Place-Based Education Library

Featured Book of the Spring Place-Based Book Club

Kanaka ‘Ōiwi Methodologies:
Mo‘olelo and Metaphor

edited by Katrina-Ann R. Kapā‘anaokalāokeola Nākoa Oliveira and Erin Kahunawaika‘ala Wright

Kanaka ʻŌiwi Methodologies: Moʻolelo and Metaphor is a collection of “methods-focused” essays written by Kanaka scholars across academic disciplines. To better illustrate for practitioners how to use research for deeper understanding, positive social change, as well as language and cultural revitalization, the texts examine Native Hawaiian Critical Race Theory, Hawaiian traditions, and protocol in environmental research, using mele (song) for program evaluation, and more.

Katrina-Ann R. Kapā‘anaokalāokeola Nākoa Oliveira is a Native Hawaiian scholar. She is currently Interim Vice Provost for Student Success and Professor of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM). She was born on the island of O‘ahu, and raised on the islands of Maui and O‘ahu. She has a PhD and Master’s degree in Geography, Master of Business Administration, BA in Hawaiian Language, BA in Hawaiian Studies, and Graduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution from UHM. Her research interests include Hawaiian geographies, epistemologies and language acquisition methodologies.

Erin Kahunawaika‘ala Wright is Associate Professor of Educational Administration at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM). Dr. Wright received a PhD in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hawaiian Studies from UHM, and Master’s degree in Higher Education from UCLA. Her professional experience primarily has been in educational administration, as well as in community-based research. She has taught courses in qualitative methodologies, field studies, and contemporary Hawaiian society, and has been a driving force behind establishing a Native Hawaiian Research Center at UHM. She has disseminated and utilized her research in a variety of ways, including successful grant proposals, book chapters, technical reports, and journal articles.