EP 38 Ethnic studies professor Davianna McGregor on how caring for land is all of our kuleana

Land and People

Scholar and historian Dr. Davianna Pōmaika`i McGregor is a founding member of the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa's Ethnic Studies Department and a pivotal force in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement beginning in the 1970s. Now retired, she taught oral history, environmental and cultural review and assessment to many students for 49 years. She speaks to the importance of upholding basic living standards for Hawai`i's people and how her work spans countless struggles across ethnic lines--from her involvement with the Protect Kaho`olawe `Ohana which helped successfully transfer the former bombing range to indigenous stewardship by native Hawaiians to her scholarship and activism that aimed to prevent Chinatown evictions of former plantation workers on fixed incomes. She speaks to the importance of framing political struggles along class lines while at the same time promoting indigenous sovereignty and environmental protections for the benefit of all.