UH Mānoa offers Land Acknowledgment to Native Hawaiians at national conference

Link to video and sound: https://bit.ly/3347yqZ

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa offered a Land Acknowledgement, a formal statement paying tribute to the original inhabitants of the land, during the opening session of the 2019 National Diversity in STEM Conference by the Society for Advancement of Chicano/Hispanics & Native Americans (SACNAS). UH is the presenting sponsor of the three-day conference held at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. 

UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno delivered the Land Acknowledgement as part of his opening remarks stating, “...it is with profound reflection that I offer up this Land Acknowledgement, acknowledging Hawaiʻi as an indigenous space whose original people are today identified as Native Hawaiians. The ‘āina on which we gather is located in the ahupua‘a of Waikīkī, in the moku of Kona, on the mokupuni of O‘ahu, in the pae‘āina of Hawai‘i. I recognize that her majesty Queen Lili‘uokalani yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom and these territories under duress and protest to the United States to avoid the bloodshed of her people. I further recognize that generations of indigenous Hawaiians and their knowledge systems shaped Hawai‘i in a sustainable way that allows me to enjoy her gifts today. For this I am truly grateful.”

Bruno also spoke about how this is a moment of change in Hawaiʻi’s history and of the universityʻs struggle with its support of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea and its commitment to becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning and a model indigenous-serving institution. 

Read Bruno's full opening message: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2019/10/31/uh-manoa-land-acknowledgment-to-native-hawaiians

Link to video and sound: https://bit.ly/3347yqZ 

UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno (1 minute, 6 seconds)
"On behalf of the University of Hawaiʻi, it is with profound reflection that I offer up this Land Acknowledgement, acknowledging Hawaiʻi as an indigenous space whose original people are today identified as Native Hawaiians. The ʻāina on which we gather is located in the ahupuaʻa of Waikīkī, in the moku of Kona, on the mokupuni of Oʻahu, in the paeʻāina of Hawaiʻi. I recognize that her majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom and these territories under duress and protest to the United States to avoid the bloodshed of her people. I further recognize that generations of Indigenous Hawaiians and their knowledge systems shaped Hawaiʻi in a sustainable way that allows me to enjoy her gifts today. For this I am truly grateful."