Hawaiʻi Kuʻu Home Aloha Summit focuses on culture, place and shared kuleana

Students, faculty, staff and community members gathered at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on ʻIanuali (January) 20–22 for the fourth annual Hawaiʻi Kuʻu Home Aloha Summit. The event was a gathering centered on culture, place and shared kuleana (responsibility) to Hawaiʻi and its future.

Hosted by the Hawaiʻi Papa o ke Ao Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office, the summit opened with pilina circles that drew participation from classes across campus. Participants shared stories, listened deeply and built meaningful connections, creating spaces many described as grounding and affirming, event organizers said.

“This summit is designed to deepen our connections — pilina — to oneself, others, and ʻāina, or our relationships with the natural environments around us,” said Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe, director of Hawaiʻi Papa o ke Ao. “We’re just really always grateful for the folks who show up because when you come, that’s when we can really interact and feel the magic that happens in these spaces and then you can take that with you wherever you go.”

Lipe also led a visioning workshop that invited participants to express themselves through writing or drawing as they imagined a future they hope to create for their children and grandchildren. The session encouraged reflection, creativity and forward-looking dialogue grounded in care and responsibility.

Honor and healing 

The summit also featured a ceremony honoring Queen Liliʻuokalani and Martin Luther King Jr. marked the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the National Day of Racial Healing. Moments of reflection, oli (chant) and lei offerings filled the space with emotion, remembrance and collective healing, organizers said.

Participants also joined a Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī workshop guided by Pele Harman, Native Hawaiian engagement director at UH Hilo. Harman helped attendees explore all three verses of the state’s national anthem composed by King David Kalākaua, offering deeper context beyond the commonly sung first verse. Mālama ʻāina workshops provided hands-on opportunities to care for campus mea kanu (plants), reinforcing kuleana through action.

Business administration major Rene Lucero said the message and symbolism of the event left a lasting impression.

“It truly drives me to be more interested in the land and the culture and just respect it more. And to not only appreciate nature but also the people,” Lucero said.

Raised in Ecuador, Lucero shared that the experience helped deepen his appreciation for Hawaiʻi and strengthened his connection to the university.