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You attended a kaiapuni, a Hawaiian immersion school from kindergarten through high school. Describe your experiences?  

It felt like a typical school experience. I was with the same 20-something kids from elementary until we graduated high school  

From kindergarten to 4th grade, every class and subject was completely in Hawaiian. We didn't start English (Language Arts) classes until 5th grade. We wrote and spoke in English, while all other subjects were still in Hawaiian.

We still learned the GLOs (General Learner Outcomes) and the State of Hawaiʻi benchmarks and took the tests.

How was Hawaiian culture taught in the classrooms?

We participated in a lot of cultural practices. We celebrated Makahiki. We went to Mauna ʻAla every January in remembrance of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. We presented offerings to the Aliʻi to respect and honor the royalty.

We didn’t celebrate May Days. Instead, our version was La Kāpuna, a day where we honored our literal grandparents. In the typical fashion of May Day where each class performs, we presented songs and chants to honor our grandmas, grandpas, aunties, uncles, and the kūpuna in our lives.

We also had a loʻi (wet taro patch) on our campus. We were taught to mālama ʻāina and care for the land.

This was my normal, growing up. But I could tell the difference [between the various cultures] when we participated in exchange programs at Kamehameha School or visited other schools for sports games.

As a youth, would you say that you had a Hawaiian worldview?

I don’t think I realized it was a worldview until I came to Liliʻuokalani Trust — and there was a label for it. Growing up, we did all these Hawaiian practices. We would chant. We would do ‘oli. We would hula. But a lot of that to me was, ‘Oh, that's just what we do.’

But that was a worldview. It was a practice. There was beauty in it.

This is how I try to support our LT kamaliʻi and ʻohana, and my coworkers. Hawaiian culture is not just a box to check off. It’s literally how you live, how you practice, and how you do things. That’s what I try to instill. The best way to teach is to live it, experience it, and model it. That way, other people can learn.

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What does it mean to be Hawaiian?

I can only speak for myself. It is my blood. It is my genealogy. I am Native Hawaiian because I have ancestors from Hawaiʻi. I was born and raised here. I'm also a big believer that being Hawaiian also means practicing. It’s the words I use, the traditions I honor, the values that are important to me.

Biologically, I am more Portuguese than I am Hawaiian. But I always identify as Hawaiian. My traditions, holidays, practices, the things that are important to me, the words that I use. It’s my heritage, but it's also how I live and practice.

Someone can be born and raised here, but if they don't have native Hawaiian blood. technically, they’re not Hawaiian. They can still live Hawaiian ways, and live Hawaiian values. I think both can coexist.

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With your experiences in both Western and Hawaiian practices, what advice do you have for the kamaliʻi at LT?

The wisdom that I would impart to kamaliʻi is to remain open-minded. I say that because our kūpuna were very smart. They were very inquisitive, always trying to learn. That's a natural thing that we do.

I hope to encourage our kamaliʻi to be open-minded, because, as a former student of  Hawaiian immersion, kaiapuni, I was in such a small little school, like a small little pond.

Sometimes, we think we’re a big fish in a small pond. We think, ʻThis is my lens; this is my world.’ But then, once we graduate and move on, it's like holy smokes, there's so much out there!

There are people, practices, and cultures that I've never even heard of. So, my advice is to remain open, and be interested in learning about other people, other cultures, and other views. It can feel like an island mentality where we are stuck, and we forget that there is a world beyond us. 

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What teaching methods were used at the immersion school, and how have they inspired your work with LT kamaliʻi?

We learned through storytelling, mo’olelo. A lot of folklore, tales of old Hawaiʻi, goddesses, and animals. There were always lessons in these stories, and I didn't realize that until later.

I think it’s very powerful when we work with kamaliʻi and ʻohana at LT to tell stories to promote understanding. Genetically, that's how we teach the next generation of students. Hawaiians are oral historians — somebody told somebody who told somebody else.

Sometimes, when we talk to someone in a very direct way, they may not always be open, but if we can mask a lesson as a story, it helps to sink in a little bit deeper.

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You’ve been a social worker for LT since 2019. What drives and motivates you?
I'm just so grateful to be here. I know that sounds cheesy, because so many teammates at LT say it, but I genuinely mean it.  

I did not always work with just Native Hawaiians. Before joining LT, I was happy to support children and families, wherever they were. But there's a special pride in specifically serving Hawaiians.

I'm so grateful to be able to say that the work that I do is helping our people. We are breaking cycles of poverty. We are breaking cycles of trauma. We are trying to build our people up, trying to give our kids a better life and opportunities than we ever had.

That, to me, is enough.

And then, of course, the cherry on top is being able to do that in the name of our Queen, with all the resources that she has. I am just eternally grateful and happy to be here. I want to keep being here, and that keeps me going.

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