Executive Summary

The Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation (EKF) is a non profit 501C(3) whose mission is to teach and encourage heightened indigenous Hawaiian cultural awareness and participation through Hawaiian cultural education and the maintenance of the teachings, beliefs, practices, philosophies and traditions of Edith and Luka Kanaka‘ole.

The Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation umbrellas several programs:

HĀLAU O KEKUHI is the Hālau Hula and the center of cultural knowledge and the most active fund-raising entity for the Foundation. Hālau O Kekuhi is a traditional formal hula school passed down through matrilineal descent. The hula school is internationally known for its ‘aiha‘a or raw and bombastic style of dance characteristic of Hawai‘i island’s creative forces.

KE ANA LA‘AHANA PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL fosters an educational movement that roots the child, family and community to their land base. It will be through the uniqueness of the environmental setting of Keaukaha that pedagogy will be rigorously enhanced.

PĀHANA HO‘OLUPALUPA NATIVE HAWAIIAN WASTE MANAGEMENT Curriculum Development Project focuses on traditional Hawaiian philosophy and practice in caring for the land and the sea that is the basis for our life. The proposed project goes beyond recycling and composting to include the re-education of our Hawaiian students and community regarding man's role in the health of the land and the sea.

LAUHUKI FAMILY BASED CENTER PRESCHOOL is a comprehensive native Hawaiian family based early education center which acknowledges the family as the foundation upon which a child is reared and strengthens ties within the unique Hawaiian Homeland community of Keaukaha.

MA‘IOLA INDIGENOUS HEALTH is a grant for curriculum development in elementary and secondary grade levels. Ma‘iola develops curriculum in indigenous Hawaiian health practices.

KŪ‘ULA MARINE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT is the Foundation’s curriculum development grant creating curriculum materials for elementary and secondary school children based on native Hawaiian practices that concentrate on Marine Resource Management. Under this grant, EKF has been able to resurrect and make functional, once again, several of Keaukaha’s fishponds.

PAPA HULILANI HAWAI‘I ISLAND ASTRONOMY is a native Hawaiian curriculum development project that focuses on astronomy and occupational use of stars, seasons and star gazing skills. The curriculum utilizes the entire Hawai‘i island and its significant land and ocean features as key observation sites.

KŪKULU KUMUHANA is an EKF cultural youth immersion program. Kūkulu Kumuhana has sites in Nāpo‘opo‘o, Waipi‘o, Ka‘ū and Puna. The program focuses on teaching and refamiliarizing local families from the rural districts of Hāmākua, Puna and Ka‘ū in the traditional Hawaiian lifestyle and practices unique to these districts.

MAKAWALU VISUAL ARTS SCHOOL is a fine arts program that focuses on the relationship of the native Hawaiian to his environment through art and is developed and instructed by members of the Hālau O Kekuhi and the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation.

SCHOLARSHIPS The Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation scholarship program encourages and supports native Hawaiians towards higher educational opportunities. It was the greatest wish of Edith and Luka Kanaka‘ole for Native Hawaiian youth and adults to realize the value of a Western education while maintaining one’s Hawaiian cultural identity through cultural education. Since our inception in November of 1990, the Foundation has been able to give out over $113,000.00 in scholarships. Much of these scholarship funds are earned through Hālau performances and special workshops.