WOWED BY MAUI
An island’s cultural re-awakening
Much has changed since West Coasters first began to banish the winter blahs with getaways to this island paradise in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
When snowbird flights began in earnest back in the ’ 60s it was aboard bare-bone DC-8s; today sunseekers buckle into wide-body jetliners outfitted with personal video screens and Wi-Fi.
Accommodations on Maui in those early days were somewhat sparse, often entailing shuttle vans bouncing along rutted, single-track roads hacked through the jungle. The choice of restaurants even more so. Today, there are over a half-dozen resort areas ringing the Valley Isle, attracting more than two million visitors a year who spend north of US$3.5 billion while on holiday.
But the biggest, and arguably the most important, change to the tourist experience on Hawaii’s second-largest island has been a cultural renaissance. Strike that; more a reclamation than a renaissance.
When Canadians discovered Maui, and for a few decades onward, the Hawaiian “culture” they came in contact with typically consisted of staged luaus that bore little resemblance to the reality of native Hawaiian traditions.
But that all began to change around a decade ago on a number of fronts.
A new generation of farmers began tilling the soil across the island, invigorating a vibrant foodie scene rooted in the past, and in the process inspiring young chefs to rediscover authentic dishes and techniques of their ancestors.
Hawaiian music has popped Don Ho’s Tiny Bubbles in favour of contemporary takes on traditional music, most notably Maui’s Kamaka Kukona, fresh off a 2017 Grammy Award nomination.
There are countless people, community groups and business associations behind Maui’s evolving cultural re-awakening, but from a tourist perspective, few have had the impact of the partnership between Makalapua Kanuha and Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas.
Maka, as she is known, was born and raised on Oahu, and has travelled the world sharing the spirit of aloha through song, dance, mo’olelo (story), and ‘oli (chant). The accomplished Hawaiian singer, entertainer, and cultural ambassador has a wealth of knowledge in Na Mea Hawai’i (things that are Hawaiian).
The relationship between Maka and the Westin began in 2010, when the resort decided to better reflect the Hawaiian culture in its property and for its guests. She was hired as the resort’s first director of culture.
Maka’s initiatives, and her inspiring personality, clicked with guests and resort ownership, and in 2015, the Westin opened the Pu’uhonua Cultural Center onsite to give Maka her own physical space to spread her knowledge.
A first of its kind on Maui, the centre offers an ever-evolving cultural program for the resort’s guests, unit owners and staff.
For guests, Maka — whom the resort calls its “inspirational leader” — holds ukulele lessons and Hawaiian language classes at the centre, which is open four days a week from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
“Her Aloha spirit, knowledge and powerful storytelling bring (guests) an authentic experience that truly moves them,” says Klara Crocco, the resort’s director of public relations.
Crocco adds that the cultural program that Maka has put together meets a growing demand for information about Hawaii’s history from the resort’s guests. Owing to the centre’s popularity, the Westin’s new resort just up the beach from Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, the Nanea Ocean Villas, will have its own cultural centre on-site when it opens in April.
Then there’s the walking tour of nearby Lahaina that Maka started up a few months ago.
To the unknowing visitor, the former whaling town appears as a typical tourist trap, with T-shirt shops sharing space with art galleries, burger joints and bars along the bustling main drag.
But join Maka on the two-and-ahalf-hour walking tour and you’ll discover hidden secrets and hear amazing tales of a place that was once the royal capital of Maui Loa, the High Chief of Maui, and was conquered by Kamehameha the Great in 1795. The tours take place three times a week, and are sold out weeks in advance, testimony to the fact that many visitors to Maui are as interested in the place’s cultural history as those who are interested in preserving and sharing it.