Background
Teaiwa was born in Honolulu to an I-Kiribati father and an African American mother.
Teaiwa was born in Honolulu to an I-Kiribati father and an African American mother.
She obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2001, on the topic "Militarism, Tourism and the Native: Articulations in Oceania".
The University of Oregon describes her as "a groundbreaking scholar in the research of the culture of the Pacific Islands". She was subsequently raised in Fiji. She taught history and politics for five years at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, before moving to New Zealand to teach Pacific studies at Victoria University.
She is currently a Senior Lecturer and Programme Director at Victoria University.
She is also co-editor of the International Feminist Journal of Politics. The Guardian in April 2009 described her as one of Kiribati"s "living national icons".