The Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office at UH Mānoa focuses on implementing recommendations from Native Hawaiian reports authored over the last 30 years that guide UH Mānoa in becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning; a place that is responsive to kanaka (Native Hawaiian) communities and reflective of Native Hawai‘i for ALL people to learn, connect, grow, and heal from:

  • Native Hawaiian Student Success
  • Native Hawaiian Staff and Faculty Development
  • Native Hawaiian Environment 
  • Native Hawaiian Community Engagement

We cannot do this work alone. It is our mission to foster the potential within each of you to positively contribute to our collective kuleana to make UH Mānoa a Native Hawaiian place of learning. These monthly newsletters are meant to keep you connected, highlight your work and continue to inspire you.

January 17, 2023 Hawaiʻi Kuʻu Home Aloha
NHPoL Team and Volunteers
We want to say mahalo to each of you who attended, supported, and who shared the invitation with others. We had over 250 people join us throughout the day and folks shared that they were able to build pilina with themselves, with others, and with ‘āina. It was beautiful to witness and hear about!


So where do we go from here? Our office will continue to foster pilina-building as a foundation for other kuleana we must fulfill together here at UH Mānoa. There are some clearly articulated goals in our UH Mānoa Strategic Plan that our office has kuleana to help move forward. So please be on the lookout for announcements from us about our next steps!
GOALS:
  • Native Hawaiian students are holistically supported from recruitment through post-graduation.
  • Best practices are gleaned from efforts to support Native Hawaiian students and are applied to student success strategies for all students across the campus.
Hoʻomaikaʻi to Piʻikea Lopes
Picture of Piʻikea from the Nike campaign Picture of Piʻikea on a New York billboard in Times Square
Piʻikea, a UHM graduate student and the reigning 2022 Miss Aloha Hula, is one of the new faces of Nike's Indigenous athletic apparel collection, N7. Learn more about Piʻikea as the new face of Nike.
 Native Hawaiian and Diné female authors
in 
The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration, 5th Edition
By Kaiwipuni Lipe
Picture of Dr. Kaiwipuni Lipe
Picture of Dr. Amanda Tachine
 I'm proud to say that I was able to partner with a dear friend and colleague, Dr. Amanda Tachine, to write a chapter in the newest edition of The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration. Our chapter, "Constellations of Love: Cultivating Intentional Campus and Community Relations" highlights the importance of love, aloha, and ké as foundational in creating environments in which our students will succeed. Writing this chapter in partnership with her was such an amazing experience. What I am the most proud of is that Indigenous scholarship is now being invited into these types of publications and can inform larger audiences. 
Native Hawaiian Representation
is Growing at the University of Hawaiʻi
NHSS Logo
UHM Pacific Islanders Support
Picture of UHM Pacific Islander Student Support Form
 Our pathways of aʻo (learning from one another), alu (connecting with each other), and ʻauamo (working together) help to guide and inform us in becoming a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning; a place that is responsive to Native Hawaiians and also reflective of Hawai‘i principles and practices for ALL to learn, grow, connect, and heal from. 

As we seek ways to aloha and mālama all the members of our many communities, we are happy to share an opportunity to mālama our Pacific Islanders on campus. Please click here to fill out a form that is an attempt to create a method to facilitate community by increasing communication amongst Pacific Island students, faculty, and staff across UH Mānoa. It is hoped that by increasing communication, we can better share opportunities and cultivate the conversations necessary for better tomorrows. 
GOALS:
  • Native Hawaiian staff & faculty are holistically supported from recruitment through promotion and leadership development in every unit across the campus.
  • All staff & faculty at UH Mānoa are more knowledgeable and culturally rooted in Mānoa and Hawai‘i.

