Katherine "Nina" Kalaiwa'a was born on July 28, 1910, in Ke'ei, South Kana, Hawaii to parents Victor Kukua Kalua and Veronica Keawe. She attended Napoopoo School and held a variety of jobs throughout her life, including housekeeper, babysitter, plantation worker, castor bean picker, coffee farmer, and lau hala weaver. Between 1932 and 1948, while living in Honolulu, she worked as a waitress and a pineapple cannery worker. Later in life, she became a resident of Honokohau, North Kana, and was active in various Hawaiian clubs and senior citizens' groups.