By Shani J.P. Butts

We just wrapped the 2026 King Kamehameha I Lei Draping Ceremony in Washington, D.C., and this one felt different. There was an air of excitement, celebration, and a call to action that left so many feeling invigorated and inspired.

Our mother, Darlene Kehaulani Butts, lovingly known as Aunty Kehau, was a pillar in the Hawaiian community and a constant presence at this event. She served as chair of the King Kamehameha I Lei Draping ceremony for decades.

Aunty Kehau had an appreciation and respect for protocol that went beyond the typical recognition for the necessity of order and procedures – she almost had a fascination with protocol and took pride in educating herself and others.

Combining Hawaiian and political protocol for an event on the East Coast honoring one of our aliʻi was no easy feat. As you might imagine, the Kamehameha Lei Draping Ceremony in D.C. was Aunty Kehau’s time to shine.

This year’s theme highlighted Kamehameha I’s last words: “E ʻoni wale nō ʻoukou i kuʻu pono ʻaʻole e pau” (continue the good that I have done for it is not yet finished). Those words have a whole new meaning for our ʻohana as we carry on our mom’s mission to honor our aliʻi on the East Coast.

May 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the Aliʻi Diplomatic Missions and Other Business Travel to Washington, D.C., project completed in conjunction with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. As shared in the publication:

“The inspiration for initiating this research were the leaders of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu, Hale O Nā Aliʻi O Hawaiʻi and Māmakakaua – Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors who traveled together to Washington, D.C., the week of September 13, 2003, to walk the halls of Congress and speak with U.S. Senators. These representatives of the Native Hawaiian Royal Societies sought support for the establishment of a process of federal recognition for Native Hawaiians as a step in the process of reconciliation between the United States and Native Hawaiians, to reaffirm the legal and political legal status as Indigenous sovereigns, protect existing rights and assure perpetuation of the distinct Indigenous Hawaiian culture through self-determination.”

In September 2026, Ke Aliʻi Makaʻāinana Hawaiian Civic Club, in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī Coalition, are excited to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this publication in our nation’s capital. We hope you will join us as we retrace the footsteps of our aliʻi in Washington, D.C.

The post Retracing the Footsteps of Our Aliʻi appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

Located on Chicago’s South Side, where Barack and Michelle Obama first built their careers in public service, the Center stands as a monument not simply to a presidency, but to the idea that democracy works best when ordinary people become engaged citizens.

The sprawling campus includes a museum, public library, community gathering spaces, athletic facilities, gardens and public art installations designed to encourage learning, reflection and action.

The exhibits highlight President Obama’s journey from community organizer to the White House and includes a replica of the Oval Office and documents key moments of his administration.

Yet the Center’s broader purpose extends beyond preserving history and seeks to inspire future generations to participate in shaping America’s future. That mission takes on added significance amid the political and cultural battles we face today.

Across the country, attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs have led to the dismantling of many initiatives in government, education and business. Objections surrounding the teaching of race and American history continue to be challenging.

And reproductive rights, same-sex marriage protections, transgender rights, voting access, immigration policy, and the role of government in addressing inequality all have become deeply contested issues.

We supporters of Obama’s legacy remember his presidency as an era that expanded access to health care, celebrated America’s diversity, advanced protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and emphasized civic participation.

Critics, meanwhile, have argued that some of those policies expanded federal authority too far and/or contributed to cultural divisions. These differing viewpoints continue to make our political landscape even more volatile.

The Obama Presidential Center serves as a reminder of a period in American history when the nation elected its first African American president and embraced a message of “hope and change.” The Center’s opening also offers an opportunity to reflect on a fundamental truth: democracy is not static. Every generation debates the meaning of freedom, equality, opportunity, and justice. Those conversations can be contentious, but they are also part of the American story.

For Native Hawaiians, the Center carries an additional lesson. Like many communities that have struggled to preserve their identity, culture and rights, we understand the importance of civic engagement and political participation.

Progress rarely occurs by accident. It is achieved when people organize, advocate, vote and work together toward a common purpose.

