Hometown
Panaʻewa of the ahupuaʻa of Waiākea in Hilo Hanakahi, Moku O Keawe
Voyage(s)
Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 12 | Hikianalia: Hilo to Papeete
Bio
Uʻilani’s first time sailing on a waʻa kaulua was on board Hōkūalakaʻi in the waters of Hilo, as part of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo Waʻa Programs in 2010. Her connection to the waʻa and voyaging traditions has only deepened over the years, and brought her closer to her calling to serve her community as a marine advocate.
“Particularly, in the past 5 years,” Uʻilani says, “I have strengthened my voice of advocacy for my ancestral lands (and waters) of Miloliʻi, Kapalilua to codify rules for a Native Hawaiian fishery designation (Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area). I was inspired to do that task from my 2019 Makaliʻi Hanauna Ola voyage. The life ways and discipline on a voyaging canoe encapsulates me more to the experiences that I can recall within growing up in our village, kūpuna at the helm - he waʻa he moku, he moku he waʻa. I know that life ways remains throughout the Pacific and other indigenous places of the Moananuiākea Voyage. I would like to represent our lāhui to those places.”
She is well on her way, on leg 12 from Hawaiʻi to French Polynesia, aboard Hikianalia, which serves as an education and documentation hub, as well as safety and support for Mama Hōkūleʻa.
She calls Hōkūleʻa “a cultural renaissance that continues to inspire us to reclaim our spaces, our practices, our culture, and in doing so, reclaim our relationship with other indigenous peoples throughout the Pacific and the World from her pola (figuratively the platform).”
Uʻilani says when sheʻs not sailing she misses “the life and discipline” of being on the waʻa. She says “My ʻiʻini (longing) is to experience and be shown that of which my kūpuna saw, and sail the highway of seas the way they did - read the stars, moon, and clouds the way they did.”
“Particularly, in the past 5 years,” Uʻilani says, “I have strengthened my voice of advocacy for my ancestral lands (and waters) of Miloliʻi, Kapalilua to codify rules for a Native Hawaiian fishery designation (Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area). I was inspired to do that task from my 2019 Makaliʻi Hanauna Ola voyage. The life ways and discipline on a voyaging canoe encapsulates me more to the experiences that I can recall within growing up in our village, kūpuna at the helm - he waʻa he moku, he moku he waʻa. I know that life ways remains throughout the Pacific and other indigenous places of the Moananuiākea Voyage. I would like to represent our lāhui to those places.”
She is well on her way, on leg 12 from Hawaiʻi to French Polynesia, aboard Hikianalia, which serves as an education and documentation hub, as well as safety and support for Mama Hōkūleʻa.
She calls Hōkūleʻa “a cultural renaissance that continues to inspire us to reclaim our spaces, our practices, our culture, and in doing so, reclaim our relationship with other indigenous peoples throughout the Pacific and the World from her pola (figuratively the platform).”
Uʻilani says when sheʻs not sailing she misses “the life and discipline” of being on the waʻa. She says “My ʻiʻini (longing) is to experience and be shown that of which my kūpuna saw, and sail the highway of seas the way they did - read the stars, moon, and clouds the way they did.”