"We're taking back Waikiki," Kuhio Lewis, president of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, told the more than 2,000 attendees at the nonprofit's annual convention in September. As proof, he pointed to CNHA's free Kilohana Hula Show, which debuted at the Waikiki Shell in February, and its lei-themed luau Na Lei Aloha, which premiered at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort in August.
"We're taking control of the narrative, where the people and the place are infused with Hawaiian culture," Lewis said in an interview earlier this month with SFGATE.
"It's not just 1099 (freelance work), sing-and-dance kind of entertainment," Lewis said. "That's how you can feel tourism contributes to the economic story."
"The Native Hawaiian creators of the two Waikiki shows have had the autonomy to choose the theme and the story, rather than having a corporate framework choose what the story is," said Tyler Gomes, chief administrator of CNHA's Kilohana division.
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