Fishing for Grandma

Fishing for Grandma by David Manu Bird

Some of my favorite pop­u­lar posts when I pub­lished Pūpū A ‘O ‘Ewa Native Hawai­ian Writ­ing and Arts at Lee­ward Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege were per­son­al essays by stu­dents and fac­ul­ty. Fish­ing for Grand­ma, by my col­league and long­time friend, Dave Kaʻa­puwai “Manu” Bird, was first pub­lished in 2014. About this essay, one of our read­ers wrote, “I espe­cial­ly loved read­ing Manu’s

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E-heluhelu-kakou

E Heluhelu Kākou: No ke Anilā

The Hawai­ian lan­guage — ʻŌle­lo Hawaiʻi — is a beau­ti­ful, rich lan­guage. Thanks to the inter­net, ʻōle­lo can now be heard across the globe. Read-aloud ver­sions of chil­drenʻs books in Eng­lish are read­i­ly avail­able online. And now thanks to Kame­hame­ha Pub­lish­ing, books in ōle­lo are, too.

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Interview with Writer Brandi-Ann Uyemura

Our ongo­ing series on Native Hawai­ian and local Hawaiʻi writ­ers con­tin­ues this week with my friend, author Bran­di-Ann Uye­mu­ra. Writ­ing coach, blog­ger, coach and author, Bran­di does it all. Her arti­cles and essays inspire hope, courage and com­pas­sion. An Asian American

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A Nation of Our Own, Spoken Poetry by Chris Oliveira

Native Hawai­ians have a rich oral tra­di­tion that spans over a thou­sand years. Our sto­ries are told in many forms: songs, chants, hula, leg­ends, ʻōle­lo noʻeau, and word play. Mod­ern Hawai­ians con­tin­ue our ancient tra­di­tion by weav­ing their sto­ries into beau­ti­ful spo­ken poet­ry. Chris Oliveira is

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I_am_Kiki_I_love_me

Interview with Native Hawaiian Author Tammy Paikai

Wel­come to the next post in a series of inter­views with Native Hawai­ian and local Hawaiʻi writ­ers! I am delight­ed to fea­ture my friend, the tal­ent­ed Native Hawai­ian author Tam­my Paikai. Her five pic­ture books cov­er sub­jects that teach chil­dren impor­tant life lessons but do so in a fun and approach­able way that kids — and their grown-ups — love.

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Lahi Vegas

Ka Maile, a Mele Aloha by Kahaulahilahi Vegas

Native Hawai­ians look to our kūpuna — our elders — to help us find our path­ways through life. They guide us by their spir­i­tu­al wis­dom through per­son­al, famil­ial or com­mu­ni­ty dif­fi­cul­ties. Kahaulahi­lahi Vegas is a flu­ent Hawai­ian lan­guage speak­er pur­su­ing her PhD degree in Pub­lic Health. To hon­or her beloved kūpuna, Lahi Vegas, com­posed her mele alo­ha, Ka Maile. She says she will always be inspired by her kūpuna: He alo­ha pau ʻole — a love with­out end.

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Ohana-means-Family

Interview with Award-Winning Author Ilima Loomis

Wel­come to the first in a new series of inter­views with Native Hawai­ian and local Hawaiʻi writ­ers! I am very pleased to intro­duce award-win­ning author Ili­ma Loomis. She has an exten­sive back­ground in writ­ing for chil­dren but in jour­nal­ism as well as con­tent mar­ket­ing, sci­ence and tech­nol­o­gy. Her award-win­ning books include ʻOhana is Fam­i­ly and Eclipse Chaser. 

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Violet-Wong-Hoe-1919

Her Name was Violet, by Stephanie Namahoe Launiu

In her beau­ti­ful per­son­al his­to­ry first pub­lished at Pūpū A ʻO ʻEwa in 2014, Stephanie Nama­hoe Lau­niu describes writ­ing about her grand­moth­er, Vio­let Wong Hoe, as a spir­i­tu­al experience.
“Grand­ma was born only two years after annex­a­tion at a time when Hawai­ians weren’t free to speak their native lan­guage or open­ly prac­tice their cul­ture. She was so very Hawai­ian to the core.” 

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Spam_musubi

Monday is National Spam Musubi Day (Thanks, L&L!)

Mon­day August 8 is Nation­al Spam Musubi Day, and that means a free musubi from L&L Hawaiʻi. This quirky it-should-be-a-hol­i­day is just anoth­er exam­ple of what makes Hawaiʻi, well, Hawaiʻi. And because I love both spam and his­to­ry, letʻs have a lit­tle of both in todayʻs blog post.

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I am a Farmer

I am a Farmer, Revisited, by Sheila Arasato

Dur­ing my years as a pro­fes­sor at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hawaiʻi — Lee­ward Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege, one of my con­tri­bu­tions to my Native Hawai­ian com­mu­ni­ty was found­ing and pub­lish­ing Pūpū A ʻO ʻEwa Native Hawai­ian Writ­ing and Arts. Every­one, regard­less of eth­nic­i­ty, was invited

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