Defiant Indigeneity

“Reckons with issues that affect many of our communities, from the consumption of our lands and cultures to continued marginalization of varied expression.”—H-Net Reviews

“A vital contribution. . . . Scale[s] an impressive breadth of performance media that demonstrate the diversity of Kanaka Maoli life and resistance to colonialism.”—The Drama Review

“One of those rare books that captures the spirit of a moment. . . . If questions about the performance and politics of ‘authenticity’ inform and bedevil your work, then this book is for you.”—Reading Religion

“Teves forcefully, unapologetically, and lovingly challenges touristic and settler colonial performances of ”Aloha“ and reclaims it as a practice and performance of Indigenous resurgence. Defiant Indigeneity weaves rap, hip hop, drag, Hollywood film, patriotic plays, queer stories, and diaspora, into a lei to adorn ka lāhui Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian nation, demonstrating that the lāhui is as expansive and vast as our sea of islands.” —Hokulani Aikau, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

“Meticulously researched, ambitious, surprising, and beautifully — at times heartachingly — written.” —Joshua Chambers-Letson, Northwestern University

“Teves provides the fields of critical Native studies and performance studies with the portable concept of 'defiant indigeneity,' a groundbreaking way of understanding Indigeneity not only as a performative process but also as Indigenous peoples' fundamental acts of survival.” —Christine Bacareza Balance, University of California, Irvine