Let’s retry grass houses, a state senator proposes
A state lawmaker is proposing a novel solution to the housing crisis: She wants to make it possible for people to live in traditional Hawaiian grass houses.
Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland said Monday she’s introducing a bill in the state Legislature’s upcoming session that would let officials set aside land to build Native Hawaiian thatched homes.
Cultural practitioner Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu approached the senator with the idea. She says officials creating housing solutions should take into account the culture of the people they’re trying to help.
Wong-Kalu says Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders have large extended families, but shelters often cater to smaller nuclear families.
Proponents say traditional Hawaiian hale are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than other types of housing.
Critics say living in a traditional grass house could pose safety hazards.
3 responses to “Let’s retry grass houses, a state senator proposes”
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“Critics say living in a traditional grass house could pose safety hazards.” As opposed to living on the sidewalk or in a park?
homelessness is not a hawaiian problem. all the homeless from the mainland going in grass houses? Let the Dept of Hawaiian Homelands take care of the hawaiians and islanders. they get planty money.
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