Anthropology

Suspended between worlds.

Seeking connections.

Finding delight in diversity and the unexpected.

What does anthropology have to offer?

In a word: perspective.

My academic work in anthropology has focused largely on the complex relationship between indigenous peoples, their cultures and their environments. In addition to my book, Working with the Ancestors: Mana and Place in the Marquesas Islands, I have published articles in both English and French on topics ranging from heritage, sovereignty and resource use to mana, embodiment and ancestral spirits. I have also worked with local communities in the Marquesas to honor and preserve their heritage (see my work with Hiva Oa’s Cultural Center and Te Ana Peua, an archaeological museum in Vaitahu, Tahuata).

Published in Oceania in 2022. Traces the history of the Marquesas’ bid for UNESCO World Heritage status and its tense relationship to indigenous sovereignty and spirituality. Read the full abstract.
Published in American Ethnologist in 2022. Examines how the unique everyday practices of indigenous peoples form the basis for not just shared identity but resistance and relationships to resources, pointing to how international initiatives might better support conservation and sustainability projects in indigenous communities. Read the full abstract.
Published in Pacific Affairs in 2022, this piece was the 2023 runner-up for the Holland Prize. Traces how the traumatic impacts of colonialism shape Marquesan connections to the land and their experiences of being in ancestral spaces. Read the article.
Published in Oceania in 2018. Examines how the painful memories and trauma of colonialism can challenge local connections to place but also help to strengthen the bonds of community and cultural cohesiveness. Read the full abstract.

Representative Publications

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Books

Ongoing Projects

Returning historic Marquesan objects to Hiva Oa

Consulting on Marquesan culture and language

Related Writing

“Being an “anthropologist” today isn’t about where we work. It’s about our shared identity as tireless researchers, writers, and fastidious observers of humanity’s diversity.”

- Writing from the identity limbo of an academic-minded person who has opted out of academia, I published this piece with Practicing Anthropology in 2023. From “The Problem with University Affiliation: Notes from an Independent Scholar,” Vol. 49, No. 2 (Winter).

More Marquesas writings…

Keata, The Girl Who Dared