E kolo ana nō ke ēwe i ke ēwe (The rootlet will creep toward the rootlets)

Abstract

What is Hawaiian cultural identity? What does it mean to be Hawaiian? Out of the process of developing a curriculum for our Keiki Steps program at the Institute of Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE) emerged these profound questions that form the foundation of all of the work that we do. Our Community-Based Inquiry focuses on understanding who we are and how that impacts the ways in which we teach our keiki (children), setting in motion a process that is transforming our understanding of ourselves, our history, and our culture, and changing the way we work with our earliest learners.