KUA–LAKO–MO‘O: a methodology for exploring Indigenous conceptualisations of nature and conservation in Hawai‘i

Abstract

Biocultural conservation is an approach to conservation that wields the relationships between a culture and the natural world to strengthen conservation efforts. Hawaiian biocultural frameworks are complex but can be initially explored by a methodological approach that we term KUA–LAKO–MO‘O, which links native species and ecosystems to (1) the pantheon of Oceanian deities, to which all elements of the environment are associated, (2) the rich biocultural applications (i.e. material culture) that emerged from centuries of life in the islands, and (3) the oral histories that weave knowledge of biodiversity and ecosystem function into everyday life, ethics, and sustainable existence. This methodology can be applied to primary kānaka ‘ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) sources held within the world’s largest printed archive of an oceanic Indigenous culture. The results of such an approach can reveal conceptualisations of, and relationships to, nature held within an Indigenous culture. The ongoing revitalisation of the intellectual, philosophical, ethical, and spiritual perspectives of kānaka ‘ōiwi in the course of the contemporary Hawaiian Renaissance can inform biocultural conservation efforts and transform conservation biology in Hawai‘i by embracing a biocultural approach and putting humanity and nature back on a path of coprosperity. This methodology could be applied anywhere people have forged deep, long-standing relationships with their environments for similar results.