Kīpuka Moʻolelo
Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a storytelling podcast that centers Native Hawaiian voices, histories, and lived experiences through intimate conversations rooted in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and ʻike kūpuna. Each episode creates space for ʻike, memory, and manaʻo to be shared across generations, strengthening cultural connection and contemporary understanding.
Kīpuka Moʻolelo
Kamalani Johnson
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In this episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo, Kamalani Johnson reflects on a life shaped by ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, moʻolelo, and aloha ʻāina—from his beginnings in Pūnana Leo and Hawaiian-medium education to his work today as a scholar of Hawaiian language, literature, and political thought. Through deeply personal reflections, Kamalani traces how family history, ʻike kūpuna, and immersion education grounded his commitment to Hawaiian language as both a cultural practice and an intellectual foundation.
The conversation explores Hawaiian-language newspapers, nineteenth- and twentieth-century moʻolelo, and the ways kūpuna intentionally preserved ʻike for future generations. Kamalani shares how teaching, research, and storytelling serve as modern kīpuka—spaces where Hawaiian worldview, political consciousness, and cultural responsibility continue to thrive. This episode offers a profound meditation on language as identity, moʻolelo as inheritance, and education as an act of aloha ʻāina for generations yet to come.
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This episode of Kīpuka Moʻolelo is a production of ʻŌiwi TV, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, community voices, and ʻike Hawaiʻi through culturally grounded storytelling.
For more episodes, original series, and live programming, visit oiwi.tv and follow ʻŌiwi TV on social media.