Meet Our Researchers: Cherry Y.E.W. Yamane

Cherry Y.E.W. Yamane is a senior research analyst for Indigenous Children, Youth, and Families within the Population Focused Research program area at Child Trends, and an Indigenous Health PhD student at the University of North Dakota’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Cherry, can you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your primary research interest(s)?

My name is Cherry Y.E.W. Yamane, and I am a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian)[i] from Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. My primary interests align heavily with the influence, wants, and needs of my community. I am merely a vessel for privileging and honoring their voices and working for the betterment of future generations beyond my lifetime. Sometimes this work entails radical mentorship and opening doors that I hope will stay open for others, allowing them to walk into spaces from which my community has too often been excluded, and increase our capacity to advocate for our sovereignty and inherent rights to self-determination. My research embraces a decolonial approach, creating space for Indigenization by centering land-based healing, Indigenous knowledge, practices, and spirituality, with a focus on healing and thriving.

I focus on areas that are both personal to me and which my community has asked me to address. Much of my work includes addressing the systemic-level impacts of the settler U.S. occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom that disrupted our Indigenous ways of being and resulted in cultural trauma, racism, and genocide of our Peoples. Some of the effects we see today as Indigenous People result from historical wrongdoings with present-day impacts, but which were relatively recent in generational terms. The overthrow and “territory” designation of our Kingdom happened during my great-great-grandparents’ lifetime, and “statehood” happened during the lifetimes of my great-grandparents, who raised me.

I hope that my research helps my People resist the impacts of land and cultural dispossession through reclamation of our Knowledges, language, and practices. I create a space for healing, thriving, and joy with my community by looking to our ancestral Knowledges and practices as the answer to the health concerns we see today. Centering and grounding my work in the perpetuation, reclamation, and preservation of our ancestral Knowledges is an act of resistance and enacting our sovereignty and self-determination.

What sparked your interest in research on Indigenous children, youth, family, and community well-being? 

My personal experiences led me to want a better future for Indigenous children. I want Indigenous youth to thrive in ways that I did not necessarily have as a child advocating for myself and not being heard. I am here because I want to create a space for Indigenous children and youth to be heard, but I always thought I would go into medicine for this work. Now, I joke about falling into research and evaluation by accident but am humbled by this redirection because I can do what I said I would do when I was eight years old. Now, I can not only heal my inner child, but do it for the keiki (children) of my homelands. My personal experiences have led me where I am, but my community lifted me up. My story is the reason for everything that I do and helps me recognize that we are an innately beautiful, strong, and wonderful people who are rich in culture and strengths. I am from a community who represents love and is love. I am merely a resource to my community, and it truly is a kākou (“we, inclusive”; “collective”) effort to uplifting, healing, and strengthening as a Lāhui (Nation).  

What books have most influenced you? 

As an emerging Kanaka scholar and practitioner—but also as a Kupuna (Elder) in training and future ancestor—one of many books that have deeply impacted me is the Nānā I Ke Kumu, two-volume books by Tūtū Mary Kawena Pukui. This book delicately guided me into a deeper understanding of our cultural values and practices by deepening my understanding of pilina (connections) and the importance of relationships, values, and ʻike Kupuna (ancestral Knowledges and wisdom) in living a more balanced and fulfilling life. Tūtū Pukui and her scholarship have been dedicated to preserving cultural Knowledges that have allowed me the humbling privilege of reclaiming my Native language—and deeply contextualize the values and lessons I learned in my home, along with a much deeper understanding of ʻike (Knowledges) from multiple sources. Nānā I Ke Kumu has walked me through a deeper understanding and reaffirmed the intergenerational love, values, compassion and pilina to the land, my home, and my people. My journey through these books has allowed me to be a student of stillness—to deeply consider our sources of healing, spirituality, and strengths by learning to apply these teachings for myself and my community. 

What are your hobbies or interests outside of research? 

My hobbies include anything that involves the sunlight, the land, and keeping my hands busy—so basically, anything that is outside and everything that randomly pops into my head as a new interest I must learn but will probably not finish. My outdoor activities, now that I live in the Midwest, include sitting outside in the sun and going for long walks while there is still sunlight before the frigid winter hits. As a newbie to the region, I am becoming acquainted with the land, trees, plants, and animals that live here as they are all new relatives that I am coming to know. However, in summer, I really hone in on my random crafts—often fiber arts, such as knitting, crocheting (like the true Elder in training that I am, like my beloved, Great-grandmother Eleanor), or weaving baskets and hats, or other sorts of self-expression such as painting or poetry. Most of the time, though, weaving keeps me busy for the winter when my heart is hurting to be back home. When I moved to the continent to complete my studies, I carried an entire suitcase of lauhala (pandanus leaves) so I could feel the mea kanu (trees and plants) of my homelands, smell the memories shared when prepping the leaves—despite knowing I would probably never move back home—and allow my hands to clumsily weave through the leaves to be closer to home and the people who mean everything to me.  

To wrap up, can you tell us a fun or interesting fact about yourself? 

I am a fish in water and can swim through incredibly strong currents; I am also one of the most stubborn people who will never get out once I jump in. However, despite being a fish, I am absolutely the worst surfer—but I love it! I catch more cracks than I catch waves. It amuses me that people often assume that I am a good surfer; while I always humbly say that I am a surfer, I’m just not at all a good one.  

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Footnote

[i] The use of my Native Hawaiian language is valuable to me and is used throughout this profile. The Native Hawaiian language is not easily translated into English, so the English translations provided are not comprehensive and do not reflect the wholeness and deeper meaning, contexts, and beauty of the words and phrases shared. For direct translation with additional meanings, please go to Hawaiian Dictionaries (wehewehe.org).