2024 Master of Social Work (MSW) graduate Shaun Vidinhar centered his commitment to supporting Native Hawaiians and other indigenous and minority groups throughout his education. Now at the end of his degree, he reflects on all he has accomplished and the goals he hopes to obtain post-graduation.
Vidinhar was initially encouraged to obtain a MSW during his undergraduate Juvenile Delinquency degree at Brigham Young University by one of his undergraduate professors, Shirley Cox. Years after this recommendation, he worked in an emergency shelter and thought about becoming a clinical social worker there. Searching for an MSW program, he stumbled upon Portland State University’s School of Social Work.
Vidinhar’s passion for supporting indigenous communities — especially Native Hawaiians — began in his upbringing.
He explains, “Growing up my Dad and Mom taught me about my heritage as a part-Native Hawaiian and my kuleana (responsibility) to learn and perpetuate the culture. Living outside of Hawai’i they would fly us home each year so that we stayed connected to our ‘ohana (family) and the ‘āina (land)”.
During his process in applying for a private school in Hawaii, Vidinhar learned about Hawaiian studies and found interest in becoming an educator in the discipline. After finding his interest in social work, Vidinhar shifted his focus to supporting both the Native Hawaiian community and other indigenous and minority groups through social work.
He says, “Interestingly, no matter where I went, I was connected to other Native Hawaiians. It was like my ancestors trying to remind me of my kuleana to never forget who I am and where I came from.”
It became Vidinhar’s goal to learn more about his culture so he could help support these communities. In pursuit of this goal, Vidinhar helped focus a group project in one of his classes on fostering acceptance for māhū and two-spirit people within Native Hawaiian and Native American communities. Vidinhar explained how these identities are often overlooked and hold themselves distinct within the greater LGBTQ community.
He says, “Reclaiming our indigenous understanding of gender can help create more space to accept gender-fluid indigenous people in our Native spaces. The more we are unified together, the stronger we become as nations of indigenous people to reclaim our cultures, languages, and lands”.
Within the MSW program, Vidinhar recommended articles in his Advocacy and Empowerment class and Trauma Informed class which highlighted Native Hawaiian perspectives in various areas of social work research. His interest is in racial disparities and disproportionalities in poverty, mental health, child welfare, and the juvenile justice systems in Native Hawaiian and other BIPOC communities across Hawaii and throughout the United States. He expressed:
Although most research highlights these disparities and focuses on deficits of BIPOC communities, I have learned the importance and need for research to highlight the cultural strengths of these communities. Shifting our perspectives on BIPOC communities can highlight the negative effects of colonization and can empower BIPOC communities to reclaim their ancestral knowledge,which helped their communities to thrive in the various areas of the world and provided a template on how to thrive in the future.
The MSW program helped Vidinhar circle back to his original love of learning about his culture and heritage. He says:
The projects I have worked on throughout the MSW program supporting Native Hawaiians has helped me learn my culture through the eyes of my Kupuna (ancestors) and has strengthened my love for my culture and furthered my learning of ‘Ōlelo Hawaii (Hawaiian language). I am grateful that some of these projects have helped me strengthen relationships within my ‘Ōlelo Hawaii community. As an MSW student I have also connected to Native Hawaiian mental health practitioners who have provided me with resources to begin learning the indigenous practice of ho’oponopono. I have been able to incorporate these resources into my studies as an MSW student as well as learning about other indigenous peoples' spiritual practices. This has opened my mind to new ways of thinking and supporting people of various spiritual beliefs.
After graduation, Vidinhar hopes to continue to support Hui Aloha Aina and other groups who seek the demilitarization and independence of Hawaii and other militarized places. He has already been asked by a Hawaiian community leader who leads Vidinhar’s 'Ōlelo Hawai'i group, to research further on Native Hawaiian perspectives on gender and families and hold small groups to strengthen Native Hawaiian families and communities.
Vidinhar maintains connections by participating in Native Hawaiian language ('Ōlelo) classes and raising, alongside his wife, three children who know their Portuguese-Hawaiian ancestral roots and are learning the Hawaiian language together.