Moaʻe Molokaʻi Digitization Project receives $100,000 grant from OHA

The Moaʻe Molokaʻi Digitization Project is the recipient of a grant award totaling $100,000 from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The Moʻomeheu Program Grant will support the Native Hawaiian community by improving the preservation of and access to ʻike Molokaʻi.

In alignment with OHA’s Moʻomeheu Strategic Foundation, the goal of the Moaʻe Molokaʻi Digitization Project is to improve the preservation of- and access to- ʻike Molokaʻi through the digitization and preservation of unique records and audiovisual collections that document the cultural and historical importance of the island so that they can be made accessible to the Molokaʻi community through an online platform.

This moves the community closer to their long-term goal as it actualizes the digital and physical repositories and strengthens the island communities’ cultural identity, improving the overall well being of the lāhui Molokaʻi.

The project also addresses OHA’s Health Outcomes 4.1 and 4.2 as it seeks to preserve primary resources that document the island’s historical past, language, culture, and traditions, and increase community stewardship of cultural resources that foster connection to ʻāina, ʻohana, and communities.

Records and materials that will be digitized, processed, and stabilized as part of this project are of specific value to the Native Hawaiian Molokaʻi community. These sole source unique records provide genealogical information, information regarding culturally significant places, peoples, events, practices, as well as important historical information that helped to shape the culture of Molokaʻi today.

The project specifically seeks to digitize issues of the Ka Leo o Molokaʻi (KLM) Newspapers. KLM was published in Molokaʻi, between the years of 1950-1955, by the Molokaʻi Civic Group Advisory Board.

Program leaders say digitizing these newspapers and making them available and searchable for the Molokaʻi community will be transformative and beneficial for local researchers, teachers, students, and the general public.

The newspaper issues will be included in the island’s searchable digital repository, Moaʻe Molokaʻi Digital Repository, which is set to go public in February 2024.

In addition to KLM, this project also seeks to stabilize, process, and digitize audiovisual materials (e.g., VHS tapes, VHS-C tapes, and audio cassette tapes) of oral histories, hula, cultural sites, moʻolelo, and community events that were documented by the late local film producer and high school photography teacher, Mr. Howard Selnick, in the 90s and early 2000s.

The preservation of these materials is critical as digital archiving experts predict that the equipment needed to view magnetic tape materials will be completely obsolete in 3-5 years. With the support of this grant, Ka Ipu Makani will purchase a digitization kit to start digitizing magnetic tape materials on Molokaʻi.

Without the digitization kit, the program would otherwise need to send materials off-island, and out of state, for digitization purposes. Additionally, the audiovisual collections are currently in poor condition. Due to the high humidity in Hawaiʻi, mold has grown on the tapes affecting their ability to be played. Before the program can entertain digitization of the materials, it will first need to stabilize the materials and clean the mold.

“Through the support of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, our Moaʻe Molokaʻi Digitization Project is more than digitizing records—it’s a shared commitment to fortify ‘ohana, mo’omeheu, and ‘āina. This collaboration not only preserves Molokaʻi’s tangible history but strengthens the bond between our organizations, amplifying our collective impact. The most important aspect for the Native Hawaiian community is that this project preserves our cultural essence, guiding us from the past to a resilient future. With OHA, we are not just digitizing records; we are safeguarding the essence that keeps Molokaʻi, Molokaʻi,” said Executive Director, Pūlama Lima.