We tend to go about researching in a methodical way, with various processes and procedures honed over years of personal and shared experiences. While these methods of researching can and most of the times will yield results, it isn't always the way in which these things should be approached.

Many of us grasp onto the idea that we are following our kuleana (responsibility) when it comes to researching, preserving and perpetuating our 'ohana (family) mo'olelo (history) and mo'okū'auhau (genealogy). However, one's kuleana should not be self-determined, forced or taken for granted. While doing such work was inherent within the Kānaka Māoli (Native Hawaiian) culture during the times of our nā kūpuna (ancestors), those attributes and ways of life have not translated into modern society and the ways of our people today.

We form working relationships and partnerships with others who follow similar kuleana (responsibilities), in an effort to glean from them, new methods of research, information we have not yet discovered and most of all, guidance. For us, it is a labor of love, one which some spend a lifetime pursuing.

However, kuleana does not just mean your right or responsibility; it is a calling, something for which you were born to do. It is your destiny, the path which you are meant to follow in this life. Nā kūpuna (the ancestors) who came before you; those from which you sprouted, they are the ones who determine what your kuleana will be. It is then woven into ever fiber of your soul, ensuring that it will always be a part of you and you a part of it.

While you may feel that it is your kuleana to explore your 'ohana (family) mo'olelo (history) and mo'okū'auhau (genealogy), it does not mean that you are the right one to be doing the work. This may be hard for some to understand, but it is the way that each of our destinies are laid before us; pre-determined in the vast universe which surrounds us.

At times, we may run into a dead end or wonder why we are unable to find something and yet another within our vast network of 'ohana and acquaintances tend to find so much and at times they do it so quickly and effortlessly. We may even wonder if we are kūamuamu 'ia (cursed) or have done something to hewa (wrong). Often, this is not the case; it is that what we are looking for, what we are researching, is not our kuleana to discover and bring to light.

We must realize, understand and embrace that no all things will come to us just because we seek them out. Not all things are meant to come to us, no matter how hard we look for them. Sometimes, the information you see is not meant for you to find. At times, this is because we are not ready to receive the information. At other times, it is because the information is meant for someone else. And there are even times when the information is meant to remain in the past, where it was originally known and is now lost to time.

Asking the same question over and over again, will not yield different results. Often, it will yield the same results and we will be stuck not only in a cycle where we receive no answer, we will be focused on one topic so much, that we allow others that are ready to enter our mind, pass us by.

Also, we tend to forget that we must ask permission to do the things we are doing. Often the places we explore; whether in our minds, through a computer monitor or in person, can have energies attached to them which will influence the outcome of our quest; they are kaha akua (the abode of the spirits). We must prepare ourselves to receive the information we seek and also protect ourselves from the negative energies surrounding a certain place or piece of information. We must ho'opōmaika'i (seek/ask for blessing) from our nā kūpuna (ancestors). We must ask them for guidance, support and protection. We must follow the cultural traditions of cleansing ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually before and after we start our research.

We must remain pono in heart and mind, along with the words we use and the actions we take. We must ensure that when we walk in the footsteps of the past, we do so with aloha, pure and free of outside negativity.

We must look for signs in our environment; how the wind blows, the sounds in the air, the animals around us. When we open ourselves to these signals from our surroundings, we realize that there are times when it is and isn't appropriate to do certain things.

All of this plays into the research we do. We must learn exercise ahonui (patience), both with what we seek and with others. We must practice kalana (forgiveness) for the actions we have carried forth and for the actions carried forth by others. We must remember that when it is time, if it is meant for us, that which we seek will come. If it is not time, we must be willing to koe (except) this and wait for the time in which it will come; if it is meant to.

If we do not embrace and practice these spiritual and cultural approaches to researching, we will block any progress we could make, if only we were to be open, honest with ourselves and one another and accepting of those things we can not change.

There are many ways in this world for us to be taken down the wrong path, to find ourselves lost in the endless routines we tend to form. But when you are blessed with your kuleana, it is the one guiding force, the light that can never be extinguished by anyone or any thing. It is the one constant in this world that you can rely upon and trust in, for it is something that carries with it the spirits of your kūpuna and the wisdom they have gained over their time on this earth.

Remember, we are Kānaka Māoli (Native Hawaiian) and those who we research, are Kānaka Māoli (Native Hawaiian), both in flesh and in spirit. Proceed pili i (with respect toward) them and you may find what you seek.

GUIDING KULEHANA (PRINCIPLES) OF RESEARCH:

We would like to mahele (share) these with you and ask that you put forth these practices, live these values and share in these core concepts with everyone you interact with as you do research and move through your life.

• Ha'aha'a: Humility, humbleness, modesty, humility in all our actions
• Nā'au pono: To possess a deep sense of justice
• E mālama i nā kūpuna a me nā mākua: Respect your elders
• Pa'a kou waha: Close your mouth and don’t “talk back”
• E ho'oponopono: Self respect, good manners, keep yourself clean, it matters what it looks like, don’t be dirty inside or outside, clean living, general housekeeping
• Aloha: Love, affection, compassion, sympathy, respect for the land our foundation, and our natural world
• 'Ohana: Familial relationships and connecting with others.
• Laulima: Many hands working together for a cause, work cooperatively
• Kokua: To help or assist
• Malama: To care for each other, protect, to maintain, to attend to
• Ho'omau: To preserve, perpetuate, continue
• Ho'omanawanui: The value of patience.
• E ho'olohe pono: Listen carefully
• Pa'a hana: The value of hard work
• E ho'opili mai ia`u: Imitate and learn
• Nānā mai ia'u: Watch carefully
• O ka mea nui , e hana maika`i: It is an important thing…to do a good job.
• 'Opala: Get the lumps (troubles) out, and take out the garbage.
• Nānā aku nānā mai: Examine your poi and roots, look at self and others
• 'Imi nā'au 'ao: To seek enlightenment, wisdom and education this quest for knowledge and enlightenment is essential
• Aloha kekahi i kekahi: Don’t be selfish, be a giver, care for and consider others, you need to share your poi
• Kuleana: Responsibility, area of responsibility, privilege
• 'Ono: Good food represents quality of good living and the goodness of life itself
• Aloha 'āina: Cherish the land’s provisions, manage properly, don't’ waste what you have and think wisely
• 'Ike pono, 'ike: To know, feel, understand, recognize, comprehend; pono: to be proper, rightness, appropriate, moral, goodness, fair, balanced, righteous.