Home2026 PISA Awardees

2026 PISA AWARDEES

Julie Mota-Kondi

My name is Julie Mota-Kondi and I am a Korafe woman from Tufi, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. I am married to Bernard of Bebeli/ Bakovi tribe of Ruango village, Ward 1 Talasea District West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. We both coordinate the Bebeli language Revitalization Project for the Bebeli language, an endangered language in PNG, as a community initiative in our Province, which includes a number of community-led activities such as heritage-site conservation, climate change programs, and youth social media training, among others. I am a full-time freelance artist/writer. I have since written and published anthologies of short stories and poetry as well as a novel on PNG. I also exhibited my art as a painter of almost three decades from an indigenous woman's lens on societal change, the impact of colonization and women's histories, environmental and indigenous rights, and memory studies and was a contributing biographer to PNG's National Dictionary of Biography Volume One. I was awarded a PISA award in 2002 to participate in the Pacific voyages’ informal session in Vancouver. So happy to contribute again this time.

Alesi Talatoka Cama

My name is Alesi Talatoka Cama, and I am currently completing my Master of Arts in Fijian Studies at the University of the South Pacific. I have taught for more than 20 years, and I now work at Alliance Française Suva as a Fijian language tutor, teaching mostly expatriates. In addition to tutoring, I am a freelance linguist, providing translations, reports, and cultural insights for organizations, companies, and individuals. I also lecture international students at the University of the South Pacific on Fijian language and culture. I am passionate about language and its deep connection to culture and tradition, especially in the way Indigenous communities navigate modernization and westernization. My goal is to help keep our language, culture, and traditions alive through teaching and research at higher levels of learning. I am also an Indigenous researcher, currently working to complete my thesis on The Use and Impact of the Fijian Bible Translation in Indigenous Fijian Communities: Rural and Urban Perspectives.

Josaia Tuivanua

Bula Vinaka, my name is Josaia Tuivanua. I am a Fijian researcher and cultural practitioner currently engaged in museum and heritage work, including a digitization project with the Fiji Museum and collaborative work with the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris for an upcoming exhibition. My fields of study are Pacific Vernacular (Fijian Studies) and Geography at the University of the South Pacific. I am from Oneata Island in the Lau Province of Fiji and am grounded in my iTaukei cultural heritage. My work and research interests focus on Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural continuity, and the ethical role of museums in the safeguarding of both tangible and intangible heritage. I am also involved in climate change advocacy, youth leadership, and community-based initiatives, and I uphold the responsibility of Indigenous youth to protect ancestral knowledge while contributing to wider regional and global conversations.

Te Moana Nui a Kiwa Huata

My name is Te Moana Nui a Kiwa Huata (Ngāti Kahungunu). I hold a Master’s in Māori Philosophy (Tāhuhu Mātauranga Māori), where my research explored Māori cosmology, identity, and the question of origins -particularly the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki, a concept central to many Indigenous Pacific narratives. My work considers how whakapapa (genealogy), migration stories, and oral traditions shape contemporary Māori relationships to land, belonging, and sovereignty. Huata spends part of the year in Aotearoa New Zealand working in Treaty advocacy, where she supports iwi and hapū in navigating complex political landscapes through a kaupapa Māori lens. My work is situated at the intersection of anthropology, activism, and Indigenous governance; rooted in lived experience, relational practice, and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination). Based in Melbourne for the remainder of the year, she works as a Business Development Manager, drawing on Indigenous values to guide ethical development, Pacific enterprise, and community-centered strategy. I am a proud member of the Pacific Youth Platform in 2024, a collective dedicated to empowering young Pacific leaders through cultural leadership, policy advocacy, and intergenerational dialogue across Oceania. My work reflects a commitment to Indigenous resurgence; grounded in whakapapa, guided by community, and always looking toward decolonial futures.

Ashlyn Weaver

My name is Ashlyn Weaver, and I’m an anthropologist with a background in cultural, biological, and archaeological anthropology, with a strong focus on Indigenous and Native Hawaiian studies. Professionally, I work as a Coordinator and GIS Specialist at the Northeast Information Center, where I manage and interpret cultural and archaeological resource data as part of California’s historic preservation system. I’ve been working in Cultural Resource Management and archaeology for about eight years, which has given me a lot of applied experience in archival research, GIS, and heritage management. Alongside that work, I’m also a Lecturer. I teach Social Science at CSU Chico and Anthropology at Butte College and Clovis Community College, where I teach both biological and cultural anthropology. I really enjoy helping students see how anthropology connects to real-world issues, careers, and community-based work. My research and professional interests center on Native Hawaiian history, Indigenous identity, museum studies, and community-centered scholarship. I’m especially interested in how Indigenous histories and relationships to place continue to shape communities today. I’ve had the opportunity to present this work at a variety of conferences and to be involved in exhibitions and public scholarship. Overall, my work is grounded in the idea that anthropology should be applied, accessible, and accountable to the communities it represents. I’m really looking forward to connecting with you all and learning more about your work as well.