The 13-week “Aloha ʻĀina” series explored the roots and historical endurance of the values of aloha ʻāina, commonly translated as “love of the land.” The 65 episodes asked, what does it really mean to engage, to connect, to develop an intimate kinship with the environments and ancestral knowledge that have nourished and sustained these islands for centuries?
Commentary was provided by noted Hawaiian scholars and leaders, such as PuananiBurgess, Sam ʻOhu Gon, Davianna McGregor, Jonathan Osorio, and Walter Ritte. Through these voices and many others, the series invites listeners to deepen their understanding of aloha ‘āina and hopes to inspire them to incorporate these values into their everyday lives.
The 90-second Aloha ʻĀina vignettes aired each weekday after Fresh Air (HPR-2) at 3:57 p.m.
The series was researched, written, and narrated by Julia Steele. Steele is currently an editor at Hawai‘i’s largest magazine, Hana Hou!, where she has written and edited numerous award-winning articles about Hawai‘i. She was the founding editor of Honolulu Weekly. She holds a BA in Pacific history and journalism from the University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa and a JD from Stanford Law School.
The theme music for the Aloha ‘Äina series is Project Kuleana’s recording of Liko Martin’s “All Hawai‘i Stand Together.” You can see and hear the song in its entirety https://youtu.be/LV5qNZox4T8">here. Mahalo nui loa to all involved for their graciousness in allowing us to use the music for the series.
The series was a collaboration with The Kohala Center.
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On January 18th 1778, Captain James Cook and his crew made landfall on Kaua‘i—the first known Westerners in Hawai‘i. Cook was on his third expedition in…
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It was not just the people who saw their lives disrupted by the introductions of early Western explorers—the land was affected too. On his 1794 visit to…
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With the arrival of foreigners in Hawai‘i came new goods; with those goods came debt; with debt came the need for money; and from that need came the first…
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The profound changes that began at the end of the 1700s—the coming of new diseases, new species, and capitalism—did not let up as the new century dawned;…
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In 1794, King Kamehameha and Captain George Vancouver discussed a political alliance between Hawai‘i and England; in 1810, Kamehameha sent a letter to…
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After Liholiho’s death in England, his brother Kauikeaouli became king. He was Hawai‘i’s longest-reigning monarch, and one of his greatest feats was…
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In 1848 Kauikeaouli’s government set out to organize, in paper form, all four million of Hawai‘i’s acres. The king continued to see imperial aggression as…
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In 1848 an American naval frigate arrived in Hilo carrying a virus that would spell death for thousands of Hawaiians: measles. Hawaiian immune systems had…
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The brothers who succeeded Kauikeaouli as sovereigns—Alexander Liholiho and Lota Kapu?iwa—were the first of Hawai‘i’s kings to be fully educated in the…
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For millennia, Hawai‘i had an oral society: The people themselves were the keepers of knowledge—mo‘?lelo that was passed down from generation to…