DIALOGUING ACROSS THE PACIFIC: KŪKĀ KŪKĀ AND THE CULTIVATION OF WAHINE MAOLI IDENTITIES

Authors

Noelani Goodyear-Ka'opua, University of Hawaii at ManoaFollow
Lana Sue Ka‘o ̄pua, University of Hawai‘i at Ma ̄noaFollow

Abstract

Hilihewa ka mana‘o ke‘ole ke kūkākūkā. As thoughts can become miswoven when there is no discussion, so it is with our identities as Wahine Maoli, Native Hawaiian women, and the ensuing choices we make about how to live in this world. Other recent collaborative articles by Kānaka Maoli have used kūkākūkā to refer to face-to-face “talk-story” sessions. This kūkākūkā is different, as one of us is living in Hawai‘i and the other in California. We used e-mail and telephone conversations to enable kūkākūkā spanning distances of time and space. As we communicate across generations and across our ocean home, we explore what it means for us to be Wahine Maoli in our respective positions as ‘ohana, activists, and academics. Through kūkākūkā, we weave the sails of our beings together in a generational continuum of family stories. The letters that follow are selections from this ongoing process.

Recommended Citation

Goodyear-Ka'opua, Noelani and Ka‘o ̄pua, Lana Sue (2007) "DIALOGUING ACROSS THE PACIFIC: KŪKĀ KŪKĀ AND THE CULTIVATION OF WAHINE MAOLI IDENTITIES," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 30: No. 1, Article 11.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol30/iss1/11