Join us and Ke Kukui Foundation at this year’s 4 Days of Aloha in Vancouver, WA! All hula classes are now available on Zoom. If you can’t join us in person, join us virtually!

To register for classes, or to get passes for the other fun events happening this week, click here.

 

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Smithsonian NMAI – Story of the Lūʻau

We are happy to announce that we were asked by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) to present “The Story of the Lūʻau”. We teamed up with Kealoha Domingo (who did the food part), and our hālau, Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima did the entertainment!

You can watch the finished videos by clicking here. There are three videos in this series.

Mahalo to Smithsonian NMAI for the invitation to tell our own stories. Mahalo to Jeff Orig and the crew of Orig Media for capturing every aspect and putting together these amazing videos. Mahalo the the board and staff of Papahana Kuaola for allowing us once again to share your ʻili ʻāina in all of its beauty. Mahalo to Kealoha Domingo and his ʻohana and friends for working so hard on the food portion and for sharing so much of your ʻike to the world. Mahalo to the board and staff of PAʻI Foundation, and the hālau members of Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima, we always appreciate your kōkua and kākoʻo in everything we do.

We would like to say hoʻomaikaʻi to Umi Kai (2017 MAMo Awardee) for being a 2021 First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award recipient, and hoʻomaikaʻi to MAMo artist Kawika Lum-Nelmida for being a 2021 United States Artist recipient! Mahalo for everything you both do for our lāhui and kaiāulu.

To read more on Umi’s award, click here. To read more on Kawika’s award, click here.

We would also like to say congratulation to Moses Goods for being a First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership recipient, and to Hāwane Rios for being a First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital recipient! We are excited to see what you both will be doing in 2021!

Below is a feature on US Artists recipient, Kawika Lum-Nelmida from Hawaiʻi News Now

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He Kaiāulu o ka Poʻe Heona a Makakū

A Community of Creative and Artistic People

However, there are organizations in Hawaiʻi helping the artistic and creative community, namely PAʻI Foundation led by Vicky Holt Takamine. For more than 10 years they have been assisting the creative economic community. With support from the First Peoples Fund (FPF) and the Native Artists Professional Development Fund (NAPDF) artists are assisted with the development of portfolios and webpage professional development and design. This enables artists to show their arts, hula, singing, fashion and so forth. Some of the artists assisted by PAʻI and FPF-NAPDF include ʻUmi Kai, Kaʻohu Seto and Starr Kalahiki. Web pages are critically important during the pandemic. For example, on October 22, people could log into the web, YouTube or KHON to watch the MAMo Wearable Fashion show and order fashion items from the online market (see www.paifoundation.org/).

In addition, PAʻI and FPF, along with Alternate Roots, NALAC (National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures) and SIPP Culture (Mississippi Center for Cultural Production) joined together to form ILI (Indigenous Leadership Institute). During the pandemic, they raised $5,000,000 for the native creative economic community. Native leaders can apply to the ILI (see www.weareili.org/). Kahōkü Lindsey Asing, Kanoelani Davis, Tara Gumapac, Chadwick Pang, and Kaʻiulani Takamori are some of the recent fellows of ILI.

Mahalo piha e Dr. Kalani Akana for this wonderful article! Click here to read the article in its entirety (in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi & English!)

PAʻI MEMBERSHIPS NOW AVAILABLE!

Discounted Memberships Available
for Youth (<18), Seniors (62+), and Students & Military (w/ valid ID)

Benefits (depending on Membership Level) include your PAʻI Portal,
Quarterly Newsletters, E-Blasts, Online Membership Directory (coming soon!),
Pre-Sale & Pre-Registration Opportunities, Event Discounts, Gallery & PAʻI Store Discounts,
PAʻI Promotional Items, Member Listing in Annual MAMo Artists Guide, Free Tickets, and more!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

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