HONOLULU — A prominent Hawai‘i family is still searching for answers from authorities about the violent death of a retired University of Hawai‘i at Manoa professor, writer and environmentalist killed in Samoa in May.
Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard, 78, the aunt of former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and sister of state Sen. Mike Gabbard, was killed allegedly by a fellow writer.
Local media reports said that 57-year-old Papalii Sia Figiel was arrested May 26 in connection with the death of Sinavaiana-Gabbard, who acted as a mentor for Figiel, a poet and playwright.
Sinavaiana-Gabbard was found dead at the Galu Moana Theatre in Vaivase-Uta, Samoa, on May 26. Figiel was charged with manslaughter later that day, before the charge was upgraded to murder the next day, the Samoa Observer reported.
According to multiple media reports, Sinavaiana-Gabbard and Figiel argued, and police said that Sinavaiana-Gabbard was stabbed multiple times and beaten with a hammer.
The Samoa Observer reported that Figiel went to a friend’s house the next morning and told the friend about what had happened, which was then reported to the police.
But Mike Gabbard said getting information on Sinavaiana-Gabbard’s murder has been frustrating, with few details being made available to the public from Samoan authorities.
Gabbard said he heard the news a day or two after the incident from one of his siblings, as well as one of his family’s friends in Samoa. He then called Samoan police, but received no response.
“That’s been one of the things that’s been just very discouraging and actually upsetting, because of the lack of details coming out,” he said.
Gabbard’s brother is traveling to Samoa, he said, to try to “get some answers” from authorities.
Gabbard said that his sister was “the big sister that every kid would love to have.”
“She was just full of kindness and love. She was fun and extremely smart,” Mike Gabbard told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “That was Caroline.”
Gabbard said he and his family moved to the U.S. from American Samoa in 1949, relocating first to Massachusetts and then to Florida. While there, Gabbard said he “was a rascal” and that it was his sister who kept him out of trouble.
“My rebellious streak started at a very early age and yet my sister was there just always loving me, showering me with love and just encouraging me to stay positive,” he said.
He also said that Sinavaiana-Gabbard was the reason he got into reading — a hobby that would lead him to major in English at Sonoma State University in California, just as she did. He then taught English in American Samoa before returning to Hawai‘i.
“Deep down in the core of my heart, I had this desire to go back to American Samoa. I wanted to get back, I wanted to learn about it, and I wanted to contribute in some way,” Gabbard said about his two years teaching in American Samoa in the 1970s. “It was the influence of Caroline, my dear sister, that straightened out my life, really.”
Sinavaiana-Gabbard worked as an English professor at UH Manoa for over 20 years, teaching creative writing and Pacific literature.
Born in Utulei, Tutuila, American Samoa, her family said that Sinavaiana-Gabbard was the first person of Samoan heritage to become a full professor in the United States.
Sinavaiana-Gabbard received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and English from Sonoma State University, her master’s degree in folklore from the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate in American studies from UH Manoa.
She also founded the first environmental nongovernmental organization in American Samoa and published an anthology of Pacific poetry, “Alchemies of Distance,” in 2002.
A memorial service will be held for Sinavaiana-Gabbard in Hawai‘i in the next couple of months.
“We mourn the loss of this woman who loved Samoa, its people and its poetry, teaching, music, gardening, and most of all, her beloved family,” a news release from the Gabbard family read.
