Ka Wai Hāpai
Co-Creating Controlled Vocabularies for Social Justice
Literally translated as “the carried waters,” the phrase Ka Wai Hāpai invokes images of the network of systems that care for our knowledge. This 2-year, IMLS-supported initiative seeks to increase equity for, and improve the well-being of, Indigenous communities within libraries and library services, with a specific focus on Native Hawaiian communities. The project plans to increase and improve intellectual access to Hawaiian collections and materials using Native Hawaiian epistemes to formulate and facilitate their retrieval.
Meet the project TeAM
Principal Investigator / Project Director
Head Librarian, UH Maui College
shavonn@hawaii.edu
Co-Investigator / Project Team Lead – Hawaiian Language Hawaiʻi-Pacific Resources Librarian, Leeward Community College
aapaikai@hawaii.edu
Co-Investigator / Magic Spinner
Librarian, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawai’inuiākea, UH Mānoa
keahiahi@hawaii.edu
Research Assistant
M.A. Hawaiian Studies
kyle.hart@hawaii.edu
Community consultants
As the vision and intent of Ka Wai Hāpai are centered around co-creation, there is an intentional focus on community engagement across the project’s life span, as well as a concerted effort towards building a community of practice around knowledge organization and social justice. Thus, Ka Wai Hāpai works in consultation with six loea, or Hawaiian knowledge experts. These experts share insights into Indigenous Hawaiian epistemologies, language, and culture. Loea meet regularly with the Project Team to provide in-depth feedback into project developments while sharing their communities’ specific challenges and needs relevant to each project phase. In addition to loea, Ka Wai Hāpai also consults with three technical knowledge organization experts who specialize in metadata creation and Indigenous vocabularies.
Nā Loea: Hawaiian Knowledge Experts
Dr. Noelani Arista, Chair of Indigenous Studies and Associate Professor, History and Classical Studies (McGill University)
Maelia Loebenstein Carter, Kumu Hula (Ka Pā Hula O Kauanoe O Waʻahila)
Kahele Dukelow, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (University of Hawaiʻi Maui College)
Dr. Kekoa Harman, Associate Professor, Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani (University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo)
Dr. Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla, Director, Ka Hikina O Ka Lā (University of Hawaiʻi Maui College)
Dr. Kalei Nuʻuhiwa, Chief Executive Officer (Mauliola Endowment LLC)
Technical Knowledge Organization Experts
Dr. Sharon Farnel, Metadata Strategies Head (University of Alberta)
Dr. Sandra Littletree, Assistant Professor (University of Washington)
Whina Te Whiu, Curator (Te Ahu Museum) and Former Project Manager (Māori Subject Headings working group)
Previous project team members
MLISc., M.A.,
Kamakakūokalani Center for
Hawaiian Studies,
UH Mānoa hmoniz@hawaii.edu
Partners & Sponsors
