Hawaiian Culture

Hawaiian culture stories published by Maui No Ka Oi Magazine.

Hawaiian Goddess Pele

Fire Goddess

How could we dedicate an issue to all things hot about Hawai‘i and not include Pele? The volcano goddess is as renowned for her fiery passions as for the molten lava with which she creates new land.
Hawaiian taro

Cultivating an Ancient Wisdom

How food is grown, prepared, and used is arguably as important in defining a culture as lineage, language and lore.
olena

Hawaiian Turmeric

Turmeric is prized around the world for its yellow color, bold flavor, and medicinal properties. When Polynesian voyagers first sailed to Hawai‘i, they brought the pungent herb with them.
poi pounding

VIDEO: Papa Kuʻiʻai (Poi Board) Making

Watch as we transform a piece of monkey pod into a papa kuʻiʻai (poi board) during this workshop on Maui, hosted by the Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United.
Hawaiian pau riders

Pa‘u Riders

Hawaiian pa'u riders carry on an exuberant tradition, bedecking both horse and rider with flowers and fine fabrics.
Hawaii Big Island Lava Flow

The Road to Pele + VIDEO

What is it like to live next to a volcano?
Hawaiian Kapa

Beauty in the Bark

Among Polynesians, the Hawaiians of old excelled in the making of kapa. Their distant daughters have begun to reclaim this once-lost ancient art.
Hawaiian names

Defining Identity

When your name includes twelve syllables and nearly as many letters as the alphabet, you often have some explaining to do.
Moo Hawaiian Dragon

The Sacred Spine

Ancient Hawaiian mythology tells of the sacred shapeshifting dragons, or moo, which holds supernatural powers. Their presence is still felt by many.
pono

Pono

By reviving ancient Hawaiian practices, modern conservationists hope to save the forests and the seas of the future.
Hawaiian games

Games Hawaiians Play

Children of Hawaii play traditional island games in the spirit of Makahiki. Ancient cultural competitions in connection with the festival and its meaning.
Polipoli farms Lehia and Brad

Finding Their Roots

How two homegrown farmers are working to save the future by looking to the past.

Instructions: How to Make a Lei

Celebrate May Day in Hawaii with a fresh flower lei. Here are step by step instructions on how to sew your lei.
oli hawaiian chant

Giving Voice to a Culture

For more than a millennium, Hawaii relied on was an oral culture. It’s not mere chance that the spoken word has regained its importance today.

Kumu

Though he didn't set out to become an expert on Hawaiian culture, Keli'i Tau'a may be the most revered teacher of hula and chant you never heard of.
makahiki

The Rebirth of Makahiki

Maui and her sister islands are reviving one of the most important spiritual times of ancient Hawai‘i: Makahiki.
hanai

All in the Family

There’s a saying in English that you can’t choose your family. But with an ancient and enduring Hawaiian tradition called hānai, sometimes you can.
celebration of the arts

Celebration of the Arts

Every Easter weekend, the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, goes all out with its Celebration of the Arts: a celebration of all things Hawaiian.

Makahiki

Each year, as the rains came and the Makali‘i, or Pleiades, appeared in the night sky, Hawaiians of old set aside time to rest, feast and play.

Camp Maui

The island of Maui is known for rainbows, beaches, nature and much aloha. But during World War II, it had a very different vibe.   Story by...
garden heiau maui

The Heiau in the Garden

On Maui's remote eastern shore, a long-hidden archeological treasure recalls the majesty of an ancient kingdom.
Kino Lau

Kino Lau

Hawaiian lore finds the spirit of the divine in the ordinary world.
Hawaiian moon calendar phases

Hawaiian Moon Calendar

In its wax and wane, Hawaiians of old found the secrets to sustainable living.
feather lei

The Feather Lei

An ancient art, as delicate as it is beautiful, has outlived the kings who once claimed it as their own.
Hawaiian dyes

Shades of the Past

More than any other Polynesian people, Hawaiians excelled in the use of color, coaxing incredible hues from the natural world around them.

Open Mind

See what happens when ancient Hawaiian culture meets modern art techniques at Maui's annual Celebration of Hawaii exhibit at Viewpoints Gallery in Makawao.
Ian Cole, Breadfruit Institute

Breadfruit

As it turns out, one breadfruit can feed a family, and one variety a people. Packed in coconut-husk fiber and dry leaves, ‘ulu accompanied the Polynesian voyagers in their canoes bound for Hawai‘i.