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Ma ka lā 3 o Ianuali i hala iho nei i ʻākoakoa ai he 100 a ʻoi kupa o nā ʻāina hoʻopulapula o Keaukaha a me Panaʻewa ma Puhi no ka hoʻomaʻemaʻe i ke kapa kai mai Palekai a i ʻĀwili.

“Nui nā poʻe i ʻākoakoa mai no ka hoʻomaʻemaʻe iā Puhi, a ʻae, ʻano pūʻiwa wau,” wahi a Kaʻaka Swain, ka pelekikena o Keaukaha Community Association (KCA).

Na KCA a me ka hui ʻo Kānewala i hoʻolaukaʻi i ia hanana i kapa ʻia ʻo “People for Puhi.”

“The clean-up at Puhi Bay was initiated to utilize our resources and ʻike to support the transition of the park into more community-driven management,” wahi a Makana Lewis, kekahi o nā mea hoʻokumu iā Kānewala.

Na nā lima kōkua i ʻohi i ka ʻōpala a ʻoki i ka mauʻu. Ua paepae hou ʻia nā pōhaku ma ka ʻaekai a ua wāwahi ʻia nā pākaukau pikiniki kahiko.

“These efforts improved safety, access, and overall conditions of the space,” wahi a Lewis, “Holes were also dug for sign installation intended to showcase the proper place names of the park, such as Palekai (ʻBreakwall’), Puhi, Kulapae (site of former Hawaiian Village), and ʻĀwili (ʻBrowns’).”

ʻO ia ʻāina i kapa laulā ʻia ʻo Keaukaha Beach Park he piko ia o ke kaiāulu, wahi a Kauka Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, he kūʻauhau o Keaukaha a kupa o ia ʻāina hoʻopulapula ma mua.

“Puhi Bay and Kulapae are places where we continue to gather as a community to teach our children about those who came before them,” wahi a Kapuni-Reynolds.

Nui ʻino nā hanana ʻohana i mālama ʻia ma ʻaneʻi, wahi āna, ʻo ka pāʻina lā hānau pēpē ʻoe, ʻo ka ʻaha male ʻoe, ʻo ka hoʻolewa ʻoe. Ma ʻaneʻi pū i hoʻoili ʻia ai ka ʻike lawaiʻa a ʻaukai mai kekahi hanauna i kekahi.

“We visit wahi pana because they help us to recall history while remembering the importance of caring for these places for future generations,” wahi a Kapuni-Reynolds. “If we are not able to physically access this place anymore for these purposes, it would be even more difficult to pass this information down to future generations.”

ʻO ia ka mea e koʻikoʻi ai kēia mau hānana hoʻomaʻemaʻe ʻāina, i mea e lilo ai ke kaiaulu he kahu o ka ʻāina a pēlā pū nā moʻolelo o kēia ʻāina i ili mai kahi hanauna i kekahi no ka 100 a ʻoi makahiki.

E waiho ana ma ʻō iki aʻe o ka 16 ʻeka ma ka ʻaekai nei ʻo Keaukaha Beach Park he ʻāina na ke Keʻena ʻĀina Hoʻopulapula (DHHL) mai ka makahiki 1937. Ma loko nō o nā mahina i hala iho nei, e ʻimi ana ʻo DHHL i ka hoʻokuʻu i ko lākou kuleana manakia pāka. Wahi a Swain, he wā kūpono nō paha kēia no KCA, a me kona 400 mau ʻohana, e mālama ponoʻī i ko lākou kapakai i aloha nui ʻia.

“After lengthy discussion the [KCA] board decided that it is something we should do for the community. So, we are,” wahi a Swain.

Ma ka mahina ʻo Kepakemapa 2025, ua noi ʻo KCA i ke Komisina Home Hoʻopulapula i ka mālama pualu iā Keaukaha Beach Park. Wahi a Swain, akahi a hoʻomaka ka walaʻau ʻana me DHHL, a e pono ana nō paha ke kōkua mai ia keʻena.

“After all they are not signing over the land, but merely leasing the land to us,” wahi a Swain, “What participation looks like we still need to discuss.”

