Who We Are

Background

Noelani Goodyear–Ka‘ōpua is a Kanaka Maoli who was born on and raised by lands and communities of Oʻahu. Her genealogy also connects her to Maui and Hawaiʻi, as well as to parts of Southern China and the British Midlands. Aloha ʻāina guides her work as an educator and scholar.

Professor Goodyear–Ka‘ōpua teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Hawaiian and Indigenous politics, qualitative research methods, and political leadership. (See courses below.) In 2019, the University of Hawaiʻi recognized Noelani with the Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching and the Dr. Amefil Agbayani Faculty Diversity Enhancement Award.

Noelani practices collaborative and community-engaged scholarship. A lifetime student of and participant in Hawaiian movements, her research has involved documenting, analyzing and proliferating the ways people are transforming imperial and settler colonial relations through Kanaka Maoli political and educational initiatives. Her books include:

• The Seeds We Planted: Portraits of a Native Hawaiian Charter School (University of Minnesota Press, 2013),
• A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land and Sovereignty (Duke University Press, 2014), co-edited with Kahunawai Wright and Ikaika Hussey, and 
• Nā Wāhine Koa: Hawaiian Women for Sovereignty and Demilitarization (University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2018), co-authored with Terrilee Keko‘olani, Moanike‘ala Akaka, Maxine Kahaulelio and Loretta Ritte.
• The Value of Hawaiʻi, 3: Hulihia, The Turning (UH Press, 2020). Noelani and her fellow co-editors of the Value of Hawaiʻi series —Aiko Yamashiro, Craig Howes and Jonathan Osorioa—were pleased to offer this third volume as a freely downloadable book that was born in the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

With Dr. Kahunawai Wright, Noelani is currently working on a biography of Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask. They received funding from the National Endowment for Humanities for this project. 

Dr. Goodyear–Ka‘ōpua’s commitment to Native Hawaiian education spans more 25 years. She is a co-founder of Hālau Kū Māna public charter school, a trustee of the Kamehameha Schools, and a board member of the Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy and MA’O Organic Farms. 

Noelani believes in the power of ea—the living, breathing, rising of her sovereign people—because she hears and feels it in their stories. Her Popo taught her how to play horseshoes, to share mangoes from her tree with anyone who asks, and to treat youth with genuine respect and adoration. Noe tries to bring this kind of love to her writing, teaching and leadership roles.

For more, visit: noegoodyearkaopua.info