FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 25, 2007

MAUI HĀLAU TO ATTEND HŌKŪLE‘A CELBRATION IN JAPAN

MAKAWAO, HI – Maui hālau PUKALANI HULA HALE will be traveling to Japan to participate in the closing festivities of the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūle‘a and its historical voyage that spanned the Pacific.

After an invitation by Master Navigator Nainoa Thompson, the members of the hālau will travel to Yokohama, Japan in early June (June 10–17, 2007) to celebrate the remarkable journey alongside crew members, Hawai‘i and Japanese officials and Hawaiian and Japanese cultural practitioners.

Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell, Sr., president of HUI ‘AI PŌHAKU, INC., the parent non-profit organization of the hālau and co-founder of PUKALANI HULA HALE along with his wife, the late NINA BOYD MAXWELL, said “it is a humbling honor to have been invited to participate in this monumental occasion. This voyage continues to speak to the strength and vitality of native Hawaiians and our ability to be in tune with our ‘āina (land) and moana (ocean).”