As visitors walk through the halls of the Obama Presidential Center, they will encounter the history of one presidency. More importantly, they will be challenged to consider their own role in the future of our democracy. In an era marked by division and uncertainty, that may be the Center’s most enduring contribution – a belief that citizens still possess the power to shape the nation they hope to leave for generations yet to come.

As for me, I agree and can’t wait to visit.

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Follow your doctor’s advice by asking for one clear next step. You might ask: What is one food I can add more often to support this condition? Or, what is one food or drink I can replace with a healthier choice?

These are some of the most empowering questions you as a patient can ask. Asking questions does not mean you are challenging your doctor or being disrespectful.

Information gives you a sense of direction, and direction helps move you from worry to action. It means you are helping your medical provider understand what your real life looks like. It means becoming an active participant in your care, so you can leave with enough understanding to take the next step.

Your doctor may know your labs, diagnosis, and medications, but you know your kitchen, your budget, your family meals, and the foods you grew up with. When you ask, “What does this look like on my plate?” you are bringing those two worlds together. That is where good advice can become a plan you actually follow. It is one way we take kuleana for our health.

For doctors and other providers, this question is worth listening to because it may determine whether motivation turns into real-life action. Patients often look to you as a trusted guide, and one clear answer can help them leave the visit with hope, direction, and a next step they can follow.

They may be wondering: Can I still eat the foods I grew up with? Do I have to give up rice, poi, ‘uala, or the meals my family shares? What changes can I make without feeling overwhelmed?

Beneath these questions, they are really asking, “Can you help me understand this diagnosis in the context of my real life?” Patients do not always need a long lecture or a perfect meal plan. They need one clear, doable next step.

Instead of only saying, “eat better” or “exercise more,” say, “this week, try adding one vegetable to dinner,” “switch one sugary drink to water or unsweetened tea,” or “walk for 10 minutes after your largest meal.”

Last year, I shared about my FoodRX Assistant app, created for individuals and families who want personalized nutrition guidance, meal plans, and recipes. I recently launched FoodRX Clinical, created for health professionals, offering evidence-based nutrition protocols and culturally tailored patient handouts.

Together, these tools are meant to support both sides of the care conversation, helping patients and providers move from general advice to clearer answers to the question: “What does this look like on my plate?”

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Fall Term programs are generally available from August 10 through December 18, while Fall Break programs will be available from October 5-9, providing kamalei with safe, enriching, and fun places to learn, grow, and connect while school is out.

ʻOhana can look forward to a full season of programming, along with engagement opportunities offered throughout the fall.

Programs will be available at all LT service locations across the pae ʻāina, making it easier for ʻohana to find a program that fits their needs. LT’s programs are designed to strengthen identity, build skills, and nurture wellbeing to help kamalei on their path to thriving.

ʻOhana are invited to explore the full lineup of offerings in LT’s Fall Program Catalog, available on our website: onipaa.org/browse-programs-and-services.

To begin the enrollment process, ʻohana should complete LT’s General Interest Form. This short form helps our team better understand your ʻohana’s goals and guides you through the next steps to connect with the right program.

We look forward to helping your kamalei thrive through our many program offerings!

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Aloha pumehana kākou. Ma waena o nā momi i loko o nā nūpepa kahiko, aia nā kiʻi o nā manawa iki (moments) i paʻi kiʻi ʻia – nā manawa iki e hōʻike ana i ka hanohano o ka lāhui Hawaiʻi.

ʻO kekahi o ia mau kiʻi ke kiʻi o ka Hale o Nā Aliʻi ma nā alapiʻi o ʻIolani Hale Aliʻi e hoʻomanaʻo ana iā Kamehameha ʻEkahi ma ka lā nui nona—ka lā nui ʻo Kamehameha i hoʻokānāwai ʻia e kona moʻopuna, e ka mōʻī Kamehameha V, Lota Kapuāiwa ma 1871.

