The ʻAimalama Lunar Conference is pleased to welcome Dr. Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele as its Keynote Speaker. Pua is of pure Hawaiian descent, and is responsible to her ancestral lineage. She was raised in a Hula tradition that spans many generations. She was educated in Western institutions and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree. At the age of 69, Pua received a Doctor of Philosophy Degree from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She is a retired associate professor of the university system, and has taught at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Maui Community College, and Hawai’i Community College. She is a retired Kumu Hula of Hālau o Kekuhi, as well as the retired president of the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation.
Pua is a revered kūpuna in the Hawaiian community and beyond, and considered a cultural Master. As part of her kuleana as Director at Hawaiʻi Community College and President of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation, Pua has been actively engaged in research and publication, including research in Hawaiian atmospheric studies, advising on cultural land use on Hawaiʻi Island and Kahoʻolawe, voyages to Mokumanamana to regain insight to ancestral perspective on the movement of the sun and stars and their relationship to kānaka, publication of Ka Honua Ola and Holo Mai Pele, and conference organizing.
Rereata Makiha
Nga Puhi, Te Arawa, Rangitane
Rereata is currently conducting research on how to determine the phases of the Maramataka (Maori Lunar Calendar) with the Auckland University, and how Maori in past times managed their lives and how tasks were carried out in accordance with the Maramataka, including fishing, planting, and harvesting—all dependent on the lunar cycle and other signs within nature.
Email- ral.makiha@gmail.com
Website- http://www.maorimaps.com/
Dr. Lilikalā K. Kame’eleihiwa is a senior professor at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaian Studies and its current director. Trained as a historian, she is also an expert in Hawaiian cultural traditions, and in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, and has served as executive producer of the 2005 DVD Natives in New York, Seeking Justice at the United Nations, and as co-scriptwriter of the 1993 award winning documentary An Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation. Her books include Nā Wāhine Kapu: Sacred Hawaiian Women, He Mo’olelo Ka’ao o Kamapua’a: A Legendary Traditional of Kamapua’a, the Hawaiian Pig-God, and Native Land and Foreign Desires: Pehea Lā E Pono Ai?
Linley Andrew is a survey draughtsman working for the Cook Islands government. Most days, she can be found on the ocean, steering and paddling for her Oe Vaka Club. Her love of the ocean has taken her to other Pacific Nations as a voyager on the Vaka Takitumu, Vaka Te Au o Tonga, and Vaka Marumaru Atua. As a home gardener, she relies on the Arapo (moon phase calendar) for the successful planting and harvesting of crops for the family table.
The Arapo’s appearance in the daily Cook Island News is a blessing for farmers, gardeners, and fishermen alike, serving as an important tool in their decision making and practice, and further testament that this ancient tool still plays an important role in the lives of modern Cook Islanders.
Allie Atkins is the owner of Lehua Lena Nursery, a Hawaiian native plant nursery. She is also an environmental studies and botany teacher at Hawai‘i Community College. Using the Hawaiian moon calendar as a resource tool for planting, pruning, and collecting plant material in the nursery has become an integral process in the management of the nursery.
In her classes she uses a Hawaiian moon phase calendar and monthly planner to introduce the students to the practice of kilo. By listening, observing, and recording information in their planners, the students increase their awareness of their surroundings and reflect on their connections to it.
Trevor Atkins teaches Ko Kula Uka (8th Grade) at Hālau Kū Māna Public Charter School, where students are correlating their daily observations of change to traditional Hawaiian understandings of lunar and solar patterns. In its fifth year, this practice of kilohana has evolved into tasking each student with reporting on a specific element within the three Papa, Papahulilani, Papahulihonua, and Papahānaumoku, and connecting their data to other students, schools, and the online moon phase craze.
Edward Makahiapo Cashman, Jr is the Director of Ka Papa Loʻi o Kānewai, a native garden and loʻi located on the UH-Mānoa campus that boasts a pure collection of kalo and shares its resources with the community. Kānewai Loʻi provides experiential, cultural, and educational opportunities for students and the general community by learning and teaching traditional Hawaiian farming methods in a modern context through practice, promotes the Hawaiian language by providing practical working experience for the application of Hawaiian language skills by students, and encourages the revitalization of traditional Hawaiian values, concepts, and practices by promoting kōkua (help), laulima (cooperation), lokahi (unity) and huki like (to pull or work together).
