Two native Hawaiian scholars have won top American awards to complete their post graduate studies at New Zealand's University of Waikato.
The year long Mellon-Hawai'i doctoral fellowships are worth forty thousand US dollars each.
It's the first time the fellowships have been awarded to students studying in New Zealand.
Keao NeSmith is completing a PhD in applied linguistics, focussing on how the Hawaiian language is being conveyed to a new generation of Hawaiian speakers.
Noe Noe Wong-Wilson's doctoral research is looking at strategies for success for native Hawaiians entering community colleges.
Both researchers will be based at Waikato University's School of Maori and Pacific Development.
