Dr. Boj Lopez is a Maya-K’iche’ Assistant Professor of Chicanx and Central American Studies at UCLA. We discuss her academic journey and early interests in the project of ethnic studies, as well as in building Maya community spaces in diaspora. Boj Lopez works in the growing field of Critical Latinx Indigeneity which she approaches as a bridge of conversations between Latino/Chicano Studies and Native American and Indigenous Studies. This approach interrogates the complicated relationships with categories like ‘Latin,’ which some refuse. Yet, at the same time also leaves room for Maya diaspora communities who may adopt or use the ‘Latin’ category for survival. The book Indigenous Archives recently released and we explore some of its premise which responded to questions of why displaced Maya diaspora communities look for each other and how they find one another. Boj Lopez shares an introduction to her book that confronts the dominant function of archives of upholding hegemonic narratives located in centers of power, and shifts to archives beyond dominant institutions, such as the mobile and living ones found in inter-generational ancestral clothing and textiles.

References:

Floridalma Boj Lopez, ‘Naming, A Coming Home: Latinidad and Indigeneity in the Settler Colony’, The Funambulist, 41 (2022).

Floridalma Boj Lopez, Indigenous Archives: The Maya Diaspora and Mobile Cultural Production (Duke University Press, 2026)

Notes on Terms: Xela/Quetzaltenango (Xela is shortened from Xelajú N’oj, which is an Indigenous Maya name for this place. Whereas Quetzaltenango is the official national place name derived from Nahuatl); Tongva (Indigenous people and place name for Los Angeles, California); Soonkahni (Indigenous place name for the Salt Lake Valley in the Newe/Shoshone/Goshute language); Maya-K’iche’ (K’iche’ refers to an ethno-linguistic group of diverse Highland Maya peoples and communities, and Maya is a post-colonial term that has been adopted by many, which contemporarily refers to the Mayan culture and people in Mesoamerica); Corte (A skirt that is typically made and worn by Guatemalan Mayan women often featuring ikat or jaspe patterns. Corte is derived from Spanish and it is also known as Uq or Uk in the K’iche’ language). Huipil (A generally loose-fitting feminine blouse worn by Indigenous Mesoamerican women, which in Guatemala are often lineage-based and regionally distinct, identified by their unique patterns, colours, and styles; huipil is derived from Nahuatl, but this garment is also known as p’ot in the K’iche’ language). Kab’awil (Maya concept for duality or pairing of oppositional or complimentary forces; etymologically it is a compound word expressing the number two and face, which means to see with multiple visions or faces or a double view; philosophically linked with interconnectedness, complexity, and plurality, which is often depicted in textiles as mirrored images such as two exact birds facing different directions).

Dr. ‘Ulise Funaki (Kakai Tonga, Kanaka Maoli) is featured in this episode and shares a breadth of insights having recently completed a doctorate in anthropology at the University of Hawai‘i and as an instructor at Brigham Young University – Hawai‘i. Topics covered in this episode include: Navigating research and study as a grounded family person; Kava protocols in academic spaces; Historical and shifting kava perceptions among Latter-day Saints (Mormons); The continuation and adaptation of kava for a new generation of Tongans and Native Hawaiians in O'ahu to connect to fonua; Ali‘i Kaua – Chief of War commentary and insights on contemporary and future kava practices within and outside of Oceanian communities.

Terms: TRA (Tonga Research Association), member (referring to being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, mainstream Mormon, or Brighamite Mormon), Kava/‘Awa (Piper Methysticum), Kakai Tonga (People of Tonga), Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), Fonua (Land, Heritage, Land-connected People), Cobo (iTaukei/Fijian expresson for deep clap to indicate a call for kava to be served and to show respect), Lāhui (Hawaiian community/nation/people).

References:

Historical and Contemporary Representation of Kava by Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Sione M. U. H. Funaki in Pacific Studies

Doctoral Research on Contemporary Kava Practices in Hawai‘i featuring ‘Ulise Funaki

Dr. Funaki’s thesis/dissertation, "Ko 'Emau Nofo Pē 'Eni la 'O Pukepuke Fonua" We Are Sitting Here, Tightly Holding Onto the Land: Kava and Fonua in Ko'olauloa

Isiah Cambridge (Ute/Núuch and Diné/Navajo) and Samoana Matagi (Tagata Sāmoa and Papalagi) join this episode to discuss culture, language, and relationships to place. We reflect on work we have done at the Nature Center at Pia Okwai where Isiah has taught Diné Bizaad (Navajo language) classes and Samoana continues to run a monthly Friday Fono (Faikava workshop) and regular Umu (underground earth oven cooking) demonstrations. We reflect on Indigenous knowledge projects as they introduce themselves and some of their background and experiences. Topics include communal lessons and collective insights within the worldviews we practice as well as critically engage with mainstream and Indigenous conservation perspectives. Themes include Indigenous relational consciousness, leave no trace, community, and meaningful relationships to place from across our unique positionalities and ancestries.

