University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor has been selected as dean of with his appointment set to take effect on July 1, 2026, following notice at the next Board of Regents’ meeting in April. Hawaiʻinuiākea is the only Indigenous-serving college at a Research I–designated university in the U.S.

“Kamana brings a combination of intellectual rigor, cultural grounding and visionary leadership,” said ����Ӱҵ Mānoa Interim Provost Vassilis L. Syrmos. “His work shows how ancestral wisdom can guide innovative solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. As a scholar, teacher and convener, he inspires our students while helping position the University of Hawaiʻi as a place where Hawaiian knowledge not only thrives, but leads the way in shaping a more sustainable future for our islands and beyond.”

Beamer, the inaugural Dana Naone Hall Endowed Chair in Hawaiian Studies, Literature, & the Environment, is director of within Hawaiʻinuiākea. He also holds a faculty appointment at the William S. Richardson School of Law through the . His research focuses on governance, land tenure and Native Hawaiian resource management.

Beyond scholarship, Beamer has helped shape some of the university’s most visible public conversations around land stewardship and justice. He founded and leads the annual Piʻo Summit, hosted by ����Ӱҵ Mānoa, which brings together community leaders, scholars, policymakers and students to explore solutions for ʻāina restoration, stewardship and the return of lands to community care. The summit has become a signature gathering at the university, highlighting how traditional Hawaiian knowledge, policy and contemporary science can work together to address Hawaiʻi’s environmental and social challenges.

“Hawaiʻinuiākea has provided me with such an incredible foundation and the tools to advance ancestral knowledge and regenerative values at home and across our world,” Beamer said. “I am profoundly honored to build upon the successes of our school and community to navigate a course toward aloha and abundance for our students and ʻāina, even in these challenging times. I can’t wait to get to work!”

Scholarship, service

Beamer is also a prolific author whose work explores Hawaiian sustainability and governance. His books include Waiwai: Water and the Future of Hawaiʻi (2025), Islands & Cultures: How Pacific Islands Provide Paths toward Sustainability (2022), and No Mākou Ka Mana: Liberating the Nation (2014).

From 2022 to 2024, Beamer served as a founding member of the Mauna Kea Stewardship Oversight Authority. He also served two terms on the Hawaiʻi State Commission on Water Resource Management, where he helped restore water flow to 45 streams across Hawaiʻi and pressed the U.S. Navy to address fuel contamination of the aquifer at Red Hill.

More on Beamer

Beamer has served as director of ʻāina-based education at Kamehameha Schools, which helped prepare him for an ongoing role as director of Stanford University’s First Nations Futures Institute, a development program for Indigenous leaders. He comes from a long line of highly acclaimed educators, composers and musicians in Hawaiʻi, including his great-great-grandmother, legendary Hawaiian composer Helen Desha Beamer, and is the only grandchild of Winnona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer. “Aunty Nona” was a revered kumu hula, author, educator and activist. In 2008, the ����Ӱҵ Board of Regents awarded her a posthumous Regents’ Medal of Distinction.

For years, U.S. military bombs thundered across Kahoʻolawe, ripping into its red earth and poisoning its seas. For Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians), the damage cut deeper. Ancestors honored the island as a physical form of Kanaloa, the god of the ocean, navigation, marine life and deep ancestral knowledge. In 2026, fifty years after a daring landing helped stop the bombing, the (PKO) is marking an anniversary that reshaped Hawaiʻi with the University of Hawaiʻi serving as a key place where many movement leaders emerged.

Davianna McGregor, ����Ӱҵ Mānoa professor emerita, remembers when the struggle for Kahoʻolawe first arrived on campus was urgent and deeply personal.

“One day, after the first landing on Kahoʻolawe, Hawaiʻi musician George Helm and Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli showed up at my class in the George Hall auditorium and asked to speak to my students about Kahoʻolawe,” said McGregor who co-founded the university’s department. “Their powerful message resonated with my students and they were inspired to get involved in the movement to stop the bombing and military use of Kahoʻolawe.”

