Navigating Our Past, Present, and Future using Mo‘olelo: Sitting beside Our Ancestors.

Abstract

Often relegated as fictitious accounts of ancient people who have long since past, many of our Native Hawaiian moʻolelo remain unspoken, unsung, unread. Overlooked and undervalued, they wait in silence like unopened books on dusty shelves anticipating that special moment when someone reaches over to savor the stories of our people. Moʻolelo are seldom included within the classroom curriculum, thus, continuing the colonial practice of denying Kanaka ʻŌiwi students access to learning their Hawaiian history, language and culture through a Hawaiian lens. A strong Indigenous education is grounded in curriculum and pedagogy congruent with traditional knowledge, culture, and practices at its core. In this research project, I investigated the role of moʻolelo with a fourth grade students at a Hawaiian-serving school. The haumāna created videos depicting moʻolelo that they had learned and found of interest. The source for these moʻolelo may have stemmed from a family member, class-related reading, or cultural practitioner. Five Hawaiian language and culture teachers and five cultural practitioners were interviewed about the importance of moʻolelo upon viewing the fourth grade students’ moʻolelo videos. The participants expounded upon the strengths of the students’ storytelling abilities and ways to improve upon them. The participants’ collective knowledge provided guidance and instruction as to how educators might effectively integrate moʻolelo within their classroom practices.