2025-2027 HO?olaule?a – n? Wahine o KE KAI and molokai HOE

The Department of the Interior's Interior Business Center awarded $196,700 to the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association Hawaii on October 1, 2025, under the Native Hawaiian Community Guest Stewardship program (CFDA 15.068), also known as the Heritage (Tourism) Opportunities in Hawaii (HOIHI) Grant Program. The award period extends through March 31, 2028, and supports the 2025-2027 Ho'olaule'a and Molokai Hoe initiatives. This funding implements the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act and operates under the Hawaiian cultural principle of hoihi (reverence and respect) to facilitate Native Hawaiian economic self-sufficiency through heritage tourism.

The project delivers culturally grounded visitor engagement activities centered on traditional Hawaiian canoe racing practices. The funding supports experiential tourism programming that honors ancestral cultural practices while generating earned revenue for Native Hawaiian practitioners and organizations. By combining cultural stewardship with visitor education and participation opportunities, the award advances the program's objectives of creating employment, stimulating economic activity in the Native Hawaiian community, and maintaining the distinctiveness of Native Hawaiian cultural traditions and practices.