This past summer, I was a crewmember on the Hawaiian double-hulled canoe, Hokulea, as she sails around the world on the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage. While deep-sea travel and navigating by traditional methods are Hokulea’s primary raison d’être, this voyage is equally focused on its mission: malama honua, which means literally to care for the […]
Let the countdown begin! Hawaii is just days away from the most respected and celebrated long-distance race for women in outrigger canoe paddling. On Sunday, September 25, the world-renowned competition, Na Wahine O Ke Kai, sets off from Molokai’s Hale O Lono Harbor to Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon in Waikiki. That’s 41 miles, non-stop, in the
Standing behind the counter of Kamaka Hawaii’s Honolulu store, Fred Kamaka strums through each of the nine ukulele hanging on the wall next to him, and the conversations of the people chatting around me fade away. It’s the signal that the factory tour is about to begin. The large factory is seperated into many stations and
Queen Liliʻuokalani was the last ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, remembered for her intellect, elegance and diligence towards Hawaiʻi’s citizens even in the face of the injustice she endured in the overthrow of her governance. Her nobility is readily apparent in her writings—famously, the historical memoir “Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen”—but her storytelling
August 24 marks the 126th birthday of Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku, a legend who goes by many names—The Big Kahuna, The Godfather of Surfing, Ambassador of Aloha, and simply, The Duke. Kahanamoku’s legacy and milestone achivements are well-known and documented: He’s credited for gifting the world the art and sport of surfing. He revolutionized
More than 150 people assembled at Kauai’s crescent-shaped Hanalei Bay on Saturday for a traditional hukilau. By many estimates, it was the first time this ancient Hawaiian method of fishing has been practiced at this scale in the iconic north shore town of Hanalei in as many as 40 years. What is a hukilau? The
In the past few years Honolulu’s art scene has been exploding with wider international appeal. Case in point: avant-garde art star Yayoi Kusama, who notably installed her first Hawaii exhibition this past spring—the polka-dotted “Footprints of Life” sprawled across Ward Village’s IBM building courtyard, a prelude to a new commissioned piece she’ll present at next year’s
It’s cloudy and very windy outside the six-story Te Papa Tongarewa museum in Wellington, New Zealand. A delegation from Hawaii flew from Oahu to Aotearoa a few days before and are walking in a tight procession, following the deep, trumpet sounds of the taonga puoro (traditional Maori musical instruments), up an outdoor staircase. These men
Aaron Kawaiaea always knew he wanted to be an artist. Art was the only subject in school to which he paid attention; he would draw whenever possible. “I was kind of kolohe (a troublemaker),” he says. Kawaiaea admits he was better at creating than studying; in fact, he dropped out of high school and starting
A new style of ukulele, the Pahulele, has made taking the sound of Hawaii abroad safer and more convenient. Thirty-four-year-old Reid Shigemura is a second-generation luthier—his father made violins for a living—and now, he is revolutionizing the ukulele. Shigemura reenvisioned the instrument, making a removable neck and building the body as a box that can
“Look for the blue stones.” It was the first piece of advice photographer Daniel Sullivan received from Native Hawaiians he spoke with as he began a nine-day hike on what today is known as King’s Highway, a once-vital road built by the island’s Native Hawaiian settlers originally circumnavigating all of Maui. Upon its construction over
In an ongoing video series on global fashion, WatchCut takes viewers down a visual time capsule of how beauty has changed and been defined in different parts of the world over a century. Their latest video focuses on Hawaii—seamlessly highlighting each era’s popular hairstyles, makeup trends, and uniquely to the Islands, beautiful flower lei and lei poʻo (lei worn on the head).
