#hinaleimoana wong-kalu

[celluloidrainbow]

A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE (2014) dir. Joe Wilson & Dean Hamer Eleven year old Ho'onani dreams of leading the hula troupe at her inner-city Honolulu school. The only trouble is that the group is just for boys. She's fortunate that her teacher understands first-hand what it's like to be 'in the middle' - the ancient Hawaiian tradition of embracing both male and female spirit. Together they set out to prove that what matters most is to be true to yourself. (link in title)

[angryrdpanda]

Banned Native-Authored Children's Books (because of MAGA zealots)

Firekeeper's Daughter written by Angeline Boulley (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army written by Art Coulson (Cherokee); illustrated by Nick Hardcastle (not Native)

Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi! written by Art Coulson (Cherokee), illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

Fishing on Thin Ice written by Art Coulson (Cherokee)

Lure of the Lake written by Art Coulson (Cherokee)

Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk); illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Wasauksing)

We Still Belong by Christine Day (Upper Skagit); cover art by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Metis Nation of Ontario)

Forever Cousins by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Tsimshian member); illustrated by Jonathan Nelson (Diné)

The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson (Cherokee)

We Are Water Protectors by Michaela Goade (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe); illustrated by Michaela Goade (Tlingit)

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger (Lipan Apache)

Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis (Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde); cover art by Marlena Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee)

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Maillard (Seminole); illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (not Native)

The People Shall Continue written by Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo), illustrated by Sharol Graves (Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma).

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, for Young People by Debbie Reese (Nambé Owingeh) and Jean Mendoza (not Native), adapted from the original edition written by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz (not Native)

Fatty Legs written by Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton (Inuvialiut)

Hiawatha and the Peacemaker written by Robbie Robertson (Mohawk), illustrated by David Shannon (not Native)

Mary and the Trail of Tears by Andrea Rogers (Cherokee)

You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith (Cree), illustrated by Danielle Daniel

Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Mvskoke), illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright (not Native) and Ying-Hwa Hu (not Native).

Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Mvskoke), cover illustration by Floyd Cooper (Mvskoke)

Thunderous written by M. L. Smoker (Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Montana's Fort Peck Reservation) and Natalie Peeterse (not Native); illustrated by Dale Ray DeForest (Diné)

We Are Grateful written by by Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation), illustrated by Frane Lessac (not Native)

At the Mountains Base written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation), illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva, Cahuilla, Chumash, Spanish & Scottish)

"The Way of the Anigiduwagi" written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation), illustrated by MaryBeth Timothy (Cherokee) in The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love and Truth edited by Cheryl and Wade Hudson

Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee); illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Metis)

Powwow Day written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee); illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

Kapaemahu written by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (Kanaka Maoli), Dean Hamer (not Native), and Joe Wilson (not Native); illustrated by Daniel Sousa

[Full List by Debbie Reese]

[whenlovetriestoleave]

the healer stones of kapaemahu (2022) dir. hinaleimoana wong-kalu, dean hamer, joe wilson

[makingqueerhistory]

I’m actually serious about this, if at all possible, right now is a very good time to request queer books from your local library. Whether they get them or not is not in your control, but it is so important to show that there is a desire for queer books. I will also say getting more queer books in libraries and supporting queer authors are pretty fantastic byproducts of any action.

This isn’t something everyone can do, but please do see if you are one of the people who has the privilege to engage in this form of activism, and if you are, leverage that privilege for all you’re worth.

For anyone who can’t think of a queer book to request, here is a little list of some queer books that I think are underrated and might not be in circulation even at larger libraries:

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown

Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco     

Harvard's Secret Court: The Savage 1920 Purge of Campus Homosexuals by William Wright    

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley   

God Themselves by Jae Nichelle

IRL by Tommy Pico        

The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World's Queer Frontiers by Mark Gevisser

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages             

The New Queer Conscience by Adam Eli

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom          

Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow              

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser

Queer Magic: Lgbt+ Spirituality and Culture from Around the World by Tomás Prower            

Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam   

Beyond the Pale by Elana Dykewomon 

Hi Honey, I'm Homo! by Matt Baume      

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Homie: Poems by Danez Smith

The Secret Life of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw  

The Companion by E.E. Ottoman 

Kapaemahu by Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu

Sacrament of Bodies by Romeo Oriogun     

Witching Moon by Poppy Woods 

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt    

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman    

Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist           

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi             

Peaches and Honey by Imogen Markwell-Tweed      

Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color by Christopher Soto

[read-alert]

It's Trans Awareness Week! Here's some of my fave recent reads! 📚🏳️‍⚧️

Falling Back in Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls by Kai Cheng Thom

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Toshio Meronek

Ander and Santi Were Here by Johnny Garza Villa

The Gods of Tango by Caro De Robertis

Just Shy of Ordinary by AJ Sass

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor

Kapaemahu by Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, and Daniel Sousa

[genderqueerpositivity]

A list of books I've read so far in 2023. My goal was two books a month and it hasn't worked out like that, which is okay. Some of these I actually started last year too, and they're listed in the month that I finally finished them.

