Colonial Westernization in a Hawaiian Boarding School

Wynne Nakamoto (Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese) has a multicultural background. Her maternal grandfather was a Hawaiian cowboy. Her paternal great-grandfather came from Hiroshima, as did her biological grandfather, who was a plantation worker for Dole. Her father was the only one of six children to marry outside the Japanese culture.

Wynne began attending The Kamehameha Schools in the seventh grade. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Puget Sound, earning a bachelor's degree in finance. Then, she went to the University of Washington, where she earned a post-Baccalaureate Certificate in accounting, which became her lifelong career.

Wynne became a Bahá’í in 1977 after hearing about the Faith in Washington state. She returned to Hawaii in 2007 and is a member of the Hawaiian Language Translation Committee, whose members primarily translate Bahá’ٕí prayers and writings into the Hawaiian language.