PROJECTS
Recent Projects
(Re)Envisioning
Anahola
The Indigenous (Re)envisioning and Restoration of Anahola Seascapes project is a community-led initiative to restore over 432 acres of coastline on Kauaʻi. Centered on Native Hawaiian knowledge systems, it supports restoration planning through culturally grounded research, community collaboration, and Indigenous stewardship. By reconnecting people to ancestral relationships with land and ocean, the project promotes ecological health, cultural revitalization, and long-term sustainability.
NHPI Student success plan (ssp)
Grant
With funding from the Oregon Department of Education and working in collaboration with the University of Oregon (Dr. Lana Lopesi), we are developing Pacific Islander Studies cirriculum for the K-12 system in Oregon.
Pasifika Gardens
The Pasifika Gardens are located at the Reciprocity Garden a BIPOC garden at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture and the APCC. The gardens are planted and cultivated each year by
Dr. Fifita and her students featuring culturally significant plants from the Pacific Islands. The gardens provide opportunities for community building and cultural connection. Through collaboration, education, and food production, the space fosters belonging, environmental stewardship, and cultural resilience.
Ethnographic Field School
Our Ethnographic Field School provides an immersive, community-centered learning experience where students engage directly with cultural practices, stories, and lived experiences. We emphasizes respectful relationship-building, observation, and listening as tools for understanding community knowledge. Through our work, students not only document cultural narratives but also reflect on their own roles and responsibilities, fostering deeper connections, cultural awareness, and a commitment to ethical engagement.
Recent Publications
Fifita, P., K. Riley, and J. Wagner. (2025). Introduction to the Special Issue: “Ethnographic Stories of Food Sovereignty in Oceania.” Special Issue Co-edited by P. Fifita, K. Riley, and J. Wagner. Pacific Studies 4(2): 139-154.
de Silva, R. and P. Fifita. (2025). Epilogue: Kupu Ka Niu Kupu Ke Kanaka: Transforming Understandings of An Ancient Ancestor through the Niu Now Movement. Special Issue Co-edited by P. Fifita, K. Riley, and J. Wagner. Pacific Studies 4(2): 327-345. 2025
de Silva, R. and P. Fifita (2025). Nā Limu O Ke Kai: Inspiring Kānaka Health and Wellbeing. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 25(6): 379-388. DOI: 10.1177/15327086251346129 2025
de Silva, R. & Fifita, P. (2025). Voices from Within: Exploring Wahine Mana through the Visual Medium. International Review of Qualitative Research.. DOI: 10.1177/19408447251376333 2023
Fifita, P. Technical Contributor, National Climate Assessment (NCA), 5th edition – Hawai‘i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands chapter.
Recent Presentations
2026 P. Fifita. Keynote Speaker, “Constellating Oceanic Futures,” Pacific Islander Student Association Conference (PISACON). Oregon State University. March 20-22.
2026 P. Fifita. Guest Speaker, “History and Peopling of the Pacific,” Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) State Advisory Board Meeting for NHPI Student Success Plan. March 20.
2026 P. Fifita. “Teaching Te Moananui-a-Kea/Kiwa.” Association of Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO) Conference. Virtual Attendance. February.
2026 P. Fifita. “Tāvāism – Contemporary Philosophy, Theory, Knowledge, and Practice,” Participant in informal Session for the Association of Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO) Conference. Virtual Attendance. February.
2025 P. Fifita, L. Lopesi, and R. Fifita. “Ocean Pedagogies: Learning and Teaching the Pacific,” Pacific Islander Association Conference (PISACON), University of Washington, Seattle, WA, March 2025.
2025 Fifita. P. , E. Makepa, L. Irvine, T. Mitchell, H. Afo, and J. Tomasi. Roundtable Session entitled, “Indigenous-led Return to Abundance through Ancestral Knowledge Keeping and Rematriation in Oceania.” Society for Applied Anthropology, Portland, OR, March..
2025 Fifita. P. and E. Makepa. “Reclaiming and Revitalizing Ancestral Land and Seascapes: Indigenous-Led Community-Based Participatory Research and Documentation of Native Plants in Kauai,” prepared for session entitled: “Interwoven Histories,” Society for Applied Anthropology, Portland, OR, March 2025. (Abstract accepted)
2024 Fifita. P. Participant in Informal Session: “Teaching Te Moananui-a-Kea/Kiwa.” Association of Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO) Conference. Virtual Attendance. February 2024.
2023 Fifita. P. Panelist for Roundtable Session entitled “Indigenous Ocean Feminisms: Honoring the Legacies of Lee Maracle and Haunani-Kay Trask,” National Women’s Studies Association Conference, Baltimore, MA, November 2023.
2023 Fifita. P. Panelist for session entitled: “Managing for Abundance: Purple Prairies as Indigenous Place Keeping,” Washington Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference, Oregon State University, Feb. 10.
2023 Fifita. P. Reclaiming Oceanic Food Sovereignty and Centering Indigenous Ecologies in the Face of Global Climate Change” Prepared for “Food Sovereignty in the Pacific” Working Session. Association of Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO) Conference, Kona, HI. February, 2-5.
2024 P. Fifita, L. Cramer, E. Makepa, J. Makepa, L. Irvine, T. Mitchell, and H. Afo. Indigenous (Re)envisioning and Restoration of Anahola Seascapes, Lenfest Webinar Series. December. Link to Webinar.