January:

The Girl from the Sea | Molly Knox Ostertag

Heartstopper, volume 1 | Alice Oseman

Heartstopper, volume 2 | Alice Oseman

February:

Detransition, Baby | Torrey Peters

Neuroqueer Heresies | Nick Walker

March:

Heartstopper, volume 3 | Alice Oseman

Too Bright to See | Kyle Lukoff

April:

Heartstopper, volume 4 | Alice Oseman

May:

Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story | Jacob Tobia

June:

Unmasking Autism | Devon Price

August:

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

September:

Pageboy: A Memoir | Elliot Page

October:

Kapaemahu | Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth | Andrew Joseph White

Driven to Distraction | Edward Hallowell, John Ratey

November:

Different Kinds of Fruit | Kyle Lukoff

December:

I Hope They Sing Christmas Carols in Hell (holiday poems for heretics) | Kaitlin Hardy Shetler

[ryttu3k]

Trans Rights Readathon

The Trans Rights Readathon starts tomorrow! From the 22nd to the 29th of March, the aim is to read and uplift books written by and/or featuring trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, and 2Spirit authors and characters. You can find more information on it here!

I'll be donating AU$20 for every book I read to the Gender Centre. Want to help out? Use the comments of this post to pledge a per-book or lump sum - I'll contact you once the Readathon is over.

Here is my book list, including books I already own, books on my TBR I may be picking up, and a list of recommendations of books I've already read. You can find the books I've read for the Readathon under the cut!

Trans Rights Readathon 2024 Book List

RB Lemberg - The Unbalancing. Fantasy, 244 pages, 9/10. A beautiful queernormative fantasy with a bittersweet ending. 22nd March.

Nevo Zisin - The Pronoun Lowdown. Nonfiction, 96 pages, 9/10. A bright, informative primer on all things gender. 22nd March.

Ryka Aoki - Light From Uncommon Stars. SFF, 372 pages, 9.5/10. A love letter to music, food, found families, and outsmarting Hell. 23rd March.

Anthology - Kindred: 12 Queer LoveOzYA Stories. Collection, 320 pages, 7/10. A mixed bag of stories, with not all having trans characters. 24th March.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, with Daniel Sousa - Kapaemahu. Children's history/nonfiction, 40 pages, book 8/10, film 9/10. A beautiful and lyrical retelling of a story traditionally told orally. Check the short film here! 25th March.

Akwaeke Emezi - Content Warning: Everything. Poetry, 47 pages, 8.5/10. I'm not good with poetry (this is going in the Out Of Your Comfort Zone category) but this feels lovely and lyrical and dark and affecting. 25th March.

Rivers Solomon - The Deep. Fantasy, 166 pages, 9/10. Dark but with a beautiful sense of hope at the end, and also I want to go sit in the ocean right now. 26th March.

Gabe Cole Novoa - The Wicked Bargain. YA fantasy, 361 pages, 8.5/10. An adventurous historical fantasy with fab characters (there's a book focused on Dami and I Need it). 27th March.

Callum Angus - A Natural History of Transition. Collection, 200 pages, 8/10. Delightfully weird collection of short stories involving transition in unexpected ways. 28th March.

[read-alert]

Seconding those recommendations (I haven't read To Shape a Dragon's Breath yet, but it's on my tbr and I'm very excited for it), and also recommending

Angeline Boulley

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Tommy Pico

Joshua Whitehead

Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young

The Legend of the Skelton Man by Joseph Bruchac

Dead White Writer on the Floor by Drew Hayden Taylor (this one's a play)

"Indian" Stereotypes in TV Science Fiction: First Nations' Voices Speak Out by Sierra S Adare

Kapaemahu by Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, and Daniel Sousa

Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection edited by Hope Nicholson

Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko

This Place: 150 Years Retold by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Chelsea Vowel, Katherena Vermette, et al

Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci Fi Anthology edited by Hope Nicholson

Love After the End: An Anthology of Two Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead

And then some others I haven't read yet but am excited for:

All the Dead Things by Bear Lee

The Peacekeeper by BL Blanchard

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

Anything by Billy-Ray Belcourt

Pemmican Wars by Katherena Vermette, Scott B Henderson, and Donovan Yaciuk

How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle

Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction edited by Grace L Dillon

And there's also of course Stephen Graham Jones. Personally, the only book of his I've read that I really liked was The Only Good Indians, but he is a booktube darling, so I'd recommend checking him out, especially if you like horror

New book tumblr

Hello! My name is Cholena, and I'm hoping to start a Tumblr where I recommend diverse books. Being Native myself, I want to focus on indigenous books -- but I haven't been too successful at finding a lot yet.

