Honuaiākea: Developing Kapu and Kānāwai Through Ancestral Ecological Knowledge

Join ʻImiloa for this conversation with Luka Kanakaʻole as he demonstrates the development of kapu (elements to hold sacred) and kānāwai (protocols that uphold them) through the analytical process of Honuaiākea — a rigorous methodology for shaping contemporary policy, governance, and environmental stewardship.

Emerging from the Papakū Makawalu framework, Honuaiākea centers ʻike Hawaiʻi as foundational scientific knowledge. Rather than positioning culture as an addition to Western science, Kanakaʻole advances an approach in which conventional biological data and ancestral ecological knowledge inform one another as equals. With a background in biology, he reflects on moving beyond a data-dominant “sprinkle of culture” model toward a comprehensive, place-based knowing grounded in location-specific Ancestral Ecological Knowledge.

Central to this work is protocol: opening with oli sets intention, removes ego from decision-making, and situates governance within relationship—to place, to ancestors, and to future generations.

Luka Kanakaʻole - Program Manager and Kiaʻi for the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation