‘Ulu‘ulu: The Henry Ku‘ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai‘i

`Ulu`ulu: The Henry Ku`ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai`i from Jo Jordan on Vimeo.

The next episode of Jordan’s Journal is an exciting one, and one that may have you glued to your computer hours after watching it. 

Former House Rep. Heather Giugni appears with Rep. Jo Jordan to talk about ‘Ulu’ulu, an online repository of Hawaii film footage dating as far back as 1928. 

After watching the episode, I browsed the website, http://ulululu.hawaii.edu, and found a number of moments in our Hawaii history that I would never have been able to see before. Take a look at this political goodie, it’s a roundtable discussion with the candidates for the U.S. House 1st Congressional District special election to replace US Rep. Cecil Heftel for the remainder of his term in 1986. You’ll recognize Hawaii politicians Democrat Steve Cobb, Republican Patricia Saiki, Democrat Mufi Hannemann, and Democrat Neil Abercrombie. This is the election that took Abercrombie to Congress. 

The website is part of ‘Ulu‘ulu: The Henry Ku‘ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai‘i at UH West Oahu. Its mission is to “perpetuate and share the rich moving image heritage of Hawai‘i through the preservation of film and videotape related to the history and culture of Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawai‘i.”

At “The Archive,” they collect donated moving images related to Hawaii and its history from local businesses, organizations, and individuals, and staff work to catalog, preserve, and give the public access to these historic items. 

The videos online are just a few of the 17,000 videos, including 500 films, that “The Archive” holds. Because of copyright you won’t be able to watch the entire videos online, but you can view 10% of each video. If you find something that you are interesting in learning more about, the website instructs you to contact them or the original owners of the copyrighted material. 

You can watch this episode on ‘Ulu’ulu on Vimeo above, or catch it on Olelo Channel 54 on the following airdates: 12/16 - 8:30 p.m., 12/17 - 1:00 p.m., 12/24 - 1:00 p.m., 12/31 - 1:00 p.m.