Hawai’i Senator Brian Schatz secures $600,000 in federal funds for Native Hawaiian community to educate visitors about their culture

HONOLULU (KHON2) — On Tuesday, the Department of the Interior has awarded $600,000 in new grant funding to support local organizations in Hawai’i that are working to preserve and share Native Hawaiian culture and traditions with visitors.

The funding was made possible by the NATIVE Act, a law authored by Hawai’i Senator Brian Schatz, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

“This new funding will give local organizations more resources to preserve and share Native Hawaiian culture,” Schatz said. “Native Hawaiian culture and traditions are foundational to who we are as a place and a people, and every visitor should understand that.”

According to Schatz, the new funding will go towards improving visitor experiences at a National Park through the development of interpretive materials regarding Native Hawaiian place names, and traditional land forms and divisions.

The federal funds will also support other partner organizations in applying historic preservation skills and knowledge so that their traditional cultural places and stories are documented, preserved, and shared.