Roen Halley Kahalewai McDonald Hufford

Roen Halley Kahalewai McDonald Hufford (née Roen Halley Kahalewai McDonald; born 1950) is an American Native Hawaiian kapa artist. In 2023, she was named as one of nine National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Her work has been displayed in the Bishop Museum, and the Hawaii State Art Museum (now Capitol Modern).

Early life and family Hufford was born in Molokaʻi, 1950. She also grows her own Wauke (Broussonetia papyrifera) to make kapa in addition to other crops on Honopua Farm, the farm her mother and father started in Waimea.

She married Ken Hufford. Additionally, she was featured in the documentary film Ka hana kapa (2014).

In 2016, Hufford - alongside her mother, Dalani Tanahy, Bernice Akamine, and others - was featured by the Kahilu Theater's in its exhibit Kapa Kahilu.

In 2018, Hufford led a demonstration on kapa making at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel for the homecoming of several kapa pieces created by Malia Solomon and restored by the Bishop museum. Her work was also featured at the East Hawaii Cultural Center for the “Loli‘ana: A Native Hawaiian Exhibition” in honor of the Merrie Monarch Festival that year.

In 2020, she won second place in the juried exhibition Call + Response.

In February 2023, she was named as one of nine National Heritage Fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 2023 alongside R.L. Boyce, Elizabeth James-Perry, Luis Tapia, Wu Man, and others. From March 11, 2023, to October 15, 2023, her work is on display in the exhibit Ola Ka Noʻeau: Excellence in Hawaiian Artistry at the Bishop Museum.