Papa Kalu’ulu (2010-2011)

I was born and raised in Nānākuli and graduated from the Kamehameha Schools in 1999.  I received my Bachelors degree in Economics from Scripps College in Claremont, CA and my Masters degree in Demography from the University of California, Berkeley.  I’m passionate about learning and sharing knowledge.  My years before and since graduate school are filled with research and analytics experience, and I am currently the Lead Researcher of the Demography Research Program at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs where I am honored to have the opportunity to serve the Native Hawaiian community.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my ‘ohana and friends and dancing hula.  Fortunately for me, the two are often one and the same.  I am truly humbled to be a fellow and am looking forward to the year of learning ahead of us all.

Pua Fernandez
I was born on Kaua‘i and raised in Hanama‘ula, a small plantation town near Līhu‘e.  My parents are Anthony Fernandez and Alicia Kehaulani Contrades.  At a young age my mother was adopted by her maternal grandparents, Peter Contrades and Ruby Roselani Holi, of Hanama‘ula, Kaua‘i.  My grandpa’s and grandma’s lineage traces back to Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island.

From the time I was born to my early elementary years, our family of six (my father, mother, two sisters, and brother) lived with my grandparents, Peter and Ruby, in their red plantation home across Peter Rayno Park.  Living on Kaua‘i, I was able to experience a rural lifestyle.  I spent a lot of my time at my grandma’s property, which we called the “hojo.” This small land parcel is located in Līhu‘e across Kuhio Grove Shopping Center and surrounded completely by cane fields.  I played in taro fields, swam in fresh water ponds, and caught crayfish with my siblings.  I also spent time with my paternal grandpa, Gregory Fernandez, riding in his truck as he picked up slop and dropped it off at his pig farm in Hanama‘ulu.  Growing up with my grandparents and extended ‘ohana provided me with a strong foundation of familial ties.

I don’t know exactly when, but when I was in the fifth grade at Wilcox Elementary, I knew that I wanted to go to college.  My parents were hard workers and provided the basic necessities for the family, but it was always a challenge for them.  My first paying job was babysitting and later I started working for retail stores as a high school student.  The one lesson that I learned from my parents was the value of money and the importance of working.

After graduating from Kaua‘i High and Intermediate School, I went on to attend the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.  I was the first in my family to attend a college institution.  It was there that the professors of the Center for Hawaiian Studies reaffirmed the Hawaiian values that I grew up with.  I became interested in Hawaiian history, language, culture, and arts.  I was always inspired by my Hawaiian Professors who provided guidance, support and encouraged me to dream.  They have taught me the importance of learning and perpetuating the culture and history of Hawai‘i. I went on to graduate in 1998 and later entered graduate school in that same summer and graduated three years later.  During those years I also became a mother and learned how to manage family and school life.

In the summer of 2005, I moved to Maku’u, approximately eight miles east of Kea‘au town in the district of Puna on the island of Hawai‘i to build a home and raise our family in a Hawaiian Homestead community.  It was a difficult and challenging move.  Ironically, I didn’t imagine that I would be living on a small farm in a rural community and working closely with Hawaiian kūpuna.  I am currently finishing my doctorate degree in the Department of Political Science and plan on graduating in the summer of 2011.

Keoni Lee
I was born and raised in Mililani, O‘ahu and am a 1996 graduate of the Kamehameha Schools.  I left Hawai‘i to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.  After graduation, I was drawn back to Hawai‘i by a deep sense of indebtedness for the education I was afforded from Ke Ali‘i Pauahi.  In 2003 I enrolled at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and graduated with a Masters in Business Administration.

In 2008, I co-founded ‘Ōiwi TV, Hawai‘i’s first and only television station for Native Hawaiians.  ‘Ōiwi TV is pioneering a new paradigm of Native Hawaiian representation in media and has given the Hawaiian language, culture, and perspective a place to thrive.  My kuleana include strategic planning, fiscal management, sales and fund development, and marketing.  I am also a part-time producer and marketing manager for ‘Āha‘i ‘Ōlelo Ola, the ‘Aha Pūnana Leo’s groundbreaking Hawaiian language news program.  Being part of  the Hawaiian television “movement” is extremely challenging but is also completely rewarding knowing that I am helping to build something for future generations of Hawaiians.

Ka’iulani Murphy
Welina me ke aloha.  Born and raised on the ‘āina of Waimea, Hawai‘i, Ka‘iulani Murphy comes from a Waipi‘o family of mahi‘ai kalo.  After graduating from Kamehameha Schools, she earned a BA in Hawaiian Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.  While at UH Mānoa she found her passion in voyaging and has been a crewmember with Hōkūle‘a since 1997.  Ka‘iulani has had the privilege to learn from and voyage with extraordinary mentors, who she hopes to honor by living the kuleana that comes with the ‘ike.  She is currently an Instructor at Honolulu Community College in the Ocean/Hawaiian Studies program where she teaches courses on wayfinding and voyaging.

Kapā Oliveira
Aloha mai nō kākou e nā kupa o ka ‘āina mai ka lā hiki a i ka lā kau. Ua hānau ‘ia ‘o Katrina-Ann R. Kapā‘anaokalāokeola Oliveira ma O‘ahu a hānai ‘ia ‘o ia i ka poli aloha o kona mau mākua i ka malu o ‘Aiea a ma Maui a Kama ma ke one i hehi mua ‘ia e kona mau kūpuna ma Kahakuloa, Wailuanui, Pukalani, a me Kula.

She graduated from the Kamehameha Schools in 1992. She then attended the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa where she earned dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies as well as a Master’s degree and a PhD in Geography.  She is currently an Assistant Professor of Hawaiian and the Interim Director of Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language within Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her research interests include Hawaiian geographies, epistemologies, language acquisition methodologies, and place-based experiential learning curricula.

Lori Tango
I was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai‘i.  I attended Hilo High School, graduated in 2000, and went on to receive both my undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo with a B.A. in Biology (Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology) in 2004 and a M.S. in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science in 2010.  My studies have focused on climate and environmental change and its effect on native biota.  Currently, I am a biological science technician for USGS-BRD Kīlauea Field Station within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, where I study insect communities in and around intermittent streams in the Ka‘ū district.

I believe the bridging of western academic and corporate philosophies with traditional First Nations philosophies is fundamental in holistically addressing conservation issues in Hawai‘i.  I applied to become a fellow with the hopes of gaining a deeper perspective of traditional cultural knowledge and learning how to successfully incorporate this knowledge with conservation and resource management in a changing world.  I am grateful to participate in the First Nations’ Futures Program and I’m looking forward to this opportunity.