Dr. Lani Teves: The Mahele of Our Bodies

Nuanua Collective, in partnership with Center for Pasifika Indigenous Knowledges at the University of Utah, presents visiting scholar Stephanie Nohelani Teves from the University of Hawai'i.

Please join us for a book panel on The Mahele of Our Bodies: Nā Moʻolelo Kūpuna Māhū/LGBTQ with the author Dr. Stephanie Nohelani Teves in conversation with Nuanua Collective.

Dr. Lani Teves will be reading from her new book of oral histories with Kanaka Maoli LGBTQ & Mahu Kupuna (elders). One of the only studies of Native/Indigenous queer oral histories, this book also features a robust Introduction that explores community and nation building, culture and tradition, and how all are navigated within the context of Hawaiian sovereignty and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or māhū (LGBTQM) civil rights.

Join us at Under the Umbrella for a reading and discussion:

• This event is free to attend, but tickets are required
• Pre-order the book for pick-up at the event
• If you can't attend, but would still like a copy of the book signed, please contact Under the Umbrella.

This venue is wheelchair accessible and masks are required. ASL interpretation will be provided. Please reach out with any accommodation requests.

About The Mahele of Our Bodies: Nā Moʻolelo Kūpuna Māhū/LGBTQ

“They put up barriers, the same way with our bodies. Our bodies are meant for us to be very expressive. Hawaiians were like that. . . . To me it was an expression of the mahele of our bodies, the restriction of our bodies, the control of our expression of our bodies.”

—Kuʻumeaaloha Gomes

Generated from the life histories of ten Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) elders (kūpuna) who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or māhū (LGBTQM), this book reveals the way they experienced overlapping Native/Indigenous and LGBTQM identities. The Mahele of Our Bodies: Nā Moʻolelo Kūpuna Māhū/LGBTQ is filled with rich descriptions of Hawaiʻi’s unwritten queer history, from growing up in the late Territory era and Hawai‘i’s transition to a state, to vivid descriptions of Honolulu nightlife in the 1960s and 1970s, the impact of HIV/AIDS in the hula community, and first-person accounts of the activism and political debates surrounding same-sex marriage rights in the 1990s.

About Dr. Lani Teves

Dr. Lani Teves is a Kanaka Maoli feminist born and raised in Ewa Beach. Dr. Teves came to so-called consciousness after watching Haunani-Kay Trask and other Hawaiian scholars/activists fight for Hawaiian sovereignty in the 1990s. She got got her BA from this very department! Courses in Women’s Studies greatly shaped her understanding of the necessity and possibilities of feminist analysis. She is deeply committed to public education in Hawaiʻi and aims to support and nurture students in the ways that she was.

About Nuanua Collective

Nuanua Collective was established in 2019 for LGBTQ+ MVPFAFF+ Pacific Islanders & QTBIPOC. Nuanua meaning “Rainbow” in Sāmoan. The Nuanua Collective is an organization dedicated to providing resources and safe spaces for queer and trans Pacific Islanders in Utah.

Host or Publisher Under the Umbrella Bookstore