To advance the long-term vision of perpetuating Indigenous knowledge and culture by expanding access to Native Hawaiian cultural experiences, the Huaka‘i Travel Grants awarded up to $5,000 to Hawai‘i-based organizations to bring participants to meaningful opportunities to connect with Indigenous knowledge, cultural practices, or important locations within the state.

Learn more about the Huakaʻi Travel Grant recipients and activities below:

Boys and Girls Club of Hawai‘i - $5,000
Inter-Island Youth Leadership & Cultural Exchange, Kaua‘i, O‘ahu
Boys & Girls Club of Hawai‘i serves more than 3,500 youth on O‘ahu and Kaua‘i each year. The grant will support two inter-island exchanges during the 2026–2027 school year for 20 middle and high school students from the Nānākuli and Kapa‘a Clubhouses. Through activities with Mālama Learning Center, Kūkulu Kumuhana O Anahola, and their peers, the participants will expand their cultural knowledge, Native Hawaiian identity, leadership skills, and connection to ‘āina. After the exchanges, students will share their learning through reflection sessions, leadership activities, and presentations for peers and families. Funds will support inter-island travel, transportation and program expenses.

Hale Kua - $5,000
Indigenous Business Incubator - Continuing Support, Hawai‘i Island, Maui, and O‘ahu
Hale Kua offers cultural workshops, hālau hula, and an Indigenous Business Incubator program to share Indigenous values and traditions. 14–18 Incubator participants will travel from Hawai‘i Island and Maui to O‘ahu for the Maoli Arts Movement Wearable Art Show in September 2026, where they will showcase the Indigenous cultural art they created as part of the program. Works include ‘ohe kāpala on pāʻū, styling these pieces to reflect ‘āina, moʻokūʻauhau, and moʻolelo, as well as additional accessories such as lei and kaula (cordage work). Participants will engage with fellow artists and cultural practitioners to share experiences and ʻike while expanding professional and cultural networks. Hale Kua will document the huakaʻi to share with the broader community. Funds will support inter-island travel, lodging, and food.

Hāmākua Youth Center - $5,000
Hāmākua Youth Center - Summer Program Huaka‘i, Hawai‘i Island
Hāmākua Youth Center (HYC) has served youth in the Hāmākua region of Hawai‘i Island since 2009. HYC will expand its 2026 Cultural Connections Summer Program with additional visits to culturally significant sites across Hawai‘i Island. 20–25 youth will learn mo‘olelo, oli, protocol, and ‘ike Hawai‘i from cultural practitioners and kūpuna, strengthening their cultural knowledge and leadership skills. Participants will share their learning through art and narrative reflections at a community ‘Ohana Day event and in a “Youth Voices” newsletter series. Funds will support van rentals and related expenses.

Hānai Kaiāulu - $5,000
Kai to Paʻakai: Protecting Indigenous Practices and Ocean Health, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi
Hānai Kaiāulu is a youth-centered organization that fosters cultural connection and environmental stewardship through mālama ʻāina-based community engagement. 10 youth and 2 kumu will travel from O‘ahu to Kaua‘i for the Hawai‘i Zero Waste Youth Alliance Convergence for sustainability-focused activities, including learning from cultural practitioners at traditional paʻakai ponds about Hawaiian salt-harvesting practices, the cultural significance of paʻakai, and challenges facing ocean health. The huakaʻi will deepen participants’ understanding of the relationship between Indigenous knowledge and ocean stewardship while strengthening the next generation of Native Hawaiian environmental and cultural leaders. Participants will share their experience through community presentations, Sustainable Saturday events, and social media storytelling. Funds will support inter-island travel, lodging, food, and ground transportation.

Hawai‘i Science and Technology Museum - $5,000
Na Kama o Kālai Wa'a, Hawai‘i Island, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu
Hawaiʻi Science and Technology Museum serves more than 20,000 people annually through science, technology, engineering, arts, math, and cultural education. Alika Bumatay, kālai wa‘a (master canoe carver), will travel across Hawai‘i Island, Moloka‘i, and O‘ahu to perpetuate Native Hawaiian wa‘a traditions, including canoe carving and repair, oli, moʻolelo, and cultural protocols. Bumatay will work with 30 direct participants and reach an additional 150 people through community events, strengthening cultural identity, intergenerational relationships, and practitioner networks for this specialized skill. Participants will share their learning through demonstrations, talk-story sessions, and media documentation. Funds will support inter-island and within-island travel.

Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society, Inc. - $5,000
Hot Kūpuna Nights, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i Island, Maui
Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society (HMPS) is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and perpetuating mele Hawai‘i through education, community engagement, and culturally grounded programming. In partnership with acclaimed singer, songwriter, and cultural practitioner Ku‘uipo Kumukahi, HMPS will bring “Hot Kūpuna Nights” to communities on Kaua‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island and provide buses for kūpuna in rural O‘ahu to attend local performances. The interactive program invites kūpuna and other participants to share mele and mo‘olelo, strengthening relationships, reducing social isolation, and perpetuating Indigenous knowledge. Participants will share their learning informally with family and community members, while HMPS will document and share program highlights online. Funds will support inter-island and within-island travel.

Hui o Kuapā - $4,980
Hui o Kuapā - Alakaʻi Academy Program Support, Moloka‘i
Hui o Kuapā educates the local and global community about Native Hawaiian resource management and innovations through hands on experience in loko iʻa (fishponds) as well as through advocacy of Native rights and issues. 15–20 Hawaiʻi school principals and educational leaders will travel to Molokaʻi to participate in the Alakaʻi Academy Program, a three-day cultural immersion experience. Cultural practitioners will lead huakaʻi, mālama ʻāina, moʻolelo, mele, and leadership reflection. Centered on Native Hawaiian practices and ʻāina-based learning, the program will deepen participants’ understanding of ʻike Hawaiʻi and strengthen culturally-grounded leadership in their schools and communities. Participants will share their learning through faculty presentations, school-based sessions, and community talk story gatherings. Funds will support inter-island travel and van rental.

Hula Preservation Society - $4,335
Hula Kiʻi For the Queen, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi
Hula Preservation Society (HPS) was founded to mālama knowledge and materials grounded in ʻike kūpuna and hula. It is one of the foremost organizations dedicated to perpetuating hula kiʻi — dancing with an image or as an image. Hula kiʻi practitioners from Oʻahu will join two Kauaʻi-based groups at the November 2026 Queen Emma Festival in Kōke‘e, where approximately 50 participants from three hālau will perform and have cultural exchanges led by master kumu. The project will strengthen the practice and visibility of this unique hula tradition by bringing hula kiʻi to an audience of 1,000 festival attendees. HPS will extend the impact by documenting performances in the Hula Kiʻi Collection on its Digital ʻUmeke archive site as well as sharing participant reflections through its website and social media. Funds will support inter-island travel, lodging, food, and ground transportation.

Humanity Hale - $5,000
Humanity Hale Youth Cultural Huakaʻi, Hawaiʻi Island, Oʻahu
Humanity Hale provides free, trauma-informed support programs that are rooted in culture, healing, and community for Hawaiʻi Island keiki and ‘ōpio. 6 youth and 2 group leaders will travel to Oʻahu for a one-day huakaʻi to significant Native Hawaiian cultural and historical sites including ʻIolani Palace, Mauna ʻAla, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, and Bishop Museum, as well as to the State Capitol and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Participants will connect with aliʻi leadership, Hawaiian governance, cultural pride, and pathways to higher education, then share their learnings through creative expression activities such as art, journaling, or storytelling, and a community sharing event with peers and ʻohana. Funds will support inter-island travel, ground transportation, cultural site admission fees, meals, and program materials related to the huaka‘i.

Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy - $5,000
‘Aha Hoa Mau, O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi Island
Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy (KVA) is dedicated to perpetuating traditional Hawaiian navigation and creating pathways for Native Hawaiian students to pursue ocean-based careers. 10 members of KVA’s Hoa Mau Adult Training Program and 4 KVA staff will travel to Hawai‘i Island for cultural learnings, community engagement, and the ‘Ahā Hoa Mau recognition ceremony, which marks the participants’ completion of training and transition to becoming ‘aukai (crew) of Kānehūnāmoku. Huaka‘i members will learn from KVA’s partner organization Nā Kālai Waʻa o Moku o Keawe, wa‘a Mākaliʻi and crew, and cultural practitioners including Captain and Master Navigator Chadd Paishon, as well as visit Koʻa Heiau Holomoana, which is dedicated to long-distance ocean voyaging. Participants will carry their learnings forward through programs aboard Kānehūnāmoku that reach 1,000 haumana and community members annually. Funds will support inter-island travel, ground transportation, and lodging.

