PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT:

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Pacific Islander Community Oral History Project. Oral history interviews of the Pacific Islander Community Oral History Project. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Originals:

Original digital sound recordings, Minnesota Historical Society Oral History Office.

Accession Information:

Accession number: AV2012.4

Processing Information:

Processed by: Jennifer Huebscher, August 2012

Catalog ID number: 990075607940104294

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Ben Ho was born in 1936 in Hawaii. Ben was in the Marine Corps and later worked for Univac. He is the brother of singer Don Ho.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life; family history; living in Hawaii during World War II; different languages spoken at home; his career in the Marine Corps; working for Univac; meeting his wife; being a brother to the famous singer Don Ho; living in New York, Las Angles, London, and finally Minnesota; not experiencing racism in the Marine Corps, and experience racism working for Univac; his children; growing up Mormon in Hawaii; Hawaiian traditions and how his family kept very few of them; being involved in Hawaiian issues, particularly the Hawaiian Situation; being on the water in Hawaii and Minnesota.

Interviewed by: David Zander.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Max Leo was born November 2, 1962 in Samoa.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in Samoa; family history; Samoan traditions and village life; becoming a priest; traveling to Rome; leaving Rome and coming to Minnesota; participating in Polynesian festivals in Minnesota; Samoans around the United States; working; helping Samoans back in Samoa; meeting his wife and getting married; traveling to New Zealand; hopes for the future.

Interviewed by: David Zander.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Dixie Riley was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1951. She worked for most of her life as a human rights activist.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life and family history; education; growing up in Minnesota; being the only woman in school and at her job; working as a social activist; meeting her husband and adopting his children as her own; being involved in organizations particularly the Nation Organization of Women (NOW); protesting the Saint Paul Winter Carnival.

Interviewed by: David Zander.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Kim Sueoka was born in Kaua'i, Hawaii. She is a trained musician and singer.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in Hawaii and family history; picture brides and how her family came to Hawaii; education; singing and music; traditional Hawaiian music; coming to the Evansville, Indiana to study music therapy; coming to Minnesota; identifying herself as a Japanese-American; working as a freelance singer and as part of the Rose Ensemble as a story teller and performer; religion; going back to Hawaii; comparing living in Minnesota to Hawaii; controversy around singing ancient Hawaiian songs; goals for the future, to be and making her career in the arts work financially.

Interviewed by: David Zander.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Faamati Winey was born in Samoa in 1976. She currently owns four Snap Fitness franchises.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life and family; education; meeting her husband; her Snap Fitness franchises; coming to Minnesota; languages spoken at home and learning English; Samoan traditions and history; the village she grew up in; Samoan foods; life in Minnesota and life in Samoa; Samoans and rugby, and playing in Minnesota; Samoans and gambling; her passion for camping, mountaineering, and scuba diving and playing sports; her goals for the future climbing Mount Everest and starting a new business.

Interviewed by: David Zander.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Asian Americans -- Minnesota.

Asians -- Minnesota.

Emigration and immigration.

Hawaiians -- Social life and customs.

Immigrants -- Minnesota.

Samoan Americans -- Minnesota.

Samoans -- Social life and customs.

Persons:

Hao, Bin, interviewee.

Leo, Makalio, interviewee.

Riley, Dixie, interviewee.

Sueoka, Kim, interviewee.

Winey, Faamati, interviewee.

Zander, David, interviewer.

Document Types:

Interviews.

Oral histories (document genres)

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