Shawn Malia Kanaiaupuni, Ph. D.
2005
The year 2005 has been a pivotal time for Native Hawaiians. As a community, we have come together with a heightened purpose and passion for what it means to be an indigenous people. This is critical in light of persistent legal threats to Hawaiian institutions such as Kamehameha Schools, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. As Hawaiian issues gain momentum locally and nationally, one thing is clear: The Hawaiian voice matters, and that voice is growing. Understanding and amplifying the native voice is a central objective of Hulili: Multidisciplinary Research on Hawaiian Well-Being. This second volume of Hulili(bridge or ladder) brings together ancestral knowledge of the past and current issues that affect Hawaiians today. We lead off with the manao (ideas, thoughts) of Pualani Kanahele and Kekuni Blaisdell, shared at the 2004 Research Conference on Hawaiian Well-Being held at the Kamehameha Schools Hawai’i Campus. Other articles from emerging and established voices take readers through a spiritually and intellectually challenging terrain that goes from the sunrise at Kumukahi to the heights of Mauna Kea, from communities that are mistrustful of researchers, to the Makanalua Peninsula of Molokai, from a neonatal intensive care unit to a correctional facility at Matlock Hale, from the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at UHManoa to the Hawaiian Studies Program in Waianae, and from preschools on Maui to the Waitangi Tribunal of Aotearoa. A common theme that emerges in many of these pieces is the importance of native people telling native stories to preserve native values and ways of knowing. Hulili continues to assert that science is important, that Western approaches are not enough, and that Hawaiian voices and vision advance a more complete understanding of people and events. We believe the thought-provoking perspectives in this issue will elevate the indigenous voice in both volume and influence.
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