Keli‘i William Ioane Jr. – known to many as Uncle Skippy – has raised his voice and spread awareness of Native Hawaiian rights and issues for decades. While some may see what he does and describe him as an activist, Ioane disagrees and says he’s just “a regular kanaka.”
Inspired by his grandfather, who remained rooted in his Native Hawaiian culture, Ioane began his work to fight for Native Hawaiian land access rights on his home island of Hawai‘i. In the early 1980s, Ioane made several trips with the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘ohana to peacefully protest the U.S. military bombing of Kaho‘olawe. There he led efforts to build the first hale hālawai using ‘ōhi‘a logs in Hakioawa, establishing a permanent presence on the island and serving as a symbol of kūpa‘a.
Ioane often recalls the lessons he learned from his kūpuna. His grandfather passed on ‘ike about the cycle of life and how you find your place by discovering what you’re meant to do with your life.
“When you find your fit in the cycle, you know how you fit and how you’re relative to the Earth,” Ioane said.
Raised by musicians, Ioane turned to mele to shed light on what he sees as the realities that Native Hawaiians face. He wrote and composed mele for his band “Big Island Conspiracy” about the sovereignty movement, illegal annexation, aloha ʻāina patriotism, historical trauma and more.
More recently, he’s been involved in aloha ʻāina efforts like the protests at Mauna Kea. Ioane was one of 37 kūpuna arrested for blocking the Mauna Kea Access Road in the summer of 2019. He vowed to continue serving as a kūpuna front-line protector.
When asked why passing down knowledge through the generations is key to the survival of Native Hawaiians, Ioane says teaching awareness is more important.
“Having an awareness of your surroundings because the earth never moves, never changes, and it is your surroundings that you have to be aware of and have the knowledge of your awareness,” he said.
Ioane adds that awareness comes with using all five of your senses.
“The first step to knowledge is awareness. If you're not aware, you cannot grow by grasping and grabbing the information that’s around you. So, more than passing down knowledge, it is about accepting reality.”
