I. Introduction | II. About the Kuʻu Ēwe, Kuʻu Piko, Kuʻu Iwi, Kuʻu Koko: Mālama I Nā Iwi Kūpuna Workshop Series | III. Workshop Topics and Recap | IV. Participant Information | V. Workshop Series Overall Feedback | VI. Developed Resources | VII. Recommendations

I. Introduction

In collaboration with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), Huliauapaʻa, a non-profit organization whose mission is to grow Hawai‘i’s communities through culturally based forms of innovative learning, leadership development, and collaborative networking in wahi kūpuna stewardship, recently concluded the virtual community empowerment workshop series: Kuʻu Ēwe, Kuʻu Piko, Kuʻu Iwi, Kuʻu Koko - centered around engaging and empowering those with kuleana to mālama i nā iwi kupuna.

This workshop series stemmed from the priority focus areas identified by the Kaliʻuokapaʻakai Collective, in which Huliauapaʻa currently serves as the backbone organization. The Kaliʻuokapaʻakai Collective a community of practice of advocates in wahi kūpuna stewardship that was created in 2017 to organize our shared ideas, resources, and strategies to build capacity and take collective action in safeguarding Hawaiʻi’s wahi kūpuna.

These workshop series could not have come to fruition without the partnership and support of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). Mahalo nui to all the topic experts and community members who participated as it was an honor to build pilina with each other and reaffirm the importance to mālama i nā iwi kūpuna.

II. About the Kuʻu Ēwe, Kuʻu Piko, Kuʻu Iwi, Kuʻu Koko: Mālama I Nā Iwi Kūpuna Workshop Series and Needs Assessment

Goals

The primary goals of this workshop series were to build community capacity, equip, and empower participants in developing proficiencies by covering foundational aspects of the kuleana to mālama i nā iwi kūpuna to aid in effectively carrying out this kuleana. Our aim for these workshops was to cover as many aspects of this kuleana as possible within the timeline allotted with plans to continue into new topic areas and expand existing topic areas during future iterations of this workshop series. Our objectives for achieving these goals are as follows:

Objectives

• Offering workshops that address the communities needs
• Compiling existing resources
• Working to develop new resources and curriculum

Guiding the Initiative

In early stages of gathering resources and working to better understand the current issues and needs in communities to mālama i nā iwi kūpuna, a needs assessment was developed to guide the kahua of this initiative.

Needs Assessment

To assess the needs of the community, a short survey was sent out April 2020 to a curated contact list provided by Huliauapaʻa. Majority of those who responded were Native Hawaiian who are interested in or carry the kuleana to mālama i nā iwi kūpuna. From this assessment we learned specific focus topic areas for this workshop series.

V. Workshop Series Overall Feedback

Overall Ratings

Participants rated different aspects of each workshop. From these results we can conclude that the majority of our participants felt that each workshop was particularly important and valuable to their community and was very educational and useful. According to our survey results, the participants indicated that this workshop series has greatly contributed to them being empowered to care for iwi kūpuna, which is in alignment with OHA’s Strategic Outcome 3.4 (Minutes of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees, Thursday 9/17/2020, 9:30am, pages 15-16). The workshop was successful in fulfilling other high-level aspects of OHA’s Strategic Outcome focused on Health Outcomes. Participants indicated that they were able to build new pilina (relationships) with other participants, and that workshops helped to strengthen their sense of Ke Akua Mana (spirituality).

Focusing on Participants Needs

To assess if we addressed the needs of our participants, a short 10 question post-survey was also provided. We asked participants if we were able to answer any of the questions they asked from pre-survey. An overall majority responded “Yes'' or that they “Did not ask a question”. Below are just a few responses shared by our participants:

Highlights and Takeaways

Below are just a few highlights and takeaways from the Kuʻu Ēwe Kuʻu Piko Kuʻu Iwi Kuʻu Koko: Mālama I Nā Iwi Kūpuna Workshop Series shared by our participants:

Additional Survey Questions

To glean additional information from participants, a few more questions were asked in the post survey for Workshop 5, Navigating Federal Laws and Processes for Protecting Iwi Kūpuna.  Responses included:

Prior to the commencement of this series, Huliauapaʻa developed a long-term plan for how it would be run, including creating the series in tiered levels that include the foundational topics covered this past year, and more advanced topics including cultivating and creating mea noʻeau, bone identification, and kanu among other topics. Instruction in protocols were intended to occur at each tier but given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person instruction preferable to teaching protocols was not possible.

