Native Hawaiians aim to bring cultural sensitivity to Maui wildfire cleanup

The historic city of Lahaina on Maui was once the royal capital of Hawaii. It was destroyed by a wildfire on August 8 last year. This picture was taken on August 18, 2023. (Deanne Fitzmaurice for NPR)

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Mehana Hind stands in the center of a hotel conference room with a wide, welcoming grin.

"Aloha," she says to members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, newly arrived from the mainland to work on the cleanup of the deadly wildfires that swept Maui last summer. The fires destroyed Lahaina, the one-time capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii.