Grounded In Land and Water: Indigenous Oceanian/ Pacific Islands Relationalities for Sustenance

Christine Taitano DeLisle
American Indian Studies and Gender Studies
UC Los Angeles

Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
UC Santa Cruz

Kehalani Natsuko Vaughn
Ethnic Studies
UC Riverside

Our vision for the directions of the growing field of Oceania/ Pacific Islands Studies in the UC system builds on genealogies and critical developments in the past and present. Our collective argues for the urgency of grounding the directions of the field on centering Indigenous Oceanian/Pacific Islander self determination through building good relations–with our diverse and respective communities, with the land and waterways that sustain us and with the California Native nations–the Indigenous stewards of the land and waterways that we call our new home. We propose a vision grounded in Indigenous Oceanian/Pacific Islands self-determination and decolonization to guide the new directions of the field and the development of pedagogy, curriculum, syllabus and community building. Building on the momentum from our first meeting held Fall 2025, we expand conversations and relationship-building at a retreat in the Bay Area in Fall 2026 with California Native tribal leaders and scholars. In Spring and Fall 2027, UCSC, UCLA and UCR will work collaboratively with Native Leaders and scholars to host two public facing colloquia. We also plan to publish our recent conversations in U.S. scholarly journals.