Welina me ke aloha…. my name is Aja Grande. I was born and raised on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.
I descend from Japanese, Filipino, and Portuguese people who immigrated to Hawaiʻi’s 19th century Kingdom and 20th century Hawaiʻi Territory. All of my ancestors, on both my paternal and maternal side, had immigrated to Hawaiʻi before it became occupied by the U.S., some as far back as the 1880s when Hawaiʻi was an independent nation, meaning that some of my family members were Hawaiian subjects of a sovereign kingdom.
I grew up in a place and time where almost everyone was multi-racial and multi-ethnic. While some people adopted Native Hawaiian culture, albeit in modest and oftentimes appropriative ways, the current movement of aloha ʻāina, led by Kanaka ʻŌiwi, shows that there is more to reawaken about how to be in reciprocal relation with ʻāina.
Through my work, study, and life choices, I hope to give back to the ʻāina and kānaka who have loved and stewarded this home in honor of past and future generations.
Additional websites:
Vimeo – a place where I publish documentary and experimental film.
Hoʻomaʻamaʻa ʻana i ke ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi – translations of A Brief Story About the Journey of Queen Kapiʻolani and the Royal Child Liliuokalani to the Jubilee of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, written by James W.L. McGuire, one of the Attendants [of the Hawaiian Royalty], 1938.
Aja Grande 