by Hawaiian I mean native Hawaiian
Even before Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii, Molokai had a reputation of being more Hawaiian than the other islands. Hawaii was settled in waves of immigration from other Polynesian islands. When the Ali i ruled, the people of Molokai were known to be descended from the earlier waves of migration. Today, what keeps Molokai Hawaiian is a combination of that tradition, peculiarities of land tenure, a federal program to provide land for people with 50% Hawaiian ancestry or more, and activism that reflects traditional Hawaiian values. More than half the total population and 3/4 of the schoolkids have some Native Hawaiian ancestry. Molokai has no traffic lights. It has one elevator, in a hotel that closed down in response to community organization in opposition to development. Oahu has one outrigger canoe club for every 30,000 residents. Molokai has four outrigger canoe clubs, and it only has about 7000 people living there! The largest tourist attraction on Molokai is what they used to call a leper colony. A couple dozen Hansen s Disease patients still live in the place where Saint Damien (canonized last month) carried out his mission.It is getting more difficult to get to Molokai. The last passenger jet flew there in 2004. A couple of propeller planes still make that island hop, and I think a round trip ferryboat ride from Lahaina is still less than $100. You might want to wait until you get where you re going to eat. The air and the sea around Molokai can be rough. And, there s only one hotel. They might have more than one bed and breakfast by now--I hear the permitting process speeded up. You re much more likely to see people in T-shirts, shorts, and rubbah slippahs than you are to see them dressed for hula (except during one of the festivals). But there are plenty of people who can tell stories about their aumakua (ancestor guardian spirits who take the form of an animal) if they know you well enough.
Aloha - I am a huge fan of the Hawaiian culture, and while you will find a little of that on Oahu, for a true Hawaiian cultural area try the Big Island of Hawaii and/or Kauai. Both have a smaller population, less developed tourism and more small towns with great shops, farmers markets and more.
Hilo side of the Big Island