Ancestry of Experience: A Journey into Hawaiian Ways of Knowing (Intersections Asian and Pacific American Transcultural Studies)
In a time when dominant theoretical methodologies are increasingly being dismantled and/or modified to fit indigenous ways of knowing,Ancestry of Experienceis a welcome addition to collective efforts of reframing perspectives, cutting through the currents of assumption. Holmes is generous in offering us ways to read her story. . . . By freeing the reader in this way, Holmes opens up a welcome opportunity to trace how one can simultaneously exist in multiple spaces. --Honolulu Weekly, 22 May 2013Part memoir of a Kanaka academic in the diaspora searching for her 'ohana, part historical and ethnographic celebration of Hawaiian culture, and part documentation of the reality of Kanaka 'Oiwi constant communication with our kupuna o ka po (those who have passed into the po),Ancestry of Experienceis that rarity of rarities: an academic page-turner. Leilani Holmes' book will bring readers to tears in its evocation of the enduring love and spiritual connection in an 'ohana that spans many generations, and make them gasp at the incredible series of 'coincidences' that leads to Leilani's re-connection with her 'ohana. --Noenoe Silva, professor of political science, University of Hawaii, and author ofAloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism