Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 8, 1 August 2021 — 'lke Kūpuna is a Mea Ho 'ōla [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'lke Kūpuna is a Mea Ho 'ōla

The following is an edited excerpt frotn an interview with Dr. Kū Hinahinakūikahakai Kahakalau by OHA Digital Archive Specialist Kale Hannahs. KK: Aloha mai kākou, 'o wau 'o Kū Hinahinakūikahakai Kahakalau. I'm an educator, a researcher, a learner of Hawaiian language and culture for many many decades and I love what I'm doing. I'm also a social entrepreneur as of the last 10 years, and the CEO of Kū-A-Kanaka, the fiscal sponsor for EA Ecoversity whieh stands for Education with Aloha. We are a culture-based, Hawaiian-focused, higher education career training program, certifying educated 2lst century Hawaiians. Our kūpuna said "lehulehu a manomano ka 'ikena a ka Hawai'i," our knowledge is great and numerous and we're trying to pass that knowledge on and share it. OHA: There's definitely a kuleana that is passed down for all of us. I wanted to ask you if you remember how you eame across the Papakilo Database, and since then, what type of research have you used it for? KK: I heard about it from my good friend, Kamoa Quiteves. Since then, I've been using it primarily for research. For example, this past semester, I helped a private school, Ho'omana Hou on Moloka'i, to create a fishpond curriculum, "Kuapā o 'Ualapu'e," and we looked into finding information about Moloka'i, about fishponds and those kinds of things. I've cer-

tainly also used newspapers and genealogical indexes to find out more about my own mo'oku auhau. I type in the name of my grandfather, my great-grandfa-ther, my great-grandmother - whoever I know - and just see what comes up. Those are all things I would never have access to if it wasn't for Papakilo. OHA: Mahalo nui for sharing that. It sounds like you are one of our "super users." I know some people fmd it daunting because there's a lot of information to go through. Papakilo is not the end all, be all of resources, but hopefully it gets you started on the right foot. Before we end, did you want to share any last thoughts? KK: Mahalo, Kale. Kū-A-Kanaka means to stand as a Hawaiian, to live like a Hawaiian, or just to be Hawaiian. And in order to do that, we need to know about our 'ike kūpuna. The more we learn, the more empowering this 'ike is going to be to us individually, but also collectively as a lāhui. I think it's really important, in particular, for those who don't reside on O'ahu to have access to information, such as the Papakilo Database, because we wouldn't know how else to get that information. And to me, this 'ike kūpuna is a mea ho'ōla. It heals us from our historical trauma, it heals us from these concepts of we are less than, that we are no good, that we are lazy. I think it's really important that we access the 'ike of our kūpuna and we let that 'ike enliven us, empower us, inspire us. Mahalo nui! ■

1 IF M mm ./ Dr. KO HinahinakOikahakai Kahakalau Photo: Courtesy