Ke wānana nei ʻo Swain he hoʻokahi paha makahiki a paʻa kekahi ʻano ʻaelike me ko DHHL. No ka manawa, e kia ana ʻo ia ma ka hoʻolālā ʻana i kekahi hou hanana “People for Puhi” no 2026.

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On January 3, more than 100 community members from Keaukaha and Panaʻewa Hawaiian homesteads gathered at Puhi Bay for a coastline clean-up from Palekai to ʻĀwili.

“Nui nā poʻe i ʻākoakoa mai no ka hoʻomaʻemaʻe i Puhi, a ʻae, ʻano pūʻiwa wau,” said Kaʻaka Swain, pelekikena of the Keaukaha Community Association (KCA).

The event known as “People for Puhi” was organized by KCA and the group Kānewala.

“The clean-up at Puhi Bay was initiated to utilize our resources and ʻike to support the transition of the park into more community-driven management,” said Makana Lewis, one of the founders of Kānewala.

Volunteers removed debris and cut grass. Rocks along the shoreline were replaced and broken picnic tables were removed.

“These efforts improved safety, access, and overall conditions of the space,” said Lewis, “Holes were also dug for sign installation intended to showcase the proper place names of the park, such as Palekai (“Breakwall”), Puhi, Kulapae (site of former Hawaiian Village), and ʻĀuwili (“Browns”).”

This shoreline area widely known as Keaukaha Beach Park is the piko of the community, said Dr. Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, a Keaukaha historian and former Hawaiian homesteader.

“Puhi Bay and Kulapae are places where we continue to gather as a community to teach our children about those who came before them,” Kapuni-Reynolds said.

Family gatherings, including baby lūʻau, weddings, and funerals, are all held here, he noted. Generations of the community also learned to fish and swim here.

“We visit wahi pana (storied places) because they help us to recall history while remembering the importance of caring for these places for future generations,” said Kapuni-Reynolds. “If we are not able to physically access this place, it would be even more difficult to pass this information down to future generations.”

That is what makes these clean-up events so special, it’s an opportunity to not only steward the land, but the stories of this place that have been passed down for over 100 years.

The 16-acre Keaukaha Beach Park has been in the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ inventory since 1937. In recent months, DHHL has sought to offload its park management kuleana to another entity. Swain says this may be an opportunity for KCA, which represents about 400 households in Keaukaha, to steward their beloved beach park.

“After lengthy discussion the [KCA] board decided that it is something we should do for the community. So, we are,” Swain said.

In September 2025, the KCA submitted a proposal to the Hawaiian Homes Commission for the co-management of Keaukaha Beach Park. Swain says discussions with DHHL have only just begun, and any arrangement will require some level of participation from the department.

“After all they are not signing over the land, but merely leasing the land to us,” said Swain, “What participation looks like we still need to discuss.”

Swain says the process with DHHL could take up to a year to complete. In the meantime, planning is underway for the next “People for Puhi” event in 2026.

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Hundreds of the most civically engaged members of the lāhui gathered in November for the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs (AOHCC) Convention in Waikīkī, Oʻahu.

“This is our 65th annual convention, so it’s a big anniversary year for us,” noted Dreanna Kalili, president of the AOHCC.

The annual convention provides Hawaiian civic club members an opportunity to shape the association’s advocacy platform. Each of the 59 Hawaiian civic clubs are given a seat in the AOHCC House of Delegates, where they deliberate on dozens of resolutions proposed by civic club members.

This year, the AOHCC adopted 68 resolutions, addressing everything from military land leases and election reforms at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to climate resiliency and the rebuilding of Lahaina.

“In our past, there have been resolutions that [have become] law – and members of our community benefit from this,” Kalili said. “This includes reducing the blood quantum for successorship for Hawaiian Home Lands leases. Civic clubs were instrumental in advocating for that law change.”

Hawaiian civic clubs have also lobbied for smaller, more symbolic changes, like the recent installation of a plaque at McKinley High School in Honolulu. The plaque addresses the misrepresentation of Hawaiian history on the statue of the school’s namesake.