That moment helped ignite student activism across the ����Ӱҵ Mānoa campus. Haumāna (students) circulated petitions in classes, set up educational tables at Campus Center, and organized rallies and concerts including one featuring the then-emerging Makaha Sons of Niʻihau and Helm.

Kahoʻolawe Nine

On January 4, 1976, Helm, Aluli and seven others had evaded a U.S. Coast Guard blockade to land at Kūheʻeia on Kahoʻolawe. Known as the Kahoʻolawe Nine, their act of bold defiance sparked the formation of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana and the modern movement. Their courage led to tangible change. The bombing of Kahoʻolawe ended in 1990. In 1994, the island was returned to the State of Hawaiʻi, held in trust under state law for a future sovereign Hawaiian entity, setting a precedent for halting military destruction of Indigenous lands.

“We formed an ʻohana to protect the island and to heal her wounds,” McGregor said, “and elevate the island once again into the sacred Hawaiian cultural center that it had been under our ancestors.”

The movement came at a devastating cost. Helm and Maui native Kimo Mitchell were lost at sea while carrying out efforts to support the occupation of Kahoʻolawe. Their disappearance deeply affected many in Hawaiʻi and strengthened PKO‘s commitment to aloha ʻāina for generations.

Stewardship in action

That commitment also took root physically at at ����Ӱҵ Mānoa, established largely by PKO members and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) practitioners. Guided by including Uncle Harry Mitchell of Keʻanae (Kimo Mitchell’s father), students learned that caring for land and caring for people are inseparable. Today, the continues to reinforce student learning in the realm of Hawaiian traditional practices of kalo (taro) farming.

That legacy also continues through ceremony and education on Kahoʻolawe. Kaliko Baker, associate professor at the ����Ӱҵ Mānoa Center for Hawaiian Language, leads the annual ceremonies for the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana, honoring Hawaiian deity Lono and maintaining the kapu of ceremony upheld to this day. Since 2014, Baker has also helped spearhead Kawaihuelani’s I Ola Kanaloa program, taking Hawaiian language students from ����Ӱҵ Mānoa, Hilo and Maui to Kahoʻolawe each year.

“It’s important that ����Ӱҵ students continue the pilgrimage to Kahoʻolawe and experience the kapu that has driven the movement to stop the bombing and reestablish Kānaka Maoli education and practice on island,” said Baker who first traveled to Kahoʻolawe as a student in McGregor’s ethnic studies course. “Student access to Kahoʻolawe invigorate the of each and every student who makes the journey, which in turn builds the mauli of the .”

Laʻa, Maʻa, Paʻa

As PKO marks its 50th anniversary, leaders are calling for Laʻa, Maʻa and Paʻa (to sanctify, sustain and solidify). The framework is both belief and action, guiding how Kahoʻolawe is protected and how future generations carry the work forward.

Half a century after the landing, the island no longer trembles with bombs. Where explosions once echoed, there are now footsteps, ceremony and learning.

—By Moanikeʻala Nabarro

Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio has worn many pāpale (hats)—historian, award-winning musician, advocate, kumu (teacher) and dean. After nearly a decade guiding the at the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�, he is stepping away from administration and back into the classroom, where his career began more than 30 years ago.

“I consider the last eight years maybe the most blessed time of my life. The things I learned, about how a university operates, how to work with people around me that didn’t see eye to eye with what we were trying to do, how to be persuasive, all of those things were really amazing to me,” said Osorio.

The kānaka ʻō���ɾ� (Native Hawaiian) scholar became dean in 2017 at age 68, following years of service as a professor and director of the . During his tenure, �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ���Գܾ����� strengthened its reputation as the nation’s only college of Indigenous knowledge at a Research I university.

