Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi
General Assignment ReporterKuʻuwehi Hiraishi is an award-winning journalist and founding member of the ‘Ahahui Haku Moʻolelo (Hawaiian Journalism Association). She was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, and was one of the first graduates of the Hawaiian language immersion school Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu.
She went on to study Journalism & Mass Communications at Seattle University, and returned home to work on the Hawaiian language television news program ʻĀhaʻi ʻŌlelo Ola, which aired on Hawaii News Now’s Sunrise morning program.
Her unique skillset of Hawaiian language fluency and journalism were valuable assets in building the Hawaiian news media industry with the launch of ʻŌiwi TV, an on-demand television news station with programming produced by and for Native Hawaiians. Her in-depth research and reporting on Native Hawaiian water rights earned her and the ʻŌiwi TV team their first international journalism award at the World Indigenous Television Broadcasters’ Network Journalism Awards in 2012.
After a brief hiatus working in communications for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, she returned to journalism as a general assignment reporter at Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Her commitment to her Native Hawaiian community and her fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi has led her to build a de facto ʻōiwi beat at the news station, covering issues important to the Native Hawaiian and Indigenous communities. Contact her at khiraishi@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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Hālau only get seven minutes to perform each number on stage at the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. To ensure precise timing, some kumu hula on Oʻahu created a replica of the Hilo stage in vacant retail space in Kalihi. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.
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The host town of Hilo is preparing for the influx of hula dancers and hula fans to the 61st annual Merrie Monarch Festival. Organizers expect dancers from more than 20 hālau hula across the islands and as far away as California. HPR reporter Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has this story.
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Can speaking Pidgin give you an advantage when learning the Hawaiian language? That is the subject of a study by a linguist at the University of British Columbia in Canada. As HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports, the linguist drew inspiration from a similar study comparing Māori and Māori-accented English in Aotearoa.
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The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture has restricted the off-island movement of ʻōhiʻa plants and plant parts since 2015. This includes ʻōhiʻa lehua, leaves and seeds.
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The Hawaiʻi State Senate has become the first state legislative body in the country to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
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A popular hiking trail in Upcountry Maui is set to reopen to residents and visitors next month. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports damage from wildfire and high winds have kept the Waihou Spring Forest Reserve and Trail in Makawao closed since last August.
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Every year, more than a million people enjoy the beach parks in the coastal community of Keaukaha on Hawaiʻi Island, according to a grassroots-led data collection effort over the last year known as Waiʻuli We Count. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more.
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After decades of subpar living conditions, Molokaʻi kūpuna in the Hawaiian homestead community of Nāʻiwa are preparing to move into new, affordable tiny homes on wheels.
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Last week, a judge ordered a 10-day work stoppage for the Kauanoe O Kōloa project, a 279-unit development that has received backlash from members of the Native Hawaiian community.
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Concerns over the construction of a three-story judging tower at a famous Tahiti surf break for the 2024 Paris Olympics sent a team of scientists from Hawaiʻi to Teahupoʻo. Construction has begun, but the timeline for completion remains uncertain. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi explains what the controversy has meant to the surfing and science communities.