Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 11, 1 November 2011 — The enduring spirit of Kaloko-Honokōhau [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The enduring spirit of Kaloko-Honokōhau

Trustee's note: Tlūs month's eoīumn is written by Jeff Zhnpfer, Environmental Protection Speciaīist with the Naūonaī Park Service.

Across Hawai'i, Hawaiians have been working to protect special places so traditional and customary practices ean be perpetuated. Recently, OHA took action to help mālama the site of an early victory by the contemporary Hawaiian eommunity seeking stewardship of our natural resources. For those unfamiliar with Kaloko-Honokōhau Nahonal

Historical Park, it is an area of sacred and natural significance in North Kona comprising the makai portions of the Kohanaiki, Kaloko, Honokōhau and Kealakehe ahupua'a. The park contains two ancient Hawaiian fishponds, wetlands, more than 185 anehialine pools, and coral reefs. The Kaloko Fishpond kuapā is the most massive fishpond wall in the state. In this dry area, these resources are fed by, and depend on, the continued flow of fresh, elean water from the Keauhou Aquifer. When the area was threatened by development in the late 1960s, Hawaiians organized and successfully lobbied Congress to take action. U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink secured the establishment of a commission to study the plaee for inclusion as a national park. Commission members and staff preparing the study included such noted Hawaiians as 'Iolani Luahine, George Nā'ope, Herb Kawainui Kane and John D. Waihe'e III. In 1978, Congress established the park to preserve, interpret and perpetuate traditional Native Hawaiian activities and culture. The Honokōhau Study Advisory Commission's report, Spirit of Ka-īoko, Hono-kō-hau, captures the essence of this plaee: "Along the western coastline of the Island of Hawai'i lies the hot, rugged lava of Ka-loko, Hono-kō-hau. This seemingly barren and harsh landscape does not appear to be suitable for human existence, and yet, long before written history, the Hawaiian people built a thriving settlement upon the 'a'ā lava, whieh was to last well into the 19thcentury. ...

"Some people find it difficult to understand why the ancient Hawaiians chose to settle upon the inhospitable lava fields of Ka-loko, Hono-kō-han The reason was nerhans

a spiritual one, for there was a spirit in Ka-loko, Hono-kō-hau. The Hawaiians who first eame to the area felt its presence in every rock and tree, in the gentle waters of the shallow bays, and in the trade winds that gently swept across the prehistoric lava flow. They touched the spirit and felt its mana. "The spirit of Ka-loko, Hono-kō-hau was its life, the life that flowed in its land and the water that washed upon its shore.

Like Hawaiians who found its presence elsewhere, the people of Ka-loko, Hono-kō-hau let the spirit heeome part of their existence. They lived in such perfect harmony with it that they heeame a singular, total and inseparable environment." Part of the National Park Service's mission includes working with the community to protect the park's natural resources so cultural practices ean continue. A major accomplishment has been restoration of the Kaloko Fishpond, whieh will operate as a traditional and productive aquaculture as part of a cultural center. The National Park Service has been addressing impacts of surrounding development, especially on the quantity and quality of water in the park, whieh threaten to further erode that "perfect harmony" identified in Spirit of Ka-loko, Hono-kō-hau. For over a decade, the Park Service has been working to protect water in the area through a collaborative, cooperative approach with stakeholders. On Sept. 14, OHA Trustees passed a resolution encouraging all stakeholders to actively work to protect the traditional and customary practices of Hawaiians in the area that depend on abundant, elean groundwater. The resolution passed by the OHA Trustees both echoes the National Park Service's goals and perpetuates the vision of the Hawaiians who worked 40 years ago to protect this plaee. ■ For a reīated articīe on the founding vision of Kaīoko-Honokōhau NaUonaī Historicaī Park, please see page 12.

Rūbert K. Lindsey, Jr. Trustee, Hawai'i