Community

Kulāia Festival Kicks Off Canoe Races

Thursday, October 2nd, 2025

By Léo Azambuja
A large street celebration rocked Kaunakakai last Friday, welcoming the most important Hawaiian outrigger canoe races in Hawaii and honoring one of Molokai’s most beloved watermen.
“Aloha mai kākou. Welcome to Kulāia, our 8th Annual Molokai Canoe Festivals Hoʻolauleʻa,” event organizer Lori-Lei Rawlins-Crivello said at the beginning of the festival. “Although we had missed a few years due to COVID, last year we came back very excited.”
Hundreds of people attended the event taking the entire block of Ala Malama Avenue in front of the Molokai Public Library from 5 to 10 p.m.
The event, she said, was all about perpetuating the culture and legacy of Molokai.…

King Kamehameha Shows Support for Molokai Heritage Trust

Thursday, September 25th, 2025

By Léo Azambuja
ʻĀina is no small legacy, according to a relatively young, grassroots nonprofit organization seeking to make history on Molokai. Even Kamehameha, the Great knows this and supports this community-led and -driven initiative.
“All the way. Let’s go. Anything for Molokai,” said Kaina Makua, the actor who plays King Kamehameha I in the new Apple TV+ series Chief of War.
A Native Hawaiian community leader and taro farmer on Kauai, Makua attended Molokai Heritage Trust’s annual meeting Sept. 20, showing support for the nonprofit’s plan to purchase more than 55,000 acres — about a third of Molokai — from Hong Kong-based investment holding company Guoco Group Ltd.…

Walking Out of the Darkness

Thursday, September 25th, 2025

By Léo Azambuja
Even in the heart of the most violent storm, when nothing goes your way and you feel alone, lost in the darkness and searching for meaning in life, there are many people out there willing to light the way and walk with you until things get better.
“I want people to know they are not alone. I want people to know where they can go if they need help. I want people to know that it is okay to not be okay, and that there are people who love them, even if it feels like in the moment, they don’t feel that, and if you reach out for help, someone will be there,” Uʻilani Kiaha said at the Out of the Darkness Walk at Kaunakakai Wharf Sept.…

Pineapple Jam IV at the Park

Thursday, September 25th, 2025

By The Molokai Dispatch Staff
At any point of your life, was 96770 your area code? Are you or anyone in your family from the Maunaloa Pineapple Era, from 1923 to 1975?
Come reminisce and make more memories at the Pineapple Jam IV at One Aliʻi Park Saturday, Sept. 27 from 5 p.m. until pau.
Bring food and drinks; it is a potluck-style celebration. Do you have paper plates? Bring them too. Don’t forget your dancing shoes; kanikapila is in the program. Share your old stories with everyone; perpetuate Molokai’s rich plantation history.
And most important, bring aloha.…

Learning to Make Ti Leaf Lei

Thursday, September 25th, 2025

By Léo Azambuja

In Hawaiian culture, the ti plant is believed to attract good spirits and ward off evil. A ti leaf lei symbolizes good luck, protection and blessings. Gifting someone a lei is considered a gesture of respect and an embodiment of the aloha spirit.

“Ti leaf plays a significant role in laʻau lapaʻau, in cooking, hula, in ceremonies and in celebrations,” said Pomaikaʻi Ah Mook Sang, who led a ti leaf lei workshop at Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke Sept. 20.

A half-dozen people learned or got a refresher on how to make basic ti leaf lei in the introductory workshop sponsored by the Molokai Arts Center, in a partnership with the Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke. …

Na Kupuna o Moana 2025

Thursday, September 25th, 2025

Community Contributed

By Kim Markham

Na Kupuna o Moana has been competing in the Kona Kupuna Hula Contest for more than 25 years with great success. In 2024, we won the overall competition, so we were expected to bring our A game in 2025. 

But as we began rehearsals many months ago, challenges arose. To compete in the Men’s and Mixed divisions, we needed at least two men. One of them dropped out so we asked many men to join our halau. Without luck, we abandoned rehearsals of our hula “Ka Pua Ua Iliahi.” Without men, we could not win it. …