Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi
ContributorKuʻuwehi 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 until July 2024. Her commitment to her Native Hawaiian community and her fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi led her to build a de facto ʻōiwi beat at the news station, covering issues important to the Native Hawaiian and Indigenous communities.
Hiraishi is currently an HPR contributor.
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Kahakai Park in the Hawaiian Beaches Subdivision of Puna on Hawaiʻi Island now goes by a new name — Waiakahiʻula. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports that the name change honors the original place name and the rich cultural history of the area. -
The first telescope to be decommissioned from Maunakea, the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, has been completely removed — and the site has been restored. -
HB 2074 was one of 13 bills recently signed into law by Green, marking his renewed commitment to the Native Hawaiian people. -
Nā ʻAikāne O Maui is one step closer to rebuilding its Native Hawaiian cultural center after it was destroyed in the Lahaina wildfires. -
Kohala residents now have nearly 30 acres of farm land in their community permanently set aside for growing food and future farmers. -
A long court battle over water in Central Maui has ended with the state Supreme Court calling on the Water Commission to be more proactive in its public trust duties. Justices found the commission failed to take the initiative to restore stream flow in Nā Wai ʻEhā when Hawaiʻi's last sugar plantation closed in 2016. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more. -
Twenty years ago, a large pōhaku (stone) named Kānepō was lent by kūpuna from Hawaiʻi Island to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Now, that pōhaku is scheduled to arrive home in August. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports. -
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is in the process of establishing a private land trust for affordable housing beginning with 43 acres on the east side of Hawaiʻi Island. -
‘Okina Kitchen, an organic baking mix company originally based in Kailua, is sparking conversations in the Native Hawaiian community about cultural appropriation and intellectual property. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi explains the ongoing challenges and more. -
A proposal to develop more than 1,300 acres in King’s Landing on Hawaiʻi Island is being considered by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The project has been a goal for a handful of Native Hawaiian families who settled in the area more than 40 years ago.