Ma ka nānā pākākā ʻana i ke kiʻi (nāna ma lalo), he kiʻi wale nō ia o kekahi hui kānaka. Akā, ua maopopo ʻia e nā kānaka noiʻi me nā kānaka kākau mōʻaukala, na ke kiʻi kahiko e kono a hoʻolalelale i nā nīnau i loko o ka mea nānā. ʻO wai nā kānaka i ke kiʻi? No ke aha mai lākou e kū nei pēlā? Ma hea lākou? Ināhea i paʻi ʻia ai ke kiʻi?

ʻO ka nīnau “ʻO wai?” ka mea maʻalahi e pane ai. Aia ma ka lepe kiʻi kēia: “HUI KA HALE ALII MA KE ALAPIʻI O KA HALE MANA HOOKO…”

ʻO ka Hale o Nā Aliʻi (House of Chiefs) kekahi hui i hoʻokumu ʻia ma hope o ka hoʻokāhuli aupuni a i ʻōili ma ka makahiki 1911 i mea e mau ai ka hana a Kalākaua ma kāna Hale Nauā, kekahi hui i mālama i nā moʻolelo a me nā moʻokūʻauhau o nā kūpuna.

Ua pane ʻia ka nīnau “Ma hea?” ma ka lepili “ma ka ke alapiʻi o ka Hale Mana Hoʻokō.” ʻOiai ua pau ke aupuni Hawaiʻi i ka lima pākaʻa, ua kū haʻaheo ka Hale o Na Aliʻi ma ka ke alapiʻi o ʻIolani Hale Aliʻi i mea e kākoʻo mau ai i ka mana o nā aliʻi.

ʻO kekahi nīnau koʻikoʻi ʻē aʻe ka nīnau “Inahea?” Ua paʻi ʻia ke kiʻi ma ka makahiki 1914, ka wā o ka Territore a he wā i luna ʻia e nā ʻElima Nui (Castle & Cooke mā). Na lākou e hopu ana i ka mana o ke kālaiʻāina, ka ʻona ʻāina, me ke kālā he nui mai nā ʻāina mahikō.

No laila, koʻikoʻi ke kiʻi no ka mea aia ka Hale o Nā Aliʻi ke kū ʻonipaʻa a lōkahi nei no ka mana o ka lāhui Kanaka me na mea i ʻona ʻole ʻia e ka ʻElima Nui: ka moʻokūʻauhau, ka moʻolelo, ka moʻomeheu, ka ʻōlelo.

No ke aha mai lākou e kū nei ma nā alapiʻi? Ma kekahi mau moʻolelo nūpepa o ka wā like, ua ʻōlelo ʻia ua kū haʻaheo ka Hale o Nā Aliʻi ma ʻIolani Hale O Nā Aliʻi ma ka lā paikau ʻo Kamehameha.

ʻO ka ʻAhahui Māmakakaua, ua kū kiaʻi lākou ma ka kia ʻo Kamehameha. A ʻo nā kāne o ka Medala Mōʻī ʻo Kamehameha me nā wahine o ka ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu, ua paikau lāua ma ke alanui Mōʻīkāne mai ʻAʻala, kūnou ma ke kia ʻo Kamehameha, huli hema ma Kauikeaouli ʻĪpuka, kaʻalo i ka Hale o Nā Aliʻi, huli hema a puni ka hale aliʻi.

ʻO kekahi mea kupanaha ʻē aʻe i loko o ke kiʻi ʻo ia nō ʻo kekahi kiʻi ʻo Kūkāʻilimoku, ke akua kaua a Kamehameha. Ua hoʻokō nō ka mana o ke aupuni Hawaiʻi.

No kākou, he mea hoʻomanaʻo ia mau kiʻi kahiko. ʻAʻole moakāka nā pane, akā na nā nīnau e alakaʻi iā kākou i kekahi ʻike hohonu e pili ana i nā kūpuna i paikau no kākou ma lā Paikau ʻo Kamehameha ma kēlā wā.

The post He Kini a Mano ka ʻIke i nā Kiʻi Nūpepa Kahiko appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

Warm greetings. Amongst the pearls within historic newspapers are moments that were photographed – moments that show the nobility of the Hawaiian people.

One such photograph is of the Hale o Nā Aliʻi on the steps of ʻIolani Palace, remembering Kamehameha I on his holiday—a holiday established by his grandson Kamehameha V, Lot Kapuāiwa in 1871.

At first glance (see photo below), it is but a photo of a group of people. However, researchers and historians know that historic photos invite and incite questions with the viewer. Who are the people in the photo? Why are they standing like that Where are they? When was the photo taken?

The question “Why?” is the easiest to answer. There on the photo is this caption: “HALE O NĀ ALIʻI ON THE STEPS OF THE HOUSE OF MANA FULFILLED…”

The Hale o Nā Aliʻi (House of Chiefs) was a group organized after the over throw and who surfaced in 1911 as a continuation of the work of Kalākaua through his Hale Nauā, a group that cared for the history and genealogies of the people.

The question “Where?” was answered in the caption “on the steps of the House of Mana Fulfilled.” Though the Hawaiian Kingdom was lost to greedy hands, the Hale o Nā Aliʻi stood proudly on the steps of ʻIolani Palace as a show of support of the monarchy.

Another important question is “When?” The photo was taken in 1914, which was during the Territorial days that was ruled by the Big Five (Castle & Cooke, etc). They wrested control of the government, land ownership, and wealth through the plantations.

Therefore, the photo is important because Hale o Nā Aliʻi is standing in solidarity and unity on behalf of the Hawaiian people and those things not owned by the Big Five: genealogy, history, culture, and language.

Why are they standing on the steps? In other newspaper articles of time, it describes Hale o Nā Aliʻi standing proudly on the steps of ʻIolani Palace for the Kamehameha parade.

The Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors stood guard at the Kamehameha statue. The Royal Order of Kamehameha and the women of Kaʻahumanu Society marched from ʻAʻala on King Street, bowed at the statue of Kamehameha, turned left into Kauikeaouli Gate, passed Hale o Nā Aliʻi, turned left and around the palace.

One amazing picture is the image of Kūkāʻilimoku, the war god of Kamehameha. It’s mana in securing the Hawaiian Kingdom was successful.

To us, historic photos are our means to remember. Answers may not be clear, but questions lead us to seek deeper understanding concerning those ancestors who marched during the Kamehameha Day of that time.

The post The Numerous Insights in Historic Newspapers appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By S. Welaahilani Wāhilani

“One Hawaiian at a time” is a phrase Uncle Walter Kahumoku has used to describe the kuleana he holds in supporting Kānaka Maoli in accomplishing their goals.

At UH West Oʻahu, we apply that kuleana by endeavoring to bridge the gap between education and the community. With a collective vision to uplift the West Oʻahu region, nine individuals came together to create Kauluhāweo, a grassroots effort to deliver wraparound support services to students and their ʻohana.

We shed light on the importance of modeling Kānaka Maoli values within Western higher education institutions.

“Nā wai hoʻi ka ʻole o ke akamai, he alanui i maʻa i ka hele ʻia e oʻu mau mākua” are words spoken by King Kamehameha II that described the intelligence and excellence of Kānaka Maoli.

To model this type of excellence and intelligence, we employ Hawaiian epistemologies in our work to activate one another and our students to become extraordinary individuals. The use of the ʻohana structure, specifically the kaikuaʻana-kaikaina (older-younger sibling) model, enable us to shift how we practiced mentorship within our unit.

With this epistemological approach, my colleagues and I can model behaviors for our students that make them feel safe, seen, heard, and, most importantly, valued.

Since its founding in 2023, Kauluhāweo has continued to grow alongside the community it serves. What began as a collective of nine individuals has expanded to 11 staff and faculty members, six of whom hold master’s degrees and two with doctoral degrees.

While these academic achievements reflect professional preparation and expertise, they also represent something much deeper: a commitment to education as a pathway to serve, uplift, and give back to our lāhui and communities.

Many of us come from the West Oʻahu communities we now serve, and our educational journeys are not viewed solely as personal accomplishments, but as responsibilities carried on behalf of our ʻohana and poʻe.

