Maui Komohana

—West; Western Maui.

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“Kaulana nui loa ʻo Mokuʻula i Maui Komohana i kona kapu loa. (Mokuʻula Western Maui is very famous due to its sacredness.)”

—Melelani Seiki, he haumāna ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language student), Ke Kulanui Kaiāulu o Honolulu a me Ke Kulanui Kaiāulu o Maui (Honolulu Community College and UH Maui College)

For more information on other elements of the definition and usage, go to the UH Hilo Wehewehe Wikiwiki.

Leʻaleʻa

—Fun; to have a good time.

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“E leʻaleʻa kēlā lā me kēia lā. (Everyday should be fun.)”

—Maluhia Nahuina, he haumāna ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language student), Kulanui Kaiāulu o Honolulu (Honolulu Community College)

For more information on other elements of the definition and usage, go to the UH Hilo Wehewehe Wikiwiki.

At the Merrie Monarch Festival, hula’s most celebrated stage, one hālau‘s story of change and renewal rose to the top in 2026.

Hālau Hiʻiakaināmakalehua earned top honors at the 63rd annual competition in Hilo, sweeping major categories. The group earned first-place finishes in kāne (men) overall, kāne ʻauana (modern hula), and both wāhine (women’s) kahiko (ancient hula) and kāne kahiko.

The hālau is led by Kumu Hula Robert Keano Kaʻupu IV, a graduate of Honolulu Community College.

“I’m still in shock,” Kaʻupu said. “I’m not surprised because they worked hard and they did exactly what they needed to do, but I’m in shock. This year more than ever it was the purpose of the journey, more than the destination. And so I am really appreciative for the recognition. There are no words to really describe what I feel.”

Turning point

The win followed a year of deep change.

Kaʻupu and Kumu Hula Lono Padilla founded the hālau together. In 2025, Padilla stepped away for personal reasons. The departure reshaped the Oʻahu hālau.

Kaʻupu described it as a time of upheaval. One that pushed both him and his haumāna (students) to reflect and rebuild.

“That’s part of the process,” he said. “Acknowledging the catastrophe, acknowledging the upheaval, acknowledging the overturn. Our lives were deconstructed and now let’s find the processes to reconstruct, rebuild, regenerate, re-energize.”

That idea guided their performances at this year’s festival.

Hulihia, overturning

Kaʻupu chose mele (songs) that mirrored both his experience and that of his hālau. Their performances centered on hulihia, a Hawaiian concept that speaks to overturning and transformation.

In the kahiko category, the wāhine performed hula kālaʻau (dancing stick) to Kau Kahaʻea Ke Ao Uahi I Luna. The mele is a creation story, where akua (deities) shape a submerged island still forming off Hawaiʻi Island.

Kaʻupu‘s kāne followed with Hulihia Ka ʻĀpapa Ka Unu Koʻakoʻa O Ka Moana. Their performance evoked the ocean floor shifting and fire rising from below, as life emerges through heat and pressure.

Together, the pieces reflected a simple truth that change can be destructive, but it also creates space for renewal.

UH roots

Kaʻupu, a Keaukaha native, attended UH Hilo before moving to Oʻahu. He continued his studies at Honolulu CC, entering the cosmetology program and graduating in 2007.

“I thought I knew how to do hair until I went through the program,” he said. “They just expedited and transcended the technical skills for me. I am super, super grateful for that.”

For years, those skills helped shape his presence at Merrie Monarch, where he handled his dancers’ hair and makeup, an important part of the competition’s scoring. He also designs every costume, sketching ideas by hand before working with a seamstress to bring them to life. However, for each of his Miss Aloha Hula contestants, he sews each piece himself.

In many ways, that same cycle of creating, overturning and rebuilding reflects where Kaʻupu stands now, as he continues to grow into his role.

“Trust your gut, trust your kūpuna (elders),” he said. “Find the things that serve you and let go of the things that don’t. There’s always regeneration. You just have to trust the process.”

—by Moanikeʻala Nabarro

Mālolo

—Flying fish.

More ʻŌlelo of the Week

“Ka iʻa lele me he manu (The fish that flies like a bird).”
ʻŌlelo Noʻeau (Hawaiian proverb) 1364

—Sean Mills, he haumāna ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language student), Kulanui Kaiāulu o Honolulu (Honolulu Community College)

For more information on other elements of the definition and usage, go to the UH Hilo Wehewehe Wikiwiki.

Akamai

—Clever, Wise.

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“Makemake au e akamai kākou a pau (I wish that we may all become wise).”

—Karuna Wiese, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) Student, Honolulu Community College

For more information on other elements of the definition and usage, go to the UH Hilo Wehewehe Wikiwiki.

The University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges have earned a gold 2025 NCMPR Paragon Award from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR)—underscoring the quality and impact of the marketing work being done across the seven community colleges currently serving almost 24,000 students.

The award, in the Video Shorts Series category, recognizes the UH Community Colleges’ marketing team for showcasing the transformational journeys of Native Hawaiian students across the state. Centered on themes of resilience, identity, and opportunity, the E ʻauamo i kou: Fulfill Your Kuleana series features seven compelling student narratives—three of which were submitted for award consideration:

• ʻAleʻa Kimokeo, UH Maui College—bridging traditional knowledge and modern science through sustainable practices rooted in caring for the land
• Stevie Puna, Leeward CC—overcoming doubt to pursue culinary arts while discovering confidence, cultural connection, and community
• Melanie Camat, Kapiʻolani CC—channeling her passion into respiratory therapy to address healthcare disparities and give back to Hawaiʻi

“These student stories reflect the transformative power of an Indigenous-serving education,” said Lui Hokoana, interim vice president for the UH Community Colleges. “We are deeply honored to receive this national recognition, as it speaks to the deep connections between education, culture and community that truly define our colleges.”

Transforming lives

The award-winning videos were produced in partnership with the Honolulu-based marketing agency Hyperspective Studios and are part of a broader institutional effort to highlight and share the compelling stories of UH Community College students.

The Paragon Awards are recognized as the only national competition of its kind, honoring excellence exclusively among marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges throughout the U.S. The 2025 competition drew 1,585 entries from 216 colleges across the country and was judged by 67 industry professionals.

NCMPR President Patrick Stone said, “This year’s winners stood out in an extraordinary field of entries, demonstrating that when community colleges invest in creativity and innovation, they amplify their mission and transform lives.”

Waiho

—To leave or place something.

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“E waiho mai i ka mea ʻai ma laila (Leave the food there).”

—Kilia Hare, Hawaiian language student, Honolulu Community College

For more information on other elements of the definition and usage, go to the UH Hilo Wehewehe Wikiwiki.

Check back for more ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

Nīele

—To be curious.

All ʻŌlelo of the Week

“Ua nīele nā keiki ma loko o ka ʻeke. (The children were curious to look inside of the bag).”

—Kiniki Carlson, Hawaiian language student, Honolulu Community College

For more information on other elements of the definition and usage, go to the UH Hilo Wehewehe Wikiwiki.

Check back for more ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

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.

• Register now

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.

Nahunaiki

—Little bites (a new word developed for the cookie cutter shark)

All ʻŌlelo of the Week

—Hauʻoli Lorenzo-Elarco, Assistant Professor of Hawaiian Language, Honolulu Community College

This newly introduced Hawaiian name for the cookie cutter shark is part of recently published research on one of the ocean’s most elusive predators, which Lorenzo-Elarco co-authored.

Check back for more ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

For more ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi definitions and usage, go to the UH Hilo Wehewehe Wikiwiki.