University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno offered sentiment to Native Hawaiians during the opening of the 2019 National Diversity in STEM Conference by the Society for Advancement of Chicano/Hispanics & Native Americans (SACNAS).
Bruno offered a Land Acknowledgement, which is a formal statement paying tribute to the original inhabitants of the land, as a representative of the presenting sponsor of the three-day conference held at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center.
“On behalf of the University of Hawaiʻi, it is with profound reflection that I offer up this Land Acknowledgement, acknowledging Hawaiʻi as an indigenous space whose original people are today identified as Native Hawaiians,” Bruno said.
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“The ‘āina on which we gather is located in the ahupua‘a of Waikīkī, in the moku of Kona, on the mokupuni of O‘ahu, in the pae‘āina of Hawai‘i,” he continued. “I recognize that her majesty Queen Lili‘uokalani yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom and these territories under duress and protest to the United States to avoid the bloodshed of her people. I further recognize that generations of indigenous Hawaiians and their knowledge systems shaped Hawai‘i in a sustainable way that allows me to enjoy her gifts today. For this, I am truly grateful.”
Bruno also referred to the current day as a time of change in Hawaiʻi’s history and of the universityʻs struggle with its support of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea. He said the university is committed to becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning and a model indigenous-serving institution.
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