence guru who develops robots to sort recyclables and a Hip hop artist recording tracks to raise awareness about flood-prone South Carolina’s battles with climate change.

In 2022, the is set to publish an anthology of Pacific Islander Eco-Literature that Perez is co-editing. His words, whether composed free style, haiku or prose are what he considers a megaphone urging society to listen and fight for change.

This work is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of (PDF), and (PDF)—two of four goals identified in the 2015–25 �鶹��ý (PDF), updated in December 2020.

An award-winning journal published by the for the past three decades received a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The biannual publication, ����ԴDz�: A Pacific Journal of International Writing, features traditional and contemporary writings from the Pacific Rim, one of the world’s most dynamic literary regions.

“We’re very pleased to get this award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which along with UH and UH Press, has been a generous supporter of ����ԴDz� Journal for many years,” said Frank Stewart, the journal’s editor. “I think they appreciate that the journal has 8,000 institutional subscribers in over 100 countries and that it’s praised for its high quality of literature and translation.”

The award was given by the Grants for Arts Projects program which supports projects that use the arts to unite and heal in response to cultural heritage and creativity. The grant will support the production of the journal’s 2021–22 issues. Faculty and staff throughout the UH system can read for free on .

• Related UH News story: UH Press journal cultural work supported by national grants, June 1, 2020

����ԴDz� is among 1,073 projects across the U.S. awarded nearly $25 million in funding. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “����ԴDz� is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence and resilience during this very challenging year.”

����ԴDz� has editorial offices in the UH ����ԴDz� and is supported by the .

The NEA is the only arts funder in the U.S.—public or private—that provides access to the arts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Each year, it awards thousands of grants to provide all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.

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

has received a grant to support the installation and use of an advanced online ebook-hosting platform for both desktop and mobile devices.

was designed specifically for and by the scholarly publishing community. It supports web searchability, reader citations and annotations, and the publication of multimedia.

“We are very excited about all of the opportunities this grant will make possible,” said Joel Cosseboom, UH Press interim director and publisher. “Manifold will enable us to vastly expand the availability of our important regional scholarship in the digital realm and to take the press’s publishing program in compelling new directions.”

Throughout 2021, UH Press will receive its own unique Manifold library for hosting projects, virtual training, strategies for integrating the platform into existing workflows, technical support and a year of free hosting. The grant is administered by the University of Minnesota Press, which began developing Manifold in 2015 with financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

“Between our work in open access, backlist revitalization, online courseware and now Manifold, UH Press has kept current with the latest trends in scholarly communications,” said Noah Perales-Estoesta, UH Press development and digital projects specialist. “We’re constantly looking to build upon our efforts, and Manifold is the ideal next step for us.”

UH Press, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2022, currently offers thousands of books and journal issues in different digital formats. It is a member of the �鶹��ý Book Publishers Association and the Association of University Presses.

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

A alumnus is the recipient of a prestigious honor to expand his groundbreaking publishing work in Asia. Noah Perales-Estoesta is one of 18 selected out of a pool of 164 candidates for 2021. The program recognizes promising young leaders with a year-long immersive experience in Asia in a field of their choosing.

Perales-Estoesta is interested in working with a mission-driven publisher specializing in regional topics.

“I’m particularly interested in communities that lie outside the mainstream—the hill tribe people of Southeast Asia or the Ainu in Japan, for example—and how publishers navigate the creation of books about them,” Perales-Estoesta said. “That includes their criteria for determining which works are legitimate, how they approach things like the copy editing of culturally remote topics, and even book design and marketing. I’m also excited to explore how digital platforms, new media and self publishing can be leveraged for this subject matter, and I hope to have a part in making these tools available where they’re needed.”

Building a career in publishing

Born and raised in �鶹��ý, Perales-Estoesta attended UH ����ԴDz� as a first-generation college student, double majoring in English and Spanish. He worked as a copy editor for , a biannual literary publication highlighting fiction, poetry, non-fiction and drama from Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. Perales-Estoesta also served on UH ����ԴDz�’s Student Media Board, where he helped oversee the strategic direction, finances and policies of the university’s four student-managed media programs.

After graduating in 2015, Perales-Estoesta lived in Brazil as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching English, and researching the country’s literature and publishing industry. He edited Becoming Brazil: New Fiction, Poetry, and Memoir, a special issue of ����ԴDz� that gathered a diverse collection of Brazilian literature translated in English. He currently works as development and digital projects specialist at , where he is responsible for metadata, digital rights, backlist digitization and fundraising initiatives.

“It goes back to an early love of reading and an interest in books, and finding opportunities as a student to explore that in classes and through extracurricular activities,” Perales-Estoesta said. “My time as an undergraduate was really formative. I’d be in a literary theory class learning about textual studies—which is basically how the publishing process shapes and reshapes a text—and then go to a Spanish class and study grammar, and then go copy edit a translated manuscript at ����ԴDz�. So there was a lot about my education that cohered around publishing.”

More about the Luce Scholars Program

UH ����ԴDz� is among more than 70 top universities across the U.S. that have been tapped to nominate candidates annually. According to the Henry Luce Foundation, Luce Scholars are expected to “develop a sophisticated understanding of a dynamic region that is critical to America’s future and gain a new perspective of the world and America.” In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, such opportunities are crucial to the kinds of global collaborations that our communities need.

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

Nearly a millennium before Europeans explored the Pacific, Native Hawaiians had already introduced sugarcane, known as kō, to the islands. In fact, they cultivated kō extensively in many ecosystems, using diverse agricultural systems and developing dozens of native varieties.

A new book, , written by University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences Professor Noa Lincoln examines these native and heirloom kō, along with detailed varietal descriptions of cultivars held in collections today.

• Related UH News story: Sugarcane is not dead, just different, September 3, 2017

The book represents a decade of fieldwork and historical research by Lincoln. With more than 370 color photos, ��ō includes the ethnobotany in Hawaiian culture, outlining its uses for food, medicine, cultural practices and ways of knowing.

“They look like giant candy canes; they really grabbed my attention!” said Lincoln. “You can see why early explorers called them the ‘Noble Canes.’”

Lincoln added, “Heirloom crops are often heralded as being tastier and more nutritious than our modern varieties. This is because breeding often focuses on uniformity, disease resistance, packability and other traits. But as we breed for specific traits, we often lose others. Sugarcanes are no different, with the soft flesh of our heirloom Hawaiian canes being sweeter and juicier than modern hybrids.”

Related UH News video: Sugarcane is not dead, just different