Library welcomes President Moetai Brotherson

Group of eight standing in library reading room with President Brotherson, center.

(L-R): Sarah (Herenui) Mietlicki, Eleanor Kleiber, Stu Dawrs, Bruno Peaucellier, President Moetai Brotherson, Teavanui Teiefitu, Keanu Rochette-Yu Tsuen, and Mareva Lechat-Kitalong

Two men and a woman stand in a library talking to each other.

University Librarian Clem Guthro, left, and Pacific Collection Librarian Eleanor Kleiber, center, welcome French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson to Hamilton Library on Feb. 25, 2026.

Two men stand facing camera, smiling. One holds a green tote bag that was a gift from the other.

French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson and University Librarian Clem Guthro

Woman gestures to old book on table with other old books, explaining it to five people, who are all standing.

Pacific Collection Librarian Eleanor Kleiber shows President Brotherson and others an old Bible in the Tahitian language.

Tahitian language Bible

Woman turns pages of old book on a table, as man takes photo with smartphone, while five people around them observe.

Kleiber shows off the Pacific Collection’s oldest Tahitian language volume from 1770.

Man gestures to group of seven people standing next to table that holds a large old book and several smaller ones, some in boxes.

Pacific Collection Librarian Stu Dawrs describes the large picture atlas from Captain Cook’s first voyage, published in 1784.

Engraved image of woman in traditional attire.

Picture atlas detail

Group of eight people stand around table with books, as woman with white gloves handles very old book. Three take photos with their phones.

Kleiber shows President Brotherson and the group the Shaw Tapa Book (1787), which contains tapa cloth samples collected during Captain Cook’s voyages.

Closeup 1 of white-gloved hands turning pages of old book bound with tapa cloth samples.

Closeup 2 of white-gloved hands turning tapa book pages.

Closeup 3 of white-gloved hands turning tapa book pages.

Closeup 4 of white-gloved hands turning tapa book pages.

Woman speaks to group standing around table looking at old books and ephemera, as man takes photo of one book.

Hawaiian Collection Librarian Jodie Mattos shares resources from the collection.

Closeup of old book opened to page with handwriting.

Queen Lili’uokalani’s signature above the book’s intended recipient.

Eleven people surround long table with books and papers, listening to one woman talking with her arms outstretched.

Mattos shows three copies of Queen Lili‘uokalani’s book, “Hawai‘i’s Story by Hawai‘i’s Queen,” which she inscribed and sent to people over the years.

Man reaches across table to take picture with phone of two books with their spines up.

President Brotherson snaps a photo of his books from the library’s collection.

Closeup of two book spines, one red, in French. The other blue, same title in English.

“Le Roi absent” / “The Missing King” by Moetai Brotherson

Woman bends over table with posters to point to one as eight people around the table stand, listening to her.

Kleiber shows political posters and flyers from the Pacific Collection.

People stand around a cabinet with skinny drawers. One is open and shows an old protest poster.

Kleiber shows the group archival posters from the 1970s Save Our Surf protests in Hawai‘i as they tour the Hawaiian & Pacific Collections stacks.

Closeup of protest poster in an open drawer surrounded by people.

“Hawai‘i’s Waves are Not for Sale” poster from ’70s Save Our Surf protests.

Woman pulls document from open filing cabinet drawer, shows it to three people.

Kleiber shows an anti-nuclear leaflet from the Pacific Ephemera Collection.

Man stands between library stacks facing woman, whose back is to camera, gesturing up to a book. Shelves, many of the books, and clothing are blue.

President Brotherson in the Hawaiian & Pacific Collections stacks.

French Polynesia (Mā’ohi Nui) President Moetai Brotherson toured UH Mānoa Hamilton Library’s Hawaiian and Pacific Collections (HPC) on Feb. 25. Pacific Collection Librarians Eleanor Kleiber and Stu Dawrs, and Hawaiian Collection Librarian and HPC Department Chair Jodie Mattos shared materials related to French Polynesia and its cultural and political ties with Hawaiʻi.

Brotherson was in Hawai‘i for The Pacific Agenda: Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity Summit on Feb. 23-24 at the East-West Center. The U.S.-led forum convened regional leaders from 16 Pacific Island nations, executives from 80+ U.S. companies, and officials from U.S. government finance agencies to discuss key issues shaping the Indo-Pacific. Brotherson also made time to build connections at UH Mānoa, including his visit to the library.

Accompanying Brotherson on the tour were Mareva Lechat-Kitalong, Delegate of International, European and Pacific Affairs, and Bruno Peaucellier, Delegate of International Affairs, for French Polynesia. The tour group also included UH Mānoa graduate students Teavanui Teiefitu (Center for Pacific Islands Studies) and Keanu Rochette-Yu Tsuen (oceanography), along with Sarah (Herenui) Mietlicki, a parent of another UH Mānoa student from French Polynesia.

“It was an honor to welcome President Brotherson, and a joy for us to share items from our collections that highlight the historical and cultural connections between Hawai‘i and French Polynesia,” said Kleiber. “President Brotherson himself is part of this literary tradition, as the library holds his novel, Le Roi absent [The Missing King], in our Pacific Collection.”

Some of the items on display for the President’s visit included:

the Catalog of the different specimens of cloth collected in the three voyages of Captain Cook, a.k.a. Shaw Tapa Book, created in 1787 using tapa collected during Cook’s voyages;
an atlas of illustrations from Cook’s first voyage, published in 1784;
communications from the Queen of Tahiti to King Kamehameha III, sent in 1844;
three editions of Hawaiʻi’s Story by Queen Liliʻuokalani, each signed by the Queen at various points in her life;
French Polynesian political ephemera; and
two editions of Brotherson’s own Le Roi absent, one in the original French and the other an English translation.

“He seemed to appreciate seeing these items our library has curated to represent the strong connections between our islands,” Kleiber said.

Brotherson’s visit provided a valuable opportunity for Hamilton Library to highlight the relevance and importance of its internationally-recognized collections beyond the university.

“Our collections are vast, global, and contain a multitude of treasures that support research, scholarship, and teaching. Welcoming visitors from abroad to our collections extends their global reach,” said University Librarian Clem Guthro. “Visitors like President Brotherson become our ambassadors; sharing their experiences with our library when they return home, and knowing we are a resource to them.”

Brotherson has served as President of French Polynesia since 2023. A former member of the French National Assembly and longtime advocate for greater autonomy, he is known for promoting sustainable development, cultural preservation, and strengthened regional cooperation across the Pacific. He is also an author and storyteller whose work reflects a deep commitment to Polynesian culture and identity.