Waimānalo Pono Research Hui: Promoting Community-Driven and Culturally-Grounded Ethical Research

Abstract

Native Hawaiians, or Kānaka Maoli, the first people to arrive and settle on the Hawaiian Islands, have been data scientists. To build their self-sufficient society, Native Hawaiians collected data about their natural surroundings to meticulously create sophisticated and sustainable resource management and food systems, which for centuries fed up to a million people on the islands. However, the spread of Western imperialism across the Pacific in the early 19th century led to forced assimilation and the illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. Like other Indigenous communities and communities of color, Native Hawaiians have a long history of being the subject of unethical and exploitative research. To shift the power imbalances and colonial paradigm of research, many Native scholars, community leaders, and their allies advocate for decolonizing methodologies that revitalize and integrate cultural practices into the research. One example of decolonizing research is the Waimānalo Pono Research Hui, a community-academic group formed to promote community-driven and culturally-centered research. This presentation describes how the Waimānalo Pono Research Hui was established and the structures that have been developed to ensure research is community-driven, culturally-centered, and ethical. We will also share recommendations and lessons learned for researchers who strive to transform the way we care for data and our communities through research.