Hinaleimoana Wong & Keoki Fukumitsu
Koani Foundation Director Leon Siu Presents The Awards For Hinaleimoana Wong & Keoki Fukumitsu. Accepting For Keoki Fukumitsu Is His Son, Kolea Fukumitsu.
The Koani Foundation has given its thirteenth annual Hawaiian Kingdom Patriot Awards honoring two significant Hawaiian Kingdom patriots yesterday, Sunday, July 27th at Thomas Square Park in Honolulu.
The awards presentation took place at Thomas Square as part of a daylong observance of Lā Ho`iho`i Ea, Hawaiian Sovereignty Restoration Day. The 2025 honorees are Hinaleimoana Wong and the late Keoki Fukumitsu.
Hinaleimoana Wong is a kumu hula, filmmaker, cultural activist, Hawaiian language speaker, preservationist and community leader. She has served in the past as a member of the O`ahu Island Burial Council. She is honored for her many years of serving as a role model to the Hawaiian community as well as others. She is awarded the 2025 Hawaiian Kingdom Living Patriot Award.
The late Keoki Fukumitsu was a well-known and respected kalo or taro rights advocate, activist, organizer and and kumu mahia`ai kalo, or master taro farmer whose family has resided in the Ko`olaupoko region for over seven generations. He is honored with the the 2025 posthumous Hawaiian Kingdom Patriot Award.
“We recognize Hina for her exceptional dedication as an advocate, visionary, educator and activist for Hawai`iʻs people and culture. Her aloha for our `āina and our lāhui continues to inspire countless others to follow in her footsteps,” states Koani Foundation director `Ehu Kekahu Cardwell.
“Keoki Fukumitsu known as the ʻKalo Manʻ fought tirelessly for Hawaiian land rights as well as kalo rights and the central place that kalo occupies in Hawaiianʻs diets and culture. His aloha for both Hawai`iʻs `āina and itʻs people continues to inspire many others to mālama or take care of our precious homeland and food sources,” remarked Koani Foundation director Leon Siu.
Hawaiian Sovereignty Restoration Day marks July 31,1843 when British Admiral Richard Thomas ordered the Union Jack lowered and the Hawaiian Kingdom flag hoisted above Honolulu, ending five months of British occupation and restoring the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom government to legitimate power.
