'Uniki, Hawaiian Graduation Ceremony: Indigenous Education, Research, and Praxis

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-14 - Toward Justice for Indigenous Peoples: Education Research and Praxis 1

Abstract

The best chance to save our world , that is, our native world, is through teaching and passing on the knowledge of our ancestors through ‘uniki, a ceremonial graduation exercise.
In perpetuating our customs and traditions, we contribute to the diversity of Hawaiʻi and, more importantly, to the identity of Hawaiʻi as its native, first people.
Ceremony and ritual are primary means of education in continuing and perpetuating cultural practice and knowledge. The grounded theory will demonstrate that the more precise and defined a performance ceremony is, the more able that performance is to confer and transfer roles, responsibilities, and knowledge to future generations. For a native person, this comprises justice.

Author

• Keith Kalani Akana, Office of Hawaiian Affairs