TULALIP—The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement have chosen Snohomish County for the site of its upcoming 2025 annual convention — a three-day celebration of Hawaiian cultural exchange, connection, and enrichment.
The event, which will span from October 7-9 at Tulalip Resort and Casino, is one of the largest gatherings of Native Hawaiians bringing 2,000 attendees from across the world each year.
The conventions activities this year will include discussions on important issues (such as land stewardship, housing, tourism, and arts and culture), workshops, networking, and of course delicious Hawaiian food, music, and cultural dance ceremonies.
In line with the entertainment offers, the convention will also premier highlights from the upcoming Broadway-style show Hiiaka, produced by a Tony award-winning producer, about the eponymous Goddess of the volcano.
This is the second time the convention will be held somewhere outside of Hawaii, in the convention’s 25-year history, and the first time ever held in Washington State.
The first convention held outside of Hawaii was in 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement decided to begin holding its annual convention in mainline states to meet Native Hawaiians where they are, as more and more continue to move out of the state. The plan is to hold the convention in a different state, other than Hawaii, every three years or so.
“More than half of our community have left Hawaii because it’s so expensive to live there so they’ve migrated,” said Kūhiō Lewis, Chief Executive Officer for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. “Our concern is that as more families move on and start to relocate, they start to lose connection with Hawaii, which is a very special place mainly for its culture. If they don’t know their culture — where they come from — it’s very hard to be a part of Hawaii’s soul.”
Washington was chosen as the next location for the convention due to the state being home to the third largest Native Hawaiian population in the world outside of Hawaii – behind California and Nevada.
There are more than 600,000 Native Hawaiians spread across the United States. More than half of these live outside of Hawaii.
“When you have a unified voice nationally it can be very powerful,” said Lewis. “If you can unify that voice, it becomes a powerful tool to advance our interests.”
The Tulalip reservation was chosen specifically because the council believes it’s important to “band together” with fellow Native Americans through the current political climate. That and there are quite a few similarities between the Tulalip people and the Native Hawaiian people, regarding issues and policy.
Hawaii’s history with the United States is one steeped in colonialism and exploitation. When American traders and missionaries first arrived at the islands in the early 1800’s they used the islands for harvesting sugar and pineapple while attempting to spread Christianity among the Natives. While originally welcome by the Native Hawaiian people, these American businessmen eventually gained disproportionate wealth and power.
When the country’s last monarch, Queen Liliʻuokalani, attempting to restore power back to her people, she was imprisoned in her own palace – ‘Iolani Palace – by a group of American businessmen and lawyers in 1893.
Since then, and well beyond Hawaii annexing into the United States in 1959, a large portion of Hawaii’s tourism is still owned and operated by non-Native Hawaiians, with most of the resorts and luxury hotels being owned by private equity firms on the mainland.
Even many of the celebrations of Hawaiian culture, such as luaus and hula, are conducted by non-Native Hawaiian people.
“People are telling their stories for us, people are defining our culture for us,” said Lewis. “In Waikiki, or any tourism destination in Hawaii, you’ll easily find Mai Tai’s, and you’ll easily find some kind of Polynesian show – not necessarily a hula show. So, people are telling our stories and reinterpreting them along the way, and I think that’s very damaging to our identity. We’re trying to reclaim that. We want to make sure that when people come to Hawaii, they know that an indigenous culture exists, and this is what it looks like.”
Part of those reclaiming efforts include gaining back economic control of Hawaii’s tourism industry.
In 2023 the state of Hawai‘i signed a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract with the Native Hawaiian organization that would allow them to manage tourism and better steward the impacts tourism was having in the islands. CNHA also has embarked upon their own initiatives in the tourism industry including launching a hula-themed dinner show and acquiring a stage and lighting company.
“We’ll have our own luaus now, ones that are Hawaiian, our own experiences. We are starting to change the brand and marketing and tell stories more authentically,” said Lewis. “We have a seat at the table but it’s not going to be an overnight process. This is the backbone of Hawaii’s economy so obviously it’s well protected by the establishment. But Hawaiians are learning a new form of protest. Instead of putting on your red shirt and marching through Waikiki, instead now we’re going after contracts and we’re going after the economics of Hawaii’s infrastructure, which is what I think the Tulalip tribe has done well here.”
In preparing for this October’s conference, Lewis, joined by the Council for Native Hawaiians Advancement’s Chief of Staff Nicholas Carroll, spent three days, from March 16 through March 19, meeting with Tulalip Tribe leaders to establish a relationship he hopes will continue long after the convention adjourns.
“The Tulalip Tribes takes great pride in building relationships with other indigenous communities. We were thrilled to meet with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement this week,” Tulalip Chair Teri Gobin told the Lynnwood Times. “Tulalip is honored to participate in a cultural exchange with our Hawaiian relatives and to learn more about their history and to continue to support efforts to keep our native cultural traditions alive.”
During their visit Lewis informed the Lynnwood Times that he was surprised just how similar the Tulalip Tribe was to his people back home, from policies to fighting the same fights.
“It’s the same in terms of how we’ve been displaced and how we’ve been undermined in so many ways,” said Lewis. “We’re water people. We live off the Pacific Ocean, so we live off the water, as do the Tulalip tribes. The only thing that separates us is water. Whether its tribes living here or Hawaiians living bac home our connection is living off the land, and that’s part of our DNA.”
During the Council’s visit they toured the Tulalip reservation, saw their healthcare centers, museum, and elder housing, heard the tribe’s vision for the future, and learned how they created themselves in the first place – from being given their land, having it taken away, then buying it back. It’s a model Lewis plans to take back with him to Hawaii in dealing with reclaiming native lands.
“I saw all of this as an example of indigenous prosperity,” said Lewis. “It’s clear this is a tribe who gets things done and there’s so much there that we can learn from.”
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s upcoming convention is open to everyone, Native Hawaiian or not. In fact, the council encourages non-Native Hawaiians to attend to expand their cultural knowledge.
The first day will focus on honoring the past and feature an opening ceremony, plenary discussions featuring keynote speakers and panel discussions.
The second day will focus on uplifting the present and how to work together in the lahui, with a breakout session featuring speakers and topics based on the current events and current issues for Native Hawaiians.
The third day will conclude with focusing on the future with conversation topics revolving around preserving culture and expanding resources.
Enrollment is now available. Tickets range from $175-$300.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
