University of Hawaiʻi (University of Hawaii at Manoa, Library and Information Science Program)

The University of Hawaiʻi will conduct a one-year planning project to better serve the research needs of Native Hawaiian hula practitioners and work toward improving relationships between Indigenous communities and cultural heritage institutions with Indigenous dance collections. The team will convene an advisory board to ensure cultural and professional rigor in project outcomes, conduct focus groups with hula practitioners and institutions holding hula collections, and administer surveys in order to co-create a strategic plan to improve relationships between hula practitioners and institutions. Other deliverables will include a comprehensive directory of hula collections and a report outlining priority research support needs for hula practitioners and documenting the current state of collection management, description, and community engagement practices for hula collections. The project beneficiaries include Native Hawaiian communities, hula practitioners, and library and archives professionals stewarding Indigenous dance collections.