Remembering a respected academic

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Born in 1946, the late Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard was an American Samoan academic, writer, poet, and environmentalist and was the first Samoan to become a full professor in the United States. She is the sister of American politician Mike Gabbard and the aunt of politician Tulsi Gabbard.

Sinavaiana-Gabbard was born in Utulei village, Tutuila, American Samoa and educated at Sonoma State University, University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Hawai'i Her PhD thesis was on Traditional comic theater in Samoa : a holographic view. She taught creative writing as a faculty of the Department of English, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, from 1997 until her retirement in 2016. In 2002 she published her collection of poetry, Alchemies of Distance.

In August 2020 she was named by USA Today on its list of influential women from U.S. territories.

Sinavaiana-Gabbard moved to Samoa after she retired. She was killed at the GaluMoana Theater in Vaivase-uta on 26 May 2024. Playwright Sia Figiel was subsequently charged with her murder.