Moana Toa Initiative Features Professor Katerina Teaiwa's Work on Banaban Cultural Heritage

The Australian Museum's Moana Toa program, launched for International Women's Day 2022, highlights Pasifika women's leadership through culture and arts. This installment profiles Professor Katerina Teaiwa, an interdisciplinary scholar and artist of Banaban, I-Kiribati and African American descent. Teaiwa, the first Indigenous Pacific professor at Australian National University and 2021 Australian University Teacher of the Year, researches phosphate mining impacts on Banaba and promotes 'creative cultural survival' through dance. The article discusses Banaban artifacts in the museum's collection, including a unique shell-adorned dance stick and a woven dance belt, emphasizing how dance preserves identity despite colonial disruption. Teaiwa's work underscores the importance of Pacific Islanders learning their cultural histories to honor ancestors and benefit future generations.