Meet Ui Malakaua
Kapena of Laiopua, Flight Attendant, Teacher
Note: Due to web limitations, we have omitted Hawaiian-language diacritic marks.
In 2007, Ui Malakaua began studying Polynesian navigation, or wayfinding, in her hometown of Kailua-Kona on Hawaii Island. She spent countless hours aboard the Makalii, a double-hulled waa (canoe), learning how to sail guided by natural cues, as her ancestors had done. Ui found joy in turning the nuances of navigating using the stars, waves, weather, and wildlife into muscle memory. Working as part of a team strengthened her connection to Hawaiian culture and sparked waves of personal growth. “I really fell in love with the canoe because of the challenge—it pushed me to limits that I never knew I could reach,” says Ui.
Ui’s passion for carrying traditional wayfinding skills and values forward took her to Oahu, where she mentored students of the Kanehunamoku Voyaging Academy for four years. In 2018, Ui passed the rigorous training program to become a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant. Like sailing, safeguarding passengers in flight meant joining a close-knit team and stretching beyond her comfort zone. The new role also allowed Ui to move back to Hawaii Island and share her voyaging manao (knowledge) with the Kailua-Kona community. “Not only has working for Hawaiian Airlines granted me the opportunity to pursue my dreams, it's brought more ease and happiness into my life. Because when you love something, it doesn't feel like a job,” she says
Today, Ui serves as program coordinator for the Waa Program of Laiopua 2020, a nonprofit serving Native Hawaiian Homestead residents and the broader Kona Coast community. By passing forward time-honored Polynesian navigation practices aboard the community-built waa Laiopua, she is helping the organization fulfill its mission to forge a sustainable future based on ancestral practices and the use of natural resources. “My teachers and my teachers' teachers have already put in the hard work for wayfinding to be reawakened. Our job now is to inspire the next generation, to show them why it's important to Hawaii,” says Ui.
On the water and in the air, Ui feels a strong sense of duty to keep everyone safe. She describes how each successful voyage hinges on the strong bonds she shares with her fellow team members: “I only want to sail with people I can trust my life with, and it’s the same when we have guests step onto the aircraft. I can always count on my crew to do the right thing, even in the hardest of moments.”
As she shows up every day to teach waa students or serve airline passengers, Ui is continually inspired by the efforts of the many incredible people around her who embody Hawaiian values and carry forth the culture rooted in caring for others.
“In order to be a voyager, we first need the support of the people on land,” she explains. “Waa is also hula, it’s kalo, it’s farmers and fishermen and community. Hawaiian Airlines is a true community in that sense—we all carry Hawaii with us wherever we go.”
