As Hawaiʻi faces rising sea levels, housing pressures and growing calls for the return of ʻāina to community stewardship, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will host a day of bold conversations focused on solutions. On March 4, the annual Piʻo Summit at 8 a.m. at East West Center will gather leaders, scholars and community advocates to examine how land, law and justice intersect and what that means for Hawaiʻi’s future.
Now in its fifth year, the summit carries the theme ʻĀinahoʻi: Land, Law and Justice. ʻĀinahoʻi means “indeed that which feeds us.” The phrase is both reminder and call to action that the future of Hawaiʻi is tied to how we care for the ʻāina that sustains us.
“We established the Piʻo Summits to advance ancestral knowledge and courageous leadership to address the cascading challenges of our times,” said Kamanamaikalani Beamer, professor at UH Mānoa Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies and the William S. Richardson School of Law. “Hawaiʻi deserves the best and the Piʻo Summits bring critical issues to the head of our table and we sit with the community to find ways to carve out a better future.”
Voices for ʻāina
This year’s summit begins with music from two-time Grammy nominee Raiatea Helm and a keynote from Justice Joe Williams of Aotearoa, a respected Māori jurist known for advancing Indigenous rights within modern legal systems.
Throughout the day, panels will feature leaders from Hawaiʻi’s largest landholders serving Native Hawaiian communities, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) advocates will join scholars and professors from UH Mānoa’s Hawaiian studies and political science departments, as well as the William S. Richardson School of Law, to explore the future of ʻāina stewardship and justice in Hawaiʻi.
“This year’s summit will highlight the collective effort for ʻĀinahoʻi across the pae ʻāina,” Beamer said. “We will be exploring how communities are navigating and challenging existing systems through legal methods, land trusts, and grassroots action to restore ea, strengthen relationships to ʻāina, and advance self-determined governance grounded in ancestral innovation and courageousness.”
Ancestral innovation
The summit is organized by Pōʻai Ke Aloha ʻĀina, a UH-based lab that works to solve modern challenges using ʻike Hawaiʻi (ancestral Hawaiian knowledge). The lab is helping build a new center focused on an ancestral circular economy, a model rooted in regeneration and long-term stewardship.
