Aloha! Building community and sharing have always resided in the Hawaiian/Polynesian culture. Ke Kukui Foundation continues this tradition through community events, education, music and the art of hula in Pacific Northwest communities throughout Washington and Oregon for future generations.

Ka Lei Maile Ali`i Performance

Monday, January 30th at 6:30 p.m. 
“Occupy” may be the protest de jour across America. But for one so-called “state,” the once independent Kingdom of Hawai‘i, the cry for freedom is “De-Occupy.” The next Ka Lei Maile Ali'i presentation will be at the Midland Library, 805 SE 122nd Ave, Portland, Oregon. For information, contact Mary Alice Ka‘iulani Milham at maryalicekaiulani@gmail.com 503-706-2599

2012 Cultural Lu`au

Saturday, February 11th, 2012

Come out to celebrate cultural diversity with our exciting dinner show, silent auction and raffle. Doors open at 4pm. Dinner starts at 6pm. Tickets are $40 Reserved. $30 General. $45 General at the Door. For Reserved and General tickets, please call Virginia at 360-921-8816 or Karen at 360-901-8860.  General tickets also available if you Click Here. 

May Day Festival The Sounds & Scents of Aloha

Saturday, May 5th, 2012 11am-6pm
Thomas Jefferson Middle School, 3000 NW 119th street, Vancouver, Washington

In Hawai`i, May Day (or LEI Day as it's called) is celebrated throughout the islands with reenactments of royal pageants and floral garlands. Ke Kukui recreates this joyous feeling of Aloha with the melodies of Hawaiian musicians, swaying hula, and the scent of fresh tropical flowers. Hawaiian food, a lei contest, and raffle prizes round out this festively floral day.

If you are interested in being a vendor or sponsor, please contact Elsie Alexander at:  elsie@kekukuifoundation.com

Ke Kukui Arts & Cultural Center Events & Activities
301 E McLoughlin Blvd Suite D, Vancouver, WA 98663
 

Ukulele with Kaloku Holt 

Every Tuesday Night, $15 drop in or $50 per month

Keiki/Beginner - 6:00 to 6:45pm
Adult - 7:15pm to 8:00pm

Kupuna (Elder) Talk Story

Mondays, TBA, 7pm

In ancient times, the Hawaiian people did not have a written language. Their stories were passed down by word-of-mouth from generation to generation. Through this program, the fascinating stories of people can be preserved in much the same way. This month's speaker is Aunty Jean Carpenter of Maui Camp 3 restaurant in Oregon City. FREE and open to the public. Donations welcome.

Kanikapila Jam Session Night

Mondays, TBA    7pm
Bring your ukulele, guitar, voices, hula and your "Na Mele" puke for a night of singing and dance...FREE and open to the public.

LATEST NEWS

October 20, 2011

Kaleinani o ke Kukui represented the hula community by dancing for ABC's Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The episode which airs on Friday, October 28th at 8pm, builds a home for an Oregon family of two children with autism.

September 29, 2011

 

Ke Kukui Foundation and members of the community returned to Fort Vancouver to film the second installment of the Kanaka Village Mobile App story that is being produced by Washington State University and Fort Vancouver National Park Service.  This next topic is still in production but will explore the struggle of William "Kanaka Billy" Kaulehelehe during the 1840s fur trade to get the Hawaiian men to attend church on Sundays. The mobile app is available for both the Droid and the iPhone for free. More information on the production can be found here.

June 22nd, 2011

Online registration for the 3 Days of Aloha: Hula and Craft Workshop is up and ready to go. Click HERE to register.

April 28th, 2011

Planning for the 2011 3 Days of Aloha Festival is underway and we have a number of ways YOU can be involved. As a workshop participant, a competitor, an advertiser in our program, a craft, food or business vendor, a festival sponsor OR as an audience member enjoying the Hapa Haole Hula Competition and Ho`ike Hawaiian Festival. For more information, visit the 3 Days of Aloha Festival Website  to see which kumu hula and artisans will be coming to share their knowedgle and talents with us or to download competition, sponosehip and/or vendor packet information.

