Susan Jacob, a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology, published her article, “The Moving Mountain: Performance for Mauna a Wākea during the Protect Maunakea Movement,” in the spring 2024 issue of the Journal of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAIS). Indiana University describes NAIS as publishing “the best interdisciplinary scholarship in international Native American and Indigenous Studies.”
Jacob’s article illustrates how Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) kia‘i (protectors or guardians) “effectively transform secular spaces into sacred ones through the act of performance.” Her scholarship uses concepts from various fields, such as Indigenous studies, ethnomusicology, media studies, and cyber ethnography. Professor Emerita in Ethnomusicology Jane Moulin comments on how Jacob’s paper is “a fine example of how music can inform and expand interdisciplinary research.”
In her article, Jacob recognizes her own position as a researcher with outsider eyes, as “a new arrival in the islands five years ago, and as someone both engaged in the study of ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) and with prolonged training in hula: [she has] been a haumāna (student) of Hālau Hula ka No‘eau under the tutelage of Kumu Hula Michael Pili Pang.” Upon her arrival, she observed the anxiety surrounding the telescope’s construction, which prompted conversations with her peers and the community.
“Coming from a secular Jewish background that hails the pursuit of science as unquestionably honorable, I was forced to reevaluate my understanding of the ethics of scientific conquest and how it can negatively impact people whose values differ from my own,” writes Jacob.
She highlights how her field of ethnomusicology can contribute to the efforts of kiaʻi and help others engage with their internal struggles between the desire for scientific advancement and protection of Indigenous rights. “It is my goal with this work to highlight the effectiveness of music as resistance for Indigenous Hawaiian causes and encourage people to gain empathy and understanding beyond their worldview,” writes Jacob.
During the spring 2024 semester, Jacob conducted fieldwork in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and is currently working on her dissertation, which deals with adjacent concerns of music as resistance and Indigenous popular music. Her dissertation expands on these topics by also prioritizing the voices of female musicians and investigating processes of localization, through the hip-hop music of Hawaiʻi and Aotearoa.