{"id":135647,"date":"2021-02-17T14:52:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T00:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=135647"},"modified":"2021-02-18T15:19:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T01:19:37","slug":"uh-hilo-alumna-teaches-hawaiian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/02\/17\/uh-hilo-alumna-teaches-hawaiian\/","title":{"rendered":"N\u0101 H\u014dk\u016b Hanohano award-winning <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo alumna teaches Hawaiian, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_90854\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UK1PhZVFB0M?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Waipunalei creative process, mele in jazz, RnB, and Contemporary styles\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>Educator, award-winning musician, Hawaiian language advocate. <strong>Kainani Kahaunaele<\/strong> does it all. A proud alumna-turned-employee of the <a href=\"https:\/\/hilo.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo<\/a>, she credits much of her success to former mentors and peers who have fostered her knowledge of both Hawaiian language and culture.<\/p>\n<p>Born and raised on <span aria-label=\"Kauai\">Kaua&#699;i<\/span>, Kahaunaele graduated from <span aria-label=\"Kapaa\">Kapa&#699;a<\/span> High School, and enrolled at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kauai.hawaii.edu\/\"><span aria-label=\"Kauai\">Kaua&#699;i<\/span> Community College<\/a>, at which her steadfast interest in her K&#257;naka Maoli heritage manifested into a membership in the school\u2019s Hawaiian club.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I have to be the example that Hawaiian is a living language that you can apply in all facets of your life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&ldquo;At the time, the Hawaiian club would take an annual excursion to <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo to attend the Hawaiian Leadership Development Program,&rdquo; said Kahaunaele. She credits this conference as being her first experience at the university and the one that ultimately inspired her to move to <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Some of my earliest influences were <strong>Kauanoe Kaman&#257;<\/strong>, <strong>Taupori Tangar&#333;<\/strong>, <strong>Larry Lindsey Kimura<\/strong> and many of the Native Hawaiian speaking elders that were brought in,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;To have access to them through our college was one of the best benefits as young Hawaiian language learners.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>She went on to earn a bachelor of arts in Hawaiian studies and a master of arts in Hawaiian language and literature.<\/p>\n<h2>The teacher<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_135651\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-135651\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-k-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"Kainani Kahaunaele\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-135651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-k-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-k-93x130.jpg 93w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-k.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-135651\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kainani Kahaunaele<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kahaunaele is now a lecturer at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.olelo.hawaii.edu\/\">Ka Haka <span aria-label=\"Ula\">&#699;Ula<\/span> O <span aria-label=\"Keelikolani\">Ke&#699;elik&#333;lani<\/span> College of Hawaiian Language<\/a> at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Having the Hawaiian language almost at extinction, but being here during revitalization, all the kumus, including myself, see every student as a way for our language to live further,&rdquo; said Kahaunaele.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawaiian language program is one of the few on campus where students meet five days a week, and this is to both maximize time spent learning about the language, but also to fully immerse the students in it.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I\u2019m in a pretty vulnerable space, but like my teachers and colleagues and mentors, we have overcome all of those kinds of adverse situations because we\u2019re so committed to the language,&rdquo; Kahaunaele said.<\/p>\n<h2>The musician<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_135652\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-135652\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-album-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Kainani Kahaunaele\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-135652\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-album-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-album-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hilo-kahaunaele-album.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-135652\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Album cover for <em>Waipunalei<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She loves her job so much that she continues to educate others about the Hawaiian language beyond the classroom door, through the universal language of music. A four-time <a href=\"https:\/\/harahawaii.com\/hoku-awards\/\">N&#257; H&#333;k&#363; Hanohano<\/a> award recipient, Kahaunaele is both a singer and songwriter. Using her growing knowledge of <span aria-label=\"olelo\">&#699;&#333;lelo<\/span> <span aria-label=\"Hawaii,\">Â鶹´«Ã½,<\/span> she writes mele with the intent of Hawaiian language and cultural advocacy.<\/p>\n<p>Kahaunaele\u2019s music career began when she was a college student. Weekend gatherings with her friends developed into a hub of musical, and, by extension cultural, expression. She decided to go solo in the late 1990s after spending time working for the <span aria-label=\"Aha\">&#699;Aha<\/span> P&#363;nana Leo curriculum development department, an organization dedicated to the Hawaiian education movement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One of my projects in that department was to record songs from my personal songbook,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;My boss asked me if I\u2019d consider doing personal songs as a curriculum tool and to also be put into the mainstream of Hawaiian music in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Since becoming a solo artist, she has released three albums. Her most recent entitled, <a href=\"https:\/\/mele.com\/product\/music\/female-artists\/waipunalei\/\"><em>Waipunalei<\/em><\/a>, just dropped in November.<\/p>\n<p>Whether at school or on stage, Kahaunaele\u2019s primary goal is to educate and promote <span aria-label=\"olelo\">&#699;&#333;lelo<\/span> <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and all things Hawaiian.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;My professional music career, my profession as a teacher who teaches Hawaiian language, and as a mother who facilitates my family in Hawaiian, it\u2019s all equally related and important,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I have to be the example that Hawaiian is a living language that you can apply in all facets of your life.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hilo.hawaii.edu\/chancellor\/stories\/2021\/02\/11\/kainani-kahaunaele\/\">Read more at <em><abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo Stories<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8212;By Kiaria Zoi Nakamura, a <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo student<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kainani Kahaunaele lectures at the Ka Haka <span aria-label=\"Ula\">&#699;Ula<\/span> O <span aria-label=\"Keelikolani\">Ke&#699;elik&#333;lani<\/span> College of Hawaiian Language. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[33,1057,316,64,71,14,907,56],"class_list":["post-135647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-hawaiian","tag-hawaiian-language","tag-ka-haka-ula-o-keelikolani","tag-kauai-community-college","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-hilo-stories","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135647"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135657,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135647\/revisions\/135657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}