Zonta Club of Kauai supports MMIW
A powerful mural unveiled on Kress Street in downtown Lihue stands as a public call for justice, honoring Stacy Kelekoma and Benetta Kaiwi, two Native Hawaiian women still missing from Kauai.
The mural, created by local artist Pineki, features the phrase “He Haumea Makou” and a striking red handprint across the mouth—a symbol used in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement to represent the silencing and erasure of Indigenous women across the United States and Canada. The imagery serves both as tribute and protest, drawing attention to the ongoing crisis facing Native Hawaiian feminine people.
Dr. Nikki Cristobal, representative of Pouhana O Na Wahine, led the mural’s unveiling and invited the Zonta Club of Kauai, HI, USA, and the Kauai Committee on the Status of Women to join the event and raise awareness through sign-waving.
“Native Hawaiian women and girls represent the highest percentages of victims of domestic violence, sex trafficking and sexual assault in Hawaii,” said Dr. Cristobal. “Colonially caused conditions work together to ensure the aggressive erasure of Native Hawaiian feminine people through interpersonal and systemic violence.”
She emphasized that the mural’s message, rooted in Native Hawaiian culture, reminds the community of the sacredness of wahine. “The piko of the solution to #MMNHWGM is to remind ourselves of the sacredness of wahine and treat our feminine people as the living embodiments of Haumea they are.”
The mural and surrounding activism aim to keep the stories of missing women alive, challenge silence and inaction and call on the public to advocate for real change in addressing violence against Indigenous and Native Hawaiian women.