Diné Bizaad (Navajo language) Terms: Leets’aa’ (Leezh = sand + ts’aa’ = bowl); Yíiyá (Fear); Naadą́ą́ʼ (Naa = enemy/constant + dą́ą́ʼ = it is eaten); Leeshibéézh (Leezh = sand +shibéézh = it is cooked, to cook under the sand/earth); Chʼil doo chójoołʼįįhígíí (The plant that one doesnʼt use, La planta que no se usa).

Nuu'apagay/Nʉmʉ Tekwapi/Núu-'apaghapi̱/ Núuchi (Ute language) term: Tuuspani (Hurry).

Gagana Sāmoa (Samoan language) terms: ‘Iate – (transliteration of yard, ‘Iate Truck = landscaping work truck); Umu – (underground earth oven, to cook with heated stones).

Maya T’aan/Maya T’aam (Yucatec-Maya language) term: Píib (underground earth steam oven/sweat-steam bath or ceremony).

Katzihob’al/Qatzijob’al/Kach’ab’al/Qach’ab’al (K’iche’-Maya language) term: Tuj/Tuh (underground earth steam oven/sweat-steam bath or ceremony).

Runasimi (Quechua language) term: Pachamanka (underground earth steam oven).

Newe Taikwa (Shoshone/Goshute) term: Pia Okwai – (big flow/river, Utah’s Jordan river).

References

C.R.E.A.M by Wu-Tang Clan

An Indigenous Perspective on the Global Threat of Invasive Species by Nicholas J. Reo and Laura A. Ogden

Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez

Sovereign Embodiment: Native Hawaiians and Expressions of Diasporic Kuleana by Kēhaulani Vaughn

Charles Sepulveda

This episode begins by attempting to tackle some bigger questions about religion, belief, and spirituality. I share some different approaches to analysing religion using thinkers like Talal Asad and Émile Durkheim, in order to explore concepts like ‘religion’ itself and the ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’. I also consider Indigenous Reflections on Christianity to explore the tensions and compromises with religion (Christianity) and Indigenous peoples, including ideas from Vine Deloria Jr. and John Trudell. The second half of this episode focuses in on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mainstream Mormonism; Latter-day Saints) and Indigenous peoples. This section is a response and extension to the Red Nation’s Unsettling Mormonism’s episode from a few years ago. I seek to highlight Indigenous scholars who have been and continue to interrogate questions at the intersection of Mormon and Indigenous Studies (see list below). I conclude with an introduction to some of my own analyses of “Lamanites” (Mormonism’s category of 'New World' Indigeneity). I position Mormonism and Indigeneity within larger structures and colonial contexts drawing from the articles A Divine Rebellion, and Pedro and Pita Built Peter Priesthood’s Mansion and Now They Work the Grounds.

Terms: Religion, Spiritual, Cult/us/ure, Collective Effervescence, Profane, Sacred.

Intellectuals who explore Indigeneity, race, and 'Lamanites' in Mormon Studies: Elise Boxer, Farina King, Gina Colvin, P. Jane Hafen, Angelo Baca, Hokulani Aikau, Hemopereki Simon, Robert Joseph, Darren Parry, Moroni Benally, Ignacio Garcia, Armando Solorzano, Cynthia Connell, Sujey Vega, Eduardo Pagan, Stephanie Griswold, Lacee Harris, Sarah Newcomb, Monika Crowfoot, Michael Ing.

Additional References:

Rastafari as a Counter-Hegemonic Social Movement by Lianne Mulder

Roots, Reggae, Rebellion by BBC

Look to the Mountain by Gregory Cajete

Why do people join cults? By Janja Lalich

Music and Identity by Simon Frith

In the Light of Reverence Film

Transit of Empire by Jodi Byrd

Lamanite Generations by Farina King

This episode features poet, author, and intellectual Moana ‘Ulu‘ave-Hafoka. The catalyst for this discussion was a recently released YouTube video by former Mormon author and YouTuber Alyssa Grenfell, titled Tonga is 60% Mormon??????, which has currently been viewed more than 200k times since being posted. This video references one of Moana’s articles, so as nerds of Tonga, Indigeneity, and Mormonism, we wanted to add further complexity to some of what was shared on that platform. We discuss nuance, blurred boundaries, historical and cultural context, as well as Mormon specificity, and even larger structures and systems of power. We shift mid-way through this episode to engage with Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners (spoilers). We discuss a variety of symbols in the film, including, the global impact of Black (African-American) culture, race, global Indigeneity, diaspora, spirituality, religion, sacred time-space, and more.

