Aloha to the page of a wanderlusting writer juggling college life and several other hobbies into an eternally-short 24-hour day. I hope to shed light on the Dartmouth experience as I explore the brave new world of Hanover, NH and everything going to college here has to offer. In my free time, you can find me trying to learn a new language or building the perfect Spotify playlist (alternative/indie, anyone?). I hope you enjoy!
Taught by Gordon Henry, an Anishinaabe poet and author, this class taught me to explore Indigenous storytelling within digital contexts. I took this class with only seven other classmates, allowing us to really engage with films, comic books, and television shows in Indigenous languages or produced by Indigenous artists.
Taught by Timothy Pulju, this class taught me how to identify and understand how languages evolve over time and why. I analyzed and reconstructed fictional languages of imaginary nations in order to understand the link between language and culture, and ended up having such an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of language's place in history!
Taught by Lindsay Whaley, this class let me discover a newfound love for ancient apocalyptic literature. We analyzed ancient texts and compared them to modern apocalypses, looking at the zombie apocalypse phenomenon and other apocalypses in pop culture and comparing them to the ancient tradition of writing apocalypses. Additionally, I learned the Greek alphabet and now I can even stumble through ancient Greek passages.
FallNew Orleans, LA
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught and organized by David Peterson, this class let me get into the shoes of a real linguist as we did fieldwork (virtually!!) with the Zophei language. I learned how to describe a never-before-learned language's phonology (sound system), how to characterize its grammar and words, and ultimately got to present my research to experts in the language family around the world in a workshop at the end of the term!
WinterHanover, NH
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class taught me how Native literature can provide lens by which to evaluate, critique, and ultimately revise Federal Indian Law. During this class, I read works by Native authors like Tommy Orange and Louise Erdrich '76 alongside the opinions of definitive case opinions in American law and explained how literature can be a catalyst for Indigenous sovereignty.
Supervised by N. Bruce Duthu, I spent this off-term performing research after being awarded a Sophomore Research Scholarship to study contemporary Hawaiian cultural and linguistic revitalization. I studied 19th-century newspapers and contemporary Hawaiian texts in order to understand how Hawaiian language revitalization both past and present has advanced and continues to enable a contemporary bodied Hawaiian politic of sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me about how languages create meaning through words. During this class, I learned how to analyze different languages' morphological processes and compare different approaches within the field as to morphological structures.
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class offered me a glimpse into the lived realities of Native people in Indian Country Today. I learned about the economic, social, cultural, and historical roots for the struggles of Indigenous people today within the United States, and was able to write about the contemporary battle for Native Hawaiian visibility and Hawaiian sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me how to engage in language documentation and how, as a linguist, we can put our skills to use to help communities seeking to document and revitalize their languages. I worked on the Satawalese language, spoken on the island of Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ultimately, my team created two dictionaries - one in English, one in Hawaiian, a website, and several materials that focused on the Satawalese tradition of wayfinding and non-instrumental ocean navigation.
Taught by Charles Eastman fellow Sunaina Kale, this class taught me about the role of sound in delineating, conceiving, and comprehending relations between people and the land in Indigenous musical traditions. Over the course of the class, we discussed Indigenous musicians, listened to music from Native peoples around the world, heard from masterful Indigenous musicians, and ultimately presented a project that creatively analyzed a song of our choice. My project focused on the song "Ask Yourself" by Foster the People, and I wrote a poem that integrated aspects of Indigenous languages and worldviews to answer questions posed by the song.
This term, I formally began the research process for my upcoming honors thesis in the Linguistics department on Hawaiian semantics! While living in Hanover, I also began working as a Senior Fellow with the Admissions department—a position I will be holding for the entirety of my last year at Dartmouth.
We Are Still Here - Indigenous Peoples' Month 2021!
Aloha mai kākou a pau loa! Aloha lā kanaka ʻōiwi!
Hello everyone! Happy Indigenous Peoples' Month! This October 2021, the Native organizations at Dartmouth College are spearheading the celebrations for Indigenous Peoples' Month (IPM). In that spirit, I am happy to say that by the time of my writing this post, our celebrations are well underway as we take the steps necessary to celebrate Indigeneity in all of its shapes and forms. Thus far, this has included honoring the Indigenous peoples on whose land Dartmouth sits, the Abenaki people, celebrating our heritages as Indigenous students at Dartmouth through workshops and gatherings, and working towards a greater awareness of Native people today across all of campus. It is one of my favorite parts of Dartmouth's fall term, and I'm happy to tell you a little bit about how we celebrate this beautiful period over here at Dartmouth.
Mahalo nui to Dr. Kekoa Harman (back left) for being the most engaging workshop leader I've ever witnessed!
One of the first events I had the pleasure of attending was hosted by both Natives at Dartmouth (NAD) and Hōkūpaʻa, our Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Pasifika student organization. Professor Kekoa Harman (Hawaiʻi) came to campus to teach us all a little about hula, a traditional dance form indigenous to the islands of Hawaiʻi. During this workshop, we were able to learn from a master at work well-versed in the Hawaiian language and deeply knowledgeable about our chosen hula, accompanied by a traditional ʻoli (chant) called Ula No Weo. Such an experience was priceless to us that participated, and we were so grateful to have learned such an ancient dance, chant, and its history and relevance to Native Hawaiians both past and present.
Additionally, my friends and I, along with many other Native students and allies of the Native community, gathered on the Green to protest in honor of Indigenous people. Led by NAD's Co-Presidents, we were happy to represent our peoples on Dartmouth's campus even though for many of us the Upper Valley is many thousands of miles from our ancestral homelands. Events like our protest on the Green are a big part of IPM. Through assembly and protest, we center Indigenous peoples and the problems that face our communities today. As Dartmouth students, when we engage in this type of activism as a unified student body, we motivate critical discussions to be held in our classrooms today, but perhaps even after we graduate.
Amazed by these Native Hawaiian artists-turned-curators!
As just another episode in the developing story of my second IPM on campus, I had the pleasure of attending the reception of a new exhibit in the Black Family Visual Arts Center (BVAC) designed, curated, and presented by Indigenous students at Dartmouth. The exhibit, We Are Still Here: Celebrating Indigenous Artists, showed off a lot of beautiful art by my fellow Native students, with a lot of Native Hawaiian representation especially. It felt incredible to have the privilege to witness such beautiful art be displayed on campus, and to also attend such a well-attended reception and celebrate such an accomplishment with my friends!
All in all, Indigenous Peoples' Month is shaping up to be a time of healing, of celebration, and of reflection. This fall term is the first time my class (the 23s, aka the juniors, aka the best) has been able to meet the 24s and 25s, in addition, to see the seniors (22s) again after such a long while. With all of us on campus, IPM has given us in the Native community a chance to connect with so many of our peers that till now we've only seen in Zoom screens. Not only that, but we can now celebrate alongside them in honoring our cultures -- it's a truly beautiful thing.
Wishing you all a very happy Indigenous People's Month, me ke aloha. Until next time!
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
