“He ui, he nīnau” can be understood as “A question, a query.” The activities and outcomes produced in this phase ultimately shaped the direction of the remaining aspects of the project. The initiation of this phase was grounded in the Ao Framework (Matsuda 2021), a conceptual model of a Hawaiian research methodology. By the end of this phase, the project team and consultants co-created early drafts of foundational components of a Native Hawaiian knowledge organization system, including a meta-model of Hawaiian knowledge domains and a prioritized list of domain facets and fields.
Metamodel of Hawaiian knowledge domains
A knowledge organization system is predicated on relationships, both between and within areas of interest (or, domains). One of our early objectives, therefore, was to identify the domains of Hawaiian knowledge that would be necessary to support a Hawaiian knowledge organization system.
To pull out particular domains within the vast expanse of Hawaiian knowledge, we prioritized subject matters that are frequently examined in Hawaiian communities: ʻ徱Բ (land); wahi pana (storied places); akua (personifications of the natural world); kinolau (the many forms of akua). Linked below is one of our first attempts at organizing such subject matters.
→ See:
We drafted several iterations of a metamodel of Hawaiian knowledge domains. Each iteration refined our understanding of the scope and bounds of each domain, as well as the points at which each domain interacted with other domains. Later iterations also included updated facets we identified through the record creation process.
Below is our current working version of a metamodel of Hawaiian knowledge domains.
Prioritization of Facets and Fields
In the model above, you’ll see that we focused on three domains of Hawaiian knowledge: ʻ徱Բ (green circle), hana (blue circle), and ʻǰūʻܳ (red circle). Linked to these concepts are details and characteristics we prioritized for each domain; these details are visualized by the yellow circles.
Examine, for example, the ʻ徱Բ domain, where you see the following characteristics:
- Inoa | Name(s)
- Hiʻona ʻ徱Բ | Land characteristic
- Hiʻona ʻ徱Բ o loko o kēia wahi | Feature(s) located within this place
- Hiʻona ʻ徱Բ nona kēia wahi | Feature(s) that contain this place
- Hōʻuluʻulu Manaʻo (Description)
- ʻŌlelo kuhikuhi (Instructions)
- Kūmole | Source(s)
Notice that these characteristics became the fields that comprise the structure of the authority record template for ʻ徱Բ vocabulary terms. For more information about each of the fields listed above, see the Instruction document for ʻ徱Բ record creation.
The list of characteristics / fields above for ʻ徱Բ is a product of several discussions. Earlier models of the ʻ徱Բ domain suggested characteristics and fields such as Ka Pilina Henua (geographic proximity). Additionally, the field names themselves have changed, with earlier models suggesting Ke ʻAno ʻĀpana ʻĀina, which eventually became Hiʻona ʻĀina.