References:

To be Young, Mormon, and Tongan by Moana ‘Ulu‘ave-Hafoka

Kinikini, Lea Lani, Kepa Maumau, Moana Uluave-Hafoka, (2021).“Raise Your Pen: A Critical Race Essay on Truth and Justice”.  In Reppin: Youth Studies in Oceania. Ed. Keith Camacho. University of Washington Press.

Tonga is 60% Mormon?????? By Alyssa Grenfell [Original video title listed, it was later changed to The Mormon Colonization of Tonga (60%???)]

Church and State in Tonga: The Wesleyan Methodist Missionaries and Political Development, 1822-1875 by Sione Lātūkefu

The “Glocalization” of Mormon Studies by Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye

Letter to Tangata Va ‘Ofi in the Tongan Mormon Family by Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu

The Mana of the Tongan Everyday: Tongan Grief and Mourning, Patriarchal Violence and Remembering Va by Fuifuilupe ‘Alilia Niumeitolu

Comment on Sarah Newcomb and Robert Joseph Indigenous Perspectives on the Meanings of ‘Lamanite’ by Tēvita O. Ka‘ili

Marking Indigeneity: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations by Tēvita O. Ka‘ili

Tongan Crip Gang: A Tongan American Identity by ‘Esiteli Hafoka

Oceania: Revisualizing the Pacific in American Religious History by ‘Esiteli Hafoka

Withering as a Rose: Tongan Indigeneity, Mormonism and the Curse of the Lamanites by S. Ata Siu‘ulua

Historical and Contemporary Representation of Kava by Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Sione M. U. H. Funaki

Mormon masculinity, family, and kava in the Pacific by Arcia Tecun and S. Ata Siu‘ulua

Tā, Vā, and Moana: Temporality, Spatiality, and Indigeneity by Hūfanga, ‘Okusitino Māhina

Holographic Epistemology: Native Common Sense by Manulani Aluli Meyer

In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition by Fred Moten

Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Davis

A Philosophical Look at Black Music by Lewis Gordon

Dr. Kehaulani Fagatele-Folau joins this episode to introduce her doctoral research. We begin with Indigenous concepts and methods she used from the Madau-Moana to make sense of some of the colonial contexts Indigenous women of Oceania traverse in the academy. Some themes we discuss include Indigenous feminism, interconnectivity, sharing space, and relational ethics by using Niu/Neo/Knew Tā-Vā. Fagatele-Folau shares a re-imagined R.I.P. acronym, and deploys it as metaphor for laying to rest systems of power, as they work through the process of ‘becoming’ a Madau-Moana cosmopolitan. We reflect on the possibilities in being rooted and mobile, and continuing to learn confidence with care through a broad sense of kinship.

“Not all the powers that be are all the powers that are” – Kehau Fagatele-Folau

Terms with introductory definitions: Madau (Pohnpeian for Ocean/Thought); Moana (Ocean in Tongan); Talanoa (Critical relational dialogue); Iroir (reflection/beautiful view/to position yourself for a beautiful view); Hoa (pair/partner/companion/connection); Hoamālie (harmonious partnership); Hoatamaki (imbalanced partnership); R.I.P. (Relationality, Intersectionality, Positionality); Mana (honour, prestige, potency, authority).

This episode introduces an idea Dr. Hafoka and I have been working through and developing, inspired by and extending out of the undercommons. We reflect on intellectuals that remain connected to home communities or who emerge organically from communities. We also consider the re-framing of study as common knowledge or as a shared and subversive project grounded in the Black Radical Tradition, which is revealed in the multiple embodied identities we traverse. Undercommons/Undercurrents examples include the social networks of knowledge and even (im)material economic support that occur within marginalised communities based in their relationships that strive for liberation. We spend time focused on Hafoka’s personal and academic work with Kakai Tonga (Tongans) in the airline industry, which broadens the view of Moana-Oceanic and Tonga peoples beyond dominant narratives. This unique presence in this industry has also facilitated a space where cultural values are nurtured, enacted, and spread including the perpetual cultivation of a collective relational consciousness. The undercurrents is in one sense a synthesis of the undercommons with Moana-Oceania relational ethics that is introduced in this talanoa (discussion/dialogue/storying).

