05/10/2021

Kumu hula and award-winning musician Manu Boyd shares some of his favorite mele Hawaiʻi in our new series, Mele Hoʻoheno – Cherished Songs. We invite you to join him (along with some very special guests) as he explores the meaning and significance of each song while offering personal memories, reflections, and anecdotes that help bring the story to life. We begin with “Nani Heʻeia,” a composition that was written by Boyd as part of the Kamehameha Schools’ 125th anniversary and featured in the 2012 Song Contest celebrating ʻāina Pauahi, KS’ land legacy. E nanea mai!

06/16/2021

On May 3, 2021, some 200 participants representing ten cultural-educational partnerships from seven Pacific regions, speaking seven indigenous languages and four world languages, convened for the first-ever Hoʻokele Honua Pacific Unity Virtual Summit hosted by Kamehameha Schools’ ʻAha Moananuiākea Pacific Consortium, along with partners Polynesian Voyaging Society, Bishop Museum, and the University of Hawaiʻi. Leaders from Aotearoa, Alaska, French Polynesia, Taiwan, Micronesia, Rapa Nui, and Hawaiʻi committed to promoting indigenous language and culture, and to protecting and restoring our oceans to address global warming. Compelling video images highlight the beauty of each region; capture the first exchange between Hawaiian students of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, and Tligit, Haida and Tsimshian students of Thunder Mountain High School and the University of Alaska Southeast; and feature the ceremonial offering of an ancestral piece of pottery to be returned to the Paiwan Tribe on a future visit to Kaviyangan village. Nainoa Thompson called the unity summit a “virtual canoe” and a critical component of the Moananuiākea Voyage for the Pacific.

04/30/2021

Join us as we talk to native Rapanui filmmaker Sergio Mataʻu Rapu about his film “Eating Up Easter.” Framed as a cinematic letter to his son, the film explores the tensions within an island community facing the globalizing effects of tourism while trying to protect their culture, identity, and ways of life for future generations. Don’t miss out on this interesting conversation, and hear about some of the decisions behind the making of this film.