Training
How we prepare student interviewers
Every student completes these 6 modules — about 41 minutes — before sitting down with a kupuna. They are open to anyone: families, teachers, and community partners are welcome to watch and read along.
Module 1 · 6 min
Why stories, not facts
What we are actually collecting, and why a story carries values that a fact sheet cannot.
The video for this module is being recorded. The full transcript is below.
What we are collecting
A fact sheet tells you that a family farmed kalo in Waipiʻo. A story tells you how they knew when to plant, who they asked for permission, what they did when the water ran low, and what they were afraid of losing. The second one carries values. The first one does not.
Your job is not to gather data. Your job is to sit with someone and let them explain how they came to know what they know.
Three things a story carries that a record cannot
• **Judgment** — why a decision was made, not just what happened. • **Relationship** — who was involved, who was owed, who taught whom. • **Place** — the specific ahupuaʻa, the specific rain, the specific road.
What this means for you
When your storyteller says something like "we just knew," that is your signal to slow down, not move on. Ask: "How did you know?" That answer is the ʻike we are here to keep.
Before you continue
Think of one thing an elder in your life knows how to do that is not written down anywhere. You will use that as your first interview.
Module 2 · 5 min
Start with your own family
Every interviewer begins with a grandparent or elder in their own family.
The video for this module is being recorded. The full transcript is below.
Start close to home
Every interviewer in this project begins with a grandparent, an auntie or uncle, a kupuna, or an elder in their own family or neighborhood. Not with a stranger, and not with someone famous.
Why
• **Trust already exists.** You do not have to earn it in one hour. • **You will make mistakes.** Better to make them with someone who loves you. • **You will learn your own moʻokūʻauhau.** Most interviewers find out something about their family they never knew.
If you do not have a kupuna in your family
That is common and it is okay. Talk to your mentor. Good alternatives: a neighbor who has lived on your street a long time, a retired teacher, a coach, someone at your church or hālau, or a longtime worker at a shop you go to.
Your task
Write down three names. Then ask the first one, in person if you can: "Can I record you talking about your life and your work for a school project that keeps these stories for the future?"
Explain that they choose what is public, what stays in the community, and what stays closed. Do not promise anything beyond that.
Module 3 · 8 min
Setting up the interview
Scheduling, choosing a quiet place, testing your recording, and what to bring.
The video for this module is being recorded. The full transcript is below.
Scheduling
Ask for 60 to 90 minutes. Most conversations run long, and rushing an elder is disrespectful. Offer to come to them. Avoid meal times unless they invite you to eat — and if they do, eat first and record after.
Choosing the place
• Quiet, indoors, with a door you can close. • No TV, no radio, no fan pointed at the microphone. • Sit at an angle to them, not across a wide table. • Their home or a place meaningful to them is better than a classroom.
Test your recording
Record 30 seconds. Play it back. Listen for hum, wind, and whether their voice is louder than yours. Then delete the test and start clean. Check that you have space on the device and battery for two hours.
What to bring
• Recorder or phone, charged, plus a charger. • Notebook and pen — for names and spellings, not for transcribing. • A printed consent form and a pen they can keep. • A small hoʻokupu or gift. Food is always right. • Water for both of you.
Fifteen minutes before
Turn off notifications. Put your phone in airplane mode if you are recording on it. Say the date, the place, and both your names out loud at the start of the recording.
Module 4 · 9 min
Asking good questions
Open questions, silence, and following the story instead of your list.
The video for this module is being recorded. The full transcript is below.
The one rule
Ask a question, then be quiet. The best material in almost every interview comes after a silence you were tempted to fill.
Open, not closed
• Not "Did you like farming?" — instead "What was a day of farming like?" • Not "Was it hard?" — instead "What was the hardest part?" • Not "You planted kalo, right?" — instead "Walk me through planting."
Questions that work almost every time
• "Who taught you that?" • "How did you know when it was time?" • "What did people do before?" • "Can you tell me about a day you remember clearly?" • "What would you want someone your grandchild's age to know?" • "What are we losing?"
Follow the story, not your list
Your question list is a safety net, not a script. If they go somewhere you did not plan, go with them. You can always come back with: "Earlier you mentioned ___ — can we go back to that?"
Handle names and places carefully
When a name, place, or Hawaiian word comes up, ask them to say it again and write it in your notebook. Ask what it means if they know. Getting a place name wrong in a transcript is a real harm.
When it gets heavy
Some stories carry grief. Do not rush past it and do not push. Say "take your time." If they say they do not want to talk about something, say "of course" and move on. Never ask twice.
Module 5 · 7 min
Kuleana and consent
Cultural protocol, permissions, and what a storyteller controls about their own story.
The video for this module is being recorded. The full transcript is below.
Consent is a conversation, not a signature
You will get a signature, but the signature only counts if the person understood three things: what you are recording, where it may go, and that they can change their mind.
The three levels of sharing
• **Public** — anyone on the internet can read, hear, and learn from the story. • **Community** — only members of this project and the storyteller's community can see it. • **Restricted** — held in the archive, not shown, opened only with family permission.
Read all three aloud. Let them choose. If they hesitate, choose the more protective one. You can always ask again later; you cannot un-publish something from someone's memory.
Cultural protocol
• Some knowledge is not yours to collect: family ʻaumakua, burial locations, certain chants, healing practice, and anything they say is kapu. If you hear it, do not push and do not publish it. Note it as restricted. • Ask before recording, ask before photographing, and ask again before anything goes online. • If a story involves other living people, ask whether those people should be asked too.
What the storyteller always controls
They can stop the recording at any time. They can ask for anything to be cut. They can change their sharing level later. They can ask for the whole recording back. Tell them this out loud, in these words, before you start.
Before you record
Complete the consent form together, in person, and leave them a copy. Then log it in the archive with the sharing level they chose.
Module 6 · 6 min
After the interview
Uploading, transcribing, checking names and place names, and submitting for review.
The video for this module is being recorded. The full transcript is below.
Within 24 hours
• Upload the recording to the archive. Do not leave it only on your phone. • Write a short summary: who they are, what the conversation covered, and what surprised you. • Note anything they asked to be cut or held back.
Transcribing
A draft transcript is generated for you, but it will be wrong in the places that matter most: names, place names, and Hawaiian words. Go through it with your notebook and fix every one. If you are unsure of a spelling, mark it and ask your mentor or the storyteller.
Do not clean up their grammar or replace Pidgin with standard English. How they speak is part of the record.
Tag it
Add the island, the sectors their work touched, and the themes you heard. These are how someone finds this story in ten years.
Submit for review
Set the status to in review. Your mentor checks consent, spellings, and the sharing level before anything is published.
Close the loop
Send a thank-you — handwritten is better. Once the story is live at the level they chose, share the link with them and their family. Many storytellers will then introduce you to the next person, and that is how this archive grows.