Additional references that further add context and insights to this episode can be found in the following resources:

The Undercommons – Fugitive Planning and Black Study

https://www.minorcompositions.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/undercommons-web.pdf

From Navigating the Seas to Navigating the Skies:Unloading Tongan Knowledge through the Undercurrents of Airline Employment in the Ano Māsima

https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0hn2p9kd

Knew World Undercurrents https://www.researchgate.net/publication/365768129_Knew_World_Undercurrents

This episode begins with a reflection on this podcast project reaching its 50th episode. I share some additional background and future plans, including some of the symbolism behind the WAI logo. This episode introduces some ideas from the article, Indigeneity as a Post-Apocalyptic Genealogical Metaphor, which explores the metaphysics of indigeneity - Indigenous metaphysics through a global Indigenous consciousness. In conclusion, a diverse range of Indigenous experiences are presented in the constellation of Indigeneities identified as Elder/Local, Continental/Regional, Diasporic, Creole, Born-Again, Global/Trans-Indigenous, which are described in the artice, A Wīnak Perspective on Cosmovisíon Maya and Eco-Justice Education.

Terms: Yamanik (Green Stone/Jade in K’iche’-Maya), Hoa/Soa (Partner/Companion – Pair in lea faka-Tonga and gagana Sāmoa).

References mentioned or inspirational to this episode:

‘Tongan Hoa: Inseparable yet indispensable pairs/binaries’, by Lear, Māhina-Tuai, Vaka, Ka’ili, & Māhina

Pasifika Webinar Series: Signature Event featuring Dr. Tēvita O. Ka’ili

The Polynesian Iconoclasm by Jeffrey Sissons

Indigenous science (fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral dystopias and fantasies of climate change crises by Kyle P. Whyte

Naming, A Coming Home: Latinidad and Indigeneity in the Settler Colony by Flori Boj Lopez

The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in Seventeenth-Century North America and the Caribbean by Gerald Horne

The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies by Tiffany Lethabo King

The University and the Undercommons: Seven Theses by Fred Moten and Stefano Harney

The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study by Stefano Harney and Fred Moten

The Empty Wagon: Zionism’s journey from identity crisis to identity theft by Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness by Paul Gilroy

Creole Indigeneity: Between Myth and Nation in the Caribbean by Shona N. Jackson

Sovereign Embodiment: Native Hawaiians and Expressions of Diasporic Kuleana by Kēhaulani Vaughn

Trans-Indigenous: Methodologies for Global Native Literary Studies by Chadwick Allen

This episode seeks to share an understanding of coloniality as a global system by engaging with the Matrix film series franchise, focusing on the initial trilogy. The Matrix trilogy is applied as a metaphor to build critical consciousness of coloniality, settler-colonialism, and Indigeneity, while also exploring other social constructions. This compliments an early episode on modernity and Indigeneity and confronts the world as we know it.

References:

Liliana Conlisk Gallegos – Thinking Coloniality of Power Tedx

Jack Forbes – Columbus and Other Cannibals

Sylvia Wynter – Unsettling the Coloniality of Being

Nelson Maldonado-Torres – On the Coloniality of Being; Against War

Anibal Quijano – Coloniality of Power

Maria Lugones – Heterosexualism and the Colonial/Modern Gender System

Ty Tengan – (En)gendering Colonialism

The Red Nation

Afropessimism – Frank Wilderson III

John Trudell - Trudell

David Graeber and David Wengrow – The Dawn of Everything

This episode focuses on ideas about critical thinking in systems of power. Topics include critical pedagogy, critical consciousness, belief, agnotology (study of ignorance), and aesthetics as ethics. Concepts mentioned include the banality of evil and the illusory effect with pop culture references to the films Don’t Look Up and The Lorax as well as the TV Series Barbaren (Barbarians). The reflection shared draws on historical perspectives and contexts to thoughtful questioning and remembering.

References mentioned include:

Agustín Fuentes - Why We Believe, 2019.

Lewis R. Gordon, Fear of Black consciousness, 2022.

Simon Frith, Music and Identity, 1996.

George Gmelch, Baseball Magic, 1971.

Robert N. Proctor and Londa Schiebinger, Agnotology: The making and unmaking of ignorance, 2008.

Adrienne Mayor, Suppression of Indigenous Fossil Knowledge, 2008.

Ania Loomba, Colonialism/Postcolonialism, 2002.

John Trudell, Trudell (2005); DNA:Descendant Now Ancestor (2001).

Ty Kāwika Tengan, (En)gendering Colonialism: Masculinities in Hawai‘i and Aotearoa, 2002.

Paulo Freire, Education for Critical Consciousness, 2005.

Henry Giroux, On Critical Pedagogy, 2011.

Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951.

Elizabeth Ellsworth, Why Doesn’t This Feel Empowering? Working Through the Repressive Myths of Critical Pedagogy, 1989.

Alison Jones, The Limits of Cross-Cultural Dialogue: Pedagogy, Desire, and Absolution in the Classroom, 1999.