Study Abroad: UH Hilo Hawaiian studies major Kahiau Snyder found his perspectives shifting in Aotearoa
Māori worldview and Aotearoa history showed Native Hawaiian Kahiau Snyder, “Our two lands, languages, cultures, and peoples have so much in common and so much to learn from each other.”
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
Kahiau Snyder, a double major in Hawaiian studies and linguistics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, spent last semester in New Zealand having a Study Abroad experience that he says shifted his perspective on Hawaiʻi’s history.
“Learning about the Māori worldview and the history of Aotearoa really shifted my perspective on Hawaiʻi’s history in many ways,” says Snyder about his semester at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato in Kirikiriroa, Aotearoa (the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand). “Our two lands, languages, cultures, and peoples have so much in common and so much to learn from each other.”
Snyder hails from Wailuku, Maui, and graduated from Kamehameha Schools ʻAʻapueo (Maui) in 2022. He arrived at UH Hilo that fall and will graduate this May with the Class of 2026.
Along with his double major, Snyder is also pursuing subject certificates in Hawaiʻi performing arts, multidisciplinary Hawaiian studies, and contemporary Indigenous multilingualism. In 2023, he was awarded a UH Regents Scholarship given to selected students who are Hawaiʻi residents with a record of outstanding academic achievement.
“As I continued studying linguistics, I only became more and more interested in the similarities and differences between te reo Māori and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.”
Snyder says he wanted to study abroad to broaden his horizons.
“I grew up on Maui, and I’ve never lived anywhere outside of Hawaiʻi,” he says. “In a more specific sense, though, I have always been interested in the Māori culture and its relationship to Hawaiian culture. As I continued studying linguistics, I only became more and more interested in the similarities and differences between te reo Māori (Māori language) and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language). As I studied the two languages, I knew I wanted to go to Aotearoa to study te reo Māori more deeply.”
Snyder says he’s very grateful for the scholarships he received to support his Study Abroad adventure: the Audrey S. Furukawa Study Abroad Scholarship, Gertrude E. McVickar Endowed Excellence Scholarship, John and Anja McVickar Endowed Excellence Scholarship for Study Abroad, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.
“Each of the four study abroad scholarships I received required a community service project related to my study abroad experience,” he says. (One of those projects is described at the end of this story.)
“Learning about the Māori worldview and the history of Aotearoa really shifted my perspective on Hawaiʻi’s history in many ways.”
The primary focus of Snyder’s studies while in New Zealand was te reo Māori, which relates to his linguistics major and contemporary Indigenous multilingualism certificate. He also focused on Māori history, culture, and performing arts, notably haka and waiata (traditional and contemporary Māori dances and songs).
“Learning te reo Māori enhanced my understanding of historical and comparative linguistics — one of my favorite sectors of linguistics — as I compared everything I learned to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi,” he explains. “Learning haka and waiata was very fun, especially as it is very different from hula and Hawaiian song and chant.”
“Learning about the Māori worldview and the history of Aotearoa really shifted my perspective on Hawaiʻi’s history in many ways,” he adds. “Our two lands, languages, cultures, and peoples have so much in common and so much to learn from each other.”
While learning about all of these things in the classroom was great, Snyder says the highlights of his study abroad experience were the life lessons he learned outside of the classroom.
“I’m a pretty introverted person, so moving to another country where I didn’t know anyone was a big jump for me, just like jumping into a course about a language I had never learned before without taking the pre-requisite course first.”
As a Hawaiian born and raised in Hawaiʻi, he says, “I’ve always felt at home here, never like I didn’t belong.” But living in Aoteroa was a significant departure from that feeling. “It was my first time living in a place where I was not native to that land, where I couldn’t trace my genealogy back to ancestors who lived there.”
“That awkward feeling of not belonging, though, lasted all of two days,” he says. “I was living in a dorm full of Māori students, and the second they found out I was Hawaiian, from Hawaiʻi, and there to learn te reo Māori, they welcomed me in and I felt right at home with them.”
With his new Māori friends at his side, the whole experience became much easier and his confidence grew to make the whole experience as great as possible. One favorite memory is about a cultural event he attended with those friends, a kura reo, a weekend-long gathering at the on-campus marae for Māori language learners and speakers of all levels to come together to learn, speak, and strengthen reo Māori.
“Along with the reo Māori sentence structures and idioms, we also learned waiata (songs) and played games in the language,” he says. “The entire weekend was an amazing opportunity for me to build connections with new people, strengthen connections with my friends who encouraged me to go with them, and practice my reo Māori.”
While he appreciated all the support and welcoming he received from his Māori friends and classmates as well as his teachers and tutors, his greatest support arrived from home (literally).
“My greatest support was my girlfriend back home who supported me studying in Aotearoa and even came to visit and gave me a space to keep using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi so I didn’t come back home all rusty,” he says.
Now back home, there is some perspective about the whole experience.
“I’ll always cherish the memories I made and life lessons I learned in Waikato, and I know I’ll find my way back to Aotearoa, but I’m also very happy to be home applying what I learned in Aotearoa to my linguistic and cultural studies in Hilo,” he says.
Community service project
One way Snyder has applied what he learned in Aotearoa is by leading a te reo Māori workshop in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi with fellow UH Hilo students. Each of the four study abroad scholarships he received to support his studies in Aotearoa require a community service project related to his study abroad experience, and this workshop fulfills one of those requirements.
“Because the languages are so closely related, and because many of my linguist friends were interested in hearing about the reo I learned, I held a two-hour workshop explaining some basic features of te reo Māori through an ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi framework,” he says. “I focused on pronunciation, key vocabulary, and simple sentence structures, comparing them with cognates and equivalent forms in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi so participants could see both the similarities and differences between the two languages.”
This approach made it easier for haumana (students) to understand the material and also sparked discussion about the historical relationships among Polynesian languages.
“Many participants expressed strong interest and asked for a follow-up workshop, which I have since begun planning,” says Snyder.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to share what I learned in Aotearoa with the people here who have supported me throughout this journey,” he adds.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
