Kipuka: Expanding Place-Based Knowledge Through GIS

Kamoa Quitevis
Zachary Smith
Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Honolulu, HI

Participatory and Place-Based GIS
Tuesday March 6, 2012 - 1:30 to 2:45 pm

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) has built a geographic database to help answer questions about land use in Hawaii. Understanding why cultural sites exist where they do is as important as the history of the land itself. This information goes a long way in furthering the mission of OHA to malama the resources of Hawaii and perpetuate Native Hawaiian culture. The understanding and relating of information about location is a long-standing practice among Native Hawaiians. GIS can mimic the oral tradition of Hawaiians by acting as a repository of a great history of geographical knowledge. Kipuka, the GIS of OHA, was created to strengthen contemporary Native Hawaiian identity and provide this knowledge to all the people of Hawaii.

This presentation will discuss the process of creating and providing a GIS to the public that blends culture with land and history in Hawaii. We will look at some of the issues involved in GIS implementation in a state agency as well as overcoming problems that occur when hosting these resources on the internet. The presentation will also examine what data is available within Kipuka and how the data is used to meet the research needs of OHA. Also on the agenda is a glimpse into the goals of Kipuka and how OHA will provide GIS services to the public in the future.