The statue at the high school of William McKinley, who was president when Hawaiʻi was annexed by the United States, portrays him holding a “Treaty of Annexation” document; but a treaty of annexation was never ratified by the United States Senate as required by the U.S. Constitution. Instead, Hawaiʻi was annexed by a Joint Resolution of Congress.

“The resolution in 2009 called for the recasting of the statue. In 2020 we said ‘let’s start with a plaque’ – a plaque that explains this is not accurate. There was no treaty of annexation,” Kalili explained. “And it’s important, even in a very small way, to correct the history that is portrayed by the statue.”

One of the hot topics at this year’s AOHCC convention was military land leases, which are set to expire in five years.

“2029 is right around the corner, and we want to make sure we are equipped with the desires of our members so that we can engage in these conversations,” Kalili said. “This year, we have 10 resolutions on the military land leases. Some are recommending do not renew. Some are urging fair compensation. Some are urging if the military is not going to leave, they need to provide reasonable access for cultural practice.”

Delegates adopted three of these resolutions, including one urging the Board of Land and Natural Resources to not renew U.S. military leases.

The House of Delegates also adopted a resolution demanding that the Office of Elections and state legislature restructure voting for OHA island trustees to only allow votes from their island’s residents.

“This year, especially for the election of [the] OHA trustee for the islands of Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi, the decision was made largely by people who don’t live on that island, who don’t know that community, but were conflicted because of ‘one man, one vote’ and apportionment,” Kalili said.

She added that this is an issue the lāhui – and the state – struggles with, in terms of what feels right for representation versus what democracy requires.

“I think there may be a pathway forward to change how these elections are conducted and certainly, if not with regard to the elections, how the trustees – once they are elected – conduct themselves with regard to their commitments to the islands from which they come,” Kalili commented.

The ongoing rebuilding of Lahaina in the wake of the August 2023 wildfires continued to be a source of proposed resolutions at this year’s convention.

“Lahaina is still very much a focal point for us. We had about 10 resolutions last year about Lahaina and making sure that decisions and plans on rebuilding Lahaina consider the community, and make sure the rebuilding is responsible and sustainable. And so we have some resolutions along those same lines again this year,” Kalili said.

“These include preserving significant cultural and historical sites and resources in the impacted area [and] one calling on the Secretary of the Interior to study and designate the lands in Lahaina a National Heritage Area.”

Both of those resolutions were adopted by the AOHCC’s House of Delegates.

Kalili said the association is now in the process of transmitting the final resolutions to intended recipients and will start scheduling meetings to follow through on several of these calls to action. But getting those recipients to act on the AOHCC’s resolutions has its challenges.

“I think the challenges that we encounter in some cases are no different than what any other lobbyist might encounter,” says Kalili, “For some of the issues that are important to us it’s having these decision-makers – sometimes it’s a state agency or county agency – just understanding why this change we’re asking for is important. And again, it’s about building relationships and education through our advocacy work.”

The Hawaiian civic club movement was founded by Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole in 1918 to carry on the tradition of civic responsibility that he felt was vital to the development of Hawai‘i and its people for a better way of life. The movement now boasts nearly 3,400 civic club members representing communities across the pae ʻāina and on the continent.

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Former U.S. diplomat and state lawmaker Patrick Pihana Branco is settling into his new home in Washington, D.C., where he will serve as the first Native Hawaiian White House Fellow. The 37-year-old Kailua native is one of 15 leaders from across the country who will spend the next year as senior advisors to either the president, vice president, or any of the Cabinet secretaries.

“My experience has been more at the fingertips of government. Whether it’s being in the U.S. Embassy in Caracas (Venezuela), and you get an order to evacuate the embassy in 48 hours. You don’t question the order, you implement. Or being in your home community and translating community concerns to legislation,” he said. “But I really haven’t been at the federal level making policy for the entire nation.”

The White House Fellows program was established in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to give emerging leaders first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. Branco said the selection process was strenuous.

“I had 11 interviews in three days with the Secretary of the Navy, a U.S. Trade representative, the Secretary of the Army, and the Department of Commerce. If you make it to regionals, you have 15 judges, five interview panels,” says Branco. “If you go to nationals, you have 30 judges, 10 interview panels, a written exercise, and they’re watching us the whole time.”