In 2024, the school earned a 10-year renewal of accreditation from the , a testament to its role in preserving and revitalizing Hawaiian language, culture and values.

Related ����Ӱҵ News stories:

• Indigenous educators engage in ʻ�徱�Բ�, ʻike at ����Ӱҵ ����ԴDz�, October 1, 2024
• ����Ӱҵ haumāna explore Kalākaua and Hawaiian Kingdom’s legacy in Japan, May 27, 2025

Full circle return

While proud of these milestones, Osorio expressed his heart has always been in teaching.

“It’s time to go back to teaching and let a younger, more vigorous and eager person take this job on. And I know it will be a blessing to that person whoever it is.”

Osorio, born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, began teaching in 1991 as an instructor at . He joined ����Ӱҵ ����ԴDz� in 1994 and advanced from assistant to full professor of Hawaiian studies. His scholarship has shaped the field of 19th-century Hawaiian political and social history, while his music, recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts in 2019, remains beloved across the islands.

A search committee has been formed to find Osorio’s successor, and the position is expected to be filled by August 2026. The committee will be chaired by Kapā Oliveira, ����Ӱҵ ����ԴDz� interim vice provost for , and a former professor at �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ���Գܾ�����

The Kumulipo, a 2,102-line genealogy oli (chant) rarely heard in its entirety, will echo across the grounds of ʻIolani Palace for the first time in decades. Among the many voices bringing the oli to life is Kalei Nuʻuhiwa, a lecturer at Hawaiʻi Community College–Pālamanui. The highly anticipated on September 14, is free and open to the public and part of festivities this Kepakemapa (September), co-sponsored by the at the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�.

Nuʻuhiwa, a respected scholar of Kaulana Mahina (Hawaiian lunar calendar), explained that the Kumulipo is a pule hoʻolaʻa aliʻi (prayer to sanctify aliʻi). It links Native Hawaiians of today to more than 100 generations of their ancestors, reaching back to the time of source darkness, the birth of the universe. The Maui native and her haumāna (students) are among 66 chanters joining nā kumu hula (masters of hula) Kamuela Chun, Kalani Akana, Mehanaokalā Hind and Kaponoai Molitau. The last time the Kumulipo was recited in full was in 1999.

Echoes of resilience

The chant, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at dusk, will honor Queen Liliʻuokalani, who translated the Kumulipo while imprisoned inside the Palace.

“I think at that time she was probably depressed and trying to find answers for what happened to her and looking into the Kumulipo for hints of overcoming some of those challenges,” said Nuʻuhiwa. “She probably also wanted to help Hawaiians remember who they were, who they are and who they can become.”

More than 500 people are expected to gather for the historic performance, presented in collaboration with The Friends of ʻIolani Palace.

“We (The Friends of ʻIolani Palace) are so proud to kōkua the venue for this amazing event,” said Paula Akana, executive director of The Friends of ʻIolani Palace. “Queen Liliʻuokalani translated the Kumulipo into English while she was imprisoned here. It is a remarkable work that not only speaks to our Queen’s knowledge; but also to the brilliance of Indigenous knowledge.“

Stirring the naʻau (inner knowing)

Among the sections of the Kumulipo Nuʻuhiwa and her haumāna will present is the portion recounting the creation of stars and planets. She hopes the full journey of the oli experience will stir something deep in those who listen.

“Maybe inspiration to do something they’ve been thinking about doing. Just kind of dropping the barrier and going for it and moving forward with your own personal growth and then collective growth is what I hope happens.”

Nuʻuhiwa noted that the Kumulipo event falls under the Hawaiian moon phase ʻOlepau, one of the Kanaloa moons. In Hawaiian tradition, these moons are believed to strengthen connections to ancestors and reopen the foundations that ground and guide us.

Event highlights (All events are free and open to the public.)

