My name is Kamalani Johnson. I am generationally rooted son of Kahana, Oʻahu. I am an ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and moʻolelo Hawaiʻi scholar pursuing a Ph.D in Political Science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa specializing Indigenous politics and political theory and a graduate certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. I hold BA degrees in Hawaiian Studies and Linguistics and an MA in Indigenous Language and Culture Education with a focus in Hawaiian Language and Literature from UH Hilo’s Ka Haka ‘Ula o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language. My MA thesis “ʻIkuā ka Leo o ka Hekili: He Noiʻina i nā Mele Malama o “Kaao Hooniua Puuwai no Ka-Miki” analyzed Hawaiian ethnoecological chants as seen in the “Kaao Hooniua Puuwai no Ka-Miki” literature.

 

Collectively, I have been involved in Hawaiian language revitalization efforts for over 20 years as a product of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo and Hawaiian immersion program and as an instructor at the high school and higher education levels. Intersecting at the interstices of political theory, history, and literature, my Ph.D research examines governmentality in the Territory of Hawaiʻi and Kanaka Maoli intellectual sovereignty.