Native Hawaiian Faculty and Staff Directory
By Kawehionālani Goto

ALU Native Hawaiian Faculty and Staff Logo
Aloha mai e nā uʻi o Mānoa, e alu like mai kākou! Let us work together to advance UH
Mānoa as a Native Hawaiian place of learning. As a step towards this collective work, we
want to reconnect with our Native Hawaiian faculty and staff and invite you to share your
information with us as we continue to create a directory for our community. This faculty and staff directory form will help us support our lāhui and build connections across our campus.
Native Hawaiian Female
Well-being Scholarship Published
Picture of PhD candidate Joanne Qina'au
Picture of Dr. Mapuana Antonio
PhD candidate Joanne Qina'au and Dr. Mapuana Antonio connect so many important dots between well-being, climate change, and Indigenous ways of knowing and being in their recent article, "Wellbeing for all: Indigenizing theories and measures of wellbeing for equitable sustainability."  This is a must-read! 
GOAL:
UH Mānoa campus is a physical, cultural, spiritual, and interactive environment that exemplifies the values of ‘ohana and community, mālama ‘āina, and kuleana; thereby, perpetuating Native Hawaiian values, culture, language, traditions, and customs.
Celebrating Arbor Day at UHM
People Patiently Await to Recieve Their Tree from the Arbor Day Giveaway
PC: UHM News
More than 200 trees were given to celebrate Arbor Day in Hawaiʻi. Here's a quote from our dear friend Noweo Kai, UHM Campus Arboretum curator, from the UHM News article:

“Every day we work on campus but don’t get to interact with people outside of our own facilities department, so it’s nice to remind people that there are people behind the clean sidewalks and empty waste receptacles and groomed trees and shrubs, and it’s nice to answer questions, meet faces and share what doesn’t always get shared like these are the plants that are outside your office and how remarkable they are.”

GOAL:
UH Mānoa and Native Hawaiian communities are consistently connected and engaged in order that there can be reciprocal teaching and learning for positive impact throughout Hawai‘i.
Health Care Equity Report:
"A Health System Built on Racial Equity"
The Transformational Leadership We Need
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Logo
 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation authored a new study, "A Health System Built on Racial Equity." The Foundation strives to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come, with a strong focus on dismantling structural racism in the U.S. health system. Part of becoming a NH place of learning is being intentional about how we address the health and wellbeing of our communities and thus we must also address health equity. Learn more about the Foundation and read the full report here.
Hā Kūpuna's Latest Publication: Qualitative Interviewing Guide
By Hā Kūpuna, National Resource Center for Native Hawaiian Elders
Hā Kūpuna Logo
Drawing on years of experience conducting qualitative interviews with Native Hawaiian elders, Hā Kūpuna humbly offers this guide as a resource for community members and researchers. Our hui (group), which includes Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) as well as non-Native allies, hopes to help others conduct interviews in purposeful ways that are respectful and mutually beneficial rather than extractive.

You may also be interested in reading a companion guide on conducting focus groups, last updated in 2021. This guide was first developed in 1999 by the Pacific Diabetes Today Resource Center and refined by ‘Imi Hale Native Hawaiian Cancer Network, both programs of Papa Ola Lōkahi.
Community Engagement Highlight:
Sierra Club
By Makanalani Gomes
Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Logo
A critical part of the Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office (NHPoLAO) is the Kū Makani Commitment, which is to help shape rooted, resilient, and responsive leaders on campus and in the community that resemble the ‘a‘ali‘i kū makani. With that in mind, this month, we highlight the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i. This organization continues to help lead the way in our collective response to the issues our beloved Hawaiʻi is facing, especially surrounding protecting our precious wai or fresh water in the movement to shut down Red Hill. One of their key focus areas is "harnessing the power of the people." The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi describes, "We harness the power of people to advocate for a future where public health is protected, our natural resources thrive, and the local impacts of climate change are mitigated." They also note that our natural environment unites us to work towards a healthy, resilient, and equitable future for everyone. We invite you to learn more about the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi and tap into your responsiveness!
NĀ LAMAKŪ O KE ALOHA ʻĀINA
Kanaka Highlight Series
Picture of Pono Huch Fernandez the Highlighted Student
Pono Huch Fernandez

Birthplace/Hometown:
Kahaluʻu, Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu

High School:
ʻIolani School

UHM Degrees:
Kekelē Laepua (BA) ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i - 2008
Kekelē Laepua (BA) English - 2008
Kekelē Laeo‘o (MA) ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i - 2011
Kekelē Lae‘ula (PhD) English - current


Current Occupation(s):
Evaluation Specialist at the Office of Hawaiian Education
(Hawai‘i Department of Education)


What inspires the path for your academic major?

