THE KAHEA

Barbara Altemus

Executive Producer, Producer, Co-Writer

The inspiration for this powerful film project comes from Native American elders who spoke to Barbara  and other youth more than 33 years ago of the need to shift our consciousness (mind-set) to one of caring for, not destroying one another and Mother Earth. They shared the 7th Generation Prophecy that says if we continue to live from greed and destroy the resources that nourish and sustain us, our children will not have a future. It is her hope that our youth will grow to love and feel connected to the `āina, (land) water and all living beings and in so doing become inspired to grow into the new visionaries of our time who are capable of healing ourselves and our planet. Barbara participated on The Longest Walk 1978, a 6 month walk across the U.S. led by Native American spiritual leaders; lived at the American Indian Movement (AIM) Survival School in Oakland California, and has worked closely with Native American, Native Hawaiian, Black Civil Rights and global leaders for peace and justice. She lived and worked to stop uranium mining and other social and environmental injustices on Native American reservations and lived and studied in Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. Barbara is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and has her master’s degree in psychology and Latin American Studies. At U.C.L.A. she was awarded the honor of Departmental Scholar and Fulbright Scholar. Barbara moved to the island of Oahu more than 30 years ago to raise her then 3-month-old daughter and to continue her work focusing on indigenous rights and social/environmental/justice issues.   She is the author of The Gift of Pain, Transforming Hurt Into Healing, (Penguin), an educator, a psychotherapist and a poet. 

Hilary Hacker

Producer & Line Producer

MA Strategic Communication with a concentration in Media for Social Change. Hilary is an educator, photographer, filmmaker, artist, activist and community organizer. She has organized, facilitated and documented various projects throughout the West Coast, Hawai‘i and internationally from Guatemala to Palestine with a focus on humanizing complex global issues including immigrant, indigenous, land and water rights. She uses platforms as diverse as writing, photography, mural design, videography, web and graphic design. She is fluent in Spanish and is currently based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.

Kealoha Pisciotta

Producer

Kealoha is a Native Hawaiian Traditional Knowledge Keeper and community leader. For more than 20 years she has been the voice of the movement to protect the summit of Mauna Kea from further development by the astronomy industry. Her advocacy on behalf of the environment, both aina and moana (land and ocean), has meant intervention on the frontlines and in the courts. She is the spokesperson for Mauna Kea Anaina Hou and Kai Palaoa. 

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Kealoha has been a key participant instate, federal, and international consultations regarding human rights, environmental protections, and Native Hawaiian burials and cultural customs. She has submitted interventions before United Nations Councils and Commissions on behalf of Native Hawaiian civil and human rights, including Hawaiian rights to self-determination. She also presented to the UN Human Rights Commission and participated in the drafting of international legal standards for the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

She has been featured in several award-winning documentary films, the most notable being the PBS documentary Mauna Kea - Temple Under Siege. She has also been interviewed for newspaper and broadcast reporting more than 500 times, and featured in stories in The New York Times, The Washington Post, on CNN, NBC, and every other major news outlet.

Kealoha graduated with honors from the University of Hawaiʻi with a BA in Political Science.