Kīpuka Moʻolelo

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Ikaakamai Nahuewai explores how Hawaiian language and worldview move through sound—across reggae, contemporary mele, and multimedia storytelling. Raised in Hilo and shaped by both Hawaiian-language education and diverse musical training, Ikaakamai reflects on songwriting as a space where ʻike Hawaiʻi, political consciousness, and creativity meet.The conversation moves between music and meaning: why reggae became a vehicle for Hawaiian expression, how lyrics carry ancestral knowledge, and how sound can awaken curiosity about language, land, and responsibility. From composing mele grounded in aloha ʻāina to mentoring the next generation of artists, Ikaakamai shares a vision of music not just as entertainment, but as a living practice that carries the voice and vitality of the lāhui forward.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Holeka Inaba shares how a childhood rooted in Hawaiian language education shaped a lifelong commitment to community leadership, public service, and aloha ʻāina. Raised through Pūnana Leo and Hawaiian-medium schooling in Kona, Holeka reflects on how ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi formed his worldview long before he ever entered formal political spaces.The conversation traces his return home after college and his path into county government, where Hawaiian values, genealogy, and responsibility to place guide everyday decision-making. Holeka speaks candidly about navigating modern governance through a Hawaiian lens—bringing language, ʻike Hawaiʻi, and community accountability into institutions not originally built for them. This episode offers a grounded look at leadership as an inherited kuleana, carried forward through service, humility, and steadfast connection to ʻāina and poʻe.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Kuʻulei Kanahele shares her journey into Hawaiian language, hula, and the deep study of Pele traditions—work shaped as much by archives and translation as by embodied practice. Raised on Oʻahu and drawn into ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi through school and family, Kuʻulei reflects on the differences between classroom Hawaiian and home Hawaiian, and how fluency grows through relationship, responsibility, and lived use.The conversation centers on her work with Pele moʻolelo and oli, exploring how kūpuna encoded environmental knowledge, ethics, and law within chant and story. Kuʻulei offers insight into understanding akua not as distant figures, but as elemental forces whose laws guide how people move through landscapes shaped by fire, water, and growth. This episode invites listeners to reconsider moʻolelo Pele as living systems of knowledge, carrying lessons for care, restraint, and balance in Hawaiʻi today.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Noʻeau Peralto shares his journey home to ʻāina, moʻolelo, and kuleana. Raised in Waiākea and now living on ancestral lands in Hāmākua, Noʻeau reflects on how ʻike kūpuna, education, and intergenerational relationships shaped his path as a land steward and community leader.Through stories of his grandfather, his work with Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili, and his reflections on kīpuka as spaces of cultural regeneration, Noʻeau explores why moʻolelo and Hawaiian language are essential foundations for aloha ʻāina, political clarity, and long-term community survival. This episode invites listeners to consider how ʻike Hawaiʻi, rooted in place and story, guides us toward pono pathways for the generations to come.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Kamalani Johnson reflects on a life shaped by ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, moʻolelo, and aloha ʻāina—from his beginnings in Pūnana Leo and Hawaiian-medium education to his work today as a scholar of Hawaiian language, literature, and political thought. Through deeply personal reflections, Kamalani traces how family history, ʻike kūpuna, and immersion education grounded his commitment to Hawaiian language as both a cultural practice and an intellectual foundation.The conversation explores Hawaiian-language newspapers, nineteenth- and twentieth-century moʻolelo, and the ways kūpuna intentionally preserved ʻike for future generations. Kamalani shares how teaching, research, and storytelling serve as modern kīpuka—spaces where Hawaiian worldview, political consciousness, and cultural responsibility continue to thrive. This episode offers a profound meditation on language as identity, moʻolelo as inheritance, and education as an act of aloha ʻāina for generations yet to come.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this  episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Kananinohea Kawaiʻaeʻa-Mākaimoku reflects on her life as one of the first children raised entirely in the Hawaiian language revitalization movement. From her early years with Pūnana Leo and Ke Kula o Nāwahīokalaniōpuʻu to her role today preparing new Hawaiian-medium teachers, Kanani shares her thoughts on what it means to live, learn, and lead through ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.She speaks to the evolution of Hawaiian education over four decades, the growing richness of the language, and the importance of intergenerational continuity—now seen in her own three-generation Hawaiian-speaking household. Through stories of teaching, mentorship, and community collaboration, Kanani offers a vision for the future of Hawaiian-medium education and the teachers who will carry it forward.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this  episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, revered scholar and cultural practitioner Kalena Silva shares how his grandmother’s Hawaiian language and a childhood encounter with oli set him on a lifelong path of education, chant, and hula. From early lessons at home to advanced study in Hawaiian language and ethnomusicology, Kalena reflects on the teachers, kūpuna, and cultural experiences that shaped his understanding of Hawaiian arts.He also offers rare insight into his four decades as a Merrie Monarch judge, witnessing the evolution of hula and the resurgence of archival knowledge across generations. With warmth and depth, Kalena speaks to the heart of kuanaʻike Hawaiʻi—the worldview sustained through pilina, gratitude, and the continuing legacy of our kūpuna. Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Pila Wilson reflects on his journey from a childhood spent moving across countries to becoming a fierce advocate for Hawaiian language, worldview, and education. Through stories of learning ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, studying under Larry Kimura, and being fully embraced into a Hawaiian family, Pila shares how identity is shaped through correction, responsibility, and aloha.The conversation centers on the Hawaiian value of kauoha—the honor and trust embedded in instruction—and the deeper meaning of being called to serve community. This episode offers a moving reflection on what it truly means to live Hawaiian life beyond language alone, and how ʻike Hawaiʻi must be practiced daily.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Kauanoe Kamanā traces her life journey from growing up between Oʻahu and Molokaʻi to becoming a founding force behind the Hawaiian language immersion movement. She reflects on the profound influence of hula, ʻohana, and kūpuna, and how cultural practice became inseparable from her path as an educator and leader.Known affectionally as Kumu Kamanā by generations of students, she shares the origins of ʻAha Pūnana Leo and Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, revealing the courage, sacrifice, and collective labor required to restore Hawaiian language education in the face of legal and institutional barriers. This episode offers a  testament to ʻike Hawaiʻi as a living practice—one sustained through relationships, discipline, aloha, and generational responsibility.Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.

In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Larry Kimura reflects on his early upbringing in Waimea that lad the foundation to his role as a leader in the Hawaiian language revitalization movement. Through stories of family, kūpuna, and early voice recordings that helped preserve native speakers, he reveals how ʻike Hawaiʻi was carried forward during a critical moment in history.The conversation then explores the Kumulipo, the  Hawaiian genealogy chant, as a source of cosmology, science, and identity. Larry shares why Hawaiian language is essential—not optional—for true understanding of Hawaiian knowledge systems, and how Indigenous thought continues to guide both cultural practice and modern scientific inquiry. Inā he mau nīnau a manaʻo paha, e kelekiko mai | Text us with questions or thoughtsThis episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling. For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.