ʻUlise Funaki is a native/Indigenous researcher and son of the Moananuiakea. His maternal links are rooted in the Occupied Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as well as Ilocos Norte in the Philippines, while his paternal links are rooted in the Kingdom of Tonga. ʻUlise is blessed with a wonderful family that loves eating good food, drinking kava, and most recently playing pickleball.
His dissertation research centered on the kava/ʻawa practices of the Tongan and Kanaka Maoli communities of Koʻolauloa and how kava connects these communities to the fonua, but also acts as a puʻuhonua/hūfanga for modern kava practitioners. His current research focuses on Indigenous and diasporic kava practices and kava as resistance. Funaki is currently an adjunct faculty instructing courses in Hawaiian History, Pacific Studies, and Anthropology as well as co-teaching with his wife, Sinamoni Valikoula, the Tongan language courses.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
- M.A., Cultural Anthropology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
- B.A., Political Science, Brigham Young University - Provo
COURSES TAUGHT
- PAIS 200 - Place, Purpose and Positionality on Native Lands **
- TONG 101 - Elementary Tongan Conversation and Grammar I **
- TONG 102 - Elementary Tongan Conversation and Grammar II
- TONG 201 - Intermediate Tongan Conversation and Grammar I
- TONG 202 - Intermediate Tongan Conversation and Grammar II
- ANTH 105: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- ANTH 270: Language in Culture and Society - A Survey of the Role of Language in Life
- ANTH 310: Anthropology Theory
- ANTH 385: Archaeology and Oceania
- ANTH 460: Anthropology of Globalization
- HIST 365 - Hawaiian History I: Pre-Western Contact to Kamehameha V **
- HIST 366 - Hawaiian History II: Elected Monarchs, Overthrow, Restoration
** – Courses being taught (Fall 2026)
PUBLICATIONS
PEER REVIEWED ARTICLE
Funaki, S. M. 'U. H. (2024). Historical and Contemporary Representation of Kava by Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Pacific Studies, 47(1), 1–26. https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol47/iss1/1
CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
Bridges, C., Kaʻili, T., Haderlie, B., Funaki, 'U., & Nae'ole, N. (2019). Ancient Hawaiian Temples in Lāʻie. Mormon Pacific Historical Society, 40(2). https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mphs/vol40/iss1/2