Native Hawaiian hospitality nonprofit launches cultural training

The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association recently launched virtual training sessions that teach visitor industry workers and others how to “malama” a place and be more respectful of the island’s natural and cultural resources. The nonprofit’s officials say this new initiative will help build on the state’s pivot toward “regenerative tourism” in which tourists are encouraged to give back to the communities they visit.

Beginning in September, the free Malama training sessions have been offered once a month. They are free and open to the public, but NaHHA Executive Director Malia Sanders said the sessions are aimed at hospitality workers. She said their goal is to provide more cultural education to tourism industry workers, who they hope will share those stories and lessons with guests.

“Malama can be something you do with people, an exchange you have with a place, or it can be as big as society and nature,” Sanders said. “Hawaiians have this strong connection to malama. It’s one thing to talk about malama, but how do you actually do that?”

Hi‘ilani Shibata, NaHHA’s lead cultural trainer, who developed the Malama curriculum, said she breaks down her one-hour sessions into three main parts: a history of malama and its importance to Hawaiians, what malama means, and how to act on it.

Shibata said malama can be shown through simple actions, such as picking up trash and planting trees, but also by interactions with nature and the people who live in these places.

“One of the major tenets of malama is you leave a place better than you found it,” she said. “When we introduce these concepts of malama that are deeper, it actually starts making people think about it deeper.”

One of the ways to help visitors better understand the importance of Hawaii’s communities is by sharing stories about them, she said. That kind of information and more is the focus of another NaHHA initiative, launched in October 2020, called the Wahi Pana series. “Wahi pana” means storied places.

The one-hour workshops explore significant historic and cultural places and the stories about them. Held at least once a month, the sessions are free and open to the public, but Sanders added that they, too, are meant for hospitality workers. Upcoming sessions focus on Kula, Maui, and Hilo. Past sessions have included Lahaina and Wailuku on Maui, Keauhou on Hawaii island, and Waikiki.

The goal, Sanders said, was to continue providing cultural education during the pandemic, particularly to furloughed hospitality workers. She said NaHHA will continue offering Wahi Pana and Malama training through the end of the year and in 2022.

Shibata, who leads the Wahi Pana workshops about Hawaii island and Oahu, said she starts with her family’s personal connections to Hilo, her hometown, and expands from there. During the sessions, she said participants are taken on a virtual huakai, or journey, of these places and learn about their history and the people who live there.

Kainoa Horcajo, a cultural trainer at NaHHA who leads the Wahi Pana Maui training, added that it can be difficult developing an outline of the classes because there are so many stories to tell. But Horcajo, a Wailuku resident, said he narrows them down by tying the stories to everyday life.

Sanders and Shibata added that the feedback so far has been positive. About 40 to 50 people have attended each Malama session, and about 60 to 70 have participated in the Wahi Pana series, Sanders said, and most have been hospitality workers.

As more restrictions are lifted and workers are called back, Sanders, Shibata and Horcajo said they hope the hospitality employees who attended their workshops will share what they learned with their guests.

“When I talk about Wailuku, I think people hear the passion about my place and they wonder about their own places. Hopefully the trainings plant the seed that they want to learn about their places,” Horcajo said. “And hopefully guests understand that these places aren’t just 2D and what you read in a glossy brochure. There’s a whole realm of people and events … and they come away with a sense of ownership and kuleana to treat things better.”

—

STEWARDSHIP WORKSHOPS

Malama training sessions are offered once a month and are free and open to the public.

>> Information: visit NaHHA’s events calendar at nahha.com/calendar.

———

Jayna Omaye covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national serv­ice organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under­covered issues and communities.