HELP ME GET TO NIHOA! KOKUA NEEDED

To my dear family, friends, and potential supporters,

My name is ‘Iolani Ka‘uhane, I am 29 years old and reside on the island of Hawaiʻi. I have two sons, Nui (4) and Sanjaya (4 months old), and a beautiful wife, Chioke Kaʻuhane. I am trying to raise $1,800 to support my family while I pursue the rare opportunity to conduct a culturally-guided archaeological study on the remote island of Nihoa in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. These islands are part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument known commonly as the Northwestern Hawaiian Island archipelago. These older islands maintain close genealogical ties to the main Hawaiian islands through geological evidence and a rich cultural history as recorded in moʻolelo that have been passed down from generation to generation and printed in Hawaiian language newspapers of the 1800s.
Along with it's recent distinction as an internationally recognized World Heritage Monument, similar to the pyramids of Egypt, it is also one of the very few precious ecosystems in Hawai‘i that has maintained its pristine natural and cultural landscapes.This work will provide a means to document and protect important cultural and historical properties on this island, an island that was a crucial staging point for the voyages of ancestral Hawaiian Chiefs to the nearby island of Moku Manamana where they would solidify their power.
This particular project will document one of the few campsites that visitors utilized while staying on the island in order to assess and create proper guidelines regarding work and camping activities. This is the first step to generating management plans to potentially be used to monitor human activities in a highly sensitive cultural landscape. At the same time,this project will contribute to previous work done at the site in 1924 (Tanager Expedition), 1987 (Dr. Paul Cleghorn), and 2012 (Dr. Kekuewa Kikiloi). Data collected will be added to the archaeological record for Nihoa and the lāhui of Hawai‘i.
I humbly ask for your financial support to allow me to participate on this expedition and to continue to re-establish a cultural presence through conducting this culturally-guided archaeological study. Unfortunately, my leave of absence from work will severely impact my family’s well-being, and could force me to pass up this rare opportunity. The expedition will be on a volunteer basis and require me to miss 10 days of work, which is why I am asking for any support from my family and friends. To give back,  I plan on doing a blog on my experiences from sailing, Makani’olu, from Oahu to Nihoa and the time spent on the island. I also plan to publish a paper.
As a Native Hawaiian archaeologist I feel it is extremely important to have communities throughout Hawai‘i reconnect and re-establish a cultural presence at our traditional cultural places. Equally important, we need more professionals, locals, and people of Hawaiian ancestry to continue on developing and evolving the field of archaeology by integrating Native Hawaiian knowledge systems, native perspectives, community-based outreach, and culturally-guided methodologies that can expand our knowledge.  Any donation big or small is highly appreciated and will go to a good cause for Hawai‘i history, its people, and local communities.


me ke aloha,
‘Iolani Kame‘enui Ka‘uhane


Check out Dr. Kekuewa Kikiloi’s dissertation research presentation on Nihoa and Moku manamana here. https://vimeo.com/45165160

For more information on last years expedition to Papahānaumokuākea check out the article.
https://issuu.com/kawaiola/docs/kwo0815_web

For more information regarding Native Hawaiian Perspectives on Archaeology check this out.
http://www.saa.org/portals/0/saa/publications/thesaaarchrec/march2013.pdf

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