He ʻĀina, He Kanaka, He Hawai‘i Maoli
We acknowledge Hawaiʻi as an indigenous space where the descendants of the original people are today identified as Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian). We recognize that it was through coercion, force, and the breaking of formal treaties that this land was illegally seized. Her majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani temporarily yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom and these territories under duress and protest to the United States to avoid the bloodshed of her people. Let us further recognize and express gratitude for the generations of Aboriginal Hawaiians and their knowledge systems that have shaped and continue to shape Hawaiʻi in a sustainable way that allows us to learn here today.
The ʻāina (land) on which the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa sits is located in the ahupuaʻa (land division from mountain to sea) of Waikīkī, in the moku (district) of Kona, on the mokupuni (island) of Oʻahu, in the Pae ʻĀina o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian archipelago). The particular ʻili ʻāina (land division) that Kennedy Theatre is situated on is at the triangulation of Kaualaʻa, Wailele and Waʻahila. Ma kai (seaward) of the theatre is Kapaʻakea and to the west is Puahia and Pilipili. Ma uka (inland) of our campus are the uplands of Kahoʻiwai, the water that is the source for our major stream of Kānewai. Acknowledging these traditional wahi pana (place names) honors the ‘āina and the historic relationship that Kānaka Maoli have with this place.