Kamana Beamer

Biography

Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer is an associate professor at the Center for Hawaiian Studies in the Hui ‘Āina Momona Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with a joint appointment in the Richardson School of Law and the Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. Previous to this role Dr. Beamer was the president and chief executive officer of The Kohala Center, where his affiliation with The Kohala Center dates back to his selection as a postdoctoral fellow in the inaugural cohort of the Mellon-Hawai‘i Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in 2008. Beamer’s research on governance, land tenure, and Hawaiian resource management, as well as his prior work as the director of ‘Āina-Based Education at Kamehameha Schools, prepared him for his continuing service as a director of Stanford University’s First Nations Futures Institute, a resource management development program for indigenous leaders developed by Stanford, Kamehameha Schools, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu in New Zealand. Beamer and his ‘ohana have revitalized and maintained lo‘i kalo (taro ponds), providing him and his children opportunities to mālama ‘āina, deepen connections with cultural traditions, and derive leadership lessons from the land. In 2013 he was nominated by Governor Neil Abercrombie and confirmed by the Senate to a four-year appointment on Hawai‘i’s Commission of Water Resource Management. In 2014 Beamer published No Mākou ka Mana: Liberating the Nation, which received multiple awards including the Samuel M. Kamakau Book of the Year Award from the Hawai‘i Book Publishing Association. Kamana is the son of Kapono Beamer and grandson of Nona Beamer.

Research Interest

governance, land tenure, and Hawaiian resource management