Keynote Speakers

Kuʻulei Keakealani 

Born and raised in the uplands of Pu‘uanahulu in North Kona, Ku‘ulei Keakealani comes from a family of hard working men and women. Her grandmother fished for ‘opelu alongside her father in Ki‘ilae in South Kona, and her grandfather was a paniolo for over 65 years at the Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a Ranch in Kona Hema (North Kona). Kuʻuleiʻs mother, a native of the Northern Cree people, and her father followed in the footsteps of his father and are the primary people who raised her to become the person she is today.

Kuʻulei has been in cultural education since the early 1990’s and was part of the team who opened Pūnana Leo o Waimea, a Hawaiian language "nest" for children. Members of that team found their paths intersecting once again as they went on to create and develop Kanu o Ka ‘Āina New Century Public Charter School’s Early Childhood Program Mālamapōki‘i.

Learning from what she deems “the two greatest teachers,” Kuʻulei continues to learn from the kūpuna (elders) in her family and community, as well as from the landscapes and seascapes, who are also kūpuna. Kuʻulei is privileged to care for wahi pana (legendary places), in the ancestral homelands of Kona Hema and Waimea in her life’s work. You may find her one day on the upper slopes of Hualālai restoring tomorrow’s native forests or being waist deep in the fishpond at Kīholo restoring the ancient Hawaiian system of growing fish the very next day. No matter where you may find Kuʻulei, you may hear a story or two being conveyed or the significance of place names being spoken. She is happy to share her knowledge that stems from a long line of heritage keepers and she considers her work a hereditary kuleana, responsibility. Her three daughters will someday assume their places in this succession that they are honored to uphold.  Along with her husband and children, they continue to live the ways of their people, close to the lands they so love, cultivating and growing much of the food to sustain their lives. This ʻohana lives the ‘ōlelo no’eau (proverb/poetical saying): He ali‘i ka ‘āina, he kauwā ke kanaka ~ land is chief, served by the people.