The games of the Makahiki.
What was played.
In your hands.
101 traditional Hawaiian games. Documented in one of the only peer-reviewed scholarship of its kind.
Shared weekly with our community dedicated to preserving Hawaiian culture.
Free to start.
No credit card. No commitment. Unsubscribe anytime.
Every week, one issue. Ten minutes to read, a lifetime to use.
The Makahiki Games newsletter include information about the games - rules, mechanics, documented practice, drawn directly from the disseration. Cultural context about what we learn about ancient Hawaii, the ali’i, the kapu system, the beliefs. The legends - origin stories and narratives from names Hawaiian historians and scholars, sourced exactly.
This is not a summary. This is the scholarship, translated and made accessible, published here every week.
Free to start. Paid membership unlocks the full archive and everything that follows.
The scholarship behind every issue
In 1978, Dr. Santiago Wilfred Navalta, raised in Laupāhoehoe, Hawaiʻi, completed a doctoral dissertation at BYU. It documented 101 traditional Hawaiian games from primary sources like David Malo, Samuel Kamakau, Martha Beckwith, and Mary Kawena Pukui. The sports and competitions of the Makahiki festival include rules, mechanics, and cultural context.
This is one of the only peer-reviewed comprehensive study of its kind.
Dr. Navalta presented his findings at the Physical Education World Congress in London (1985), at Native American Studies in Oklahoma (1984), and at the International TESOL Conference in Toronto (1983). He published six works. Most of what he documents has existed nowhere else in accessible form until now.
Dr. Navalta is in his 80s. The dissertation has sat for decades. Makahiki Games exists to return the information transformed, accessible, authenticated, to the families it belongs to.
“One of the only peer-reviewed scholarship on the sports and games of the Makahiki festival.”
From readers
“I’ve been looking for something like this for years. This is the real thing.”
- Kaimana, Portland
“[Placeholder — insert real subscriber testimonial here before publishing.]”
- First Name, Location
“[Placeholder — insert real subscriber testimonial here before publishing.]”
- First Name, Location
Founding Membership
If you already know this is what you’ve been looking for - founding membership is open now.
First 100 subscribers only get 18% on an annual subscription, locked permanently at that rate.
By becoming a Founding Member, you are an early supporter of the Makahiki Games preservation work. This support makes it possible to continue the careful documentation and digitization of the Makahiki Games knowledge.
$49/year - locked permanently
or $7/month
Closes May 1st or when 100 founding members join.
Start with the first issue. Free.
One issue. No credit card. If it doesn’t feel like the real thing, you owe nothing.