Fichi Ukiin and Kuleana: Ancestors, Genealogy, and Island Responsibilities in Oral History

Drawing on professional experience working as a settler oral historian with deep roots in Hawaiʻi and weaving personal genealogical research encounters, this essay presents an Oceanic, specifically Lūchūan (Ryūkyūan), perspective deeply informed by a Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) approach to oral history. Taking an Indigenous autoethnographic approach to sharing my own work experiences and family history, I articulate the importance of kuleana/fichi ukiin (communal responsibility) in grounding oral history ethics in Indigenous islands contexts. This approach builds upon Indigenous understandings of oral history and storytelling to be inclusive of the fragmented stories passed down about our ancestors that are embodied and tied to place. Making sense of my own experiences as I attempt to document and understand my Lūchūan heritage, I demonstrate how genealogy research is itself a form of Lūchūan Indigenous oral history practice through which we can begin to discover more about our uyafāfuji (ancestors) and ourselves.