“Kumu Niu” may be set in Hawai’i, but its story will ring true for millions of Indigenous forest knowledge keepers worldwide. Throughout the tropical world, there are movements like Niu Now (featured in this film) working to connect people to their histories, their communities, and the land through trees.

The “niu,” or coconut tree, was brought to Hawai’i as a food source by Polynesian explorers over 1,000 years ago; and though O'ahu is still home to many thousands of coconut palms, very few of them are allowed to bear fruit for fear the nuts could fall and injure people.

“Kumu Niu” follows Dr. Manulani Aluli-Meyer and Indrajit Samarasingha Gunasekara as they prepare with their community to plant a new grove of niu on the University of Hawai’i’s West O’ahu campus. A day in the making for several years, this planting event is both a practical and symbolic step on their journey to restore the knowledge of the Pacific’s “Tree of Life,” and to spread the Indigenous wisdom of "aloha 'āina:" loving land and serving people.