{"id":194850,"date":"2024-04-02T23:59:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T09:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=194850"},"modified":"2024-04-04T20:19:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T06:19:30","slug":"uh-educators-merrie-monarch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/04\/02\/uh-educators-merrie-monarch\/","title":{"rendered":"糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> educators dance in Merrie Monarch opening ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than 350 dancers featured in ceremony. The Kūkūʻena<\/span> cohort is made up of 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> employees and alumni. (Photo credit: Naiʻa Odachi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Every April, the town of Hilo on Hawaiʻi<\/span> Island buzzes with excitement as ʻ\u014dlapa hula (dancers) from near and far gather to participate in the world-renowned Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. For the past 16 years, before competition begins, the festival\u2019s opening ceremony has served as a cherished space for faculty and staff from the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Hilo<\/a> and Hawaiʻi<\/span> Community College<\/a> to share mele, or songs, and engage in traditional protocol.<\/p>\n

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Kukuena 2008: Inaugural Kūkūʻena<\/span> cohort in 2008, Professor Taupouri Tangar\u014d (center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The hula cohort is known as Kūkūʻena<\/span>, formed in 2008 by Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> Professor Taup\u014duri Tangar\u014d, who is also the director of Hawaiian culture and protocols and a kumu hula. Tangar\u014d created the cohort alongside Gail Makuak\u0101ne-Lundin, former director of the 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> Hilo K\u012bpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center<\/a> and Hawaiʻi<\/span> Papa O Ke Ao<\/a>. Their hope was to transport employees beyond simply learning hula steps, aiming to deepen participants’ understanding of ʻike Hawaiʻi<\/span>, or Hawaiian ways of knowing in an effort to uplift 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> as a leader in Indigenous education.<\/p>\n

“For us, academia is a temple. It\u2019s a place where people come that are committed and they get transformed,” said Tangar\u014d. “The whole system of academia is designed to transform the student and their communities.”<\/p>\n

Related 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> News stories:<\/p>\n