Today, we welcome back guest host Karma Chavez. Joining Karma are Kahala Johnson and Kānealiʻi explain how native Hawaiians were removed from Hawai’i and the path they are on the reclaim their an “We have to go through a lot work to know our own genealogies to prove that there is a paper trail that we are indeed the decedents of our ancestor,” explains Kānealiʻi of his familial land where he lives on  Maui.

TerrilJames Kānealiʻikeikioka’āina Williams is a diasporic Hawaiian from California who has ancestral ties to Kauaʻi and Maui. During the TMT protests in 2019, Kānealii helped to raise and protect Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu as part of the Kapu Aloha Crew and the ʻAha ritualists. Last year, Kānealiʻi was also instrumental in aiding the women and protectors of Kauaʻula at Lahaina who are currently guarding family lands and ancestral remains from desecration by white settler developer Peter Martin. Currently, he is taking his kuleana back at Kuiaha on Maui by reoccupying his familyʻs ancestral ʻāina.

Kahala Johnson is a Filipinx Hawaiian and kiaʻi mauna of Haleakalā and Maunakea with ancestral ties to Kīlauea and Maui. On Mauna Kea in 2019, they helped to raise the Hale Mauna Māhū, a house and space for queer lgbtqia+ protectors, at Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu. After coming back from the mountain, Kahala has supported their family to take back their kuleana lands at Waiʻehu, Maui, and in solidarity with the wahine and kiaʻi of Kauaʻula in Lahaina.

Image by Christopher Kuszajewski from Pixabay