It Runs in the ʻOhana: Examining Huikau and Kūʻē among Native Hawaiian Students and their Families

My dissertation unpacks the colonial legacies of assimilation in Hawai‘i and the ongoing efforts that Native Hawaiian students and families are taking to challenge oppressive ideologies in their homes and schools through culture-based education. Given the interdependent nature of Native Hawaiian families and communities, it questions the extent to which internalized oppression (huikau) and resistance (kūʻē) against its manifestations (e.g., internalized racism, sexism, nativism) “run” in Native Hawaiian families with culture-based schooling backgrounds.

Using a qualitative phenomenological research design grounded in Native Hawaiian ways of knowing and being, this study interweaves family stories, artifacts, and genealogy to understand how these phenomena are transmitted within and across generations and how these lessons of the home are treated in classrooms. Through discourse and narrative analysis of individual and group interviews with students and observations of family interactions, this study offers insights into how students internalize notions of identity and culture through kinship networks and verbal and non-verbal discourse.

 More about the project

  • The timeline to complete my dissertation follows a four-stage life cycle of a kalo plant, a culture-based metaphor for the health and well-being of Native Hawaiians.

    • April 2026 – The dissertation receives the Division G Outstanding Dissertation Award and honorable mention for the family-school-community partnerships SIG at the 2026 AERA Meeting in Tovaangar (present-day Los Angeles, CA, USA).

    • October 2025 – The dissertation’s epistemological framework is published in International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education.

    • June 12, 2025 – I filed my dissertation and completed the final graduation requirements for a doctoral degree in education.

    • May 29, 2025 – I presented two portraits from my dissertation at the 2025 Critical Race Studies in Education Association’s annual meeting in Detroit, Michigan.

    • May 16, 2025 – I successfully defended my dissertation and received feedback for revisions.

    • April 25, 2025 – I presented additional findings at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting at Denver, Colorado.

    • March 28, 2025 – I presented my findings in Washington D.C. at the National Academy of Education’s spring retreat for the Spencer Foundation dissertation fellowship.

    • November 7, 2024 – I received a Taylor and Francis Past President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Research from the American Educational Studies Association for a paper based on preliminary findings from my dissertation study.

    • May 21, 2024 – My article "Revelations about the seeds we planted: Huikau, kūʻē, and the Lāhui" is published online in AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. It is based on sections in the first two chapters of my dissertation proposal and provides an overview of internalized oppression in a contemporary Kanaka ʻŌiwi context.

    • May 1, 2024 – My dissertation is named a finalist for the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for the 2024–2025 application cycle.

    • March 15, 2024 – I submitted a manuscript based on the epistemological framework section from my dissertation proposal for publication in International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. It is currently under review.

    • February 29, 2024 – My dissertation was named a semi-finalist for the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for the 2024–2025 application cycle. If selected, I will receive professional development opportunities and a $27,500 stipend to complete the writing portion of my study. Winners will be announced in May 2024.

    • February 14, 2024 – A manuscript based on the introduction of my dissertation proposal was accepted for publication in AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. It is currently in the production stage of pre-publication.