Manulani Aluli Meyer is the fifth daughter of Emma Aluli and Harry Meyer who grew up on the sands of Mokapu and Kailua beach on the island of O’ahu. The Aluli ohana is a large and diverse group of scholar-activists dedicated to Hawaiian education, justice, land reclamation, law, health, cultural revitalization, arts education, prison reform, food sovereignty, transformational economics, and music. Manu works in the field of indigenous epistemology and its role in world-wide awakening. Professor Aluli-Meyer obtained her doctorate in Philosophy of Education from Harvard (Ed.D. 1998). She is a world-wide keynote speaker, writer, and international evaluator of Indigenous PhDs. Her book: Ho’oulu: Our Time of Becoming, is in its third printing. Her background is in wilderness education, coaching, and experiential learning and she has been an Instructor for Outward Bound, a coach for Special Olympics, and a cheer-leader for the Hawaiian Charter School movement. Dr. Aluli Meyer has been an Associate Professor of Education at University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and spent five years in New Zealand as the lead designer/teacher for He Waka Hiringa, an innovative Masters in Applied Indigenous Knowledge degree at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, the largest Māori university with 30,000+ students. Dr. Aluli-Meyer is currently the Konohiki for Kūlana o Kapolei (A Hawaiian Place of Learning at University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu).
Ed.D. Harvard University, 1998
C.A.S. Harvard University, 1994
M.A. University of Northern Colorado, 1985
B.Ed. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 1983
Konohiki: Kulana o Kapolei (A Hawaiian Place of Learning at University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu)
Director of Indigenous Education at University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu
Lead Designer and Teacher for He Waka Hiringa - Masters of Applied Indigenous Knowledge at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, New Zealand
Associate Professor of Education at University of Hawai‘i at Hilo
University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu courses in Hawaiian Health and Healing (2 years)
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa courses related to Indigenous Knowledge (M.A)
University of Hawai‘i at Hilo courses on Cultural Competency; Hawaiian Health; Indigenous Research; Hoʻoponopono
M.Ed. and B.A. courses in Education (10 years):
- Introduction to Education (B.A.)
- Social Studies (B.A.)
- Race and Ethnicity in Education (M.Ed.)
- Philosophy of Education (M.Ed.)
Aluli-Meyer, Manulani (2014). “Indigenous Spirituality: Spirit Revealed” in Enhancing Mātauranga Māori and Global Indigenous Knowledge. NZQA publication: Wellington. Pages: 151-165.
Aluli-Meyer, Manulani (2013). “The Context Within: My Journey into Research” in Indigenous Pathways into Social Research: Voices of a New Generation. Edited by Donna M. Mertens, Fiona Cram and Bagele Chilisa. California: Left Coast Press. Chapter 15. Pages 249-260.
Aluli-Meyer, Manulani (2012). “Mind, Memory and the Science of the Sacred” in Childs, J.B. & Guillermo, D.P. (Eds.) Indigeneity: Collected Essays. California: New Pacific Press. Pages 77-90.
Aluli-Meyer, Manulani (2011). “Ekolu Mea Nui: Three ways to experience the world”. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies. Vol. XXXI, No.2. Published by the Society for the Advancement of Native Studies.
Aluli-Meyer, Manulani (2008). “Indigenous and Authentic: Native Hawaiian Epistemology and the Triangulation of Meaning” in Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies. Edited by Linda Smith, Norman Denzin & Yvonna Lincoln. London: Sage Publication. Chapter 11. Pages 217-232.
Meyer, Manu (2001). “Our own liberation: Reflections on Hawaiian epistemology.” The Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs. Volume 13, number 1, Spring 2001, pp. 124-148.
Meyer, Manu (2001). “Acultural assumptions of empiricism: A Native Hawaiian critique.” Canadian Journal of Native Education. Volume 25, No. 2, pp. 188-198.
Meyer, Manu (2000). “Aloha is the intelligence with which we meet life: 5 Points on Hawaiian Epistemology.” The Journal of Maori Studies. Massey University, New Zealand. Volume 6, No. 1. Spring, pp.31-34.
Meyer, Manu (1998). "Native Hawaiian epistemology: Sites of empowerment and resistance." Equity and Excellence in Education: The Journal of the School of Education, Volume 31, No. 1, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Spring, pp. 22-28.
2013: Indigenous Scholar Residency at Trent University, Canada
Winter. Visiting residency for Indigenous PhD program support; lecturer, writer, visiting scholar.
2005-2006: Visiting International Scholar at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Year-long Site: Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga: The Center for Māori Research Excellence. Responsibilities: lectures, speeches, chapter for Indigenous research methods; evaluation of doctoral research, Ph.D. student writing retreats, ‘ike pounamu.
I have evaluated over 30 Indigenous Ph.D.ʻs from around the globe.
Indigenous epistemology, Holographic epistemology, and Hawaiian Ways of Knowing.
I have given hundreds of lectures, keynote speeches and workshops since 1998 to people and universities interested in native knowledge systems and their linkages with our awakening planet. Most of these talks have been in Aotearoa, Canada, America and Hawai‘i.
I received full scholarship to attend Harvard University for my doctorate.
I experienced a one-year sabbatical at Nga Pae o Te Māramatanga, the Center for Māori Research Excellence at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. I was invited by Professor Linda Smith in 2003, and the sabbatical was 2005-2006.