Ka Ipu Hoʻokele Waʻa: Indigenous Digital Storytelling Project

• Hulili Ke Kukui Hawaiian Center

Workshop topics will include story writing, storytelling, computer software, story design, video editing, production techniques, digitizing photographs, photography techniques, artwork, and music. Students will also learn traditional storytelling practices and concepts, and Hawaiian language, cultural practices, protocols, values, and history in order to produce compelling and culturally relevant short videos.

Field trips will connect participants to the skills and content they learn from the workshops in real world settings to better understand how professionals in the field incorporate traditional storytelling practices and digital media. This may include site visits to professional studios that produce digital content focused on traditional and contemporary Hawaiian stories, such as Oiwi TV and Searider Productions, and important cultural sites to strengthen their sense of place and cultural identity.

Kukui ʻŌlelo Educator Training Academy

Kukui ʻŌlelo is defined as a storyteller, someone who is able to recite, recount, and tell a story. In Years 2 – 5 (10/1/2025 – 9/30/2029), the project will coordinate professional development workshops to introduce foundational concepts and basic skills in digital media, digital storytelling, and indigenous worldviews and a one-week symposium for more in-depth training in order to better prepare educators with the skills to bridge culture and place-based educational frameworks and digital storytelling. Faculty and staff participants will receive purposeful training, gaining exposure to up-to-date research and practices. Through two previous Title III grants, HonCC developed a cadre of professionals who have the skills and knowledge to deliver indigenous culture and place-based educational frameworks. This project will scaffold their training so that they are better equipped to meet the technology needs of our students.

Kilo Hōkū Digital Storytelling Institute

Kilo Hoku is the traditional practice of observing and studying the stars as a means of navigating across the ocean. In Years 2 – 5 (1/1/2026 – 5/30/2029), the project will coordinate a digital storytelling institute to provide a cohort of students with in-depth digital media and storytelling skills development training. The institute will begin with an orientation followed by a semester-long collaborative learning experience where they will strengthen their ike Hawaii (Hawaiian knowledge) and digital storytelling skills. They will demonstrate what they learned by completing a capstone under the mentorship of experts from the field and faculty and staff who completed the educators training. At the end of the semester-long training, students will share their capstone projects at a hōʻike, or public showcase.

Kai Kele Moana Student Leaders Academy

Kai Kele Moana refers to leaders in the navigation process. In Years 3 – 5 (10/1/2026 – 9/30/2029), the project will coordinate a leadership academy for participants who completed the student leaders institute and want to advance to peer mentors. Peer Mentors will participate in a training series to strengthen relationships and develop strategies that will improve their peer coaching and mentoring capacity. The project will foster peer-to-peer relationships by coordinating social events and activities that encourage participants to interact both on and off campus. They will also have an opportunity to attend and present at a local conference focused on digital media to support their ability to mentor the new cohorts. Through this activity, participants will demonstrate authentic application of the skills and knowledge developed through collaborative learning pathways and leadership development and they will see themselves as agents of change.

Ka Ipu Hoʻokele Waʻa Staff 

Ka Ipu Hoʻokele Waʻa Student Assistants

Nyjon Jefferson
Major: Creative Media

Keola Basques
Major: MELE

Kamananui Anderson
Major: Natural Science

Shu Nalo
Major: Business

Gauhar Tyulemiss
Major: Hawaiian Studies

Keala Ornellas
Major: Hawaiian Studies

Cooper Salomon
Major: Natural Resources & Environmental Management

Ivy McFarland
Major: Natural Resources & Environmental Management