By Kenika Lorenzo-Elarco and J. Kara Dumaguin
As Kānaka working in community-facing roles within astronomy in Hawaiʻi, we carry kuleana into spaces not built with us in mind. That reality shapes how we show up and what is possible within our roles.
Kuleana calls us to remain accountable to ʻāina and lāhui. Institutions operate within their own structures, timelines, and limitations. This is where tension often sits, because these systems often differ from the values that guide Kānaka relationships to ʻāina and to each other. Much of our work exists in the space between the two.
In many ways, it’s that space that drew us here. Astronomy is rooted in observation and, for us, that has always been relational. The opportunity to engage the sky while remaining grounded in our pilina to ʻāina and to each other is what holds us here.
There are moments when those spaces align, when relationship, intention, and institutional direction move together. But there are also moments when they do not. In those moments, kuleana does not disappear. It becomes more important.
Kuleana shows up in the choices we’re asked to make. When to advocate, and how far. When to push, and when pushing may close more doors than it opens. When to speak directly, and when to move quietly to maintain relationships for future movement.
These decisions are rarely straightforward. They are informed by trust, timing, and an understanding that change does not always happen visibly or immediately.
There are limits to what any one person can shift within an institution. There are also risks. Speaking up can carry consequences. So, too, does remaining silent. Kuleana does not remove these realities. It compels us to navigate them with more in mind than ourselves.
For many of us, this means working within constraint without being defined by it, recognizing where movement is possible while continually looking for openings for change.
This work is not always recognized. It happens in conversations, in relationships built over time, and in decisions not visible to others. These moments matter. They shape what becomes possible.
At the same time, there are shifts. In many spaces, ʻŌiwi perspectives are increasingly recognized as essential to shaping responsibility and relationship to place. These shifts aren’t uniform or complete, but they create openings to build pilina, bring forward ʻike, and shape how these spaces evolve.
We are not separate from the institutions we are part of, and we are not fully contained by them. We move within them while remaining grounded in relationships that extend beyond them.
Kuleana does not resolve the tension between these spaces. It sharpens our awareness.
We choose this work, not because the path is easy, but because our relationships to ʻāina and lāhui are present here too. Our presence is not about fitting into institutions as they are, but in remaining grounded while creating space for relationships, ʻike, and accountability to continue.
And in that awareness, we continue deciding how to move. Not with certainty, but with intention, knowing our presence here carries responsibility and possibility.
Kenika Lorenzo-Elarco works in public affairs at the W. M. Keck Observatory, and Kara Dumaguin works in community relations at the Canada France Hawaiʻi Telescope.