Given the value that participants have found in this series in helping to empower them to care for iwi kūpuna, we strongly recommend that OHA continue support for this series. We propose continuing and expanding the series through the following steps:

1. Continue with the next tier of the workshop series with the existing cohort of participants.
2. Following the completion of the next tier of the workshop series, continue onto each subsequent tier with the same cohort of participants.
3. Identify new cohorts of participants.
4. Commence the workshop series again from the beginning tier with new participants.

Recommendation #2: Create a Full-time Staff Position at OHA Dedicated to Assisting Families with Understanding and Navigating the State and Federal Processes for Protecting Iwi Kūpuna, and Connecting Them with Resources, Individuals and Organizations Helpful to this Kuleana

Participants have indicated a need for a more in-depth understanding of legal processes at the State and Federal levels for protecting iwi kūpuna. Our workshops have proved effective at giving our participants an introductory understanding of these processes, and future workshops will aid in expanding the depth of understanding, but that impact will be limited to the number of participants who are able to join in on the workshop. We strongly recommend that OHA create a full-time position dedicated to assisting families with understanding and navigating processes for protecting iwi kūpuna, and connecting them with resources, individuals, and organizations pili to the kuleana to mālama i nā iwi kūpuna. Such a position could expand our collective reach beyond our workshop participants to other families involved in this kuleana, especially for families who are just entering into it.

This position would ideally fulfill the following kuleana at minimum: 1 Aid families in having a foundational understanding of State and Federal processes and clarify any intricacies including (but not limited to) issues of jurisdiction, and the extent of the kuleana of different bodies (for example, many families are unclear of what powers IBC's actually have, and often place much higher expectations upon IBC's than they should); this kuleana would also include guiding families in how to testify effectively at IBC meetings and how to be effective in consultation; 2. Create and maintain a database of descendants including their names, family names, and contact information; 3. Proactively inform families (who have at least been previously recognized as descendants) of any events like upcoming IBC meetings, or any projects or discoveries of iwi kūpuna as identified in public notices that may affect them; and 4. Connect families with resources, individuals and organizations in accordance with their needs (for example, lawyers, kānaka hana noʻeau (for hīnaʻi lauhala, kapa, etc.), healers and hoʻoponopono practitioners, funding/funders, etc.).

Recommendation #3: Support the Creation of a Network of Mea Noʻeau and a Network of Healers that can in part, Support the Needs of Families with the Kuleana to Mālama I Nā Iwi Kūpuna

Participants in our workshop series expressed the need to learn how to cultivate mea kanu necessary to create mea noʻeau needed for kanu and to learn how to also craft these mea. Participants have also identified needs for healing, hoʻoponopono and spiritual guidance for kaumaha endured during this kuleana. We strongly recommend that OHA identify and support any existing networks of 1. Kānaka Hana Noʻeau and 2. Healers, and if no such networks exist, support efforts to create and support them, and connect families within the kuleana to mālama i nā iwi kūpuna with these networks. In addition to further empower families to care for iwi kūpuna, the creation and support of these networks would contribute to increasing pilina, waiwai, and ke Akua Mana for the Lāhui at large.

To aid in the creation and support of a network of Kānaka Mea Noʻeau, and a network of Healers, OHA can support efforts to update and expand on previous works like Ola Nā Iwi: Directory of Artists and Cultural Resources (OHA 1995), and A Thriving Lāhui (Kanaeokana 2020).

Mahalo for your continued support.

Ola Nā Iwi!