KA MĀKOU MOʻOLELO · OUR STORY
Learning from and for
Hawaiʻi Island’s places and people
Hoaʻāina Heritage Services exist because the places that hold our stories are
being decided about, constantly, by people who have never been asked to understand them.
Lokelani
Brandt, M.A.
Born in Kailua, Oʻahu and raised in Hilo and Puna, Lokelani Brandt has spent more than fourteen years researching and documenting the cultural landscapes and histories of Hawaiʻi Island.
A graduate of Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, Lokelani holds degrees in Anthropology, Hawaiian Studies, and Heritage Management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Her background in archaeology, ethnography, ethnohistory, and Hawaiian language and culture has shaped an approach to cultural resource management that places equal importance on careful research, relationships with communities, and responsibility to place.
After more than a decade working in cultural resource management, Lokelani founded Hoaʻāina Heritage Services in 2023 to create a practice that more closely reflected her own values and approach to the work. At the center of Hoaʻāina is the belief that being entrusted to document a place carries a responsibility to understand more than its physical resources. It means seeking out its histories, listening to the people connected to it, and documenting the relationships and experiences that give that place meaning.
Through Hoaʻāina, Lokelani continues to work with Hawaiʻi Island communities, landowners, agencies, and organizations to support thoughtful research, historic preservation, and stewardship of the places they are connected to.
EDUCATION
M.A. Heritage Management, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
B.A. Anthropology & Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
ʻŌLELO
Fluent in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
PERMIT
Principal Investigator on the State Historic Preservation Division permitted consultant list
PUBLISHED
Coauthor of peer-reviewed journal articles. Authored over 100 technical reports
INTERVIEWS
Conducted over 500 ethnographic interviews
Lokelani Brandt, M.A. · Principal Investigator & Owner
Our kuleana
We have a kuleana, a responsibility to our Hawaiʻi Island community. That kuleana guides our commitment to projects and initiatives that support the long-term wellbeing of our communities and the stewardship of their natural and cultural resources.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
E kuhikuhi pono i nā au iki a me nā au nui o ka ʻike
Instruct well in the little and large currents of knowledge. In teaching, do it well; the small details are as important as the large ones (Pukui 1983 ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #325)
Understanding a place requires attention to both the small and large currents of its history. Our research brings together archival records, moʻolelo, historical accounts, maps, and the memories of kamaʻāina to understand not only what happened in a place, but the people, relationships, and experiences that give that history meaning.
WHO WE WORK WITH
Two kinds of
people call us
Those who need to comply
Landowners, civil engineers, planners, and government agencies who have a permit condition, an SHPD letter, or an environmental review to satisfy. We handle the required archaeological and cultural studies end to end.
Those who want to understand
Educators, schools and community groups who want their haumāna standing in the places they are learning about.