After transferring to Las Vegas to attend the College of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), I discovered myself lacking these components of residence. This sparked my curiosity within the judo and lei-making communities right here and made me wish to be taught extra about it. This semester, I’m working with Nevada Humanities as an Occasions Intern as a part of UNLV’s Neon Pacific Initiative (NPI). The NPI was created to additional discover and perceive the tradition, contributions, and lived experiences of Asian Individuals and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in southern Nevada. With this nice alternative, I’ve been capable of hear the tales of judokas and lei-makers right here in Las Vegas.
This previous semester, I carried out interviews with members of the judo and lei-making communities. I realized extra about their tales in these conventional arts, the thrill and challenges they’ve confronted, and the way being in Las Vegas performs a job of their journey. They’ve given me deeper perception into the which means behind these practices and their ideas of them. It’s been so fulfilling to attach with and listen to the tales of different AAPI people — particularly these in judo and lei making.
These tales are necessary. Judo deserves extra recognition and different judokas can testify to this as properly. To showcase these tales, I’m creating a web based function that will probably be posted to the Nevada Humanities web site subsequent yr the place you possibly can be taught extra about judokas and this group of practitioners in southern Nevada. Maintain a watch out for it!
The Hawaiian tradition is so wealthy; lei making preserves this tradition and permits folks in Las Vegas to really feel that aloha spirit/tradition/love. Come be part of us at Clark County Library in Las Vegas on December 7, 2024 for a dialog with Lindsey Nacapuy-Oshiro and Tyra Ha’o as they share their lei-making tales and what this conventional Hawaiian artwork means to them. This dialog will probably be adopted by a lei workshop led by Nacapuy-Oshiro. These occasions are free to the general public; nevertheless, workshop seats are restricted, so make sure to reserve your spot right here.
I’m extraordinarily grateful for the time I obtained to spend with Nevada Humanities and am unhappy to be leaving quickly. This expertise opened my eyes to the significance of the humanities and the way it can deliver communities collectively. I used to be very fortunate to expertise this by means of working carefully with judo and lei-making communities and studying extra about them. I’m excited to share these tales with the general public and hopefully deliver pleasure and connection to those that learn them.