By modeling this commitment to higher education, we intentionally demonstrate to our students that academic success and cultural identity are not separate pursuits. Instead, they exist in relationship with one another. Through mentorship, guidance, and daily interactions, we encourage students to see their own educational pathways as opportunities to become future leaders, advocates, educators, and caregivers within their communities.

In many ways, this reflects the kuleana of the kaikuaʻana within the kaikuaʻana-kaikaina relationship: to guide, protect, and provide for the younger sibling.

At Kauluhāweo, mentorship extends beyond academic advising or institutional support. It is rooted in pilina, reciprocity, and collective responsibility. We strive to model for our students what it means to uplift one another, carry ourselves with humility and excellence, and return our knowledge and experiences to the communities that raised us.

In doing so, we hope to cultivate future generations of Kānaka Maoli who not only pursue higher education but also understand the importance of using their education to serve others.

For more information about the Kauluhāweo program, email nhssp@hawaii.edu

S. Welaahilani Wāhilani is the director of Hui Kīpaipai: Early Academic Outreach at UH West Oʻahu. He is a graduate of Ka Papahana Kaiapuni, UH West Oʻahu, and UH Mānoa, currently pursuing an EdD. His work centers on integrating Indigenous culture into academia, challenging systemic barriers, and fostering decolonial praxis that supports both student and staff success.

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Relationships are complicated. Terminology is important. Aunty, uncle, cousin, tūtū, hānai, makua (kāne or wahine). Lineal descendants, those relations in straight uninterrupted lines of genealogy, as in your kūpuna. “I am a Lineal Descendant of [fill in the name].” Those with ancestral ties to ʻāina, with relatives unnamed and unknown. “My family has lived at [fill in the name] for X generations.”

Plants, too, have complicated genealogies. Where are they found? Where did they come from? To whom are they related? When and how did they get here? These days, with help from geneticists, we can learn how groups of people, plants, or any thing living are related.

On Molokaʻi live two lāʻau kamaʻāina. They are in fact cousins, and are meakanu ʻāpaʻakuma. Both are endemic to Molokaʻi, and are found nowhere else naturally. Both are extremely rare in the wild, and one, Kokia cookei is likely extinct there, but survives cultivated. The other, a pure white, scented hibiscus, clings naturally to life in just a few locations. Sad, but all too true these days. Degraded habitats. Invasive species such as fire-hardy alien grasses, plant-munching deer, pigs, goats, all contributing to deadly population loss.

Please. Do your part to encourage their survival. Ask around for legally acquired keiki. Plant them. Nurture them. Cherish them.

The post Of Families and Cousins and Lineal Descendants and Ancestral Ties appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Naiʻa Ulumaimalu Lewis

The first time I crossed the threshold into the Kūpuna Islands was the summer of 2008. I had started working for Papahānaumokuākea the year before and was supporting the education and outreach team on a Pacific educators’ cruise aboard the NOAA ship Hiʻialakai for the International Year of the Reef.

Over a two-week expedition, we studied coral at its source and shared the work we’d been doing for years to bring back to our communities and classrooms. Most days were on the ocean, but we walked Nihoa, snorkeled in the waters around Mokumanamana – privileged to deliver Dr. Kekuewa Kikiloi, a UH professor, and Anan Raymond of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for several days on Mokumanamana.

What I came to learn the moment I slipped into the waters around one of our most sacred geographies, is that the ocean around an atoll has a way of clarifying you. The line that passes near Mokumanamana is Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Kāne, the Black Shining Road of Kāne, the Tropic of Cancer.

North of this line is Pō, the realm of ancestors and akua. South of this line is Ao, where Kānaka live. Sliding into the depths of the Moananui, I crossed the membrane. My experience returned me anew, newly clear about my place, my purpose, and the core of who I had always been.

This was reaffirmed by the transformation in Kekuewa and Anan when we returned for them.

In 2010, I was given a second chance to access the Papahānaumokuākea. Getting one chance is a privilege. Going twice is magic. Kūpuna intervention. Ironically, the U.S. federal government supported my access to some of the most sacred places to my Native Hawaiian community.