February 2nd, 2011

Ke Kukui Foundation is pleased to announce a grant from the Seventh Generation Fund to provide community programs of ‘Olelo Hawai`i: Hawaiian Language classes, and Kupuna Talk Story both of which takes place at the Ke Kukui Cultural Center in Vancouver, Washington.

Seventh Generation for Indian Development is dedicated to promoting and maintaining the uniqueness of Native peoples and the sovereignty of tribal Nations.  Ke Kukui Foundation appreciates the recognition of Seventh Generation and is excited for the opportunity to continue serving the community with our Hawaiian language and elder history sharing programs.

November 1st, 2010

Ke Kukui Foundation is very pleased to announce a 2010 Mobilizing the Community Through the Arts grant has been awarded from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. The Native Arts & Cultures Foundation is a permanently endowed foundation supporting American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities by strengthening and supporting their diverse arts and cultures. 

Funding will provide support for the annual 3 Days of Aloha which brings renown hula and craft instructors from Hawai'i to the Pacific Northwest every July. Ke Kukui Foundation appreciates the opportunity to serve our community and know that it is because of the generous support from institutions like the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

August 20th, 2010

The last few weeks have been spent working on an interactive mobile device app which focuses on Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington.  What is it? See here. 

The Mobile Vancouver Project is the brainchild of Brett Oppegaard and other media professors at Washington State University and rangers at Fort Vancouver. The first module of this project (so far there are three) focuses on the cultural aspect of the Fort in the early to mid 1800s; the Hawaiian laborers living in Kanaka Village and William Kaulehelehe.  

Ke Kukui Foundation was contacted as a cultural reference to insure accuracy. Brett and his crew have been so maika`i and we are appreciative that they asked to help make it pono.  Besides researching the history through reference books and countless hours online, we worked to get the accuracy of the scenes and the appropriate chants, music and verses, finding the actors, and managing Ke Kukui's part with Brett.  Mahalo to our actors: Tommy Owens (who also provided the dinner), Kaloku Holt, Hono Yacapin, Virginia Hilina`i MacKenzie and Frank Van Waardenburg. Our singers and speakers, Bully Magsayo and Kaleinani o ke Kukui chorus.

June 17th, 2010
Ke Kukui Foundation will be at Fort Vancouver's Brigade Encampment this weekend. Come on out and find out why 800 Hawaiians were in Vancouver during the 1840s.

FORT VANCOUVER

March 29, 2010
Ke Kukui Foundation's 3 Days of Aloha is starting to take shape with classes being finalized for the Hula & Craft Workshop which will take place in POrtland, Oregon.  The dates of the event are July 29th, 30th and 31st and will take place in Portland and Vancouver, Washington. 

For more information please download a pdf file below:

MEDIA SHEET for Ho'ike & Hawaiian Festival

SPONSORS of the 3 Days Event

ADVERTISERS of the 3 Days Event

HAPA HAOLE HULA COMPETITORS  - DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JULY 1st.

or contact info@kekukuifoundation.com

3 Days Hawaiian Festival website: www.hawaiianfestivalpnw.com 

February 18, 2010
Ke Kukui Foundation's Annual three day event, the Ho`ike and Hawaiian Festival was nominated for the third time as MOST OUTSTANDING EVENT by the Southwest Washington Convention and Visitor's Bureau.  It was also nominated as OUTSTANDING CULTURAL EVENT four years ago.  Up once again to Vancouver's Wine and Jazz Festival and the ten day extravaganza that is the Clark County Fair, the Hawaiians continue to hold our own.  Mahalo to the SWCVB for the nomination.

January 21, 2010

After years of searching, Ke Kukui Foundation is pleased to have found a physical home. We're in the process of working out the final details of a permanent Cultural Learning Center in Vancouver, Washington. The Center will have a large studio space with mirrors, wood floors, and a bathroom, a waiting area for parents and a conference room for the board to meet and plan. Classes will still be taught in Portland, OR,  but the majority of classes will be at the Learning Center.  Stay tuned for more details.