Notable program alumni include former Secretary of State Colin Powell, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Hawaiʻi’s own Mufi Hannemann.

“There’s been no Native Hawaiian fellow in 60 years,” says Branco, “Hawaiʻi is extremely pivotal, especially when we’re turning to the Pacific, we’re turning to Asia. So, our perspective should be at the table. Not just a local Hawaiʻi perspective, but a Native Hawaiian perspective.”

The Kamehameha Schools Kapālama graduate studied international studies and political science at Hawaiʻi Pacific University and international relations at John Hopkins University.

After graduation he entered the U.S. Foreign Service through the Congressman Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship program, where he was the first fellow from Hawaiʻi and the first ʻŌiwi selected to the program. Since then, four more Native Hawaiians have become fellows and are now U.S. diplomats. Branco spent seven years in U.S. embassies around the world.

“I was in some hostile areas like Colombia during the peace process. Venezuela full embassy evacuation. Pakistan. I would fly into Afghanistan. I worked for the lead negotiator for the U.S,” he shared.

As a Hawaiian, Branco views his time in the U.S. Foreign Service as a continuation of Hawaiʻi’s rich history of diplomacy.

“We had over 80 embassies worldwide. We were engaged in the family of nations,” says Branco. “I feel like continuing that legacy is really important.”

Branco comes from the next generation of ʻŌiwi leaders – well-versed in Hawaiian knowledge and secure in their identity. It’s a privilege he says his great-grandfather, Edward Pihana, never had.

“When I was young, my papa would always tell me about how he was beaten in school for speaking ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and then he would go home and get dirty lickins for speaking English,” he said. “And so that’s what I thought about when I was in the legislature.”

Branco returned home in 2020 and was elected to represent his hometown district of Kailua and Kāneʻohe in the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives.

There, he spearheaded the passage of the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi resolution, which apologized for the 90-year ban on Hawaiian language in island schools. As a lawmaker, he saw the importance of codifying protections for Native Hawaiians.

“How do we institutionalize our language? How do we institutionalize our culture to make sure that we’re never taken out?” Branco said. “That’s where I hope to see our lawmaking go in the future – especially for those of us who are Kānaka elected in office. Institutionalize us, so we can never be taken out of government.”

Branco left his position in the state legislature in 2022 to run for U.S. Congress but lost in the primary to Jill Tokuda. The failed bid only hardened his resolve to run again in the future.

“At the federal level, whatever form of self-determination that our people choose, we need to rectify that. That’s why we have ceded lands issues. That’s why it’s so important to have a Native Hawaiian in the federal delegation who is going to take on these issues and be able to figure out what our people want, what our people need and develop a process.”

For now Branco is concentrating on the White House Fellowship, but who knows, he may seek a higher office in the near future.

“My parents asked me ‘Why you do this kind of thing? Why you push yourself?’ And I just think of my own story. I grew up Kailua, but we’re not from a wealthy family. There were 18 of us at my tutu’s house all sleeping on the floor next to each other. But I could dream big. I was that weirdo always watching Animal Planet and History Channel,” Branco said.

He says his story is no different from other Native Hawaiians across the pae ʻāina.

“I am the son of a high school dropout and teenage mom. That’s why I want to share these types of stories, because I want people to be like ‘I can do that too.’ That’s what’s really important for me.”

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Starting in November, Ka Waiwai Collective will offer co-working and event space out of the restored Otsuka Furniture building at Kalukalu at 1624. Ka Waiwai will also provide educational and cultural programming, entertainment, and support for local entrepreneurs.

“This is not just a business or passion project – we are leveling up, arm in arm, with people who want healing and transformation for ʻāina and their communities, through the vehicle of entrepreneurship, business, and economic development,” says Mahina Paishon-Duarte, president & co-founder of Ka Waiwai Collective.

This is the company’s fourth co-working and event space – and the first outside of Oʻahu. Every community is different says Paishon-Duarte, and engaging the Kauaʻi community to help shape Kalukalu’s mission was crucial. Ka Waiwai partnered with neighboring Kauaʻi Federal Credit Union to host community listening and learning sessions, and Paishon-Duarte says climate became a recurring theme.

