UH Hilo Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language awards two doctoral degrees, 57 baccalaureate, masters, & others

Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has awarded 59 degrees this semester, including two doctor of philosophy and 57 others.

WATCH: A message from Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa, Director of Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language.

Doctoral Degrees

Kekoa Lloyd Harman

Kekoa Lloyd Harman earned his doctor of philosophy in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization. His dissertation, “I Lālā Mau Nā Hula Ilalaole, He Kālailaina I Nā Kuhi Lima O Nā Hula A Joseph Kealiikuikamoku Ilalaole-O-Kamehameha,” analyzes the kuhi lima, hand motions that accompany hula chants, within the 18 hula developed by Joseph Kealiikuikamoku Ilalaole-o-Kamehameha. The dissertation provides a template for scholars of indigenous languages to better understand the relationship between language, culture, and dance. Harman was born and raised on Maui. He is an associate professor at Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani specializing in beginning Hawaiian language instruction and upper-division performing arts classes taught in the medium of Hawaiian. Harman has over 20 years of language revitalization experience and knowledge. In 2011, he graduated under the traditional hula ʻuniki ceremony under Kumu Hula Kimo Alama Keaulana. Together with his wife Pelehonuamea, the couple has founded their hula school, Hālau I Ka Leo Ola O Nā Mamo, continuing the traditions of hula and doing so exclusively through the Hawaiian language.

Tehota’kerá:tonh (Teho) Jeremy D. Green

Tehota’kerá:tonh (Teho) Jeremy D. Green earned his doctor of philosophy in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization. Green is a Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk), of the wolf clan, from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Canada. His dissertation, entitled, “The Oral Literacy Approach,” provides important direction for the teaching of Kanyen’kéha (Mohawk) and related Iroquoian languages. Green has been involved in Kanyen’kéha language revitalization for 25 years. He currently administers the K-12 Kawenni:io/Gaweni:yo School on Six Nations on the Grand River Reserve in Ontario, Canada. The school is unique among Indigenous language immersion schools in incorporating two different indigenous language streams one focused on Mohawk the other on Cayuga.

Baccalaureate, Minors, Certificates, and Others

Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language awarded a total of 59 degrees this spring semester.

In addition to the two doctor of philosophy awards, also graduating are:

• 21 students earning a Bachelor of Arts in Hawaiian Studies, Linguistics (single and double majors)
• 6 earning a Minor in Hawaiian Studies
• 12 receiving Hawaiian Culture Certificates, Hawaiian Language Medium Early Education Certificate and/or Multidisciplinary Hawaiian Studies Certificate (nine of these students will also be graduating from high school at the college’s laboratory school Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu in Keaʻau)
• 8 graduates from the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Graduate Program Certificate
• 10 earning a Master of Arts in Indigenous Language and Culture Education