Keanokapulani Foundation - $5,000
Huakaʻi Hula ʻOni E , Hawaiʻi Island, Oʻahu
Keanokapulani Foundation is dedicated to preserving and perpetuating Hawaiian traditions and practices and is associated with Hālau Nā Mamo O Ka Liko Maile O Kohala, an intergenerational hālau hula on Hawaiʻi Island. 17 hālau members will travel to the 2026 Hula ʻOni E Festival in Waikīkī, where they will perform, engage in formal and informal cultural exchange with hālau from across Hawaiʻi and Japan, and visit culturally significant places on Oʻahu to deepen their understanding of the history, traditions, and ʻike connected to their mele and hula. Participants will share their learnings with their community formally through performances and demonstrations, and informally through mentorship of younger haumāna in the hālau. Funds will support inter-island travel, lodging, ground transportation, and baggage fees for cultural materials and equipment.

Kīpuka Kuleana - $5,000
Huakaʻi i Ka ʻĀina Kūpuna, Kauaʻi
Kīpuka Kuleana is dedicated to perpetuating kuleana, ahupuaʻa-based natural resource management, and connection to place through stewardship of cultural landscapes and family lands on Kauaʻi. Descendant ʻohana members from neighbor islands will return to their ancestral ʻāina at Waiʻoli, Wanini, and Hā‘ena for quarterly gatherings featuring stewardship workdays, talk story sessions, family meetings, and the sharing of ʻike and moʻolelo across generations. The gatherings strengthen connections between families, ʻāina, ʻike kūpuna, and stewardship responsibilities, while creating opportunities for participants to plan for the future of their family lands. Funds will support inter-island and within-island travel.

Pihana ka ‘Ikena - $5,000
Cultivating Health, Knowledge and Relationships, Kaua‘i, O‘ahu
Pihana ka ‘Ikena is dedicated to revitalizing traditional Hawaiian healing arts through education, practice, and ‘āina-based stewardship. 11 students and practitioners will travel from Kauaʻi to Oʻahu for lāʻau lapaʻau activities, ʻike exchange, archival research, and place-based learning at Bishop Museum, ʻIolani Palace, Kōkua Kalihi Valley, Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, Pōhaku Ola, and Keaʻiwa Heiau. The huakaʻi will strengthen practitioner networks and capacity to perpetuate ʻike kūpuna, with participants sharing their learning through training, mentorship, workshops, and community programming at the organization’s cultural learning site, Hihiakalahau. Funds will support inter-island travel, lodging, and van rental.

The Queens Court - $5,000
ʻOnipaʻa Peace March 2027 - Cultural Practitioners, Community Leaders, Hawaiian Performers & Honorary Guest Travel, O‘ahu
The Queens Court is dedicated to continuing the legacy of Queen Lili‘uokalani through cultural preservation, advocacy, and the unification of the Lāhui. Cultural practitioners, Hawaiian performers, and honorary kūpuna from neighbor islands will travel to Oʻahu for the January 17, 2027, ‘Onipa‘a Peace March from Mauna ‘Ala to ‘Iolani Palace. These practitioners will ensure neighbor-island voices are represented through protocol, mele Lāhui, and culturally-grounded oratory for thousands of attendees, including community members and haumāna from more than 30 schools. The program will strengthen Lāhui relationships, connect neighbor-island kūpuna with urban O‘ahu youth, and model ʻonipaʻa (steadfast) resilience. Funds will support inter-island travel, lodging, and ground transportation.

Wahine Wellness Resilient Hawaiʻi - $5,000
Kū Mai Puna, Hawaiʻi Island
Wahine Wellness Resilient Hawaiʻi (WWRH) strengthens women, youth, and families through cultural connection and community-based wellness programs. The grant will support participants traveling across the state to attend WWRH’s two-day “Kū Mai Puna” event in August 2026. 75-100 participants will engage in place-based learning, huakaʻi across Hawaiʻi Island, aloha ʻāina stewardship, and knowledge sharing. The gathering builds on previous hoʻoponopono events held on Oʻahu and Maui and will strengthen Indigenous knowledge and cultural connections statewide. Participants will share lessons learned and reflections with their home communities after the event. Funds will support inter-island and ground transportation.