Education in Oceania continues to reflect the embedded implicit and explicit colonial practices and processes from the past. This paper conceptualises a cultural approach to education and leadership appropriate and relevant to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. As elementary school leaders, we highlight "Kanne Lobal," a traditional Marshallese navigation practice based on indigenous language, values and practices. We conceptualise and develop "Kanne Lobal" in this paper as a framework for understanding the usefulness of our indigenous knowledge in leadership and educational practices within formal education. Through "bwebwenato," a method of talk story, our key learnings and reflexivities were captured. We argue that realising the value of Marshallese indigenous knowledge and practices for school leaders requires purposeful training of the ways in which our knowledge can be made useful in our professional educational responsibilities. Drawing from our Marshallese knowledge is an intentional effort to inspire, empower and express what education and leadership partnership means for Marshallese people, as articulated by Marshallese themselves.