Hinahina Gray is an artist and sensitivity reader based on Oʻahu, dedicated to informing and educating on Native Hawaiian issues in media. With a wealth of knowledge and resources on Hawaiian culture at her back, she is also a cultural sensitivity consult who assists on projects ranging from artwork to game development. An unapologetic nerd, she will play games and offer comprehensive critiques while doing so!
Being passionate about intersectional pedagogy, she continues to make art and literature more accessible through workshops involving comics and zines. Her oil painting and printmaking practices focus on how memory reacts to past experiences (nostalgia, gaslighting, reflection, delusion, saudade, sehnsucht). This is informed further by how she weaves her personal histories and experiences from being indigenous and a consistent interest in botanic languages.
She identifies within the queer indigenous Hawaiian spectrum known as Māhū which encompasses everything from her gender to her sexuality. All kinds of media are welcome (and she’s excited to do it)!
Sensitivity / Expert
- Native Hawaiian and White
- Hoʻomana Hawaiʻi
- Māhū
- Pansexual
- Depression, anxiety, and PTSD
- Indigenous Diaspora
- Native Hawaiian Spiritualism
- The Mixed-Race Experience
Preferred Genres
Anything!
Avoided Genres
None!
What Clients Say
Very professional and friendly throughout the whole process. The staff was quite patient with my questions about manuscript formatting! The service provided was well worth the investment. My sensitivity reader Hinahina not only educated me about actual Hawaiian culture and history, but she also pointed out the problematic and/or harmful sections in my story, most of which center on a prominent character. After the initial feedback and some follow-up questions, I now have a road map for making my story and characters much more engaging!
I am the editor for a children’s book publisher, and I reached out to Salt & Sage to work with their sensitivity reader Hinahina Gray, whose Native Hawaiian background was perfect for the sort of sensitivity comments I was looking for. I found the team at Salt & Sage kind and responsive to work with, and Hinahina’s letter was thorough and thoughtful. She provided suggestions on how to fix a few areas of the manuscript I was uncertain about, and she also shed light on a few issues that I would not have considered on my own. I would highly recommend that authors and editors consider working with Salt & Sage, and Hinahina specifically if her expertise is relevant.