Founding Five​

Encouraged by the ʻOhana Makaliʻi Kupuna council, (Kupuna, Hale Makua, Uncle Robert Keakealani, Uncle Sonny & Aunty Marie Solomon, Uncle Clarence & Aunty Minie Medeiros, and Uncle Parley Kanakaole) Na Kalai Waʻa leader Clay Bertelmann, invited leaders in the community to share in the responsibility and creation of the ʻOhana Makaliʻi.

Leaders from Nā Kālai Wa'a, Hālau Hula Ke'alaonamaupua, Nā Koa o Pu'ukohola, Puanana Leo o Waimea, and the Kupuna Program of the DOE, to combine their areas of expertise and support the building of Mauloa. the traditional coastal sailing canoe made from a koa log and Hawai'i islandʻs first double-hulled canoe, Makaliʻi.