Building Relationships to Papahānaumokuākea through Kānaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) Oral Traditions

February 17, 2022

Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, PhD, Executive Director Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation

Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians) have long documented and transmitted ancestral knowledge, values, and practices over generations through an extensive body of oral traditions. As NOAAʻs Office of National Marine Sanctuaries celebrates 50 years, we invite our global community to engage with ‘ōiwi oral narratives and cultural protocol that perpetuate traditional knowledge systems today. These compositions help to inform methodologies and build relationships to place for researchers working within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and World Heritage Site. The mele (songs) and oli (chants) that will be highlighted bridge the ancient and the contemporary and inspire deeper understanding of our responsibilities to care for the world around us.

This presentation is part of the Third Thursday By the Bay Presentation Series at Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, which is the visitor center for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. This State of the Monument lecture series is also supported by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.