Schatz Secures $600,000 In New Federal Funding To Empower Native Hawaiian Community, Support Native Hawaiian Cultural Education For Visitors
Grants Will Fund Local Organizations Preserving And Sharing Native Hawaiian Culture, Traditional Practices
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that the Department of the Interior has awarded $600,000 in new grant funding to support local organizations that are working to preserve and share Native Hawaiian culture and traditions with visitors. The funding was made possible by the NATIVE Act, a law authored by Senator Schatz to integrate native tourism, empower native communities, and expand unique cultural tourism opportunities across the country.
“This new funding will give local organizations more resources to preserve and share Native Hawaiian culture,” said Senator Schatz, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “Native Hawaiian culture and traditions are foundational to who we are as a place and a people, and every visitor should understand that.”
The new funding from the NATIVE Act will go towards improving visitor experiences at a National Park through the development of interpretive materials regarding Native Hawaiian place names, and traditional land forms and divisions; and to support other partner organizations in applying historic preservation skills and knowledge so that their traditional cultural places and stories are documented, preserved, and shared.
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