Ka Moʻolelo o Ka Nuha: the safety zone at the Kamehameha Schools didn’t happen by accident

Written in a style inspired by Hawaiian language newspapers of the 19th century, this moʻolelo (history) seeks to tell the story of Hawaiian patriotism at the Kamehameha Schools, a school for Indigenous children founded and funded by a princess of the Hawaiian Kingdom. With Raphael Lemkin’s phases of genocide in our pocket and Lomawaima and McCarty’s Safety Zone Theory as our guide, readers will journey through the school’s correspondence, teacher meeting minutes, and Hawaiian language newspapers documenting the celebration of the holiday Lā Kūʻokoʻa, the events surrounding the 1895 Kaua Kūloko, and the experiences of the first Indigenous teacher hired by the school.

‘Āina Kaumaha: The Maintenance of Ancestral Principles for 21st Century Indigenous Resource Management

Globally, there is growing recongition of the essential role indigneous people have in biocultural conservation. However, there are few cases of applied indigenous resource management today, especially from the indigenous standpoint. In this paper, we provide an example of the maintenance and adaptation of an indigenous resource management system in Hawai‘i from the perspective of an instrumental ‘Ōiwi (Indigenous Hawaiian) social institution, Kamehameha Schools. Kamehameha Schools is not only the largest private landowner in Hawai‘i, but is uniquely tied to a lineage of traditional ali‘i (chiefs) resulting in present-day influence, decision-making authority, and wealth to fund a perpetual vision for its ancestral lands and communities. Notably, we share our journey from the perspective of indigenous resource managers, using the ‘Ōiwi methodology of mo‘okū‘auhau (genealogy and continuity) to guide our (re)discovery of what it means to steward in an indigenous way. First, we ground ourselves in ‘Ōiwi worldviews, recognizing our genealogical and reciprocal connections to ‘āina (land and sea). Then, we examine the functions of the traditional institution of the ali‘i and the chiefly principle of ‘āina kaumaha—a heavy obligation to steward the biocultural health of lands and seas in perpetuity. We detail how ‘āina kaumaha has manifested and transferred over generations, from traditional ali‘i to the royal Kamehameha line, to Kamehameha Schools as an ali‘i institution. Finally, we discuss how we endeavor to meet inherited obligations through Kamehameha Schools’ resource management approach today, which includes active stewardship of vast tracts of native ecosystems and Hawai‘i’s most important cultural sites, influencing biocultural well-being through representing ‘Ōiwi perspectives in diverse industries, and developing the next generation of ‘Ōiwi stewards. We provide a guide for indigenous organizations (re)defining their ancestral ways of stewardship, as well as for the many non-indigenous agencies with obligations to native lands and people today working to incorporate indigenous systems into their current management. Given that much of the world’s lands are indigenous spaces, we argue that the restoration of effective biocultural resource management systems worldwide requires the maintenance, and in some cases reestablishment, of indigenous institutions at multiple levels.

Taking Honolulu by Storm

Throughout her tenure at Kamehameha Schools, Pope continued her graduate work at the University of Chicago. Pope spent three separate semesters learning the latest educational methods from the most progressive leaders of the time in order to elevate education in Hawaii. She also traveled throughout the United States to consult with the brightest minds in the budding vocational education and social change movement. In turn, the movement’s leaders visited her. She was able to use her experiences to facilitate the first social survey of Honolulu, which contributed to the overhaul of labor laws, vastly improving working conditions for Hawaiian women. In 1910, Pope attended the first National Conference on Vocational Guidance in Boston. Educators, social workers, and corporate figures from 45 cities met to discuss how to improve the lives of immigrants by making sound vocational choices. Conference presenters and attendees included Jane Addams, Homer Folks, G. Stanley Hall, George Mead, Henry Metcalf, and Edward Thorndike. Pope joined these pioneers in the field of education and sociology for two days of stimulating discourse that ultimately ignited a national interest in public school career guidance. Pope advocated for a vocational bureau in Honolulu until her death.

Middle Ear Disorders and Hearing Loss in Native Hawaiian Preschoolers

This study reported on the prevalence of middle ear disorders and hearing loss among native Hawaiian preschoolers. The subjects included children enrolled in the Kamehameha Schools on the islands of Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. At the beginning of the school year, each child received a battery of tests that included pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, acoustic reflectometry, and pneumatic otoscopy. Approximately 15% of the children failed a majority of these tests. Serial testing, involving pure-tone audiometry and tympanometry, was administered at regular intervals throughout the school year. Approximately 9–15% of the children failed both audiometric and tympanometric tests at each of the serial screenings. The results are discussed in comparison to other indigenous groups at risk for middle ear disorders and hearing loss and as evidence of the need to develop systematic screenings for Hawaii’s preschool children.