Tokuda leads bill to remove restrictive language from federal Native Hawaiian arts grant program

US Rep. Jill Tokuda has reintroduced bipartisan legislation aimed at improving Native Hawaiian–serving arts and cultural organizations’ access to federal grant opportunities by removing longstanding administrative barriers.

The Native Arts and Culture Promotion Act would streamline the grant application process for Native Hawaiian-serving organizations by eliminating signatory requirements that currently delay or block applications. Additionally, the bill would remove restrictive statutory language that limits program accessibility for Alaska Native applicants. 

“This bill is about ensuring that Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native artists, cultural practitioners and organizations can access the resources they have always been promised by Congress,” Tokuda said.

One change in the proposal would amend the American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Culture and Art Development Act (20 USC 4441) to allow the US Department of the Interior to award grants to any nonprofit institution, rather than only “private” nonprofits or nonprofits approved by the governor.

Established in 1984, the Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development Program provides grants through the National Park Service to support the preservation, study and instruction of both traditional and contemporary Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian arts and culture.

“Allowing the National Park Service to award more grants to a greater variety of Native Hawaiian organizations provides a more easily accessible and streamlined process for Native Hawaiian organizations who are often understaffed and under-resourced to readily submit proposals for their unique initiatives which perpetuate the storytelling and expression of Native Hawaiian arts and cultural practices,” said Janet Bullard, acting director of government relations for Bishop Museum.  

The full text of the bill can be found here. 

US Rep. Ed Case co-sponsored the bill.

“I’m happy to once again join Rep. Tokuda in this initiative to expand our Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Development Grant Program so that Hawaiʻi’s Indigenous peoples can continue to perpetuate traditional knowledge, strengthen their spiritual connection to the land and ancestors and reaffirm their cultural identity and resilience in the modern world,” Case said.

In addition to Rep. Case, Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska-At Large) is a cosponsor of the bill.