Keola Chan is a kupa of Papakōlea, Oʻahu, a father of four, and a native practitioner. He is the Pou Nui of ‘Aha Kāne: Foundation for the Advancement of Native Hawaiian Males. The ʻAha Kāne organizes wellness conferences, program services, and leadership training to empower kāne (males) to connect with culture, traditional practices, and kuleana. The ʻAha Kāne actively utilizes the lunar calendar as a template in planning activities that the Foundation provides, paying particular attention to the correlation between lunar phases and traditional protocols, timelines, and practices.
Liliana Clarke is of Ngati Porou, Waikato, Te Rarawa, Ngapuhi and Scottish whakapapa. She resides in Whakatane, Aotearoa with her hoa tane and two tamariki. Liliana is passionate about Maori achieving their aspirations in regards to Putaiao and sustainable development. She has a background in resource and environmental planning and Maori natural resource management.
Liliana has a broad experience base working with Iwi and Hapu: Ngati Awa and Ngati Rangi; the public sector: Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Manaaki Whenua, Society of British Aerospace; and research institutes at Massey University, Lincoln University, University of Waikato and Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi. Recent research interests include environmental contamination issues affecting Maori communities and she is currently examining traditional and contemporary applications of Maramataka (the Maori Lunar phase calendar).
Liliana is a lecturer in Te Ahu Taiao, the Environmental Studies Faculty at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi.
Astrid Hinano Drollet is a retired Tahitian language teacher and an active member of Vai Ara o Teahupoo, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the protection of fenua àihere, an unspoiled, rural area of the Tahiti Iti peninsula. The group seeks to raise awareness about this unique wahi pana and its historical and traditional significance. Each year, they hold community workshops and publish a traditional lunar calendar to encourage active observation of the lunar cycle in daily practice, helping the people of Tahiti to make connections between the moon and nature.
Email- astrid.drollet@gmail.com
Margie Falanruw grew up in the Pacific, and after an initial profession in her parents’ circus obtained degrees from the Universities of California, Guam, and the South Pacific. Her main focus has been on biology/ethnobiology and traditional adaptive technologies that make sustainable use of island resources. In the mid 1970s she developed the concept and framework of a “Pacific Alternative” and has been working away on its details since. Through the Yap Institute of Natural Science, she published some 34 editions of the Yap Almanac Calendar that provided information on lunar and other natural cycles, specialties of the seasons, traditional technologies, and eco-development. Dr. Falanruw is currently employed as a technology transfer specialist with the U.S. Forest Service, PSW Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry.
Peleke Flores was born in Hilo, Hawai‘i and raised in Waimea, Kaua‘i. He is a 2001 graduate of Waimea High School and received his BA in Hawaiian Studies from UH-Mānoa with a special focus on Malama ‘Āina. He presently serves as the Kū Hou Kuapā Coordinator at Paepae o Heʻeia fishpond on the eastside of Oʻahu, where his knowledge of mālama ‘āina practices and dry stack wall-building are of great value to the team. He enjoys working outdoors, all sports, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Kanani Frazier hails from Hawaiʻi Island and is a kuaʻāina of Olaʻa in the Puna District. Growing up in many different environments both ma uka and ma kai gave her the desire to pursue a degree in biology at UH Mānoa and a career in conservation biology. Working with NOAA and the Hanalei community to produce the Hanalei Moon Calendar inspired and energized her to continue to educate about the Hawaiian lunar calendar and community sustainability. She is a contributor to the Moon Phase Project, an interactive, web-based observation that has been a wonderful platform for many throughout ka paeʻāina Hawaiʻi and beyond to share their observations and reconnect with their ʻāina.
Kauʻi Fu is a native practitioner hailing the North Shore of Kauaʻi currently residing in Kīlauea. She uses Kaulana Mahina in her current work teaching, paddling, and sailing with her keiki at Waipā. She comes from an ʻohana of avid fishermen, and has been using this ʻike to ensure sustainable fishing practices in her community, which include recording gonad sizes and tracking spawning cycles for the fish they catch and consume. Kauʻi was recently a part of an innovative project in Anini interviewing and recording kūpuna to preserve moʻolelo and fishing traditions of the area.
