He Alo a He Alo is a “listening tour“ led by Papa Ola Lōkahi that invites Native Hawaiians to share what it means to be Hawaiian and the challenges of maintaining one’s cultural identity. The tour will visit all 50 states. It began this August in Utah and will conclude in Las Vegas in August 2025. The top photo was taken after a listening session in Southern California, and the bottom photo after a session in the Pacific Northwest. – Photos Courtesy of Papa Ola Lōkahi
Forty-one year-old Leilani Kaʻula moved to the continent from Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island, in 2001 to further her education. She ended up staying after her mom relocated to Aloha, Ore., a few years later. Though she is far from the islands, she has built a community around her Hawaiian culture and started a hālau 15 years ago after receiving her kumu hula’s blessing. She plans to eventually return to Hawaiʻi to give back to her community.
Charlene Kehaulani Kazner, 74, took her first trip away from Hawaiʻi in 1972 to attend her classmate’s college graduation in Seattle. Once on the continent though, she discovered a world beyond the islands that she wanted to explore. She went home, saved money and moved to Los Angeles. Her plan was to visit for a year and return home. But her dad told her she would stay and marry a “haole boy” and that’s what she did. After her retirement from the corporate world, Kazner said she felt a need to return to her roots. “I got very involved in the Hawaiian Civic Club and am still very involved today,” she said. “I just love having my Hawaiian ʻohana. We eat the same food, we look alike, we love the same music. It’s been a wonderful journey for me.”
Kaʻula and Kazner are some of the more than 100 Native Hawaiians living on the continent who have participated in “He Alo a He Alo,” (Face to Face) a nationwide listening tour led by Papa Ola Lōkahi (POL), the Native Hawaiian Health Board. The purpose of the tour is to better understand Kānaka Maoli perspectives on what it means to be Hawaiian, and the advantages and challenges of maintaining their cultural identities.
“He Alo a He Alo provides visibility. I think for so long, our Hawaiians on the continent have felt like their voice isn’t worthy. They’re so disconnected to home that they don’t feel they have value. But the reality is, they do. I think that’s why this project is so important because it makes them feel seen in a time when identity crisis is so heightened,” said Kaʻula.
The tour, which will visit all 50 states, began in August 2024 in Utah and continues through August 2025 in Las Vegas. So far, more than 20 sessions have been held across 10 states. Two additional states are scheduled for the first two weeks of December. In January 2025, POL will begin its sessions for Native Hawaiians living in Hawaiʻi.
“What I started recognizing at POL is that we were in spaces to advocate and to uplift our kānaka. But in order to do that, we needed to be aware of where they were and what they were thinking,” said Dr. Sheri Daniels, POL chief executive officer. “People cannot see themselves in health statistics or in any statistics unless they’re directly impacted.”
From input gathered in the sessions to date, Daniels said connection to community, culture and family are emerging as themes. She has also seen that connection diminish with each passing generation. “Our first-generation, continental Hawaiians are still very passionate and connected to Hawaiʻi. They come home; they still visit. Trying to maintain the second generation’s connection is a little harder. Then the third generation is way more disconnected,” Daniels said.
Participants have also expressed feelings of “not being Hawaiian enough.” The process of meeting with other kānaka to share these feelings of sadness has had a healing effect.
“Those moments of how kānaka interacted with each other – somewhere outside of the ocean boundaries – makes me so proud,” Daniels said. “We are truly resilient. That’s the great part. The ugly side is seeing people hurt by not feeling Hawaiian enough. But then at the end of our conversations, people are lighter.”
For the first time ever, the number of Native Hawaiians who live on the continent now outnumber the ones living in Hawaiʻi, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, with 53% living on the continent compared to 47% in Hawaiʻi.
Daniels said people move off island for a variety of reasons. But they typically stay for economic reasons – because of the availability of work and affordable housing.
POL’s kuleana is governed by the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act, which was born out of the 1985 E Ola Mau report, a comprehensive health needs study of Native Hawaiians.
POL began an assessment in 2019 to create a revised report. However, the pandemic caused them to shelve their efforts. Now the listening tour is picking up where the assessment left off.
Findings from the tour, as well as new chapters on data governance, workforce, review of recommendations, practices and traditions, racism and others will be added to the updated E Ola Mau report. POL has begun to create state profiles with the data they’ve gathered. This data can be used by organizations and individuals who are advocating for resources for Native Hawaiian health.
Census data also reveal that while the size of the Native Hawaiian populations in Hawaiʻi and on the continent both increased, the continental Native Hawaiian population is growing five times faster than the Native Hawaiian population in Hawaiʻi.
One of the session participants, Ualani Hoʻopai, 60, said hearing people’s perspectives made her realize that the younger generation of kānaka, those born and raised on the continent, yearn for more. “I feel like my kuleana is to help create community where we are. It’s ideal for us to be back in Hawaiʻi and on the ʻāina but it may not be possible, either now or ever. Many of us are yearning to connect. But how do we do that?”
Hoʻopai, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools, left Oʻahu for college. Her dream of becoming a dancer and fashion designer led her to Washington, then back to Honolulu, and finally to New York City, where she got an associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She lived in the city for more than 20 years before her job took her across the country. She now lives in California and works in public health.
Overall, 680,442 Native Hawaiians were counted in the United States in 2020, a 29% increase over 2010. The five states on the continent with the highest counts of Native Hawaiians are California, Washington, Nevada, Texas, and Oregon. These were the same states identified in 2010. The proportion of Native Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi remained stable from 2010 to 2020, now representing 21.8% of the state’s population. This is a 0.5% increase from 2010, demonstrating consistent Native Hawaiian representation within Hawaiʻi’s population over the past decade.
Daniels said she would not be surprised to see the gap between Hawaiians living in Hawaiʻi and outside of Hawaiʻi widen by the time the 2030 U.S. Census happens. She said one of the factors that could drive additional out-migration is the 2023 wildfires.
For more information go to www.papaolalokahi.org/program/he-alo-a-he-alo-listening-tour and to participate email: kanakaconnections@polhi.org
