Students of Hālau Hula Ka Lei Mokihana I Ka Ua Noe, led by kumu hula Mokihana Melendez, sharing a hula ʻauana (contemporary dance) at the DISplace opening reception. Image courtesy Bruce Clayton Tom.
Today, Native Hawaiian communities continue this migration from Hawaiʻi to the Pacific Northwest, some for similar reasons as those who first arrived in the region over 200 years ago. Some leave home to find better career or education opportunities, planning to return to Hawaiʻi after earning their degree or building a professional resumé. However, an unfortunate reality is that an overwhelming proportion of those living in the Native Hawaiian diaspora on the continent are not doing so on entirely voluntary terms, and find themselves unable to afford moving back to Hawaiʻi later on. With decades of compounding socioeconomic factors resulting in rising cost of living, limited employment opportunities, dispossession of family lands, and skyrocketing median home prices, the average local Hawaiian family has to do more in order to stay in Hawaiʻi. A growing number of individuals and families simply can’t keep up with these mounting financial demands and are faced with the difficult reality of relocating to the continent to more feasibly afford a better quality of life for themselves and their children. As of 2020, over half of the total Native Hawaiian population now lives outside of Hawaiʻi for the first time in history.
Background: Mikiʻala Souza, Pattern Series III. Monotype with chine collé. 2024. Image courtesy the artist.
Kumu hula Leialoha Kaʻula and her students from Hālau Ka Lei Haliʻa O Ka Lokelani preparing to share hula at the DISplace opening reception at the Wing Luke Museum on June 14, 2025. Image courtesy Bruce Clayton Tom.