Towards Indigenous Policy and Practice: A Tuvaluan Framework for Wellbeing, Ola Lei

Authors

Keywords:

health, wellbeing, indigenous frameworks, Ola Lei Framework, Pacific, Tuvalu

Abstract

Ola Lei ‘wellbeing’ is an ethnographically derived framework that builds upon Tuvaluan cultural concepts and practices. It has value as a conceptual model by which to assess and build health, education and development initiatives. Te feke ‘the octopus’ represents what Tuvaluans think and do about wellbeing, based on ethnographic research by the first author. Like the octopus, this framework is dynamic and adaptable, illustrating how wellbeing intertwines with social, cultural, economic and spiritual life, with education, with land and ocean. After describing the components of Ola Lei and how they were derived from participant observation and interviews, we suggest applications in policy and practice. The Ola Lei Framework articulated here provides an example of scholars taking indigenous concepts seriously as theory.

Author Biographies

Tufoua Panapa, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Tuvalu

Tufoua Panapa was a PhD student on the Transnational Pacific Health Project, earning a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Auckland in 2014. His research was conducted primarily with the communities of Funafuti and Vaitupu in Tuvalu, and with Tuvaluans in Auckland, New Zealand, from 2010 to 2014. A Tuvaluan, Tufoua had been employed as a secondary school teacher and then as Deputy Principal at Motufoua High School in Vaitupu prior to his research. He now serves as the Secretary of Education, Youth and Sport in the Government of Tuvalu.

Julie Park, University of Auckland

Julie Park is Professor Emerita of Social Anthropology at the University of Auckland. Her most recent book, co-authored with Kathryn Scott, Deon York and Michael Carnahan, is Haemophilia in Aotearoa New Zealand: More than a Bleeding Nuisance (Routledge, 2019). She has focused mainly on health and social issues in diverse communities in Aotearoa and certain neighbouring Pacific nations. Her publications with Judith Littleton, colleagues and students have used tuberculosis as a lens to examine health, health care, migration and immigration, public policy, racism and discrimination, colonialism and theoretical and methodological issues.

Judith Littleton, University of Auckland

Judith Littleton is Professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of Auckland. While still maintaining an ongoing interest in tuberculosis and medical anthropology with Julie Park, her most recent project involves working with indigenous communities in reconstructing past health and burial practices in the Murray Valley, Australia.

Anne Chambers, Southern Oregon University

Anne Chambers is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Southern Oregon University. Anne and Keith Chambers have collaborated in ethnographic research in Tuvalu since 1973 and co-authored the ethnography Unity of Heart (Waveland Press, Inc.) focused on the community of Nanumea. They have also written numerous articles about their work in Tuvalu and maintain a website (www.nanumea.net) through which Tuvaluans can access their ethnographic materials.

Keith Chambers, Southern Oregon University

Keith Chambers is Professor Emeritus and former Director of International Programs at Southern Oregon University. Anne and Keith Chambers have collaborated in ethnographic research in Tuvalu since 1973 and co-authored the ethnography Unity of Heart (Waveland Press, Inc.) focused on the community of Nanumea. They have also written numerous articles about their work in Tuvalu and maintain a website (www.nanumea.net) through which Tuvaluans can access their ethnographic materials.

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Published

2021-03-31

Issue

Vol. 130 No. 1 (2021): March 2021

Section

Articles

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