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.

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