HSTA develops Hanohano Hawaiʻi to open union meetings, events

The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association is proud to present Hanohano Hawaiʻi, a new framework to open all union-related events.

Hanohano Hawaiʻi outlines an opening protocol that breathes hā, or life, into the proceedings relating to the values, language, culture, and/or history of our islands. In the Hawaiian language, the word hanohano means glorious, honorable, distinguished and honorary.

“Hawaiʻi is a place where we honor our kūpuna, honor our elders, and the stories shared through moʻolelo and oli,” said HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. “Just like you have to make a conscious effort to keep a language alive, we have to make a conscious effort to keep the culture, the spirit of Hawaiʻi alive. That was the inspiration behind Hanohano Hawaiʻi.”

The origin of Hanohano Hawaiʻi

In 2019, at the National Education Association Representative Assembly, delegates passed a new business item (NBI) that called on the NEA to “acknowledge the native people of whom the lands originated from at the beginning of all NEA convenings.” The NEA is HSTA’s national affiliate.

Then in 2022, HSTA State Convention delegates passed an NBI that called on the union to “convene a group of HSTA members to develop an appropriate opening protocol for all HSTA meetings and events, which includes a proper land acknowledgment, and is based on Native Hawaiian culture and values. … This protocol shall be shared with all HSTA leaders and used at all HSTA meetings and events.”

While HSTA’s NBI was inspired by the NEA, group members struggled to codify a formal land acknowledgment that felt authentic to Hawaiʻi.

Kalae Akioka, Kailua High teacher and chair of HSTA’s Hawaiian Education Special Committee, said, “I only can speak from my personal experience, but land acknowledgments on the continent feel very politically charged and cerebral, like a statement or speech, and less spiritual and land based.

“We’re not going to hide colonization,” Akioka said, “but meetings are about trying to come together and work together to accomplish something. And when you start off with this weird, uncomfortable tension because of what the oppressor did, it doesn’t seem like a positive way to open a meeting.”

Connecting to land, spirit, kūpuna

For nearly two years, the working group discussed the overall intentions of what would become Hanohano Hawaiʻi. HSTA’s Hawaiian Education Special Committee, which was established in 2022, re-energized the conversation by compiling five key themes and values that forge a spiritual connection to union work.

• Mauli Ola: the kūpuna (elders/ancestors) that you bring with you.
• ʻĀina: a specific location or wahi pana (sacred/legendary place).
• Kānaka: Native Hawaiian leaders or other inspirational figures.
• Kuamoʻo ʻŌlelo: significant events/observances in the history of Hawaiʻi.
• Kuleana: how our work impacts the keiki o ka ʻāina and future generations of Hawaiʻi.

Kapolei Kiili, a Hawaiian language immersion teacher at King Kekaulike High School on Maui, said, “Understanding that we are working to uplift native communities and indigenous perspectives through educating ourselves and our members about this place we all love and call home is what really helped move the work along.”

Kiili, who also serves as HSTA Maui Chapter treasurer and a member of the HSTA Human and Civil Rights Committee, added, “Many of us are always proud to share Hawaiʻi with the world beyond our own shores, so we want to help folks to feel empowered to share from authentic and brave spaces. We want folks to own their pride for being from Hawaiʻi by educating them on the native people and culture that make Hawaiʻi as rich as it is. We want people to feel inspired to learn the stories of their places and to share in keeping these moʻolelo alive for all of our communities.

“We wanted to honor Hawaiʻi in our intentions so that we always have Hawaiʻi at the top of our minds and to help us continuously remember how special Hawaiʻi is for all of us,” Kiili concluded.

HSTA leads by example

Working group members say they’re proud of their union for leading the effort to honor and integrate authentic Hawaiian culture into union practices, setting an example for others to follow.

Hope Pualani McKeen, a Hawaiian studies teacher at Keonepoko Elementary on Hawaiʻi Island, said, “This is one of the largest steps I’ve seen HSTA take in incorporating Hawaiian culture authentically — and not doing the Disney version of what is Hawaiʻi, but what authentically is ours.”

Kiili, King Kekaulike High kumu (teacher), said, “We are a powerful organization and are powerful in the work we do with teaching our keiki in Hawaiʻi every day. Having our union take these bold steps is one more way to strengthen who we are as teachers and who we are as global leaders.”

Group members say they hope this practice inspires all educators in Hawaiʻi to learn about their island home, its indigenous people, culture, and world view, and build positive connections to the ʻāina and each other.

“Hopefully this will take that barrier of, ‘Oh, I’m not Hawaiian, I shouldn’t do it’ to ‘I’m not Hawaiian, and I should do it because I am not Hawaiian,’” said McKeen, who chairs HSTA’s Government Relations Committee and serves on the HSTA Hawaiian Education Special Committee.

Akioka, Hawaiian Education Special Committee chair, said, “The more people feel like they can do it, the more likely it is to have life, and the more resources we can provide people with, the better chance that more people will be incorporating these Hawaiian concepts and values in their everyday practice.”

Hanohano Hawaiʻi was developed by Kalae Akioka, Kailua High, Hawaiian Education Special Committee chair; Terri Inefuku, communications specialist; Rebecca Kapolei Kiili, EdD, Kekaulike High, Maui Chapter treasurer, Human and Civil Rights Committee member; Aaron Kubo, Hilo Intermediate, Hawaiʻi NEA director; Jodi Kunimitsu, Maui High, Human and Civil Rights Committee chair; Hope Pualani McKeen, Keonepoko Elementary, Government Relations Committee chair, Hawaiian Education Special Committee member; Angela Miyashiro, EdD, Kaʻū High and Pāhala Elementary, Human and Civil Rights Committee member; Logan Okita, Nimitz Elementary, HSTA vice president; and Osa Tui, McKinley High, HSTA president.