Program Sites
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Hi'i Alo, Hi'i Kua
"Makahiki is a time to reflect on the season behind us and prepare for the one ahead. In 2025, we continued to care for our waʻa and ʻāina, train crew, and welcome new generations into our programs. We also said aloha to our beloved kūpuna and teacher, Uncle Shorty Bertelmann. Though we miss him deeply, his ʻike, vision, continue to guide our work. As we move forward, I am committed to holding steady the work that Shorty, Clay, their brothers, our Makaliʻi ʻohana kūpuna, and so many others have shaped for decades. Nā Kālai Waʻa remains devoted to the training of our people, the restoration of our practices, and the responsibility to cultivate provision—food, knowledge, safety, and community—for generations to come."
Chadd 'Onohi Paishon
NKW currently offers programs with Mauloa, Makaliʻi, Lauhoe (our newest double-hulled coastal canoe), and Hōkūliʻiliʻi, supported by four primary educational sites:
Hoea Moku, Hawi, Kohala
A 10-acre agricultural learning space gifted by Kimbell Smith in 2008, Hoea Moku’s newly repaired main structure is the current home base for our programs and administrative activities. NKW plans to expand program space through repairs to three additional on-site structures (a metal warehouse, a wooden farm building, and a greenhouse) and through development of food and canoe plant gardens. Hanauna Mau at Hoea Moku is the living learning space that supports kālai waʻa (canoe maintenance) as well as our food preservation and provisioning program that is retraining our community to feed ourselves today and into the next generation.
Over 600 acres of coastal land under conservation partnership with Hawaiian Land Trust (HLT). NKW helps steward the warehouse and navigational heiau in collaboration with the Solomon ʻohana and the Kohala community. Together with HLT, NKW is working to upgrade the Mahukona warehouse to support welding, fiberglass, and woodworking in an OSHA-safe environment accessible to the community. These trades are essential to maintaining the kālai waʻa customs of Nā Kālai Waʻa.
Hālau Kukui and Makaliʻi Mooring, Kawaihae, Kohala
Hālau Kukui is a nonprofit parcel within the DLNR harbor lands and serves as our hub for education, sailing, and ocean safety. It provides space for storage containers and secure storage for our vessels in the Kawaihae Harbor area, as well as direct access to sites such as Hale O Kapuni (shark heiau), Kukui surf break, and the shared watershed of Kawaihae from Honokoʻa to Kaunaʻoa. NKW is raising funds to repair and upgrade existing structures for safety and to support expanded community programming.
Hālau Waʻa, Kalaemanō, Kona
A coastal site where NKW partners with Aunty Lei Keakealani Leightner and the Kaʻūpūlehu Heritage Center deliver regional cultural education.