This article by Native Hawaiian Engagement Director at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Pelehonuamea Harman was first published in Ka Wai Ola on August 1.
This summer, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo served as a cultural and intellectual bridge between the New Directions in the Humanities international conference and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
These two global events—centered on Indigenous knowledge, language revitalization, and the role of youth in shaping culture—highlighted UH Hilo’s leadership at the intersection of scholarship, ʻike kupuna, and community.
Held at UH Hilo and chaired by Dr. Patsy Y. Iwasaki, the New Directions in the Humanities conference marked the first time this prestigious gathering was hosted in Hawaiʻi. Previous locations included Paris and Rome, with Lisbon, Portugal, set to host next.
The conference opened with a kīpaepae welcome ceremony, grounding guests in the spirit of the land and people of Hawaiʻi.
Under the theme “Oceanic Journeys,” scholars, students, and cultural practitioners explored the humanities through a Pacific lens. Presentations spanned topics from language reclamation and Indigenous storytelling to cultural continuity and place-based education. A field trip to the luapele—the volcanic landscape sacred to Pele—provided an experiential learning opportunity rooted in Hawaiian ways of knowing and deepened participants’ understanding of the connection between land, language, and identity.
UH Hilo faculty, staff, and students played central roles sharing research, performing mele and oli, and engaging in cross-cultural dialogue. The conference affirmed UH Hilo’s strength as an Indigenous-serving institution committed to community-centered and place-based education.
Weeks later, UH Hilo’s voice resonated from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where university representatives participated in the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Under the theme “Youth and the Future of Culture,” the Hawaiʻi delegation led the Language Reclamation Program. Representatives from UH Hilo leadership, Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani, ʻImiloa Astronomy Center, Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, and the National Native American Language Resource Center shared mele, oli, hula, and strategies for revitalizing ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.
A key facilitator for the folklife festival was UH Hilo alumnus Hālena Kapuni-Reynolds who serves as a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. His leadership helped ensure that Indigenous voices from Hawaiʻi were highlighted with respect and authenticity on this national stage.
Visitors to the Hawaiʻi tent participated in intergenerational dialogue and hands-on activities, learning how language restoration is deeply tied to land, education, and cultural identity. In a powerful gesture of continuity, several “Oceanic Journeys” attendees visited the Hawaiʻi tent to thank the UH Hilo delegation for extending the spirit and ʻike of the conference to the nation’s capital.
Whether we are hosting a conference as kamaʻāina at our own university or attending as malihini at a national gathering, our relationship to Hawaiʻi remains central to who we are and how we engage. In every setting, we carry this ʻike (knowledge), aloha, and the values rooted in this ʻāina with us.
These gatherings affirmed a shared vision: that the humanities are most powerful when grounded in place, lived experience, and Indigenous knowledge systems. UH Hilo’s presence at both events underscored its commitment to cultivating future cultural leaders—those who carry tradition forward while envisioning and shaping a resilient future.
