Ty P. Kāwika Tengan

Ty P. Kāwika Tengan is a Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, specializing in precolonial and contemporary Hawaiian society, sovereignty, and US imperial impacts on Native Pacific communities. He is an anthropologist committed to community-based ethnographic research and received the Board of Regents' Medal for Excellence in Teaching in 2018.

Education:

• PhD, Anthropology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2003
• MA, Anthropology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2000
• Certificate, International Cultural Studies Program, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and East-West Center, 2000
• BA, Anthropology modified with Native American Studies with Honors, Dartmouth College, 1997

Tengan's research centers on Hawaiian masculinities, land rights, militarism, and cultural identity, with significant focus on Native Hawaiian veterans and community heritage preservation. His work integrates ethnographic immersion with activism, examining how US imperialism transforms Hawaiian society while collaborating with kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) communities through oral history field schools on O‘ahu's North Shore. He actively rethinks disciplinary frameworks in anthropology and Indigenous studies to center Native epistemologies.

Scientific Awards:

• Board of Regents' Medal for Excellence in Teaching (2018)

Professor Tengan leads community-engaged projects including Waialua (2017-2021) and Waiale‘e (2023) oral history field schools funded through partnerships with Kamehameha Schools, Waialua Hawaiian Civic Club, and North Shore Community Land Trust. He serves as cultural expert in legal cases concerning Maui water rights, O‘ahu/Hawai‘i burial site protection, and religious freedoms for Hawaiian prisoners, directly applying scholarship to sovereignty and justice issues.

He collaborates extensively with Hale Mua o Kūali‘i and ‘Aha Kāne foundations on cultural workshops, Makahiki ceremonies honoring Lono, and initiatives supporting Hawaiian men. Current work includes documenting Native Hawaiian veterans' experiences and advancing community-based research methodologies through UH Mānoa's Center for Oral History.