So I plan to start by recommending books with other kind of diversity -- books centering, for example, queer characters, or books written by Black authors, etc. And eventually, I'll start recommending more and more books with an indigenous focus.

I'll definitely also be reblogging from other book tumblrs! Come say hi if you love to read diverse books.

[jerichopalms]

#84: Kapaemahu (2020, dir. by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, & Joe Wilson)

[moviemosaics]

Kapaemahu

directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, and Daniel Sousa, 2020

[pacingmusings]

Seen in 2021:

Kapaemahu (Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson), 2020

[yourdailyqueer]

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (Kumu Hina)

Gender: Third gender - Māhū (she/her)

Sexuality: N/A

DOB: N/A

Ethnicity: Polynesian - Native Hawaiian

Occupation: Activist, teacher, screenwriter, director, producer

[makingqueerhistory]

Kapaemahu

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (Author) Dean Hamer (Author) Joe Wilson (Author) Daniel Sousa (Illustrator)

In the 15th century, four Mahu sail from Tahiti to Hawaii and share their gifts of science and healing with the people of Waikiki. The islanders return this gift with a monument of four boulders in their honor, which the Mahu imbue with healing powers before disappearing. As time passes, foreigners inhabit the island and the once-sacred stones are forgotten until the 1960s. Though the true story of these stones was not fully recovered, the power of the Mahu still calls out to those who pass by them at Waikiki Beach today. With illuminating words and stunning illustrations by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, and Daniel Sousa, KAPAEMAHU is a monument to an Indigenous Hawaiian legend and a classic in the making.

(Affiliate link above)

[read-alert]

Happy Indigenous Heritage Month!

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology ed by Shane Hawk and Theodore C Van Alst Jr

Kapaemahu by Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, and Daniel Sousa

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliot

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline

Feed by Tommy Pico

The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor

Native Americans in Comic Books: A Critical Study by Michael A Sheyahshe

This Place: 150 Years Retold ed by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm

[kakaimeitahi]

In light of International Women’s Day 2017 I wanted to make a post celebrating Nesian Women. Nothing could do justice (least a blog post) to the thousands of other Nesian women that brighten our communities with there spirits and charming cackling. So do your mother, sister, aunty, lover (or yourself) a favour and give them a foot massage and cook them a good feed. Here’s to the wicked witches of the south pacific (yes that’s stolen) 🌺🍸🍷🎉🎉🎉

1. Destanee Aiava Entered the Australian Open at 16 years, youngest in the competition. Also the first player born in the 2000′s to contest a grand slam main draw. 

2. Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu Lead in the film Kumu Hina a documentary, is an advocate for women who identify as Mahu. Hina  plays an active part in Hawaiian Affairs and teaches Hula at Halau Lokahi PCS. 

3. Janet Mock Hawaiian/Black Transgender Rights activist & author of Redefining Realness a NYT bestseller. 

4. Tep Tok Crew Julia, Natalie, Ranu & Paia are the four women behind the revitalisation of traditional PNG central-provenance tattooing. Watch there documentary Tep Tok Reading Between Our Lines to find out more. 

5. Maryjane Mckibbin-Schwenke Director of Matavai Pacific Cultural Art Centre in Sydney. First of it’s kind in all of Australia. Also known for playing Princess in Siones Wedding as well as winning Miss South Pacific back in ‘98. 

6. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner Poet & Educator from the Marshall Islands Kathy read her poem on climate refugees structured as a letter to her daughter titled, dear matafele peinam (i criedt) at the UN Climate Summit in 2014. Kathy has also published poems titled Iep Jaltok. 

[ryttu3k]

...so clearly I have a thing for nonbinary SFF, haha.

Overall, didn't go too bad! Read nine things, although three of them were under 100 pages; with my pledge for $20 per book, that's $180 for the Gender Centre! And what the hell, I'll just round it up to $200 anyway. Technically, I could still get some more in there, it's only Friday afternoon, although I'm quite tired so I may just leave it at that.

Favourite book of the bunch: Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Just a beautiful, uplifting story. Really, I enjoyed pretty much all the reads, although some of the individual stories in Kindred were a bit of a slog. Such is the risk of an anthology, I guess! I also thoroughly enjoyed The Unbalancing by RB Lemberg (although I already know and enjoy their work), The Deep by Rivers Solomon, and my main nonfiction read, The Pronoun Lowdown by Nevo Zisin.

Hope everyone participating read some great books!

The final book list:

RB Lemberg - The Unbalancing

Nevo Zisin - The Pronoun Lowdown

Ryka Aoki - Light From Uncommon Stars

Anthology - Kindred: 12 Queer LoveOzYA Stories

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, with Daniel Sousa - Kapaemahu. Check the short film here!

Akwaeke Emezi - Content Warning: Everything

Rivers Solomon - The Deep

Gabe Cole Novoa - The Wicked Bargain

Callum Angus - A Natural History of Transition