Puni Jackson is a Native Hawaiian artist and practitioner who is the community education coordinator at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina. No ka ua Koʻilipilipi me ka makani Haupeʻepeʻe o Kalihilihiolaumiha, Hoʻoulu ʻĀina is a welcoming place of refuge on 100 acres in the back of Kalihi Valley. Here, with the mahina keeping rhythm, the hui cultivates the relationships between poʻe and ʻāina. Through community-empowered native reforestation, organic farming, ancient site restoration, and the perpetuation of moʻomeheu Hawaiʻi, we remember: ʻo ka hā o ka ʻāina ke ola o ka poʻe.
Bonnie Kahapeʻa-Tanner is the founder and Executive Director of Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy (KVA), a non-profit organization with a mission to perpetuate the knowledge of traditional Hawaiian navigation and provide opportunities to Native Hawaiian students for advancement in contemporary ocean-based careers through academic, college, and career support. Kahapeʻa has over 20 years of experience as an educator, 13 years successfully operating KVA and has completed numerous long distant voyages in all directions across the Pacific since 1995. Following the lunar calendar and moon phases are an important part of a traditional navigator’s tools and are used to prepare for and during each voyage.
Pomaikaʻi Kaniaupio-Crozier is currently the Conservation Manager for Pu’u Kukui Watershed Preserve and ma kai conservation areas for Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. on the island of Maui, moku of Ka’anapali including nā hono a ‘o Pi’ilani. Reared from an early age in traditional Hawaiian resource management by his ‘ohana, kūpuna, makua, and Hawaiian conservationists, Pō served as a Hawaiian Language & Hawaiian Studies Instructor at Saint Louis High School, Lecturer at UH Mānoa in Hawaiian Studies, and the lo’i coordinator for Ka Papa Lo’i ‘o Kānewai. He has assisted in many mālama ʻāina cultural programs spanning entire ahupua’a, from the wao akua to the kai. Today, he manages the 8,600 acre Pu’u Kukui Watershed Preserve, which spans several ahupua’a, is home to many rare plants and animals, and is one of the wettest spots on this honua averaging 400 inches of rain per year.
Pō considers the Kaulana Mahina as a guiding force in steering his work and the activities it triggers for him as a Hawaiian, indicating proper planting and gathering times, as well as correlations happening ma uka and ma kai. His work and his experience as kilo inspires him to preserve Ke Akua’s blessing for future generations, and his desire to ho’omau and learn more.
Hi‘ilei Kawelo, a native of Kahalu‘u, O‘ahu, became the executive director of Paepae o Heʻeia in 2007 after having served as an educator, facilities manager, and Kū Hou Kuapā coordinator for the organization for over six years. Raised in Kahalu‘u by her skilled fishing family, she has been a student to the art and science of lawai‘a and Kāne‘ohe Bay her entire life. She is a 1995 graduate of Punahou School, and also received a bachelors of arts degree in zoology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Les Kuloloio
The youngest of four children, Les Kuloloio is a beloved kūpuna and longtime community activist hailing from māmala o Kuloloiʻa, known in modern times as Honolulu Harbor. An avid fisherman, he reminds us that we have the tools, the rules, and the desire to sustain, just as our kūpuna did for hundreds of years, through keen observation and mālama of our environment, our natural resources, and intergenerational learning. Receiving valuable ʻike from his kūpuna regarding the kai and other traditional practices, he notes “they intentionally initiated old tastes into our mouths.”
Pualani Lincoln-Maiʻelua is an ʻaukai (long-distance ocean voyager) aboard the voyaging canoe Makaliʻi, a captain of coastal sailing canoe Kānehūnāmoku, an instructor at UHCWH in the Hawaiʻi Lifestyles program, and a part of the instructional team for Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy, a college/career pathways program in Hawaiian and western maritime culture. As a mother, educator, and cultural practitioner she applies the lunar calendar to everyday life as it structures the activities of her busy household of three young boys, her course syllabi and classroom experiences, as well as her time on and observations of the ocean.
Jamie Anne Kawailehua Makasobe’s ʻohana hails from Kāneʻohe and Waiʻanae, Oʻahu. Her studies include a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Oregon, double majoring in public relations and television broadcasting, and an interior design certificate from the Art Institute of Seattle. She is a designer and co-owner of Kealopiko, and has recently co-created the Hilo Ia A Paʻa Journal and Moon Phase Project. She is also part of the Paepae o Heʻeia ʻOhana, which allowed her the honor of working at Heʻeia Fishpond focusing on the ʻĀina Momona programs.