• September 17 and 19—Kahiki: Native Hawaiians Abroad
  September 17: Virtual program from San Diego, CA
  September 19: Live and virtual program from Iosepa, Utah
• September 26—Holoholo Honolulu: Historic Health Sites Tour
  Ride through Honolulu on a double-decker bus and discover stories of health, community and aloha.
• September 27—Hoʻōla: History of Hawaiian Health, Virtual Presentation
  Explore Hawaiʻi’s historic health responses and resilience.

For the full schedule, visit .

Kapolei Hale came alive with the sound of oli (chant) and mele (song) as Hawaiʻi launched its first officially recognized . The University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�’s , Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī Coalition and the City and County of Honolulu’s (MOCA), joined together to welcome the community into a month-long celebration of history, culture and resilience rooted in the legacy of Queen Liliʻuokalani.

That legacy is now written into law. In June, Gov. Josh Green signed Act 167, formally designating September as Hawaiian History Month, with its observance anchored around the Queen’s birthday on September 2.

“Hawaiian history is not something in the past, it is living, breathing and shaping the way we care for one another today,” said Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, dean of ����Ӱҵ ����ԴDz�’s Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. “At Hawaiʻinuiākea, it is our kuleana (responsibility) to ensure that Hawaiian history is taught and conveyed responsibly, authentically and with aloha for our people.”

Among those in attendance were members of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, longtime champions who first introduced the idea of Hawaiian History Month and have steadfastly advocated for its recognition over decades.

“By designating September as Hawaiian History Month, the State has given us space to reflect and to celebrate,” said Soulee Stroud, Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī Coalition organizer. “But more than that, it reminds us of our kuleana to carry forward the values Queen Liliʻuokalani stood for—aloha, resilience and hope for her people.”

Art, culture front and center

The opening festivities were held against the striking backdrop of the historic ʻUmeke Lāʻau (culture medicine), a 22-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall wooden art piece now on display at Kapolei Hale. Created by Native Hawaiian artist Meleanna Aluli Meyer in collaboration with Honolulu Community College carpentry students and ����Ӱҵ ����ԴDz� art and theatre faculty and students, the ʻUmeke Lāʻau serves as a living monument of healing and reflection.

“The City and County of Honolulu’s job isn’t just services, it’s also making sure Hawaiian culture is valued, visible and accessible,” said Jennifer Santos, executive director of MOCA. “Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale are more than places to do business, they’re part of the heartbeat of our community, carrying culture, history and art for everyone who walks through these doors.”

In celebration of Hawaiian History Month, MOCA will present multimedia programming at Kapolei Hale and Mission Memorial Auditorium, along with an in-person talk story session featuring an intergenerational panel of Native Hawaiian voices from across ��ʻ�����’s six moku (districts).

Event highlights (All events are free and open to the public.)

• September 6—Free Palace Tours and Memory Walk, ʻIolani Palace
  Walk in remembrance and enjoy free admission to Hawaiʻi’s historic seat of monarchy.
• September 6, 7 and 13—Mai Poina: The Overthrow Walking Tours, ʻIolani Palace
  Experience history where it happened. These dramatic walking tours, originally created in 1993 by playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl, recreate the pivotal days of January 1893 and illuminate untold stories of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s overthrow.
• September 13—Student Film Showcase, Aliʻiōlani Hale
  View six original short films produced by Hawaiʻi’s student filmmakers for Hawaiian History Day.
• September 14—The Kumulipo Experience, ʻIolani Palace
  Witness a sacred cultural offering at dusk as Nā Kumu Hula (Master of hula) Kamuela Chun, Kalani Akana, Mehana Hind, Kalei Nuʻuhiwa and Kaponoʻai Molitau and their hālau (hula school) perform the Kumulipo, Hawaiʻi’s cosmogonic genealogy chant, in honor of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
• September 17 and 19—Kahiki: Native Hawaiians Abroad
  September 17: Virtual program from San Diego, CA
  September 19: Live and virtual program from Iosepa, Utah
• September 26—Holoholo Honolulu: Historic Health Sites Tour
  Ride through Honolulu on a double-decker bus and discover stories of health, community and aloha.
• September 27—Hoʻōla: History of Hawaiian Health, Virtual Presentation
  Explore Hawaiʻi’s historic health responses and resilience.