Mai kinohi mai o ko‘u noho mua ‘ana ma ke Kulanui o Hawai‘i ma Mānoa, ‘o ko‘u pahuhopu ka ‘imi ‘ana i ke ala e pili hou ai kēia i nā kūpuna. ‘O ka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i ‘oe, ‘o ke a‘o ‘ike kupuna ‘oe, ‘o ka nohona Hawai‘i ho‘i ka‘u e noi‘i nōwelo ana. I kēia manawa, ke noke mau nei au i ka ho‘iho‘i hou ‘ana i ke ea i ko Hawai‘i pono‘ī i mana ho‘i ai ke Kanaka Maoli ma o ka heluhelu a me ka ha‘i mo‘olelo ‘ana.
 
When I first chose to attend the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, my goal was to learn more about my culture and my people. My classes at UH Mānoa finally allowed me to see my ancestors in the stories I read and gave me my first opportunity to speak the language of my great-grandfather. I am still on this path to ensure that our ancestral ways of knowing are accessible to all Kanaka Maoli, to heal the generational trauma that we have experienced through reclaiming our voices and telling our own stories.


What are your future goals in your work?

I ku‘u wā kamali‘i, ‘ike akula au i ka waiwai o ia mea he kumu, ma muli o ka hana nui o ko‘u māmā ma kona kulana kumu kula. A mai ia wā aku, ua hoihoi au i ka lilo ‘ana i kumu. I kēia manawa, ‘ike au i ka nani o nā ‘ano kumu like ‘ole e kūpa‘a ana no ka pono o ka lāhui, a mākaukau au e ‘auamo o ke kuleana e pono ai ke kaiāulu.
 
As a child, I understood the importance of a kumu as I watched my mother dedicate her life to teaching. From that time on, I knew that I also had kuleana to teach but also understand that teaching comes in different capacities. In my current role at the Department of Education, I have the opportunity to contribute to ensuring that the learning environment of our keiki is grounded in Hawai‘i. My studies and practices are also preparing me to lend my voice to lāhui in different ways, possibly in ways I cannot yet see, but I am mākaukau to take on those roles when kūpuna reveal them.

How do you see your time at UH shaping the way you aloha ʻāina? 

‘A‘ole paha lawa ka‘u ‘ōlelo e hō‘ike aku i ka palena ‘ole o ku‘u aloha iā Hawai‘i kilohana nei, a me nā kūpuna a pau ho‘i o ka ‘āina. Mahalo au i ke ala e waiho ‘ia nei i mua o ko Hawai‘i no ka ‘imi ‘ana a me ka hahai ho‘i i nā kūpuna, a na nā kumu nō o ke Kulanui i mālama i ia ala. A mākaukau nō au e ka‘i ma ia ala e ola pono ai ma ke ‘ano he aloha ‘āina ‘oia‘i‘o. 

I don’t have the words to explain how much aloha ‘āina has played a role in my life, and yet I know that my time at the University of Hawai‘i began that path for me. All of my kumu have opened my eyes to what aloha ‘āina can or might look like, and I am prepared to put that into practice.

What does UHM as a Hawaiian place of learning mean to you? 

‘O ka nohona Hawai‘i, ‘a‘ole ia he mea e heluhelu ‘ia ai ma ka puke. ‘A‘ole ia he mea e kākau ‘ia ai ma ka pepa, a pa‘i ‘ia ai ma ka mo‘olelo nūpepa. ‘O ko kākou kūpuna, ua mo‘olelo a palapala mai lākou i kā lākou i ‘ike ai, kā lākou i hana ai, i mālama ‘ia ko lākou ‘ike he ho‘oilina na kākou. ‘O ko kākou kuleana i kēia manawa, ‘o ia ka noho ‘ana, Hawai‘i ke ‘ano. 
 
UHM as a Hawaiian place of learning will always be the bridge that started my path of restoring relationships with my ancestors, with ancestral ways. But a Hawaiian way of knowing does not only reside on the pages of books and newspaper articles. That is where our ancestors left their knowledge for us to find. And is our responsibility, whether we continue to be a part of the University and inform its structure, or we move on to other responsibilities to lāhui, to take that knowledge and put it into practice, to live Hawai‘i ke ‘ano in all our realms being so that there will be no need to distinguish between a Hawaiian place of learning and a place of learning in Hawai‘i.