Guardians Of Aloha: The Women Preserving Hawaii’s Cultural Soul

---

Waking at Maui’s Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows, I slip off my shoes and wander from my cottage toward the shoreline. As dawn breaks over Kāʻanapali Beach, the Pacific is bathwater warm, palm trees sway beneath a candy-coloured sky. I wade in. Across the horizon, the silhouettes of Molokai and Lanai rise softly from the sea, and for a moment everything feels suspended in calm. As I’ll soon come to understand, Hawaii has a way of doing that – inviting you to slow down, to listen, to simply be.

---

Set across 27 acres of tropical gardens, the Royal Lahaina first opened in 1962 and remains deeply rooted in the island’s history. Today it is led by hotel manager Yvette Kitagawa, whose personal story mirrors the spirit of the property itself. She played on this very beach as a child, while her father worked here as sous-chef. “I spent my summers running around the resort half-naked with a homemade lei around my neck,” she laughs. “It was inevitable I’d come back – it’s that kind of place.” Hospitality was never part of her original plan yet, after 28 years, she admits, “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

 

Driving along the Honoapiʻilani Highway, which traces Maui’s dramatic western coastline, empty plots interrupt the lush scenery – reminders of homes lost in the devastating 2023 wildfires. The historic town of Lahaina was among the hardest hit, leaving 102 people dead, two still missing, and a community forever changed. Nearly three years on, scars remain visible; parts of the town are still inaccessible but otherwise, it’s very much open for business – and welcoming visitors with open arms. 

For Kitagawa, the disaster transformed her role from hotelier to caretaker. “Being involved in the recovery is the most gratifying thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she says. During the year-long closure that followed, the hotel housed local residents rather than visitors. While some staff returned to the mainland, those who stayed formed bonds stronger than ever. The Hawaiian concept of ʻohana – family – became more than a sentiment, it became survival. “It was an honour to care for the elders who took care of me when I was little,” she reflects. “I still keep in touch with many of them.”

Tourism is slowly returning to West Maui. “People are coming back,” Kitagawa says gently, “but it will take time.” Hawaii’s resilience lies not in its landscapes alone, but in the people who protect, rebuild, and keep its spirit alive; seventy-four per cent of Maui’s small businesses are owned by women, and the island feels like a place where creativity, independence and resilience shape everyday life.

For many, Maui isn’t just somewhere to visit; it’s somewhere to begin again. Laura Knight, founder of a thriving independent coffee shop chain, arrived on the island 14 years ago under circumstances she now recounts with a smile. “I followed a boyfriend… he didn’t last, but thankfully my business idea did.”

 

Alongside her cafés, Laura runs Vintage Witch, a women’s cooperative boutique showcasing art, fashion, jewellery and handcrafted pieces created by a network of local female makers. It’s a celebration of collaboration over competition. She shares it with local artist Jeanne Bitz, whose colourful, expressive works capture the spirit of island life.

While browsing the racks, conversations flow easily and introductions happen organically – the Maui way. It’s here we meet Dustin Tester, founder of Maui Surfer Girls, a surf school offering daily lessons and immersive overnight camps for women and teenagers. Her mission extends beyond teaching wave technique; it’s about confidence, empowerment and forging connection with the ocean.

On Maui, inspiring women seem to appear around every corner – entrepreneurs, artists and leaders building lives on their own terms. Together, they are redefining what success looks like on the island; supporting one another while proudly flying the flag for Maui’s vibrant community of female founders.

Uʻi Kahue is a Cultural Practitioner on the island. Growing up between cultures, Kahue’s connection to Hawaii was shaped early by family. Her Hawaiian father taught her to recognise native flora and understand the rhythms of the ocean, while her German mother nurtured a deep love of Hawaiian music and storytelling. When her family moved to Molokai, she attended the Kamehameha Schools (an independent school system specifically for Native Hawaiians) where she was taught about how much cultural knowledge remained to be rediscovered, and how much had already been lost. “It sounds strange when you think about it, that it wouldn’t just be a given for someone to practice their culture,” she reflects, “but for a lot of Native Peoples it’s no longer inherent.”

That realisation became a calling; she has made it her personal mission to ensure Hawaiian traditions are remembered, lived and passed on to future generations. In 2013, she co-founded Maui Grown 808, an organisation dedicated to deepening connections to Hawaiian culture through hands-on learning and shared experience. Its work centres on teaching and perpetuating traditional arts, including ulana launiu (coconut frond weaving) and hana lei kahiko (traditional lei making), alongside workshops, demonstrations, cultural presentations and immersive tours offered both across Hawaii and internationally.

 

Beyond craft, Maui Grown 808 operates as a bridge between communities, supporting Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Indigenous Peoples through education, collaboration and cultural exchange. Much of this work takes place through an expanding outreach programme – now in its fourth year – bringing Hawaiian knowledge and practices to audiences across North America while reinforcing the importance of cultural stewardship at home. “I want visitors to know the real history of the Hawaiian islands, what has and hasn’t been lost,” Kahn muses. “I hope our work has an impact of respect, understanding and sharing for the visitors we host; Hawaiian culture is not dependent on tourism, in almost all cases it should in fact be the other way round.”  

Each of the Hawaiian islands has its own distinct personality, from the bustling epicentre of Oahu, to the rugged untouched landscapes of Molokai. Maui meets them in the middle; a balance between luxurious resorts (hello White Lotus) and laid-back barefoot surfer towns. Spending time on the island, it’s easy to see why so many visitors fall in love with it. One moment you’re sipping cocktails at a five-star beachfront resort, the next you’re watching the sunset from the tailgate of a pickup truck, with sandy feet, sunburnt shoulders and surfboard scratches.