For the full schedule, visit .

This September, Hawaiʻi will mark its first official , following the state’s adoption of earlier this year. The month honors Queen Liliʻuokalani and celebrates Native Hawaiian contributions, inviting the community to reflect, learn and envision the future together.

Presented by the Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī Coalition and the ����Ӱҵ at Mānoa’s , this year’s observance offers free concerts, films, walking tours, cultural presentations and virtual events designed to connect people across generations.

“This designation affirms our collective responsibility to share Hawaiʻi’s true story,” said State Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, who sponsored the legislation. “It honors Queen Liliʻuokalani while inspiring civic participation rooted in aloha ʻāina.”

Honoring her legacy

Hawaiian History Month honors the legacy of Queen Liliʻuokalani while highlighting the islands’ history and heritage. Born Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha in 1838 at her family home in Puōwaina (Punchbowl), she was Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarch. A gifted composer and staunch defender of her people, her September 2 birthday anchors the month’s observance and keeps her legacy at its center.

Rare performance

Among this year’s most anticipated events is the return of Mai Poina: The Overthrow Walking Tours, where actors guide participants through pivotal moments of January 1893 at ʻIolani Palace. Another highlight is The Kumulipo Experience, a rare performance of the sacred 2,102-line genealogy chant, honoring the queen through a cultural offering not seen in generations.

“This month is a living classroom,” said Malia Nobrega, director of strategic partnerships at Hawaiʻinuiākea who is helping organize events. “It’s about carrying forward Queen ��������ʻ�ܴǰ첹�����Ծ�’s vision and creating opportunities for our communities to connect, reflect and be inspired.”

Event highlights (All events are free and open to the public.)

• August 31—Eō e Liliʻu Concert, Kawaiahaʻo Church
  Celebrate the Queen’s musical legacy with a community sing-along.
• September 2—Hauʻoli Lā Hānau e Liliʻuokalani, ʻUmeke Lāʻau at Kapolei Hale
  Commemorate Queen ��������ʻ�ܴǰ첹�����Ծ�’s 187th birthday and the milestone passage of Act 167.
• September 6—Free Palace Tours and Memory Walk, ʻIolani Palace
  Walk in remembrance and enjoy free admission to Hawaiʻi’s historic seat of monarchy.
• September 6, 7 and 13—Mai Poina: The Overthrow Walking Tours, ʻIolani Palace
  Experience history where it happened. These dramatic walking tours, originally created in 1993 by playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl, recreate the pivotal days of January 1893 and illuminate untold stories of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s overthrow.
• September 13—Student Film Showcase, Aliʻiōlani Hale
  View six original short films produced by Hawaiʻi’s student filmmakers for Hawaiian History Day.
• September 14—The Kumulipo Experience, ʻIolani Palace
  Witness a sacred cultural offering at dusk as Nā Kumu Hula (Master of hula) Kamuela Chun, Kalani Akana, Mehana Hind, Kalei Nuʻuhiwa and Kaponoʻai Molitau and their hālau (hula school) perform the Kumulipo, Hawaiʻi’s cosmogonic genealogy chant, in honor of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
• September 17 and 19—Kahiki: Native Hawaiians Abroad
  September 17: Virtual program from San Diego, CA
  September 19: Live and virtual program from Iosepa, Utah
• September 26—Holoholo Honolulu: Historic Health Sites Tour
  Ride through Honolulu on a double-decker bus and discover stories of health, community and aloha.
• September 27—Hoʻōla: History of Hawaiian Health, Virtual Presentation
  Explore Hawaiʻi’s historic health responses and resilience.

