Hō‘oia ‘Āina

Land Acknowledgement

Hō‘oia ‘Āina

He ʻelele au na Ke Kula Nui o Hawaiʻi a me kona Papa O Nā Kahu Kula O Ke Kulanui, a e hāpai haʻahaʻa aʻe nei au i kēia ʻōlelo Hōʻoia ʻĀina. He Honua ʻōiwi ʻo Hawaiʻi nona ka poʻe ʻōiwi o ka ʻāina, ʻo i‘a nā kānaka Hawaiʻi. He hōʻoia kēia e hoʻohanohano a hoʻohiwahiwa aku i ka ʻāina a kāko e kū nei a na ka ʻāina e alakaʻi i ka ʻōlelo a me ke ʻano o kākou.

Ke nonoi aku nei au i nā kānaka e kū nei e nalu a e hoʻohanohano i nā kānaka mua o nēia ʻāina, nā kānaka e mālama i ke aliʻi no nā hanauna a hanauna he nui wale aku. Kū nō ke Kula Nui o Hawaiʻi i ka hoʻohiki a Ke Kula Nui o Hawaiʻi e hoʻoulu i ke ola o ke kaiāulu ʻōiwi ma o kā kākou hana naʻauao e kōkua a kākoʻo i ka ‘ulu kūpono o ke kaiāulu no ko kākou poʻe a me ka honua.

No laila, e nā makama, ʻo ke kumu o kēia ʻākoakoa mai ma ʻaneʻi, ma ka moʻo o Kalāhū, ahupuaʻa o Pālolo, moku o Kona, mokupuni o Oʻahu, ʻo i‘a hoʻi e neʻemua i ko Hawaiʻi haʻawina i ka honua ma o ka mālama kūhohonu i ke Aloha ʻĀina.

ʻO Hawai‘i nō kēia.

Land Acknowledgement

On behalf of the University of Hawaiʻi and its Board of Regents, I respectfully offer up this Hōʻoia ʻĀina, Land Acknowledgement, acknowledging Hawaiʻi as an indigenous space whose original people are today identified as Native Hawaiians. This acknowledgment honors the land we stand on and guides the way in which we speak and act.

I ask all those present to reflect on and honor the indigenous people, the traditional stewards of this land, who have lived and worked on this land for generations upon generations. The University of Hawaiʻi is strategically clear in our commitment to fostering the well-being of our indigenous people and their communities through our academic processes, thus contributing to the growth of community for both our people and the world.

It is, therefore, the intention of our gathering here, in the moʻo (narrow strip of land) of Kalāhū, in the ahupuaʻa (land division) of Pālolo, in the moku (district) of Kona on the island of O‘ahu, to advance Hawaiʻi’s contribution to the world by keeping close the indigenous values of Aloha ʻĀina, Kinship to the Land.

This is Hawai‘i.