OpportunityTitle: Fiscal Year 2023 H&#332;&#699;IHI NATIVE Act Grant Program for Native Hawaiian Organizations
CategoryExplanation: AG (Agriculture)AR (Arts)BC (Business and Commerce)CD (Community Development)NR (Natural Resources)
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Additional Information on EligibilityApplicants must meet the definition of and criteria for a &#8220;Native Hawaiian Organization&#8221; as defined in the NATIVE Act, 130 STAT. 847, Section 3(3), codified at 25 U.S.C. &#167;4352(3). Criteria include:A nonprofit organization;that serves the interests of Native Hawaiians;that is recognized for having expertise in Native Hawaiian culture and heritage, including tourism; andin which Native Hawaiians serve in substantive and policymaking positions.
Description: BackgroundThe Office of Native Hawaiian Relations&#8217; (ONHR) Heritage (Tourism) Opportunities in Hawai&#699;i (H&#332;&#699;IHI) Grant Program serves to implement the Native Hawaiian Organization NATIVE Act Grants under CFDA 15.068 and the provisions of the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act (NATIVE Act), 25 U.S.C. 4351 et seq. The purposes of the NATIVE Act are to establish a more inclusive national travel and tourism strategy and has the potential to deliver significant benefits for Native Hawaiian organizations (NHO) as distinctly defined in the NATIVE Act, including job creation, elevated living standards and expanded economic opportunities. PurposeTourism in Hawai&#699;i has increasingly grown over the last century as visitor arrivals surpassed 10 million in 2020 and has seen a recovery since the drop in arrivals during the pandemic with 9.4 million visitor arrivals in 2022 in a State whose population is less than 1.5 million people. This volume of visitors has led to excessive pressure on the natural and cultural resources, including many long held sacred by members of the Native Hawaiian Community. Tourism in Hawai&#699;i relies heavily on the Native Hawaiian culture as its overarching theme and draw and has operated as an extractive industry, depleting resources and often displacing Native Hawaiian Community members from their traditional lands, homes, and places of worship. Frustration amongst Native Hawaiian Community members have resulted in urgent calls to reevaluate priorities and to transform tourism into a regenerative industry, one that invests back into restoring and sustaining resources, including human resources, in Hawai&#699;i. Given that tourism will remain a major economic driver for many states, including Hawai&#699;i, the NATIVE Act plays an important role in promoting heritage and cultural tourism opportunities through the self-determining participation of Native American communities, including the Native Hawaiian Community, in the visitor industry.The Hawaiian value of h&#333;&#699;ihi (to treat with reverence or respect), as reflected in the &#699;&#333;lelo no&#699;eau (Hawaiian proverb) &#8220;E h&#333;&#699;ihi aku, e h&#333;&#699;ihi mai,&#8221; meaning &#8220;show respect, get respect&#8221;, represents the core principle of ONHR&#8217;s H&#332;&#699;IHI Grant Program. Through showing respect, visitors (tourists) can then be welcomed as guests with a shared kuleana (responsibility) in perpetuating the values and importance of Native Hawaiian traditional knowledge and cultural practices. This &#699;&#333;lelo no&#699;eau serves as a foundational guide for ONHR&#8217;s H&#332;&#699;IHI Grant Program to aide in actions that:Showcase the heritage, places, art, foods, traditions, history and continuing vitality of the Native Hawaiian Community;Identify, enhance, revive, or maintain l&#333;ea (cultural traditions and practices), wahi k&#363;puna (ancestral spaces) and wahi pana (sacred spaces) that are important to sustain the distinctiveness of the Native Hawaiian Community; andProvide for authentic and respectful visitor experiences in Hawai&#699;i;These grants and subsequent actions by NHOs are also expected to facilitate job creation, stimulate economic activity, and contribute to elevating the living standards in the Native Hawaiian Community. Program Priorities for 2023For fiscal year 2023, ONHR will fulfill the core principles of the H&#332;&#699;IHI Program by providing grant funding to successful NHO applicants who meet the criteria for one or more of the following priorities:Uplift, perpetuate, and in some cases revive, traditional Native Hawaiian practices (e.g., &#699;&#333;lelo Hawai&#699;i, kapa making, lauhala and kaula weaving, hula, amongst many others including lesser known practices) by creating opportunities for demonstrations, visitor education on history, usage, and protocols, or hands-on visitor participation experiences in the cultural practice;Support the maintenance, enhancement, and protection of Hawai&#699;i&#8217;s natural resources, wahi k&#363;puna, and wahi pana at areas impacted by tourism;Enhance the entrepreneurial capacity for the Native Hawaiian Community by helping create business opportunities in the visitor industry, offering business development training, or stimulating economic activity; ORUndertake related activities with visitors that convey respect and reaffirm the principle of reciprocation to the place, resources, and traditional knowledge holders and practitioners.For the purposes of this solicitation, Native Hawaiian cultural practices may include, but are not limited to, traditional: farming practices, food preparation, material gathering and production of implements, products, and adornments, and cultural activities such as dance, chant, song, arts, construction, and recreation.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: aqdfa@ibc.doi.gov
GrantorContactText: IBC Grant Office &lt;br/&gt;King Nwoha &lt;br/&gt;Eleni Sarris &lt;br/&gt;aqdfa@ibc.doi.gov
CloseDateExplanation: Pre-Submittal Information SessionONHR will host a&#160;60-minute video conference for interested applicants to receive an overview of the H&#332;&#699;IHI Grant Program&#160;and 2023 priorities&#160;and to ask questions about the funding opportunity.&#160; The video conference will be held on&#160;Monday,&#160;May 1, 2023, at 12:00&#160;p.m. Hawai&#699;i Standard Time (HST). The video conference log-in information will be posted on the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations website at:&#160;https://www.doi.gov/hawaiian/hoihi/apply&#160;one week prior&#160;on&#160;April 24, 2023.&#160; Additional video conference opportunities may be held on an as-needed basis.&#160; Video conferences&#160;will be posted to the same ONHR site one week after they have been conducted.     Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 6:00 A.M. Eastern Time (ET), on Friday, June 23, 2023.