For the full schedule, visit .

With diverse expertise ranging from oceanography to economics to community-based coastal management, the University of Hawaiʻi hired eight new faculty members to support sustainable Pacific fisheries efforts. The new cohort of hires will develop an innovative graduate program to advance fisheries research, education, and training for sustainable management in Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific.

Fishing is essential to the way of life in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, providing 50–90% of the protein for Pacific Islanders. However, management strategies from the U.S. continent often fail here because they were designed for cold-water, industrial fisheries. Pacific fisheries are different—they operate in warm tropical waters with diverse species and fishing gear, and with Indigenous Pacific Island communities. The Pacific Island region is multinational and has comparatively less scientific data, requiring a locally developed approach to ensure they can be sustained for generations.

“It is critically important to elevate and co-develop knowledge relevant to the Pacific, foster local expertise, and train the next generation of fisheries stewards and managers,” said Megan Donahue, director of the (HIMB) in the ����Ӱҵ Mānoa (SOEST). “The new faculty members in this cohort each bring unique perspectives and talent to the complexities we face here. In addition to their contributions to advancing research and sustainable management of Pacific fisheries, they will be a vital part of developing a fisheries graduate training program.”

New faculty

• Donna Dimarchopoulou, Fisheries Quantitative Biologist–/
• Mary Donovan, Ecosystem-based Fisheries Science & Management–SOEST/ HIMB
• Erik Franklin, Fisheries Science & Management–SOEST/ HIMB
• Kanoe Morishige, Indigenous-Led Biocultural Coastal Management–/
• Eileen Nalley, Fisheries Extension–SOEST/
• Justin Suca, Fisheries Oceanography–SOEST/
• Ron Vave, Ocean Governance & Marine Resources–/
• Xiurou Wu, Environmental & Resource Economics–/

Fisheries in Hawaiʻi are distinct in that they include a variety of sectors ranging from the open ocean longline fishery, which is the sixth largest fishery in monetary value in the U.S., to community managed fishponds or loko iʻa. Importantly, the majority of nearshore fisheries in Hawaiʻi are non-commercial, which requires unique considerations for management. This program seeks to build on existing work by faculty and practitioners across the ����Ӱҵ System to understand the unique contributions of these diverse commercial and non-commercial fisheries to the economic, social, and cultural well-being of Hawaiʻi to ensure their longevity.

“This cohort of new hires will take fisheries at ����Ӱҵ to the next level to better serve students, communities, fishers, government agencies and conservation organizations in Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific,” said Jeff Drazen, professor in the SOEST Department of Oceanography. “Our vision with this cohort is to stand up a center of expertise and excellence to facilitate the synergistic work that ����Ӱҵ is uniquely positioned to contribute.”

Developing the graduate education program

In Hawaiʻi, the Division of Aquatic Resources, the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center have noted the need for greater local research and management capacity. This graduate program will be distinguished from others by creating learning opportunities for students to weave western science and Indigenous knowledge in collaboration with communities, and supporting community-based fisheries solutions and participatory governance approaches.

“We are thrilled to welcome the new fisheries cohort, whose work will significantly enhance Pacific Island fisheries,” said Brian Neilson, Administrator of the Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources. “By advancing research and cultivating the next generation of scientists, practitioners, and managers with social and cultural competencies tailored to Pacific Island communities, this initiative will benefit Hawaiʻi and our island neighbors.”

This week’s ����Ӱҵ News Image of the Week is from the ����Ӱҵ ����ԴDz� Ka Papa Loʻi ʻo Kānewai.

����Ӱҵ faculty, staff and administrators, including ����Ӱҵ President Wendy Hensel, spent Tuesday morning at the . They’re participating in a five-day in-person professional development opportunity developed and facilitated by the that provides a deep dive into the Native Hawaiian principles outlined in the .

