{"id":19164,"date":"2024-07-11T15:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T19:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/?post_type=cw_post&p=19164"},"modified":"2024-07-12T12:24:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T16:24:27","slug":"voices-of-indigenous-educators-series-were-all-in-this-canoe-together-sui-lan-ho%ca%bbokano","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/voices-of-indigenous-educators-series-were-all-in-this-canoe-together-sui-lan-ho%ca%bbokano\/","title":{"rendered":"Voices of Indigenous Educators Series: \u201cWe’re all in this canoe together.\u201d \u2013 Sui-Lan Ho\u02bbokano"},"content":{"rendered":"
This post is based on an interview by the Aurora Institute (Laurie Gagnon) and the Liber Institute (Jonathan Santos Silva and Amanda Dahlin) on April 29, 2024 with Sui-Lan Ho\u02bbokano, who is a Cultural Practitioner, Director of Winds & Waters LLC, and the Cultural Support Program Manager in Enumclaw School District.<\/em><\/p>\n Aloha Sui-Lan Ho\u02bbokano; No Hilo Hawaii au, kaikamahine a George Ho\u02bbokano, Lucille Fernandez Fraticelli Ho\u02bbokano. \u02bbO ka makuahine o \u02bbelima a me ke k\u016bpuna\u00a0wahine o \u02bbelima<\/em>. I bring my Ohana (family) into this space with me and our \u02bbIke K\u016bpuna<\/em>(knowledge of my ancestors). It’s important for me to introduce myself in one of my Native languages. It’s important for my genealogy, especially because our language was on the brink of extinction. I actually learned three of my languages later in life: Hawaiian, Spanish, and Chinese (Mandarin). This was part of my own restorative practice.<\/p>\n My dad’s Native Hawaiian and my mom’s Boricua; Taino Indian, Africana, Puerto Rican. She is seven generations from the islands of Hawaii, so she only knows Hawaii, and she knows some of her ancestral history, but not all, and we have to acknowledge that. I’m blessed with having an opportunity to learn some of my family’s histories. My name Sui-Lan is part of my Chinese ancestry as well, which is a very complex part of my history.<\/p>\n I have learned to bring 100% of everything that I am into space, and I think that’s important for us to unpack what this looks like for us as Native and Indigenous peoples. As I stated earlier there are some parts missing from our history that have purposefully been taken and erased \u2013 language, cultural traditions, history, stories. For me, acknowledging this keeps me aware of the work I still have to do with responsible humility.<\/p>\n It is also important for me to acknowledge the ancestral relationships that I have with this wahi pana<\/em> (place with story) and places I visit. Maintaining relationships with the traditional stewards and lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, understanding my responsibility to the people and lands, is an important part of reciprocating my relationships in community and finding my purpose and place within.<\/p>\n