 

Maui has a diverse food culture, blending centuries-old Native Hawaiian traditions with a diverse blend of culinary heritages thanks to its many generations of immigrant plantation workers. Awapuhi Dancil is the assistant general manager at Aurum Restaurant in Maui. “My dad’s generation grew up in an era of intense colonisation on Maui – my grandma was forbidden from speaking Hawaiian at her Catholic school, so they didn’t grow up speaking the language,” she reveals. “My dad was really into slack key guitar and learned some of the language that way, I think it was his main way of connecting with the culture.”

Born and raised in Maui, Hawaiian culture was a part of Awapuhi’s daily life thanks to her Native grandmother, and the diversity of Hawaii is reflected in Aurum’s menu: “Each dish showcases ingredients or flavour profiles that we grew up with. The history of plantation labour across Hawaii turned the islands into a melting pot where Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, American and Portuguese cultures came together to form a unique mix. I want to do justice to the local ingredients we use and show off what Maui has.”

A quarter Hawaiian, she has a “complex and layered relationship” with the culture, but hopes that visitors understand that Hawaiian culture is a living, breathing thing, and that “many of us out here are perpetuating it just by being. I want visitors to experience the beauty, warmth, and peace I was lucky enough to have grown up with.”

 

Next, our journey takes us to Kauai, known as The Garden Isle thanks to its astonishing emerald valleys, luscious tropical rainforests and prehistoric cliffs. The fourth-largest island, this is Hawaii’s oldest and, with fewer crowds than its siblings, it offers a laid back escape blending nature with Hawaiian traditions. Soaring over its glistening valleys and dramatic waterfalls on a helicopter tour, you realise why Spielberg chose it as the location for filming Jurassic Park.

Chatting to Sue Kanoho from the Kauai Visitors Bureau, she says; “I think there’s been a big renaissance of culture in the last 10 years as people want to start honouring traditions. A lot of the Hawaiian language was lost through history when missionaries came here, so stories were instead told through the hula.”

The night prior at the Old Lāhainā Lū’au on Maui, we had the privilege of experiencing the rich storytelling of the islands’ history and culture through its traditional hula. Welcomed in with a fresh orchid lei and the sounds of the ʻukulele, we enjoyed a menu including the traditional kālua pig, roasted underground in an imu among hot stones before dancers took to the stage as the sun set behind them and through song, dance and storytelling, a history lesson on Hawaii unfolded before us.

 

On Kauai we’re staying at Ko’a Kea Resort, an oceanfront paradise of a property moments from the surf and nesting turtles of Poipu Beach, at which we enjoy a class making our own lei with local teacher Elvrine Chow, who has been running her classes since 2005. “I didn’t want the art of lei making to die” she explains, as we select fresh roses, orchids, baby’s breath, tea leaf and dracaena ‘song of India’ leaves for our flower crowns. “Lei were originally only worn by men for war and ceremony, but after a resurgence of Hawaiian culture came about, everyone wants to do it.” Her public class runs weekly alongside private lessons, and sessions creating lei for local businesses and events.

Master weaver, hula instructor and Hawaiian Studies teacher Kumu Sabra Kauka lived all over the world as a child after her father became an officer in the US Army. With both native Hawaiian parents graduates of the University of Hawaii – unusual at the time – she was raised in a musical household, her father played guitar and mother piano, which instilled in her a lifelong love and appreciation of Hawaii and its music.

 

“It’s very important to me to ensure that Hawaiian culture and traditions are perpetuated,” she tells me. “That’s why I teach Hawaiian Studies and hula. Aloha is the essence of Hawaiian culture, and the core value behind my work.” While most of her time is spent teaching children about Hawaii, she also sometimes leads visits to Nuʻalolo Kai, an old village site on the Nāpali coast. Sabra and her friends have been caring for the area since 1992 as part of Nā Pali Coast ʻOhana, a grassroots non-profit foundation dedicated to the preservation of the natural and cultural resources of the Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park in Kauai.

Taking to the water the following morning for a boat trip up the Nāpali Coast, it’s not hard to see why this area carries such significance, as the scenery unfolds like a living painting. Emerald cliffs rise from the ocean, ridges carved by centuries of weather, the coastline feeling untouched and sacred. It’s breathtaking and humbling – like much of our Hawaiian experience has been.

PIN IT

Retiring from teaching at the end of this school year, Sabra reflects on what her work means to her; “I hope visitors to Hawaii appreciate the beauty of these islands and the people who live here and care for them. Cultural tourism is the backbone of visitor experiences in Hawaii, but preserving traditions requires teamwork, and I will continue to support the Nā Pali Coast ʻOhana until my last breath.”

As the sun sets over the Pacific, I reflect on my time spent in Hawaii learning of its cultures and traditions, and it becomes clear to me that Hawaii’s future rests not only in its landscapes but in the women who continue to shape its story. Through culture, community and care, they are ensuring the traditions shaped by generations before them are carried forward for years to come, by sharing ancestral knowledge while welcoming the world with genuine aloha. In a world of superficial experiences and travelling for the ‘gram, beyond the beaches and bucket-list moments, it’s Hawaii’s culture, people and enduring traditions that leave the deepest impression.

---

We may earn a commission if you buy something from any affiliate links on our site.