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Kaina Makua wasn’t seeking the spotlight when he showed up at a state canoe paddling regatta in 2019. The alumnus was there doing what he loved, coaching Waimea High School’s paddling team. But among the crowd that day was actor Jason Momoa, who saw something more: the future face of a king.

That night, Momoa approached Makua with a bold idea, asking if he’d consider playing legendary Hawaiʻi ruler Kamehameha the Great in an upcoming film. Makua, a Kauaʻi native laughed it off, unsure if the Hollywood star was serious.

But Momoa didn’t forget.

“Three years later in 2022 he called me up and said, ‘I told you, I told you,’ and I was like, ‘What did you tell me?’” Makua said with a laugh. “He said, ‘I told you you are going to play Kamehameha.’”

Makua stars alongside Momoa in Chief of War, an Apple TV+ series premiering August 1. The series tells the story of Kaʻiana, a Kauaʻi aliʻi (high-ranking chiefs or royalty) and warrior who opposes Kamehameha’s push to unify the Hawaiian Islands. Filmed in Hawaiʻi and New Zealand, the series also brings to life other key aliʻi figures from that era, such as Kahekili and Kaʻahumanu.

A path of purpose

Makua, a trained ʻōlapa hula (hula dancer), was hesitant at first, not having an acting background. His days were already full–dedicating his life to empowering ʻōpio (youth) in west Kauaʻi through ʻāina (land) rehabilitation and food system revitalization centered around kalo (taro) through his nonprofit, .

Related story: Q&A: Exploring Chief of War with ����Ӱҵ kumu, July 2025

After deep reflection and guidance, he eventually embraced the role. He dove deep into research and his own genealogy, which connects him to Kamehameha through his father’s side. Along the way, Makua developed a deeper view of the revered aliʻi, often admired, but also questioned for his approach.

“Coming from his perspective and stepping into this leadership role, it was clear that he did what was necessary for Hawaiʻi, not for himself,” Makua said.

He discovered parallels in his own life.

“If you’re a real leader and you’re really making change…you understand the kuleana (responsibility) and the weight of that. You’re always going to get ridiculed, you’re always gonna be under the microscope.”

On set, Makua often found himself surrounded by hundreds of crew members working behind the scenes to bring the historical drama to life. But when the cameras rolled, he leaned into something deeply personal, his own life experiences.

“It’s all everyday emotions for all of us. I mean we all get that. We go up and down. We go left and right. We spin around in circles,” Makua said. “Being around other actors and watching them made my job feel way easier to settle into.”

Healing through ʻāina

Makua carries that same sense of purpose into his work off-screen. Within the past decade, he’s poured his mana (strength) into growing his nonprofit, expanding from 10 to nearly 100 acres of restored agricultural ʻāina across four sites on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu. More than 3,500 ʻōpio have taken part in its ʻāina-based education programs. Through its commercial brand, Aloha Aina Poi Co., the group processes and distributes more than 70,000 pounds of fresh poi across Hawaiʻi each year.

“It’s more apparent how disconnected we are as a people, not even as Hawaiians just as human beings. And it’s only getting worse. Kumano I Ke Ala is here to uplift our people and to help save the world through aloha ʻāina work, love of the land,” Makua said.

Lessons from Kānewai

Much of what he now teaches ʻōpio, especially about the many varieties of kalo and traditional planting techniques, comes from the time he spent immersed at , the taro patches next to the . Makua often reflects with gratitude on the ʻike (knowledge) passed down to him during his time at ����Ӱҵ Mānoa where he earned a BA in and an MA in and (Hawaiian language).

Sharing moʻolelo

As for his acting debut on the upcoming tv series, Makua hopes it opens doors for native peoples.
“I hope that Indigenous populations that we have across the world understand this is a foot in the door. It’s not going to end here. I hope they understand that it’s not just for Hawaiʻi, this for all Indigenous people because we all get moʻolelo (stories). This is how we all can share.”

—By Moanikeʻala Nabarro