E komo mai, welcome...
We invite all of you to enjoy learning about our island culture "through Hawaiian eyes", from the perspective of our native people.  You can do this through this website, by participating in our various tours and other activities, or by becoming a member of our Hawaiian civic club.

Please download the membership form from this site, complete it and mail it with your dues to the address noted on the form.  These nominal dues help us to sustain and maintain our work to support and preserve our native Hawaiian culture and the history and heritage of our islands.

Win Big Prizes! Legendary Places of Ko`olaupoko Scavenger Hunt Soon
Our exciting cultural scavenger hunt has been scheduled for Saturday, March 17th, here in Ko`olaupoko.  Deadline for submitting team entries is Friday, March 9th. Team prizes are $1,000 to the first place team in each category.  The scavenger hunt is open to anyone interesting in learning about the wahi kapu (legendary places) in the moku (district) of Ko`olaupoko, Windward O`ahu.  There are two categories for team entries:  high school and community teams.  High school teams will be sponsored by local businesses.  Team entry fees are:  $250 for community teams, and $500 for high school teams.  If your high school would like to field a team, let us know and we'll hook you up with one of our team sponsors.  Be sure to get your entry forms in by March 9th. Contact K. Apiki at koolaupokoscavengerhunt@gmail.com for more information or to obtain forms.  Forms will also be available at Windward Mall and at the Ko`olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club office in the Atrium Building, Suite 104, 46-005 Kawa St. (across from Koa House restaurant).

T-shirts and Books celebrate our people and our heritage
Our newly-released publication, "Distinguished Kama`aina of Kane`ohe Bay", is now available at the Ko`olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club office for a small donation of $10.  Also available are the beautiful Celebrate Ko`olaupoko shirts, in forest green, navy or chocolate brown, which are $15 and $18 apiece.  The book highlights 24 individuals whose lives or contributions helped shape our communities around Kane`ohe Bay.  The shirts carry the theme, "No Ko`olau Mai Au - I am rooted in Ko`olau" in vibrant earth colors.  Call 235-8111 for office hours and more information.

Cultural Service at Ha`iku Valley - Sunday, February 26th
Our next cultural access and service work is in Ha`iku valley on Saturday,Feb. 26th , from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and involves cleaning Kanehekili Heiau and other wahi kapu in the valley. This is a cultural access program of the Ko`olau Foundation and the Ko`olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club. Volunteers are asked to bring weedwhackers, loppers, heavy-duty rakes and other gardening tools to help clear invasive vegetation off the heiau. Call 235-8111 for more information.

Restoring Productivity to the He`eia wetlands - work in the lo`i kalo
The Ko`olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club works with Kako`o `Oiwi and the community to malama this taro field (located just mauka of the long bridge). Volunteers are also working in the lo`i on Wednesdays and Fridays, and other days by pre-arrangements.  Other work days are planned.  For more information or to volunteer, contact the civic club office at 235-8111. 

Lei Day at the Mall is coming soon - April 29th, Windward Mall

A special Lei Day event is planned on April 29th, and amateur lei-makers are invited to enter to win prizes and be a part of a fabulous day at our Mall.   Check back in April for our announcements.


Ko`olaupoko Original Song Composers Competition - Sept. 16th

You songwriters out there, take notice! Amateurs and professionals will be invited soon to submit original compositions of songs about Ko`olaupoko in a competition to be held Sept. 16th at Windward Mall.  Three categories - Hawaiian language, amateur and professional - will win big prizes for the winners.  Watch this site for more information soon.

Would you like to participate in Cultural Service Work?

Do you need volunteer service hours?  If you need volunteer hours to satisfy scholarship or community service requirements, we have an interesting variety of programs in which you may want to volunteer - please visit our "Programs and Services" page for more information.

JOIN US!!!

Choral singing for fun and fellowship - every Monday night, 7 to 8:30 p.m., at the civic club office, 46-005 Kawa St. Suite 104, led by member Aaron Mahi.  Bring your ukulele or other musical instuments, bring your voices, and e komo mai - come and join us!  Open to all - you do not have to be a member to participate.

Celebrate Kane`ohe 2012

Join the steering committee We are in the process of carrying out a year-long community outreach project, "Celebrate Kane`ohe 2012", in which we are partnering once again with our community organizations and institutions to plan  activities and events that recognize and celebrate the wonderful community known as Kane`ohe. We invite individuals and representatives of clubs, organizations, businesses and government agencies to help us plan the events for the 2012 celebration by becoming a member of the Steering Committee.  Call 235-8111 or email: malamapono@aol.com for more information.  We also encourage all of you to beginning your planning for an event or activity of your organization in which you will celebrate Kane`ohe during 2012, and become one of the activities planned for the celebration.

The meaning of "Kane`ohe"...

Contrary to published stories from a wide variety of sources, we believe that the name of our community, Kane`ohe, does not stem from a local legend of an angry husband. In the time of our ancestors, the god Kane was supreme over the island of O`ahu.  A mighty heiau, or temple, was built in his honor on the slopes of the mountains above a large village that extended from the mountains to the bay.  The name of this heiau, Kukui o Kane, means "the enlightenment of Kane".  A stand of towering `ohe, bamboo, is hidden amidst the extensive banana patch that now covers the hillside in the area near the heiau.  The name, Kane`ohe, refers to the sacred grove of bamboo dedicated to the god Kane`ohe.

 Our sincere mahalo...
We could not have accomplished much of our work these past years in the Ko`olaupoko area without the kokua of many wonderful individuals, businesses and organizations in the Kane`ohe community.  We extend our deepest mahalo nui loa to all of you for your support and many kindnesses, and invite each and every one to join us, Hawaiians - or "Hawaiians at heart" - as members of the Ko`olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club.

Your kokua is needed:
In 2007, we established a communications center office in the Atrium Building in Kane`ohe through a capacity-building grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.  Now that the grant is completed, we are in need of funding to continue maintaining this vital communications center and gathering place for our crafts activities, training programs, and records.

Donations to help defray the cost of continued use of this space would be greatly appreciated, and can be sent to: Ko`olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club, P. O. Box 664, Kaneohe, HI 96744. 

If you have office space (or warehouse space) in the Kane`ohe area that you would be willing to donate for our use, at least for the next 12 months, this would also be greatly appreciated.

We are also hoping to obtain the following office equipment:  a mid-sized copier (not a computer printer), a laminator, a standard typewriter, a bookshelf and a file cabinet.  If you have any of these items and would like to donate it to us, please call our office at 235-8111. Mahalo!

Our work to strengthen the communities surrounding Kane`ohe Bay and to perpetuate our community's history and heritage is far from over.  Please kokua - any consideration would be greatly appreciated.  Mahalo!

Our mission statement:
To malama our members, their families,
and the communities in which we live.