The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is headlining in Las Vegas with its regional convention starting Monday.
This is the first time the group has held an event like this outside Hawai’i. The four-day gathering is expected to draw more than a thousand people.
"Las Vegas is actually the third largest concentration of Native Hawaiians, according to the U.S. Census. So it’s Los Angeles, Honolulu, and then Las Vegas. So Vegas is a gathering place. It's central to all of the western states where our community resides," CNHA CEO Kūhiō Lewis said.
"We've been analyzing this for a while. We've been talking about it for a while, about how our community is migrating. It's an unfortunate reality, and we have to represent their collective voices as well. They're part of the fabric of Hawaiʻi and so, you know, we're gonna bring Hawaiʻi to them," he added.
The inaugural Western Regional Convention runs June 19 to 22 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino.
CNHA will also hold its annual Native Hawaiian Convention later this year on Oʻahu.
This interview aired on The Conversation on June 14, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
