Hawaiʻi Rising

An interview about heritage language learning with Catherine Taylan, Janine Mariano, and Rebecca Carino-Agustin from LAING Hawai’i. LAING Hawaiʻi utilizes heritage language learning as a tool for social and political education. Their programming provides opportunities for cultural reclamation of ancestral knowledge as they work towards collective liberation and radical futures. Website: lainghawai...

A follow-up conversation about STEM in Hawaiʻi with Kyle Yoshida, one of the founders of Honua Scholars. Honua Scholars empowers students to pursue STEM careers and advanced degrees to be Hawaiʻi’s STEM leaders. A critical aspect of Honua Scholars is the creation of a network of future leaders who aim to empower others and to promote personal and professional development in STEM. Their mission is...

A follow-up conversation with ʻĀinaaloha Ioane and Haʻawina Wise about celebrating Makahiki at King's Landing, lease negotiations with Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and the re-release of Uncle Skippy's music. Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation was created in 2020 to honor and perpetuate the legacy of Keliʻi William Ioane Jr., the Mālama Ka ‘Āina Hana Ka ‘Āina Association (M.A.H.A), the Ke...

A conversation about EAducation and student leadership with student representatives Hema Watson and Leinani Gutierrez-Kelley and advisor Trevor Atkins from Ke Ea Hawaiʻi. Ke Ea Hawaiʻi is an interscholastic student council composed of elected representatives from 17 Hawaiian-focused charter schools. After a two year COVID break, theyʻre relaunching their transformative 5-day immersive summer and w...

An interview about reconnecting ʻohana and ʻāina with Kalei Miner and Iokepa Miner from Kuhialoko on Oʻahu. Kuhialoko promotes Native Hawaiian, Indigenous, and culture-based land, species, and natural resource management. As an ʻohana, they encourage the growth and education of family units to reconnect with ʻāina and each other. They do this work in an area riddled with the impacts of displacemen...

An interview about community empowerment and language access with Eola Lokebol, an advocate and interpreter at Waipahu Safe Haven Immigrant and Migrant Resource Center. Waipahu Safe Haven provides holistic programs and services with language access to empower and uplift Hawaii’s immigrant and migrant communities, primarily serving our growing Marshallese and Chuukese communities as well as Samoans...

A conversation about intergenerational community development with Trina Nahm-Mijo, president and founder of the Grassroots Community Development Group, or GCDG, on Hawaiʻi Island. GCDG has been a 501(c)(3) since 2005 and is best known for its award-winning program Keaʻau Youth Business Center (now Hawaiʻi Youth Business Center), which piloted an innovative hands-on skill-building curriculum in mus...

An interview about ʻāina stewardship and community care with Kuʻulei Keakealani and Monika Frazier, the cultural director and interim executive director of Hui Aloha Kīholo. Hui Aloha Kīholo is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect, perpetuate, and enhance the cultural and natural landscape of the Kīholo Bay area on Hawaiʻi Island through collaborative management and active communit...

A conversation about peace-building and intergenerational community care with Laulani Teale, the coordinator of the Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project. Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project builds strength in the Hawaiian community, and in its connections with others, through culture-based support for the prevention and resolution of family and community issues, support for youth as nonviolent warriors, and promotio...

Our third ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi special episode with guest host Krisha Zane.  He kamaʻilio ʻana me Tanya Mailelani Naehu (Hui o Kuapā) e pili ana i ka hana o kona hui i ka loko iʻa ʻo ʻŌhalahala ma ke ahupuaʻa ʻo Kūmimi ma ka mokupuni ʻo Molokai.  For our English-language episode with Maile and Hanohano Naehu, see episode 1. Hui o Kuapā: Restoring Fish Ponds on Molokai . Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi special with guest host Krisha Zane. E hoʻolohe mai i ko Kekaiokalani Naone (Uluhāhāloa) lāua ʻo Kalani Puaoi (Mole Kumu) manaʻo e pili ana i ke kalo ma ka ʻaoʻao mahiʻai, ka hoʻomākaukau ʻana, a me ka ʻaiaola. For our English-language interview with Kekai and his co-founder Lahela Paresa, see episode 35. Uluhāhāloa: Kalo, Cookbooks, and Community . For our English-language intervie...

An interview about kalo cultivation and food security with Kalani Puaoi from Mole Kumu. Mole Kumu is a culture-based organization in the ahupuaʻa of Waipiʻo on Oʻahu that uses Hawaiian core values to help guide what food security and sustainability looks like. They actively promote food security, community health, and aloha ‘āina through a cultural lens. Their programs include kalo and ‘ulu cultiv...

Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi special with guest host Krisha Zane ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi! Kamaʻilio ʻo Krisha me ʻĀinaaloha Ioane e pili ana i nā mele a ʻAnakala Skippy Ioane a me ka hana o ka hui ʻo Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation. For our English-language interview with ʻĀinaaloha and Haʻawina Ioane, see episode 5. Keliʻi William Ioane Legacy Foundation: Growing Up in King's Landing in our feed. Fo...

A conversation about yoga and social justice in Hawai‘i with Laura Toyofuku-Aki and Victoria Roland, the founders of Project Koa Yoga. Project Koa Yoga diversifies yoga and wellness in Hawai’i while uplifting Hawai’i’s people, land, and culture. They are expanding what yoga can look like in Hawai‘i through programs that diversify and increase people’s access to yoga, teaching trauma-informed yoga...

A conversation about ʻāina-based healing and learning for youth with Ketty Mobed, Todd Yamashita, and Cara Fitzpatrick at Seed of Love. Seed of Love is a community care farm on the island of Molokai that works with the land and community to create healing and educational opportunities with an emphasis on youth and community members with little or no financial means. They believe that the most effe...

A conversation about kalo (including ʻono recipes!) with Lahela Paresa and Kekaiokalani Naone from Uluhāhāloa. Founded and led by Kānaka Hawaiʻi, Uluhāhāloa envisions Hawaiʻi’s economic, social health, and well-being restored in the next generation through an active connection to traditional Hawaiian practices, values, and lifestyles. Their Hāloa Circle is a twelve-week program that seeks to educa...

A special episode with HPF founder John Witeck. As we approach the end of HPF's 50th year, we sit down with Mr. Witeck to hear about how it all began. Tags: Hawai‘i, Hawai'i, Hawaii

An interview about Hawaiian self-determination with Healani Sonoda-Pale, the public affairs officer for Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi Political Action Committee. Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi Political Action Committee (KPAC) is a national committee of Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi (KLH), an ʻōiwi initiative for Hawaiian self-governance formed by and for Kanaka Maoli without the interference of the State or Federal governments or its a...

A conversation about ʻāina restoration in the Kona field system with Jesse Kekoa Kahoʻonei and Kim Kahoʻonei, the site director and site coordinator at Kahaluʻu Kūāhewa (currently under Huliauapaʻa). Kahaluʻu Kūāhewa is one of Konaʻs largest intact traditional agricultural field systems preserved within a 354-acre area owned by Bishop Estate-Kamehameha Schools. Over the past 20 years, archaeologic...

A conversation about gender justice in and through filmmaking with Vera Zambonelli, the founder of Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking. Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking advocates for women and girls telling their stories through film with an intersectional lens. To raise awareness and visibility of women and girls’ work in film, HWF engages in discussions around critical issues and amplify marginalized voices...

In this special episode, get a close look at HPF’s Giving Project, how it’s taking “community giving=community doing” to the next level, and how YOU can get involved.  Mahalo nunui to members of our Giving Project family for sharing their reflections (in speaking order): Micky Huihui, Kaulana Ing, Chase Livingston, Mary Tam, Greg Kahn, Sean Aronson, Maxx Ramos, Tyler Sonnemaker, Rachel James, Jame...

An interview with Dr. Wilfred Alik from the One Stop Center for Micronesians on Hawai‘i Island. The One Stop Center was originally formed after the restoration of Medicaid access to citizens of the Compact of Free Association (COFA) nations to help Micronesians in Hawai‘i sign up for Medicaid coverage. The organization's goal is to empower the diverse Micronesian communities on Hawai‘i island to b...

A conversation about fishponds, fresh water, and community with Loke Aloua of Hui-Kaloko-Honokōhau. Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau is dedicated to protecting, preserving, and advancing the natural and cultural resources of Kaloko and the customary and traditional practices of Native Hawaiians of the area. Through practice as kia‘i loko (fishpond guardians), they aim to restore, conserve, and manage the area...

A conversation with Hi‘iaka Jardine and Jen Nakamura about Hawaiian engineering, food sovereignty, and vigilant community care for ‘āina in the Kahalu‘u ahupua‘a on the windward side of O‘ahu. Kaiāulu ʻo Kahaluʻu is a grassroots organization created to serve, organize, and uplift Kahaluʻu community voices. It is their mission to mālama the people, resources, history, wahi pana, and community well...

A conversation about the repatriation and reburial of iwi kūpuna with Halealoha Ayau and Mana Caceres of Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o. Hui Iwi Kuamoʻo has worked for 32 years to provide care for iwi kūpuna (ancestral Hawaiian bones), moepū (funerary possessions) and mea kapu (sacred objects) through repatriation and reburial, formerly as the Hui Mālama i Nā Kūpuna ʻO Hawai’i Nei. They have travelled overseas t...