Kealiʻimakamanaʻonalani Parker Poʻoloa is a wahine kanaka ʻōiwi artist from the valley of Kuliʻouʻou and the uplands of Waiākea Uka. While Kealiʻi has some formal training in artistic expression, she has always loved to draw, from the tender age of four, when she took a pen and a pencil, and drew on all the walls of her house, much to her motherʻs chagrin. The next day, her mother came home with a huge box of scratch paper and Kealiʻiʻs love of drawing has never stopped. She draws inspiration from the ʻāina, and her relationship with the plants and environment around her. Kealiʻi worked for 8 years in the field of indigenous birth work and much of her art is informed by her passion for birth as a revolution. Kealiʻi lives in Hilo, Hawaiʻi with her husband, two sons and baby girl.
Pacific Voices was created by Innocenta Sound-Kikku as a space where mothers who feared their children would grow up not knowing where they came from could teach their children about the sacred pillars of identity. The Micronesian migrant community is an extension of the navigating societies they descend from. Just as their ancestors before them, they traversed vast stretches of ocean, albeit by plane, in search of new opportunities to build better homes than they have known for their children.
The MĀPUNA LAB is a place of respite for those experiencing colonial trauma. Our work is naʻau centered and focused on health and healing. Guided by ʻōhiʻa lehua as our teacher, an endemic Hawaiian tree, we work in reciprocity and partnership in healing the chronic and existential pain of historical and intergenerational trauma with our Pacific Islander brothers and sisters.
Kākuhihewa is the 15th aliʻi ‘aimoku (ruling chief) of O‘ahu famously named in the mele “Kaulana Nā Pua.” Kākuhihewa was a kind and friendly chief who was born in Kūkaniloko and raised in the ‘Ewa moku. His primary endeavor was farming, and it is said that his abundant harvests on O‘ahu could be smelled from Kaua‘i.
Today, there is a state office building named after him in Kapolei.