kawika maui kalama | NHPI JOURNEY TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM MANAGER
Pasifika Culture: Kānaka Maoli, Filipino
Pronouns: They/She
About Kawika Kalama: Kawika is a Filipino, Kanaka Maoli, Chinese, and Irish mahi and multidisciplinary teaching artist. Weaving, leatherworking, and photography are a few of Kalama’s favorite mediums. Their work explores how we are connected to our communities, cultures, and food systems, empowering students to embrace their histories and reconnect with their unique traditional ways of being.
Kawika believes creative expression is a reflective healing process that deepens an individual’s connection to their Self, their art forms, and their ancestors.
In Kawika’s free time, you can find them tending land at Kindness Farm, the Oregon Food Bank, and many other spaces within the Multnomah Valley and Johnson Creek Watershed.
For education, Kawika has a BA in Civic Communication and Media and Religious Studies from Willamette University and is a graduate of the 2023-2024 Teaching Artist Studio by Arts for Learning Northwest.
Get to Know kawika!
What is your favorite Islander Food?:
Poi, Lau Lau, Laing, anything with 'ulu!
What is your most meaningful memory with someone who is a member of the QT/PI community or with your culture?:
My first time in Hawai'i, within 24 hours I slept at Pu'uhonua o Pu'uhuluhulu and ascended to the summit of Mauna a Wakea for ceremony. At Lake Waiau, I walked between the Kane and Wahine, bridging the gap as Māhū have for centuries prior to the arrival of missionaries. At the banks of Lake Waiau, Kumu Hula Lanakila Mangauil pointed to me, then the pahu ( drum ). Without hesitation, I played the pahu for hulu dancers for the first time in the wao akua ( realm of the gods ).
What are you most excited to do or achieve during your time at UTOPIA PDX?
I am most excited to become the resource that I craved when I was a keiki ( kid ). It brings me so much joy to be the makua ( adult ) who encourages young Pacific Islanders to embrace their creativity and culture, learn their traditional ways of being, and foster pilina ( connection ) to all their kūpuna ( ancestors ).