To order the Moon phase journals email Kealopiko – kealopiko@kealopiko.com
Summer Maunakea is a graduate student at UH Mānoa currently pursuing a PhD in education focusing on mālama ʻāina educational efforts and how they foster continuity of ʻike kūpuna and kuleana to ʻāina. Summer loves paddling, surfing, and growing food to feed her family and community. She is an educator at heart with a vision to develop mālama ʻāina childcare centers across the pae ʻāina.
Kihei Nahale-a is the Program Director of the Kupualau Division at Papahana Kuaola. Kupualau has introduced the lunar calendar planting method in itʻs loʻi kalo spaces, and has also been tracking the moon’s influence on kānaka, ʻāina, and akua through its pilot after-school program Kīkoʻu Koʻolau. They have recently begun implementing scheduling and coordination of events and groups around the perspective of Kapu Pule and the akua that each kapu focuses on.
Malia Nobrega-Olivera is from Hanapēpē Valley, Kona, Kauaʻi. She is currently the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement and also the Director of a program called Loli Aniau, Makaʻala Aniau (LAMA) (Climate Change, Climate Alert). Malia is a Native Hawaiian educator, kumu hula, salt maker, cultural practitioner, film maker, community organizer, and advocate of indigenous rights at all levels – locally, regionally, and internationally. Her experiences demonstrate her commitment to her people, language, and culture and to indigenous peoples worldwide. Ms. Nobrega-Olivera’s advocacy work has taken her to various international meetings such as the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Email- nobrega@hawaii.edu
Website- http://islandclimate.net
Kalei Nu’uhiwa was born and raised on the island of Maui. She has worked with the restoration of the island of Kaho’olawe. Her primary discipline is Papahulilani — the study of all aspects of the atmosphere — its phenology, energies, and cycles from a Hawaiian perspective. She presently works with the Kamehameha Schools, West Hawai’i Region Kahalu’u Manowai Education Group on the restoration of heiau and other sacred Hawaiian sites within the historical corridor of Kahalu’u, Kona.
Kaiulani Odom is the Director of the ROOTS Program at Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services. A licensed dietician, she has researched diverse traditional Native Hawaiian health practices and conducts a maternal and child health class entitled Birthing a Nation.
Kōkua Kalihi Valley incorporates the lunar calendar in many aspects ~ mahi`ai use it daily to plant in their community garden, lāʻau is harvested and produced by the moon phases, and major events and meetings are scheduled accordingly. Their staff gathers regularly every full moon to share ʻawa and stories, and there is a conscious effort to increase awareness and intentionality with ʻāina and with each other.
Kelson “Mac” Poepoe is a native Hawaiian fisherman and community leader on Molokaʻi who has dedicated his life to sharing his knowledge of traditional resource management with the hope of ensuring that the ocean will be well-stocked for generations to come. Mac’s wealth of knowledge and expertise accumulated over his years of growing up in the rigor and lifestyle of a Hawaiian family that has been fishing and maintaining the sustainability of these waters for generations. He utilizes Kaulana Mahina as a monitoring tool in a fishing program he leads at Moʻomomi, as well as in his planting practices.
Ānuenue Pūnua is a kupa of Kāneʻohe, Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu. She is a mother, educator, and a Kanaka Aloha ʻĀina who strives to prepare the next generation of leaders with skills grounded in kūpuna values and practices needed to thrive in our island nation. She was a founding teacher of Ke Kula ʻO Samuel M. Kamakau, Paepae O Heʻeia, Hui Aloha ʻĀina Momona, and co-owner of Mana ʻAi where the education of land and resources as a source of healthy food were a priority outcome in her teaching.
She currently is a pre-school teacher at Kamehameha–Heʻeia site. She continues to focus on the ʻohana as an integral part of the child’s educational foundation. The integration of the Moon Calendar in her curriculum includes daily calendar readings of farming and fishing. The familiarity of the moon within the classroom has also helped to guide the types of activity lessons we choose to do on a daily occurrence as well as help behavior and mood predictions of our keiki.
Ockie Henere Tumapuhia Simmonds is of Raukawa and Ngā Puhi lineage in Aotearoa. He was born in 1951 when his Raukawa tribal people still used the maramataka, the traditional Māori lunar calendar for planting, harvesting, fishing, and important business decisions. He is the treasurer of the Society of Māori Astronomy, Research and Traditions (SMART) Inc, a charitable organization that promotes traditional Māori astronomy and education in the sciences for young Māori.
