Hāloa Summer Camp

4-week summer program from keiki & ʻŌpio ages 5-18 yrs old

Hāloa is an experiential based program rooted in Native Hawaiian culture, history, and values.

The program is based in Oregon’s Portland Metro area where Hawaiian culture is often the

subject of cultural appropriation. For many youth who have relocated to Oregon from Hawaiʻi

or have connections to Hawaiʻi, the curriculum includes building a sense of self and identity

through authentic instruction of Hawaiian history and culture. The program also aims to build

understanding of the history of the land and community of the Pacific Northwest by developing

relationships with the indigenous communities in the area.

Hāloa participants are grade school through middle school students entering kindergarten

through eighth grade. There are two adult facilitators present during the entire program, with

various guest instructors to provide their expertise on various topics covered at different times.

We will have one counselor present for an hour or two each day participants are present, and

two to four peer counselors (high school through college students who have attended Hāloa in

previous years) present throughout the day.

One week will be focused on youth ages 5-9, two weeks will be

focused on youth ages 10-14, and the last week will be focused on students ages 15-18. We

plan them each week and provide our students with agendas to prepare them for the week.

The purpose of this program is to create, collaborate, and connect our youth with Pacific

Islander cultural understanding and honor the Native American heritage and land. Our overall

goal is for our students to be able to not only share what they have learned, but to also

understand identity through a cultural lens. So many are often challenged with loss or

confusion when it comes to identity. Bringing in our cultural practitioners and stories that they

relate to allows for them to understand who they are and where they come from.