Ho'olauna: Uʻilani Tanigawa Lum

HILT Board Vice Chair Uʻilani Tanigawa Lum grew up on Maui, swimming in the island’s plentiful streams and practicing hula. 

She never questioned why there were diversions or dry patches in the rivulets. When ash from burning sugarcane rained down on Uʻilani and her classmates in the schoolyard, they rejoiced because the white debris was the closest thing they had to snow. 

The integral role that natural resources play in hula prompted Uʻilani to pursue a degree in Hawaiian studies. While in college, she realized that some of what she accepted as her “normal” was environmental injustices. Armed with this newfound knowledge, Uʻilani decided to attend law school, so she could change the status quo, uplift her community, and restore ʻāina.  

Native Hawaiians, “see land as an elder brother or a family member. This also gives rise to this kuleana to take care of and steward lands and maintain that reciprocal relationship between humans and land,” she said. “This also colors my relationship between the law and the land.”

Uʻilani became a HILT board member about three years ago after she was recommended by Jonathan Scheuer, a past board member who she had worked with. She excitedly said yes, without hesitation. 

As Uʻilani’s home of Maui continues to reel from the devastation of the 2023 wildfires and the realization that they weren’t just the result of bad weather, but also a consequence of poor land management and perhaps decades of environmental injustices, HILT has a crucial role. She is confident the organization will continue to be driven by kamaʻāina and kanaka to serve the community. 

In addition to serving on HILT’s board and practicing law, U’ilani is mom to four-year-old Kuaola, and nine-month-old Nōweo. She and her husband Zachary also founded and run Kāhuli Leo Leʻa, a nonprofit dedicated to catalyzing aloha ʻāina through mele and other cultural practices. In her free time, she still prioritizes a regular hula practice.