Office of Hawaiian Affairs Grant No. 2298 Awarded to the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center
Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee, Colette Machado (Islands of Molokai and Lanai), sponsored a grant for the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center (Lanai CHC). On June 5th, 2008 the Trustees voted unanimously to provide $750,000.00 to development of the new culture & heritage center. The vision is to honor the past, and share Lanai’s rich history with present and future generations. Through this action of the Trustees, the land, people and history of Lanai have been offered a generous gift by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs — Mahalo a nui!
"E Mau Ana Ka Haaheo" Community Presentation
On June 18th, 2008 some 100 members of Lanai’s Hawaiian community met with Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Lanai at Hale Kupuna, and shared their appreciation with the Trustees and staff for the kind support of our efforts to document and pass on Lanai's history. Representatives of Lanai’s families, ranging in age from 10 to 91 years old, spoke, sang and chanted in appreciation to the Trustees, and in support of the Lanai CHC programs.
The goal of the program is to ensure that the living culture of Lanai remains an integral part of our community. The vision of the center is to develop both fixed exhibits (more typical of museum settings for valued items), and living history collections, where Lanai’s residents and visitors can experience the heritage of Lanai. We are also planning for a controlled archival collection storage and conservation area, and community heritage library, which will house historical documents, photos, maps, textiles and other items of importance to Lanai’s people and past.
To do this we are eliciting the help of a broad cross-section of the community and organizations to acquire an existing historical structure that will be suitable to fulfill the vision and mission laid out by the community through agreements made in 1987. We are also seeking the help of the community, in order to make the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center programs sustainable.
If we are to protect and pass on Lanai’s history, we need families to donate cherished items reflective of the diverse cultural heritage of Lanai. If we are to be good stewards of the artifacts and historical collections, and ensure that the rich history of Lanai is passed on through generations of Lanai’s people, and shared with those who visit the island, we need the facility and financial support to offer the programs.
The heritage and cultural diversity of Lanai are among its most distinguishing and endearing resources. Since opening as a non-profit community organization on October 1, 2007, the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center (Lanai CHC) has hosted more than 14,000 residents and visitors in programs at the center and in field outings. Generous donations from Lanai’s residents, visitors, Office of Hawaiia Affairs and other Hawaiian organizations have resulted in our raising funds to help us ensure that the artifacts, family collections and historical documents will be saved and available for present and future generations.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Grant No. 2575
On December 1st, 2010, Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs provided the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center with Grant No. 2575 to conduct a traditional cultural property study for the ahupuaa of Kaa, island of Lanai. The Kaa Ethnographic Study/Traditional Cultural Properties Study and a limited archaeological reconnaissance survey have been completed.
A part of the Kaa grant included work with Lanai students in the archaeology of Lanai. On June 8th and 9th, 2011, students participating in the Na Pua Noeau/Papa Alakai summer program worked with Hal Hammatt, Tanya Lee-Greig, Bob Hobdy, Warren Osako, Kaulana Kahoohalahala, Keao Soriano, Ben Ostrander, Hy Hoe Silva and Kepa Maly of the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center in a process of discovering cultural sites in Kaa Ahupuaa. The slides below, photos by Kepa Maly and Tanya Lee-Greig document some of the workshop activities.
Discovering Ancient Lanai
"Discovering Ancient Lanai" is a mini-documentary of a day's field work in Kaa Ahupuaa. Join the Lanai Field Crew on a journey of discovery at the famed heiau of Kaena iki. Development of the video was sponsored by OHA Grant 2575 and shot and produced by Ken Martinez Burgmaier of Maui County's Jazz Alley TV.