Grant Will Kickstart Historical Archive

Left to right, Moa’e intern Jonnette Spencer, Ka Ipu Makani executive director Pulama Lima, and Moa’e lead archivist Melia Kalawe. Contributed photo

By Léo Azambuja

A nonprofit organization on Molokai recently received a large grant that will allow it to support the establishment of the first permanent physical historical archive dedicated to the island.

“This grant was through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, but specifically for Native Hawaiian libraries,” said Pulama Lima, executive director of the nonprofit Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center.

She said the nonprofit has a working relationship history with IMLS, and was familiar with the grant application process. But aside from being a competitive grant worth about $100,000, what really made it difficult was an uncertainty whether the grant would be released because of the current administration’s policies. Lima said even though she received an award letter in October, they have just received the grant.

“There was a good few months that we were very uncertain on whether or not we were going to be awarded, and then the government shutdown didn’t make things any better,” Lima said.

In the last few years, the Moaʻe Molokai Digital Repository, under Ka Ipu Makani, has been working with the Molokai History Project to digitize archives brought by community members and different institutions. 

Melia Kalawe, the project’s digital technician, said those archives include old documents, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and even yearbooks, among other kinds of materials. She said there is a huge online newspaper collection — with more yet to be digitized — as a product of a partnership with the Molokai Public Library.

“The oldest newspaper that we digitized is called Kaleo O Molokai, and that was from the 1950s,” Kalawe said.

 Once the archives are digitized, Kalawe said, the digital files are made available online, and the physical archives are returned to their owners, mainly because the project has no physical capacity to store them.

“That has always been a huge challenge for us. So now with this grant, we are hopefully able to move in the direction of establishing an actual physical archive where people can visit,” Kalawe said.

They also have been collecting cassettes and VHS tapes, and CDs and DVDs, according to Kalawe. They have footage from Ka Hula Piko and Makahiki games in the 1990s, and cassette tapes with Molokai songs from the 1970s and 1980s, but none of them is available online yet. 

Lima said the grant will make a “huge impact” on Molokai. 

“A lot of our archival records reside on our neighbor islands, which require our community to travel there. But with this grant, it’s really setting our foundation, our infrastructure, so that our community can care for our own collection on island,” Lima said.

Once established, the professionally managed physical archive will allow families, educators and researchers to engage directly with the island’s history, Lima said. It will also be a place where the community can bring their historical records and know they will be cared for and stewarded.

Lima said they are actively looking for a space for the physical archives. For now, they are going to work out of their office space, but their collection grows daily.

“People are coming and dropping things off, and we only have a limited amount of space,” Lima said, adding she is looking for anyone willing to donate or sell a space at a decent price to the nonprofit organization.

“I just wanted to show our appreciation and gratitude for IMLS and the staff that continue to push forward the programs, especially those that support native Hawaiian communities,” Lima said.

Kalawe said there is so much history on the island that the newer generations need to know about and understand.

“Molokai, being a small town or a small island, we already live a very cultural, traditional lifestyle but I feel that the archives help to rebuild that connection that we need to continue to preserve and perpetuate (the culture and lifestyle),” Kalawe said. “I believe that the archive is going to help us be more proud of where we come from.” 

Visit kaipumakanichc.org and moaemolokai.com for more information and to access the digital archives.