May Day in Hawaiʻi – known to all of us as Lei Day – is more than a celebration of flowers. It’s a celebration of who we are as a people. It’s the visible, tangible expression of aloha shared between ʻohana, across generations, and grounded in our deep connection to ʻāina.
Established in 1929, Lei Day came at a time when Hawaiʻi was rapidly changing. Yet even then, our kūpuna understood the importance of holding tight to culture. The lei, in all its forms, represents that continuity. Whether made from pua, lau, shells or seeds, each lei carries meaning: love, honor, remembrance, and relationship. It is something we give freely, but never casually.
For our Hawaiian Homestead communities, Lei Day has always been something more personal. It’s not just a festival, it’s a practice. It’s kūpuna teaching moʻopuna how to gather responsibly, how to prepare materials, how to haku, wili, and kui.
It’s learning not just the “how,” but the “why.” Why we mālama the plants. Why we honor the spaces we gather from. Why we give before we receive. Just last month, the world and all of us here at home were able to enjoy so many different, beautiful lei at the Merrie Monarch Festival.
Long before Lei Day was formally recognized, our aliʻi understood the power of cultural expression. King Kalākaua is well known for bringing back hula, chant, and ceremony during a time when they were being pushed aside. His commitment to our cultural practices helped ensure that traditions like lei-making and ceremonial exchange would survive and thrive.
Likewise, Queen Liliʻuokalani carried that same spirit through her music and leadership, grounding our people in identity during one of the most difficult periods in our history.
When Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole advocated for the 1921 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, his vision was about more than land – it was about restoring our people to ʻāina and, with it, restoring our practices, our dignity, and our ability to care for ourselves and each other. Over the past 100 years, homesteaders have carried that kuleana forward in very real ways.
Across our homesteads, from Anahola to Papakōlea and Waiohuli to Panaʻewa, we celebrate Lei Day in our schools, our churches, and our community gatherings. You’ll see keiki performing hula, representing each island with its own lei and color. You’ll hear mele that connect us to place. And you’ll see the quiet but powerful moments: kūpuna sitting with grandchildren, stringing lei and sharing stories.
Lei Day reminds us that culture is not something we inherit passively, but something we live day in and day out; something we protect by celebrating. For Hawaiian homesteaders, that responsibility is clear. As we fight for our homestead legacy birthright, we also fight for our culture.
We know a lei is never just a lei. It’s a connection to our kūpuna, to our ʻāina, and to each other. And that’s worth celebrating – not just on May Day, but every day! Happy Lei Day!
