Nanaikamalama

He keiki noho papa au o ka makani ʻĀhiu o Kahana i hānau a hānai ʻia i loko o ka hoʻoilina palapala moʻolelo a koʻu mau kūpuna. He hua au o ka Pūnana Leo o Koʻolauloa, Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Ānuenue, a puka pono nō i Ke Kula Kiʻekiʻe ʻo Kamehameha ma Kapālama. Ma Hilo nō au i hoʻopaʻa ai i kaʻu mau kēkelē laepua ma ka Haʻawina Hawaiʻi a me ke Kālaiʻōlelo, a pēlā pū kaʻu kēkelē laeoʻo ma ka Hoʻonaʻauao ʻŌlelo a Moʻomeheu ʻŌiwi me ke kālele ma ka ʻŌlelo a Moʻokalaleo Hawaiʻi ma lalo o Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani. He haumāna laeʻula au ma ke Kālaiʻāina ma Ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa e kālele ana ma ke Kālaianiau ʻŌiwi, ka Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi, a me ka Moʻokalaleo Hawaiʻi. ʻO ka moʻolelo o ke kenekulia 19 a 20 ke kahua o kaʻu mau hana he kumu aʻo ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a moʻokalaleo Hawaiʻi, he kanaka hoʻomohala haʻawina, a luna hoʻoponopono ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi no Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani. He lālā hoʻokumu, Luna Hoʻokele Noiʻi, a Mea Kākau pū au no Aumiki, he hui hoʻokuluma laupāpaho ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi e ea aʻe ai ka ʻāina, mauli, a nohona. 

I am a generationally-rooted native of Kahana, Oʻahu who has been steeped in the literary traditions of my ancestors. I am a product of Pūnana Leo o Koʻolauloa, Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Ānuenue, as well as Kamehameha Schools at Kapālama and hold concurrent BAs in Hawaiian Studies and Linguistics, as well as an MA in Indigenous Language and Culture Education with an emphasis in Hawaiian Language and Literature from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani. I am currently a Ph.D student in Political Science at UH Mānoa specializing in Indigenous Climatology, Hawaiian Historiography, and Hawaiian Literature. Professionally, I focus on 19th and 20th century Hawaiian literature as well as ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi instruction as a Hawaiian language and literature instructor, curriculum developer, and editor for Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani. I am a founding member, Director of Research, and Writer for Aumiki, a multimedia creative media entity whose mission is to normalize ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi by engaging in moʻolelo and diverse kuanaʻike with our ʻāina, mauli, and nohona.