I am not saying this as a thank-you but as a reminder: there are many ways to leverage the present political situation toward pono, even when it takes longer than we’d like, and it does not feel as if we are moving the needle.

My second access was by plane. We landed on Kuaihelani (Midway). There, I put my feet on ʻāina that had witnessed nearly 28 million years of evolution and only recent human visitation.

Surrounded by thousands of nesting mōlī (albatross), I was once again given the ability to see myself at scale – very small in the vast natural world. Aboard the ship, the ocean was everything. On Kuaihelani, my feet were able to build a relationship with the sands of our collective birth across days.

As our ancestors would have it, our visit fell during the summer solstice. On the day we did protocol, we learned that at the same hour, colleagues aboard Hiʻialakai (the ship I’d sailed in 2008) were doing similar protocol near Mokumanamana. The veil went thin again. The 530 miles between us was real, but we transcended it.

What Mokumanamana clarified for me, Kuaihelani gave me the spine to act on. The distance between Ao and Pō is not a barrier. I came home with the courage for the hard decisions about my own path – decisions some people would prefer I not make, but I made them.

The Kūpuna Islands do not ask us to move there. They ask us to move with intent, here.

Naiʻa Lewis worked for NOAA Papahānaumokuākea between 2007–2016 and continues to act as the executive director for Big Ocean and is the lead author of “Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas: Guidelines for Design and Management” (IUCN Protected Planet series). She is the founder of Salted Logic and Studio Wā. Her current work centers on temporal sovereignty.

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By Melissa Kahili-Heede

Today, more than half of Native Hawaiians reside outside of the pae ʻāina. Some leave in search of opportunity, education, or stability. Others leave because staying has become too difficult.

Rising housing costs, limited economic mobility, and generational inequities make it unattainable for many families to remain in place. These conditions are not isolated. They are rooted in histories of dispossession, land loss, and political upheaval that reshaped Hawaiian life as we know it.

At Papa Ola Lōkahi, we understand our kuleana to improve Native Hawaiian health wherever Hawaiians live, work, play, and age. Therefore, in response to more Kānaka living on the continental U.S., we established He Alo a He Alo in August 2024 to explore how Hawaiian identity is lived, carried forward, re-envisioned, and challenged in all 50 states.

Through this project, our hope was to build pilina and expand our current understanding of Hawaiian identity and thus, the needs of Hawaiian wellbeing within Hawaiʻi and beyond.

He Alo a He Alo was a year-long project in which our CEO, Dr. Sheri Daniels, hosted face-to-face gatherings across the continent and in Hawaiʻi. The project was named He Alo a He Alo (face-to-face) to set the intention and methodology for our listening tour.

We believed that sitting, listening, and talking story face-to-face with Hawaiians across the U.S. would establish pilina and generate unity in our collective kuleana of being well for our future generations.

We partnered with hula hālau, Hawaiian civic clubs, college alumni, and Hawaiian-serving organizations across the continent to recruit and host talk story sessions with Native Hawaiian adults to unpack Hawaiian identity and the strengths and challenges that come with being Hawaiian.

Rather than positioning community members as subjects, the project was grounded in reciprocal learning. Participants were recognized as ʻike holders and collaborators in creating understanding.

Each region brought unique perspectives and stories, reminding us that while our experiences may differ, our connections to one another remain unwavering. Recognizing what affects our people’s ability to sustain identity as Kānaka within and beyond Hawaiʻi enables Papa Ola Lōkahi to strategically build relationships and promote awareness. We learned what will help guide future engagement, programming, and opportunities to strengthen connections across our lāhui.

Since the conclusion of listening/talk-story sessions, we have worked to prepare final reports with deep aloha and care for our continental ʻohana and hoa. We are currently in the process of reporting back to the communities who so graciously allowed us in, reporting regionally starting with the Pacific-West and working our way east.

We see these reports as a starting point rather than a conclusion. With the reports come recommendations from community members, rooted in participants’ voices. Our hope is that other Native Hawaiian-serving organizations will join us in caring for the health of Kānaka wherever they are, he alo a he alo.

E ola mau ka lāhui Hawaiʻi!

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