“Any assumption that Pacific peoples had no education, that their values were primitive and that they were not able to create credible knowledge unless it adhered to the Western framework, is ethnocentric and arrogant.” (Vaioleti, 28)
Prompt
• What do you think you will learn from your intended study?
• Generate one research question for your study.
I think I will learn about the hopes and aspirations of the Remathau community, their deepest desires and hopes for their children in the US, their definitions of a successful Remathau person, and the ways in which they implement their ontological understanding into the American school system. I will learn about a Micronesian community that has assimilated to life in the US without compromising their indigenous values, cultures, traditions, and soul. I will learn why the Remathau community is a proud people who embody what Papa Mau Piailug brought to the Hawaiian people. They are the spirit of Papa Mau who came to Hawaii from those chain of outer islands of Yap State.
I will learn about myself as an indigenous researcher and how uninformed I am about my own values, cultures, and history. I’m hoping to learn some of these indigenous values from the Remathau elders to inform my own practice as an indigenous educator and researcher in the United States.
A possible research question: How does a migrant community in Hawaii define success and implement their definition in the American school system in Hawaii.
