Nāwaipuna
Restoring relationship between people & place through cultural knowledge & stewardship.
Continuing the legacy of the Blue Water Exchange through the Makaliʻi Project with immersive, place-based programs engages participants directly in cultural practice, land stewardship, and community-based learning.
Nāwaipuna advances the practice of remembering and reconnection through our youth programs and community-driven wellness initiatives. Grounded in cultural identity and relationships with the natural world, this work strengthens purpose, resilience, and a sense of responsibility to place.
By investing in land, water, and cultural continuity, we support the conditions for communities to sustain their own health across generations.
Programs
The Makaliʻi Project
Develops cultural, community, and environmental leaders through knowledge exchange and immersive, land-based experiences throughout Hawaiʻi, the Pacific, and California.
Kahōkūwelowelo
An emerging place-based initiative stewarding ʻāina through restoration, cultural practice, and community engagement.
The Makaliʻi Project
what we do
The Makaliʻi Project creates immersive, land-based programs for young adults that build cultural literacy, environmental stewardship, and community leadership.
Rooted in Hawaiian culture and strengthened through relationships with other ways of knowing, the program fosters place-based wellness and long-term engagement with ʻāina.
Hear directly from participants of the Blue Water Exchange—the program that evolved into the Makaliʻi Project—and the lasting impact of this work.
Our kuleana
The health of our land is the health of our people. We cultivate relationships that bind us to ʻāina and to one another across cultures, places, and generations.
Like the Makaliʻi star cluster that guides our ancestors across the Pacific and back, we are guided by a responsibility to ensure the well-being of our communities and environment remains constant and enduring. These are our guides:
ʻIke Kupuna - Indigenous Wisdom
ʻIke ʻĀina - Land as Teacher and Healer
ʻIke Wai - Water is the Flow of Life
Ancestral Continuity - An Unbroken Chain Across Generations
Health in community
Many programs approach health as a service to be delivered. Nāwaipuna invests in the systems that make health possible—land, water, cultural identity, and intergenerational continuity.
Through the Makaliʻi Project, we build leadership, stewardship, and relational infrastructure that enable communities to sustain their own well-being over time.
This approach is activated through ongoing programs, partnerships, and direct engagement with ʻāina.
Partnerships
While the Makaliʻi Project is rooted in Hawaiʻi, its relationships extend across the Pacific and the continental United States, where communities are actively reclaiming ancestral systems of health.
Through partnerships with nonprofits, agencies, and indigenous practitioners, we strengthen the exchange of knowledge and translate cultural practice into measurable and meaningful community impact.
Impact
For over a decade, this work has consistently supported youth and communities to:
Strengthen cultural identity and leadership
Engage in long-term stewardship of ʻāina
Build relationships that sustain community health
support this work
Nāwaipuna delivers cultural education, ʻāina stewardship, and community well-being through immersive, place-based programs.
Your support sustains:
Youth and young adult leadership development
Ongoing stewardship of ʻāina
Cultural practice and intergenerational knowledge transfer
Your support directly sustains this work and expands its reach to future generations.