“The Kauaʻi community has proven its continued capacity for resilience and recovery in the face of natural disasters,” says Paishon-Duarte, “From Hurricane ʻIwa to Hurricane ʻIniki, and then the 2018 flooding on the North Shore. We can all learn from this.”

The group also enlisted the place-based expertise of community leaders like Stacy Sproat of the Waipā Foundation, Hanapēpē salt maker Malia Nobrega-Oliveira, and Alakoko Fishpond steward Peleke Flores. The result was a mission for Kalukalu to steward a cooperative economy that honors community, culture, and climate.

To support this mission, Ka Waiwai plans to host signature events like their popular ʻAwa & ʻAi Nights, guest speakers and talk story sessions, live music, and even community-supported agriculture pick-up at its Kalukalu location.

Ka Waiwai Collective locations are more than co-working spaces, they’re community. The company has grown since opening its flagship Mōʻiliʻili location on the bottom floor of the Varsity Building. Ka Waiwai now also operates a Nuʻuanu location near the hustle and bustle of downtown Honolulu and a Koʻolau location out of the Koʻolau Ballroom in Kāneʻohe. Paishon-Duarte says they currently serve about 120 co-working members, and the clientele runs the gamut from community to corporate.

“We attract companies, organizations, individuals curious about how to apply place-based knowledge and ancestral values into their businesses, their strategic plans, their leadership approaches,” says Paishon-Duarte, “That is the critical missing piece.”

She says Ka Waiwai is a call to action for the lāhui to come together and dream up ideas of exchange and abundance that prioritize the quality of relationships and the balance between people and the ʻāina.

Back in 2017, Paishon-Duarte co-founded Ka Waiwai Collective along with Keoni Lee, CEO of Hawaiʻi Investment Ready, and Jaime Makasobe, co-founder of Native Hawaiian clothing brand Kealopiko. The trio had a hunch that a flexible space for collaboration grounded in ancestral values was worth it.

“More and more we’re seeing a demand for a different approach to the problems that we face. The colonial mindset and systems have limited value here. We only need to be authentically ourselves,” says Paishon-Duarte.

Moving forward, Paishon-Duarte says Ka Waiwai plans to invest more time and resources into supporting wāhine entrepreneurs and leaders.

“There aren’t enough spaces for wāhine within Hawaiʻi, in our homes, in our communities, and around the world, to converse about matters that are uniquely relevant to wāhine,” says Paishon-Duarte.

Ka Waiwai plans to expand upon its signature events like Mana Wāhine Mixers and panel discussions on issues like environmental degradation and climate change.

“In my conversations with Indigenous and tribal leaders, there is a resounding call to rematriate (restore balance to) our ʻāina, our government, our systems. These patriarchal-based systems have long served the few,” says Paishon-Duarte, “We need to heal these broken systems starting with the ʻāina first and us Kānaka second.”

Paishon-Duarte says Ka Waiwai Collective’s expansion to Kauaʻi is part of a pae ʻāina wide push over the next several years. Ka Waiwai Collective will be debuting its Pae ʻĀina Co-Work Membership Pass at Kalukalu for members in need of working space on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, and possibly other mokupuni soon.

“Over the next five years, we plan to expand Ka Waiwai to spaces across the pae ʻāina, wherever community and commerce demand,” says Paishon-Duarte, “But, we only go to places where we’re invited.”

For more information on using Ka Waiwai collective for co-work or event space, go to: www.waiwaicollective.com
call: 808-892-1813

Follow them on social media:

• Instagram: waiwaicollective
• Facebook: /waiwaicollective
  

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More than 2,000 Native Hawaiians braved the heat and humidity in Waikoloa to give the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) Convention its biggest turnout yet.

Puʻuanahulu native Kuʻulei Keakealani is no stranger to the dry coastal plains of North Kona. Generations of her ʻohana paniolo have stewarded these lands. She says the convention helped re-energize the surrounding community.

“Me he mea lā ua hiki mai kekahi kai piha a hiki ke ʻike i nā waʻa he nui e lana nei i ka ili o ke kai,” said Keakealani. (It’s as if a rising tide came in and you can see all these canoes floating on the surface of the sea).

