Ending racism, combating climate change and ensuring generations ahead can live comfortably in Hawaii can feel to some like insurmountably massive goals.
But the organizers of next month’s “Hawai‘i Ku‘u Home Aloha” Summit contend that such huge shifts rely on people making the smallest and most intimate connections — with history, land, others and self.
The public is invited to cultivate such connections at the summit, the name of which in Hawaiian means “Hawaii, My Beloved Home.” The summit is free to attend and runs Jan. 16-18 on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus (registration is strongly encouraged; see infobox for details).
The summit — presented by the UH-Manoa Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office for a second year, this time expanded to three days from one — will feature cultural workshops, discussions and ceremonies aimed at helping attendees better understand and connect with Hawaii’s past, present and future.
Hawaii is in an “all-hands- on deck-situation, whether we’re talking about the climate crisis, or the social crises we are seeing in different kinds of ways, and political crises … ,” summit organizer Kaiwipunikauikawekiu Punihei Lipe said in a Honolulu Star-Advertiser interview.
Some of the solutions lie in “being in relationship, breathing life into one another, understanding that we’re connected, being more conscious … those are very Hawaiian-centered principles. (But) they’re not just for Hawaiians,” continued Lipe, who is director of the Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office; the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center; and the Institute of Hawaiian Language Research and Translation, at UH-Manoa.
“And so I think we’re bringing those kinds of concepts to the forefront … to be reminded of how we’re connected, how we’re interdependent, and how we care for one another in this place that we love and call home, this place that we’re trying to maintain for our children.”
Highlights of the summit include:
>> Jan. 16: An oli (chanting) workshop where participants will learn the chant “Welina Manoa”; a self-guided “historical walk” on McCarthy Mall on the UH-Manoa campus, where attendees can wander among 11 tents featuring people and information representing the experiences of some of Hawaii’s ethnic communities; and a mele (song) workshop, to learn about Hawaii’s history.
>> Jan. 17: A hookupu (offering) ceremony; concurrent workshops on engaging with plants, and on story sharing and “radical listening,” and a pilina (deep connections) circle; and a workshop with Kumu Hula Kekuhi Keali‘ikanaka‘oleohaililani.
>> Jan. 18: An oli workshop; the opening reception; and keynote speech by Gail Christopher and Keali‘ikanaka‘oleohaililani. “They’re going to share stories about being mothers and grandmothers, and their work around love and transformation and healing for our futures,” Lipe said.
A portion of the summit’s program reads: “What has made it both beautiful as well as challenging to call Hawaii home: Historically? Currently? What can the lessons from these experiences mean for the Hawaii we want to shape as home for our children and grandchildren? We will pause and engage together on this day by sharing stories, listening deeply, creating art, making connections, building relationships, and sharing meals together.”
Participants don’t have to attend all three days, nor all events in a day, Lipe said. The registration form allows participants to choose individual events.
The $60,000 estimated cost of the event will be covered partly through private gift funding via the UH Foundation, which is still coming in, with the balance from state funding, Lipe said. Admission is free in a nod to the history of Manoa as a breadbasket and a favorite area for Hawaii’s royalty — “I think our kuleana is that we are nourishing our community with education,” Lipe said. Food served will be by local growers and makers, she said.
UH-Manoa was one of 10 inaugural Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Centers nationwide, Lipe said; currently there are more than five dozen. They were selected to implement action plans that tackle historical and contemporary effects of racism, and are supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The “Hawai‘i Ku‘u Home Aloha” Summit was born when this year’s 130th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom and the seventh annual National Day of Racial Healing observance occurred on the same day, last Jan. 17. More than 200 people participated in the inaugural one-day event. This year’s summit dedicates one day each to past, present and future.
Although the summit aligns with UH’s new strategic plan for 2023-2029 calling for the 10-campus university system to “fulfill kuleana to Native Hawaiians and Hawaii” and become an “indigenous-serving institution,” and the 2021-2025 strategic plan for UH-Manoa that calls for it to be a “Native Hawaiian place of learning,” UH President David Lassner and others have acknowledged that those are among the less-developed and less-widely understood portions of those plans.
When Lipe was asked whether amid that backdrop, non-Hawaiian people have a place at the summit and at the university, she said yes.
“If you’re in Hawaii, you’re already in relationship with Hawaii, right? Because you get to breathe her air, eat from her soil, drink from her waters and bathe in her oceans …” she said. “But how are we giving back? That’s a question we can ask anyone — Hawaiian, non- Hawaiian, local, not local, one day here, the rest of your life. … We have to figure out how we’re going to work together and heal our relationships with one another, so that we can figure out how our kids can continue to live here.”
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“Hawai‘i Ku‘u Home Aloha” Summit
>> When:9 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 16, noon-4:45 p.m. Jan. 17 and 5-7:45 p.m. Jan. 18
>> Where: University of Hawaii at Manoa
>> Cost: Free. Registration is not required but is strongly encouraged so that organizers can order food: 808ne.ws/3va64y6
>> Online program guide: 808ne.ws/48fq1SO
>> Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office: manoa.hawaii.edu/nhpol
