Upcoming Cultural Learning Journeys

Hawai'i (Completed - July 2025)

Learning Through Aloha: Honoring Pasifika Protocols and Place-Based Knowledge

These moments capture the heart of our cultural learning journey in Hawai‘i—rooted in relationship, reverence, and rhythm. As a facilitator with Ikuna’s Wayfinder Crew, I guided students through hands-on experiences that reconnected them with land, traditional arts, and ancestral knowledge systems. Whether cultivating kalo in the lo‘i, weaving intention into lei, or learning how our ancestors read the stars to navigate open ocean, each practice became a doorway to deeper understanding, identity, and belonging.

Lo'i Patch,

Kuoloa Ranch

Students connecting with ʻāina (land) at a traditional lo‘i patch, where they learned about ancestral relationships to food, water, and community responsibility through the cultivation of kalo (taro).

Plumeria Little Farms, North Shore

A hands-on lei-making workshop at Plumeria Little Farms, where we explored the sacred history of lei as a cultural offering, a symbol of love, and a practice of intention passed down through generations.

Wayfinding & Ancestral Navigation

A cultural session on traditional Polynesian wayfinding, where students learned how our ancestors read the stars, ocean swells, and winds to navigate across vast Pacific waters without modern instruments.

These moments grounded us in more than culture—they anchored us in belonging. As we return to the mainland, we carry not just memories, but a deeper sense of identity, purpose, and pride rooted in ancestral knowing.

Tahiti (Planned - November 20, 2025)

Matari'i i ni'a Ceremony

Coming Soon: Ceremony at Marae

A sacred gathering honoring the heliacal rising of the Pleiades-inviting abundance, spiritual grounding, and ancestral presence.

Cross-Cultural Artist Exchange

Coming Soon: Collaboration with Local Knowledge Holders

Artists and cultural practitioners from across Oceania gather to share stories, protocols, and offerings in the spirit of unity and remembrance.

Storybook Notes & Sketches

Coming Soon: Field Notes to Classroom

Journals, sketches, and voice memos from the journey-capturing reflections that will evolve into diaspora-rooted lesson plans and storybooks for youth. Featured artwork: "Melia," painted by Tracy as part of this ongoing series.

Visual Notes from the Journey

(Coming Soon)

Tracy in process: journaling, documenting, and capturing story in motion. These visual notes will later inform curriculum, illustration, and audio storytelling rooted in Pasifika youth experiences.

Future Works in Progress

'Alu ki he 'Otua:

A Portal for the Restless

Coming August 2025 – Hungry Ghost Festival, SF Chinatown
A ritual altar grounded in Tongan mourning practices, honoring the unseen grief of Pasifika people in diaspora. Through woven mats, symbolic offerings, ancestral silhouettes, and guided ceremonies, the altar becomes sacred space—for mourning, remembrance, and spiritual release.

This altar is for the brown ghosts no one remembers—until we build them a home.

Diaspora Storybooks:

Pasifika Roots for Island Children Everywhere

In Progress – 2025-2026
A developing collection of storybooks and coloring books inspired by Pasifika elders, community leaders, and oral traditions—designed to help children understand protocols, values, and ancestral stories from across Oceania.

From canoe chants to mourning rituals—each book becomes a bridge home.

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