MEDIA RELEASE
Kuulei Keakealani shares stories of her North Kona homelands of Puu Anahulu, Puu Waawaa, and Kaulupulehu in upcoming Eia Hawaii and Puana Ka Ike lectures in Hilo and Kona.
Keakealani presents “Na moolelo o na aina aloha: Stories of beloved lands†from 2–3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Wentworth 1, and from 5:30–7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, in the Keauhou III Ballroom at the Sheraton Keauhou Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay. Both lectures are free.
“‘Nani wale Puu Anahulu, beautiful indeed is Puu Anahulu,’ reads the first line of a song that wells great affection for the natives of this land,†Keakealani said.
She was raised in a family of cowboys and fisherman in Puu Anahulu where most of the residents were fluent native speakers of the Hawaiian language. Today, as curator for the Kaupulehu Interpretive Center at Kalaemano, she creates and develops educational programs that span the entire ahupuaa.
Keakealani was part of a team of educators who opened Punana Leo o Waimea, a Hawaiian language immersion preschool, and later joined another group of educators in opening Kanu o ka Aina New Century Public Charter School’s early childhood component, Malamapokii.
After 12 years of classroom teaching, she took a position under the University of Hawaii’s Na Pua Noeau Center for Gifted and Talented Native Hawaiian Children, where she created culturally rich programs within three of Hawaii Island’s six districts.
For more information on this presentation, contact Joy Cunefare at (808) 322-5340 or e-mail info@kohalacenter.org.
For lecture schedules visit http://kohalacenter.org/puanakaike/about.html
Webcasts of previous lectures are available at http://keauhouresort.com/learn-puanakaike.html
The lectures are sponsored by Keauhou-Kahaluu Education Group, Kamehameha Schools, The Kohala Center, and University of Hawaii at Hilo, Kipuka Native Hawaiian Student Center.
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