Lapaiki

Kumu: Kapua Kaʻauʻa

Born in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, Kapuaokalani Kaʻauʻa was raised in the ʻahupuaʻa of Kalaoa Mauka on the cliffs of Hilo Pālikū. Kapua is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner with over twenty-five years of experience in a traditional hālau setting. After eight years of formal hula training under the tutelage of Taupōuri Tangarō, she went through her ʻUniki rite of passage and earned the title of Kumu Hula in 2014. Kapua graduated from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani School of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo with a Bachelor of Arts in Hawaiian Studies in 2017. She teaches Hula and Hawaiian Language at Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Hawaiian Immersion Public Charter School in Keaukaha, where she is affectionately known as Kumu ʻAuʻa. Kapua founded Hālau Hula Unuokeahi in 2017, and since then Unuokeahi has promoted Hawaiian culture through Hula, indigenous leadership, and environmental stewardship for its learners and the community.

Waihoʻoluʻu: Textiles Workshop

Kumu: ʻIliahi Anthony

Postpartum Hula

Kumu: Pōlani Kahakalau-Kalima

Raised in the rural and culturally rich Waipiʻo Valley, Pōlanimakamae Kahakalau-Kalima is a devoted wife, Makuahine, and lifelong learner. She holds an Associate of Arts in Hawaiian Studies with an emphasis on Hula from Hawaiʻi Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Pōlani serves as the Executive Director of Eʻā Eoversity, an initiative of Ku-a-Kanaka, offering culture-based higher education, career exploration, and training for Native Hawaiian youth and young adults ages 15–30. She also leads as Board President of Kalauokekahuli, a nonprofit dedicated to providing culturally grounded prenatal, birth, and postpartum education and services to Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families. Together with her husband, Noeau Kahakalau-Kalima, Pōlani is a Kumu Hula and co-founder of Hālau Hula Kauluʻola, which serves communities on Hawaiʻi Island and Maui, deeply committed to the protection, preservation, and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture. Pōlani works tirelessly to uplift her people and strengthen her community.

The “Rule of Law” & Narrative Traditions as Tools of (De)Colonization

Kumu: Terina Faʻagau

Throughout history, narratives — particularly those written into laws and legal policy — have served as a means of dispossessing Indigenous peoples not only of their self-determination and lands, but also of the stories that are foundational to their identities and communities. Many of the narratives weaponized against Native peoples over 200 years ago remain the basis for much of non-Natives’ perceptions of Native peoples today. This workshop explores how colonial powers deploy narratives to justify violence against Indigenous peoples and how we can reclaim and reshape our stories to support Ea, or “justice,” for Kānaka Maoli.

Hoʻokuʻu Ka Hewa / Hoʻoponopono

Kumu: Lahela Kruse

Rachel “Lahela” Kruse, MSW, CSAC is a cultural practitioner currently residing on Hawaiʻi Island who works closely with those dealing with substance abuse and addiction using traditional healing methods of Hoʻokuʻu Ka Hewa for the individual, then implementing Hoʻoponopono for the family. Lahela is immersed in a cultural-based approach in working with Haumana (students) and parents to get to the core of the individual’s trauma by looking at their past so they can face their present and move forward to a healthy and thriving future. She received her cultural immersion training from two prominent Kupuna (Elders): Aunty Pearl Ulunuiokamamalu Kanakaole Garmon and Aunty Lynette Kahekili Kahopuiki Paglinawan. Lahela received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Hawaiʻi Hilo, then her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Lahela has been working for 20+ years with youth, adults, and community dealing with the struggles of substance abuse.

Lapaʻau Pōhāhā

Kumu: Robbie Ann Shimose

Kāpala

Kumu: Noʻel Tagab-Cruz

N. Kayako Tagab-Cruz is an instructor and the coordinator of Iʻola Hāloa — Hawaiʻi Life Styles Program. She holds a B.A. in Community Studies and a M.A. in Leadership, Public Policy, and Social Issues with a focus on Native Hawaiian Leadership. Kayako is an ʻUniki ʻAilolo Graduate of Hālau o Lilinoe and Unukupuku.

Art & Activism

Kumu: Wahinekoa

Welina mai me ke Aloha! O wau o Wahinekoa, a he haumana wau na ka Hālau o Unuokeahi. He wahi leo mahalo keia i kuʻu wahi kumu, Kumu Auʻa, no kona hana a ike waiwai he nui a me na lima i hoomakaukau i keia wa akoakoa mai nei i na poe unu.

ʻAha ʻAina: Selecting and Calling Foods for Ceremony

Kumu: Dr. Kuʻu Kanahele

Kuʻulei Kanahele is an instructor at Hawaiʻi Community College’s Hawaiʻi Life Styles Program. She holds a B.A. in Hawaiian Studies, a M.A.Ed., and a PhD in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization.

Hula ʻAuana Kamalani O Keaukaha

Kumu: Nāoho Kanahele

Building Your Hula Body & Hula ʻAuana

Kumu: Pele Kaio

Pele Kaio, Hānau Ma ke Po. Pele is the Kumu of Unulau, an Assistant Professor of Hawaiian Studies at Hawaiʻi Community College, and a humble servant to the Unu-verse.

Kanikapila

Kumu: Kauʻi Lopes

As a lineal descendant of the illegally US-occupied state of Hawaiʻi, Kauʻi has always held a deep sense of responsibility to care for her indigenous land. She has dedicated herself to learning and embodying her people’s cultural knowledge, practices, and protocols which include but are not limited to Hula, Oli, and Mōkoʻūʻaehau. After graduating from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, she applied her degrees in Hawaiian Studies and Communications and training in Conservation and Cultural Resource Management. In her current roles as an educator and contributor to bridging the gap between Hawaiian and Western Land Management Methods, Kauʻi does this work with Maui Bioremediation Group as the Chief Cultural Officer, and with Earthrm as the President of the Board.

The Kanikapila course explored two of Hilo’s famed mele: Ka Uluwehi o ke Kai and Hilo Hula. Join us as we transport you to the shores of Hawaiʻi as we ʻuhilimu together, and end it off in Hilo where we honor the many different water features Hilo holds. E Kanikapila Kākou!