Roberta Kuʻulei Keakealani

Roberta Kuʻulei Keakealani (born 1971) is an educator, cultural practitioner, poet, storyteller, and activist from a paniolo family from Puʻuanahulu, North Kona, Hawaii. She is also the Native Hawaiian Community Representative Director at the Kaʻūpūlehu Foundation. She was involved with the creation of the Hawaiian language immersion preschool Pūnana Leo o Waimea and directed the short films The Paniolo Way, Last of the Hawaiian Cowboys, and Ka Nohona Makamae o nā Paniolo: The Treasured Lifestyle of the Paniolo. Puʻu Anahulu, Puʻu Waʻawaʻa, and Kaʻuluʻpūlehu are her homelands, In addition, Sonny Keakealani was a paniolo on Parker Ranch in Waimea. Kuʻulei would divide her time between Waimea and being with her grandparents in Pu'u Anahulu. Her family has resided in North Kona since at least the mid-1800s. the president of Hui ʻOhana Mai Puʻu Anahulu A Me Puʻu Waʻawaʻa (Hui ʻOhana),

In 2001, Ahahui o Pu'u Wa'awa'a petitioned to the Board of Land and Natural Resources that the state-owned North Kona Puʻu Waʻawaʻa land lease be transferred to the group upon the lease's expiration.

Hunters of the Wildlife Conservation Association of Hawaii had a competing petition: although they proposed environmental protection, they also wanted sustained hunting without eradication of animals.

In 1859, an eruption of Mauna Loa began in the evening of January 23. By March 7, the lava flow eventually entered the sea south of Wainanali`i at Kiholo, destroying a coastal village on the way and loko'ia in Wainanali`i and Kiholo, on the west coast of the island. The lava flow had destroyed most of Kīholo village and reduced the fishpond from 600 acres to a mere 3.2 acres. In 1980, Paul Mitchell purchased 7 acres of land on Kīholo Bay. This land was later donated to the Nature Conservancy by Paul's son, Angus Mitchell in 2011.

Restoration work of the Kīholo loko'ia was a joint effort between the Nature Conservancy and Hui Aloha Kīholo. As the director of Hui Aloha Kīholo, Roberta Ku`ulei Keakealani was personally involved in its restoration work. The two organizations have led monthly volunteer workdays since 2013. Since then, volunteers have restored 1,300 feet of rock walls surrounding the fishpond, cleared non-native ironwood and kiawe trees from the pond, planted native pohuehue vines and 'ae'ae, and fenced off feral goats from entering the restored areas.

Hui Aloha Kīholo has also hosted educational events for the public at Kīholo. These events teach traditional practices and ancestral knowledge of the place. Keakealani believes that passing on this knowledge to today's youth will prepare them to take care of the land in the future. "The transfer of place-based, traditional knowledge from generation to generation is vital for preparing future stewards," (Roberta Ku`ulei Keakealani) Kaʻūpūlehu is located in Kekaha, Hawai`i.

Ku'ulei is also the Director of Ka Pilina Poina ʻOle. The group is dedicated to the perpetuation of homeland knowledge of the Kekaha Region of North Kona, and it focuses on educating the public through the sharing of oral traditions. Ka Pilina Poina ʻOle works closely with the groups Hoʻōla ka Makanaʻā and Hoʻohele Mea Lāʻau. Each group provides curriculum that teaches the ecology of native ecosystems and integrates ideas of culture, mālama, kuleana, and creative thinking. Ka Pilina Poina ʻOle focuses on the history of Kaʻūpūlehu and its native inhabitants both past and present. They emphasize efforts to foster a responsibility between oneself, one's family, one's community and one's homeland. She helped open the Hawaiian language immersion preschool Pūnana Leo o Waimea, as well as Mālamapōki'i, an early childhood Program of Kanu o Ka 'Āina New Century Public Charter School. She wrote the following articles in Ke Ola Magazine: Who Am I?, The Morning Message, Lessons in the Land: Connecting with the 'Dryland Kine' Kūpuna, Cultivators, Legacy, Healthy Boundaries, Aloha ʻĀina: Waimea I Uka, and Each Place Has Voice of Its Own. The Paniolo Way is about paniolo families with connections to Parker Ranch. Last of the Hawaiian Cowboys focuses on the life story of Sonny Keakealani, Kuʻulei's father and retired Parker Ranch paniolo. He shared his story so that younger people might follow his example and perpetuate the paniolo way of life. In Ka Nohona Makamae o nā Paniolo: The Treasured Lifestyle of the Paniolo, Hawaiian cowboys were asked the question "what does your saddle mean to you?." The films communicate that paniolo families, who love the lifestyle and who persevere through difficulties, help preserve Hawaiian cowboy heritage. The paniolo's respect for the land, culture, and people is also evident in the films. The films were meant to increase interest in younger generations, in order to preserve the paniolo way of life.