Ockie is a strong advocate for the retention and understanding of traditional Māori astronomy, coupled with a broad understanding of Western astronomy & cosmology. His promotion of the Māori night sky is legendary with his tribal whānau. Furthermore, he advocates endorsement by Western scientific endeavours of the traditional Māori lunar calendar as a valuable goal.
Email- huri@pikitu.nz
Website- http://www.maoriastronomy.co.nz/
Stacy Sproat-Beck grew up in Kalihiwai, Kaua`i, a small coastal community in Kaua`i’s Halele`a district, part of a family that practiced subsistence and commercial fishing and farming. A graduate of Kamehameha Schools with a BS from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, Stacy moved home to work with her `ohana and community in 1992. Over the next 20 plus years, Stacy led the growth of the Waipā Foundation from a small entirely volunteer organization to a thriving non-profit with 17 staff, and over 25 weekly volunteers. Waipā manages the resources of the 1,600 acre Waipā watershed, while implementing a full range of eco-cultural programming and activities to various groups and schools year round, serving thousands both from within and outside the local community. In addition to her role as Executive Director of the Waipā Foundation, Stacy has been a gardener for almost her entire adult life, growing kalo and produce, both for Waipā and personally, for subsistence and commercial sale. Stacy is married to David Beck, and has two girls, Māhie – age 13, and Melela`i – age 9.
Roxane Kapuaimohalaikalani Stewart is the kia‘i loko for Hale O Lono, a loko iʻa kuapā in Honohononui on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Kaulana Mahina is an integral component to understanding the intricacies of this unique system. Like many other loko iʻa, attention to life cycles is innate, and moon phases and tides impact the types of work that are planned and conducted at any given time. Over the past 16 years, Roxane has developed a very effective educational kiaʻi loko curriculum currently being utilized by Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo students being trained as apprentice kiaʻi loko. Roxane holds a bachelor’s degree in marine science and a master’s degree in marine resource monitoring and education.
Franck Taputuarai is the Mayor of Ha‘apiti, a town of about 4,200 people located on the island of Moʻorea. He is also a secondary school civil engineering teacher. Franck was raised with a cultural understanding of sustainable fishing and farming practices that incorporate ʻohana ʻike kūpuna passed on through generations.
Dr. Annette Kuʻuipolani Kanahele Wong was born and raised on Pukaiki, Niʻihau. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian language, a Master’s degree in teacher education and curriculum studies, and a PhD in education in curriculum studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is a native speaker, a Hawaiian scholar, and an Assistant Professor for Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language. Her research interests include Hawaiian language, culture, and language revitalization. Her knowledge of Niʻihau Hawaiian herbal medicines comes from her maternal grandfather, and her work with Ka Lāhui o ka Pō (Hawaiian women birthing a nation) teaches expecting mothers about lāʻau lapaʻau traditions from Niʻihau.
Ulalia Woodside is currently the director of natural and cultural resources for Kamehameha Schools. Her team’s responsibilities include the development and implementation of programs to steward natural resources (Mālama ‘Āina) and increase understanding and preservation of cultural resources (Wahi Kūpuna) on the more than 360,000 acres of KS’ lands on the islands of Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi.
Ulalia is also a Kumu Hula completing the ʻuniki (formal graduation) rites of her family’s genealogical hula tradition under the direction of her maternal relatives. She also incorporates and continues her training in the disciplines of Hawaiian cultural practices as a student of Lua (Hawaiian warrior arts). She believes that the natural cycles of elements and resources is a critical understanding for cultural lifeways and resources management, and integrating the lunar calendar is an important foundation for successfully achieving her responsibilities as a kumu hula and resources manager.
The Tuahine Troupe is a group of selected aspiring students specializing in the perpetuation of Hawaiian Mele (songs and chants) through performance. Under the direction of Assistant Professor Robert Keawe Lopes Jr., The Tuahine Troupe promotes the maintenance of Hawaiian through the learning of Mele composed by native speakers and performing them in the manner in which they were originally intended, bringing life to the stories that are embedded within the lyrics. The Tuahine Troupe is a part of Ka Waihona A Ke Aloha: Ka Papahana Ho‘oheno Mele, the Mele Institute of Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Kainani Kahaunaele and Friends (Uʻi Bobbit, Mahina Paishon-Duarte, and Anuenue Punua) are a group of friends that love sharing their culture and language through Hawaiian music. They are all educators that are fully committed to everything Hawaiian.