Alona Quartero drove over from Puna to support her moʻopuna at the convention, and later found herself attending session after session.

“Thatʻs what this conference has done! Inspired people to connect to the lāhui. Being around a lot of Kānaka is really nice and non-Kānakas too because they can see ‘Oh, this is what the people mean.’ It was worth the trip to get here,” says Quartero.

This was CNHA’s first convention on Moku o Keawe in its 23-year history. CNHA President & CEO Kūhiō Lewis estimates the three-day event infused more than $2 million dollars into the local economy.

“We’re honing in on Hawaiʻi Island, because – as I see it – the future is there,” Lewis said.

CNHA recently acquired 43 acres of land in Kaūmana for the creation of an affordable housing land trust, which could provide homes to ʻohana as early as 2025. Lewis also has his eye on Banyan Drive, which he says could provide job opportunities through a Native Hawaiian-managed hotel.

“If we do it right, Moku o Keawe will lead the rest of the pae ʻāina,” he said.

The annual Native Hawaiian Convention has become a must-attend event for the lāhui, featuring cultural workshops, government updates, and discussions on the latest issues. The gathering is the brainchild of CNHA founder Robin Danner.

“It was wonderful to witness the total relevance of CNHA and the annual convention in 2024, just as it was relevant when founded 20+ years ago, to create space for the mana and manaʻo of Hawaiians,” Danner said.

Speaker after speaker underscored the need to kūʻē and kūkulu – to challenge the status quo and rebuild from a kuanaʻike Hawaiʻi or Hawaiian worldview. This kuanaʻike guided generations of Hawaiians to thrive in these islands for centuries.

Kaʻūpūlehu native and former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Hannah Springer says having a Hawaiian voice at the table ensures ʻike Hawaiʻi is part of the decision-making.

“Don’t be afraid of ʻike,” Springer said.

ʻIke Hawaiʻi could provide invaluable insight to tackle Hawaiʻi’s most pressing challenges, but the keepers of this ʻike are sometimes overlooked. This has frustrated Lahaina native Kaipo Kekona, who is helping to lead rebuilding efforts in Maui Komohana.

“They say ‘blank canvas,’ but its not a blank canvas,” said Kekona, “There are communities who have been there for generations, and it would serve us well not to try to act like those voices don’t exist.”

Those voices may soon become a rarity, according to Haʻikū data analyst Matt Jachowski. He presented the latest numbers on Hawaiian migration at the convention.

“Native Hawaiians today make up only 1 in 5 people in the state of Hawaiʻi, but our population is shrinking while the non-native Hawaiian population is growing, and I think that’s a problem,” says Jachowski.

As more Native Hawaiians are forced to leave Hawaiʻi, so too will their repository of ʻike Hawaiʻi, which is needed in Hawaiʻi now more than ever.

State leases with the U.S. military begin to expire in 2029, and Native Hawaiian attorney Camille Kalama says this is an opportunity for the lāhui to make demands.

“If we don’t push, if we don’t try, we’ll get the same as we always got,” says Kalama.

The energy at this year’s convention was one of fearlessness and bold ideas, where decision-making in Hawaiʻi is centered on ʻike Hawaiʻi. We see it reflected in a stewardship model that puts the mauna first and in a new generation of ʻŌiwi leadership in tourism that’s disrupting the industry’s extractive ways.

These changes are only the beginning, said Native Hawaiian educator and social entrepreneur Mahina Paishon-Duarte.

“Its necessary for people to be at ka maka o ka ihe – the tip of the spear – stirring the pot and creating discomfort until there’s enough critical mass calling for change,” Paishon-Duarte said.

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Indigenous athletes can rarely represent their homeland on the international stage because their ʻāina remains occupied by colonizers. But every year, during the world championships of outrigger canoe racing, Native Hawaiians proudly paddle under ka hae Hawaiʻi.

