Cast members from the 2021 Duke Kahanamoku documentary movie, Waterman, will be on campus to answer questions about the film.
To honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, an annual commemoration celebrating the diversity and history of Indigenous communities, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center will host a series of events on Monday, October 10, to educate and share critical knowledge. Attendees can participate in activities such as lei making, art and poetry workshops and a special screening of the Duke Kahanamoku documentary, Waterman.
“The aim of the festival is to celebrate indigeneity and provide an opportunity for people from all walks of life to engage and learn about each other, building and strengthening relationships on the basis of our shared humanity with the longer term goal of eradicating racism from our campus and society,” said Jennifer Stotter, a director and Title IX Coordinator from the UH Hilo Office of Equal Opportunity/Title IX.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day events
- Kīpaepae (traditional ceremony) and opening remarks, noon, Campus Center
- Workshops: native plants, lei making, art and poetry, noon–4 p.m., Campus Center
- Booths: UH Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, Pacific Island Student Center, Office of Equal Opportunity, Pride Club and Mālama Waimanalo, noon–4 p.m., Campus Center Plaza
- Film screening: Waterman, Q&A talk story with cast members such as world champion waterman Duane DeSoto and his daughter Pua, also a pro-surfer, 5–7 p.m., University Classroom Building, Room 127.
Inaugural TRHT Center event
Bottom row, from left: Yolisa Dudley, Kekai Lindsey and Michael Marshall.
This is the first event set to be hosted by UH Hilo’s new TRHT center named Waiolama. Earlier this year, the Hawaiʻi Island campus was selected by the Association of American Colleges and Universities to join 46 other higher education institutions, including UH Mānoa, to host a center to prepare the next generation of leaders to break down systemic racism and dismantle belief in a hierarchy of human value.
“As such, Waiolama aims to provide a safe space for our campus community to engage in critical conversations around racial disparities and systemic injustices, both past and present, and promotes healing and understanding of our shared humanity,” Assistant Professor of English Leanne Day.
Day and Stotter helped organize UH Hilo’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day alongside Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dana-Lynn Koʻomoa-Lange, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences and Advisor for the Indigenous Public Health Certificate Yolisa Duley, Institutional Support and Confidential Advocate and Prevention Educator Kekai Lindsey and Art Professor Michael Marshall.
