Tēvita ‘O. Ka‘ili is a descendant of Moana Nui ancestors Tangaloa, Māui, and Hina. He is the co-author of the Tongan language book Ko e Ngaahi ʻAta mei he Hisitōlia mo e Kalatua ʻo Tongá: Ke Tufungaʻi Ha Lea Tonga Fakaako (Images from the History and Culture of Tonga: Towards Creating a Tongan Academic Language). He is also the author of the ethnographic book Marking Indigeneity: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations. Tēvita has co-authored and translated several bilingual (Tongan-English) childrenʼs books. Currently, Tēvita is a professor of Anthropology and Cultural Sustainability in the Faculty of Culture, Language, and Performing Arts at Brigham Young University Hawaiʻi. He received his PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Washington in 2008.