“He kūpono ka hana ʻana ma lalo o ka hae Hawaiʻi no ka mea ma ka nānā i nā hōʻailona e kū ana ma nā hale peʻa he hōʻike no kēlā me kēia hui.” (Pīkī Hayward of Kona’s Kai ʻEhitu Canoe Club says competing under ka hae Hawaiʻi is appropriate because every other group is represented by their flag)

Hayward was one of more than 2,800 paddlers from 27 countries gathered at Hilo One (“sands of Hilo”) in August for the 2024 International Vaʻa Federation (IVF) World Sprints Championships – often called the Olympics of outrigger canoe paddling. Hilo native Alana Cabatu of Puna Canoe Club was there as well. She competed in the Open and 40s Women.

“To be able to represent Hilo One, our stomping grounds, our wahi pana at the highest level at world sprints, there’s no greater honor,” said Cabatu.

She was one of 336 paddlers from across the pae ʻāina representing Team Hawaiʻi, which had the largest representation at the event.

“It means everything that Indigenous people can see themselves on a piece of paper, on TV representing their country,” says Cabatu, “It really starts to shift the narrative of this place. We don’t represent a state, we represent a country.”

Puna Canoe Club steerswoman Julein Haunani Keamo says she was very happy to race under ka hae Hawaiʻi.

“A laila komo ka ʻaoʻao kuleana. Oiai ma lalo o Amelika ʻokoʻa ke ʻano o ke kuanaʻike, ʻaʻole like ka noʻonoʻo no ke kuleana.” (Keamo says this privilege comes with kuleana and there isn’t the same sense of kuleana in competing for America)

Darlene Iokepa Kakalia, a lifetime member of Hilo’s Kamehameha Canoe Club and its predecessor, the Prince David Kawananākoa Canoe Club, says representing Hawaiʻi is empowering for the lāhui.

“This is the one event that I know of that allows Hawaiʻi to be its own country, and that has made a big impression on a lot of Native Hawaiians here. It makes us even prouder – and prouder because it’s here in Hilo,” said Iokepa.

“The Hilo community knows how to rally,” said Sue Lee Loy, Hawaiʻi County Councilmember for Keaukaha, Panaʻewa, and Waiākea Uka.

“I mean talk about different adversities that come up, the different communities had to come together, the food trucks and vendors down at Bayfront, the security, the canoe paddlers – everybody in Hilo got together and made it happen,” Lee Loy added.

“This is an amazing opportunity for us to share the culture that we have here in Hawaiʻi with the world, and to see our canoe clubs from across the state and especially our island representing us so well,” Hawaiʻi County Mayor Mitch Roth said.

This isn’t the first time Hilo Hanakahi hosted world sprints. In 2004, former Kamehameha Canoe Club head coach, the late John Kekua, convinced the International Vaʻa Federation to bring the race to Hilo Bay. Hayward remembers the race and says he’s seen the sport’s popularity grow ever since.

“Kuhi wau mamuli o kēlā wā o ka maʻi ahulau. Ua hoʻomaka e nui nā kānaka ma ka hoe waʻa ʻana ke koʻokahi. Ma ka hoʻi hou i ka hui like ʻana loaʻa mai ka waʻa e hui like ai. A laila ua nui maila nā kanaka e hoe ana i kēia manawa.” (Hayward says he assumes its because of the pandemic that lots of people began paddling one-man outrigger canoes. Once social distancing ended and the six-man canoes returned, the number of paddlers grew)

Paddling is one of the most popular sports in Hawaiʻi with a UH study finding one-in-five residents having paddled. The sport is even higher in popularity among Native Hawaiians, where 42% have participated in the activity. There’s also a healing nature to being out on the ocean, being part of a team, and connecting to history and culture.

Keamo says there are a lot of Hawaiʻi paddlers who have no exposure to ʻike Hawaiʻi outside of the sport.

“ʻAʻohe pōʻaiapili e hoʻoulu ai i ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, ke kuanaʻike Hawaiʻi, me ka lawena Hawaiʻi. No laila ke komo ka poʻe ma kēia pōʻaiapili Hawaiʻi, hiki ke hoʻoulu i kēlā ʻaoʻao.” (Keamo says there’s no other opportunity to develop an understanding of Hawaiian language, perspective, and behaviors. But when people enter this uniquely Hawaiian space, they can strengthen their ʻike Hawaiʻi).

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