Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies inspires academic excellence, cultural integrity and political strength rooted in the Ea of our ancestors.
HISTORY
Gladys Kamakakūokalani ‘Ainoa Brandt
Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies was named for Gladys Kamakakūokalani ‘Ainoa Brandt in 1997, a prominent Native Hawaiian educator who believed it was through education that the Hawaiian people will become more effective agents in carrying out traditional ancestral practices, customs and in transforming, shaping, and contributing to the world.
Her work, integrity, and passionate devotion to education continue to inspire and guide Kamakakūokalani today.
ABOUT
Kamakakūokalani
Kamakakūokalani, meaning "upright eye of heaven", serves as a metaphor for the Hawaiian Studies program’s higher mission of seeking truth and knowledge. Kamakakūokalani, its faculty, classes, and program, represents Hawaiian perspectives and knowledge within the larger academy. Thus, most courses are distinctive and taught nowhere else in the world as originality is a hallmark of the curriculum.
HISTORY
Founding Kumu
The four founding kumu who have shaped Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies' curriculum - reawakening our Hawaiian identity, research and politics, connections to Polynesia, responsibility and relationship to ʻāina, and the commitment to educating our lāhui and the world, are pictured from left to right: Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask, Dr. Jonathan Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, Dr. Terry Kanalu Young, and Dr. Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa. E ola!
