Mehanaokalā Hind

Mehana is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a Bachelors Degree in Conflict Resolution and a Masters Degree in Hawaiian Studies. In her early years, she worked in youth education as program coordinator for Nā Pua Noʻeau – Center for Gifted and Talented Native Hawaiian Children. She also was a research consultant in Papakū Makawalu at the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation, under the direction of Dr. Pualani Kanahele Kanakaʻole. Most of her career was spent in higher education in the University of Hawaiʻi system where she was the Academic Advisor and then Lecturer at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies and an Instructor of Hawaiian Studies at Windward Community College. Mehana has held several leadership roles at various Native Hawaiian Organizations like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. 

Mehana is a Kumu Hula, having completed her ʻūniki rites in 2009 under the direction of the late Kumu Hula Leinaʻala Kalama Heine. She studied Oli under the tutelage of Kumu John Keola Lake, Kumu Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla, and Kumu Pualani Kanahele Kanakaʻole, and is widely-known throughout the community and the world as a Master Chanter.