Perpetuating the cultures of Hawaii and Micronesia is the goal of a group of Native Hawaiians and expert canoe builders from Micronesia who together have built on Kauai a hand-made koa wood canoe.

The hull featured reinforced balsa-core construction and a shape totally distinct from the fiberglass Hawaiian canoes of the time, the shape of which were derived directly from the koa canoes of old.

Wendall DeVera, Vietnam veteran, longtime paddler and president of Pu‘ali Koa Kahiko, listens to opening speeches and a blessing of a Hawaiian outrigger canoe on Friday morning in South Maui.

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hundreds of miles from where a majestic tree once grew on the island of Hawaii, Sonny Bradley ... what he ...