We are Native Hawaiians with deep, ancestral ties to Papahānaumokuākea through living relationships rooted in genealogy, culture, and stewardship.
The CWG continues to play a vital role in ensuring the inclusion of Native Hawaiian voices and Hawaiian cultural perspectives in the management of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.
Our group is made up of Native Hawaiian kūpuna (elders), researchers, scholars, cultural practitioners, educators, community members, former site managers, and marine advocates. Many of us have historical family ties and/or have first-hand knowledge of visiting these ancestral islands of our homeland.
We have been actively engaged in caring for these islands and waters for the past 25 years as the Native Hawaiian community voice for the region, extending our mana’o and expertise to the Monument Management Board through the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Our drive is to maintain and protect the natural, cultural, and historic resources of Papahānaumokuākea.
Beginning in 2001, the CWG has represented the Native Hawaiian community voice for the Northwest Hawaiian Island (NWHI), giving advice, first to NOAA through the NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council (RAC), and more recently through the Office of Hawaiian Affairs OHA as a Monument Co-trustee.
The CWG along with other community partners advocated for the expansion of the monument and the inclusion of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) as a co-manager and co-trustee of Papahānaumokuākea, both of which were made final in 2016. CWG activities are supported by OHA.
The Hui Manamana is the leadership team/steering committee of the CWG. The main objective of the Hui Manamana is to organize and coordinate the 170+ members of the CWG.
Our logo is a silhouette of Mokumanamana, one of the only two high islands within Papahānaumokuākea. The sun is rising overhead, and three ʻiwa birds are showing the way north to the edge of the Hawaiian universe, Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll). The island’s significance is that it marks the northernmost point in the sun’s travels across the equator each season. This latitude is called Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Kāne, or the Tropic of Cancer, which also acts as the dividing line between Ao, the land of light where kānaka or people dwell, and Pō, the primordial darkness from which all life springs. Despite its small size and rugged terrain, Mokumanamana possesses some of the most unique features found anywhere in the Hawaiian Archipelago, including 33 ceremonial heiau and 52 identified archaeological sites. This logo is a cogent symbol of why the Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group is committed to protecting Papahānaumokuākea in perpetuity.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, located in the Northwestern region of the Hawaiian archipelago. PMNM is ¾ of the Hawaiian Island chain and over 582,000 square miles, protecting precious marine ecosystems, endangered species, and important Native Hawaiian cultural and spiritual sites. Designated in 2006 and expanding in 2016, the monument is co-managed by NOAA, USFWS, the State of Hawaiʻi, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in partnership with the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group (CWG).
The region known as Papahānaumokuākea is the sacred ancestral homeland of the Hawaiian people, and the place we return when we leave the physical world. The name, Papahānaumokuākea, given by CWG elder Dr. Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele, is a union between two important primordial beings—Papa (Earth Mother) and Wākea (Sky Father). This union represents life, birth, growth, and regeneration.
To learn more about the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, please visit the official government website here.
