Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi
General Assignment ReporterKuʻuwehi Hiraishi is an award-winning journalist and founding member of the ‘Ahahui Haku Moʻolelo (Hawaiian Journalism Association). She was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, and was one of the first graduates of the Hawaiian language immersion school Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu.
She went on to study Journalism & Mass Communications at Seattle University, and returned home to work on the Hawaiian language television news program ʻĀhaʻi ʻŌlelo Ola, which aired on Hawaii News Now’s Sunrise morning program.
Her unique skillset of Hawaiian language fluency and journalism were valuable assets in building the Hawaiian news media industry with the launch of ʻŌiwi TV, an on-demand television news station with programming produced by and for Native Hawaiians. Her in-depth research and reporting on Native Hawaiian water rights earned her and the ʻŌiwi TV team their first international journalism award at the World Indigenous Television Broadcasters’ Network Journalism Awards in 2012.
After a brief hiatus working in communications for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, she returned to journalism as a general assignment reporter at Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Her commitment to her Native Hawaiian community and her fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi has led her to build a de facto ʻōiwi beat at the news station, covering issues important to the Native Hawaiian and Indigenous communities. Contact her at khiraishi@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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The Commission on Water Resource Management is revisiting the amount of water it allows to be diverted from streams in Waikoloa on Hawaiʻi Island. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has the story. -
U.S. Army leases on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island expire in five years, and the Board of Land and Natural Resources is considering a land exchange as an alternative to new leases. This idea was met with overwhelming opposition at a recent BLNR meeting. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more. -
Nā Leo Pilimehana, the biggest selling female Hawaiian band in the world, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a benefit concert at Windward Community College. The band continues to perform to sold-out crowds in Japan, Hawaiʻi and the continental U.S. -
The Board of Land and Natural Resources’ ongoing practice of issuing temporary permits to divert water from East Maui streams was upheld in a decision by the Hawaiʻi appeals court. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports. -
Beginning Saturday, commercial boat operators in West Maui will once again be able to work out of Māla Wharf on the weekends. This is welcome news for Lahaina boat captain Keao Shaw as he works to rebuild his family business in the wake of the wildfires. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports. -
Research into the history of government-run reformatories and industrial schools in Hawaiʻi during the early 1900s is getting a boost in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. -
The 61st annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival wrapped up in Hilo over the weekend, and residents are already looking forward to next year. Every year around this time, residents in this rainy town know exactly what to expect. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi was in Hilo for the festivities and has this story. -
The traditional practice of “going on kapu” allows hula practitioners to cleanse their bodies, their minds and their lives of the unnecessary to really focus on hula. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi explains how it differs among hālau. -
Hula is not the only Hawaiian tradition honored at Merrie Monarch this week. The festival is paying tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Hawaiian language revitalization movement. ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi teachers, students and pioneers were in Hilo to perform on hula's biggest stage. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports. -
Every year, and exclusively during the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, crowds flock to a small church in the coastal community of Keaukaha for a taste of authentic Hawaiian food. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports on how it came to be.
