Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 7, 1 Iulai 2014 — Cultural signage project marks 6 moku of Kauaʻi County [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cultural signage project marks 6 moku of Kauaʻi County

By Mary Aliee Ka'iulani Milham

"For native Hawaiians, a plaee tells us who we are and who is our extended family. A plaee gives us our history, the history ofour elan and the history of our ancestors." — Hawaiian historian Edward Kanahele The importance of knowing where you eome from is gaining ground in Kaua'i thanks to a new initiative called Kaua'i Nui Kuapapa (Kaua'i of Great Genealogies), to plaee markers at the historic boundaries of moku (major districts), ahupua'a (mountain-to-sea divisions) and mauka-to-makai waterways that border roads. Markers at Kaua'i County's six moku - Kona, Puna, Halele'a, Nāpali, Ko'olau and Ni'ihau - were unveiled May 30 in simultaneous blessing ceremonies. The traditional ceremonies began at the stroke of noon when community members at all six loeations blew pū (eoneh shells) six times - onee for eaeh moku - while facing Wai'ale'ale, Kaua'i's highest peak. "It was the first time in Kaua'i's history that we had such a ceremony where people around the island were doing the same thing at the same time, facing eaeh other across the island," said Keao NeSmith, a University of Hawai'i-Mānoa professor of Hawaiian language known for his dedication to cultural sites on Kaua'i. It was in fact at one of Kaua'i's great cultural sites, Kahua o Kāneiolouma, that the idea for the moku sign project was born. ' 'We were doing work and the mayor decided to stop by," says NeSmith, a member of Hui Mālama Kāneiolouma, the nonprofit group leading the restoration and stewardship of the vast Kāneioluma complex.

"I told (Mayor Bernard Carvalho) that: 'You know, Kaua'i people need to know our plaee. We need to know our moku. We need to know our ahupua'a.' " Mayor Carvalho was equally taken with the idea.

NeSmith got a eall the very next day from Carvalho's secretary inviting him to discuss the idea further and how it could fit together with Carvalho's Holoholo 2020 vision for Kaua'i. NeSmith says his passion to memorialize Kaua'i's traditional landmarks traces back to his youth growing up on the island and the curiosity and longing he shared with his companions and 'ohana to know the traditional names of loeal beaches, mountains and ridges. By tapping into Kaua'i's unique historical and cultural legacy, Kaua'i Nui Kuapapa hopes to strengthen the bonds between 'āina and eommunity - fostering stewardship, knowledge and a stronger sense of plaee and community. "They'll be able, as a result of this, to familiarize themselves with our moku, where they will be able to say, 'I was in Kona,' " says NeSmith. The moku markers, eaeh with distinctive color and site-specific design, were created by Dave DeLuca, publishing and media executive with Nā Hōkū Welo, a cultural consultancy including NeSmith, historian Randy Wiehman, managing executive Kanoe Ahuna, PhD., and Joy Stedman, the group's marketing executive. Integrating traditional knowledge with modern technology is an important underlying philosophy behind the Kaua'i Nui Kuapapa project. The signs will provide information in English and 'ōlelo Hawai'i (Hawaiian language), as will the Kaua'i Nui Kuapapa website, along with more detailedinformahon gathered by Nā Hōkū Welo's research. By year's end, markers will be installed at 54 ahupua'a boundaries thus far identified from the time of King Kaumuali'i, the island's chief at the turn of the 19th century. "We're trying to go back to his era to find out what the borders were," says NeSmith.

Plans also eall for some interpretive signs and mohile apps with videos featuring mo'olelo (stories) about the sites, such as the names of the loeal winds and rains. Kaua'i Museum, one of several of partners supporting the project, is also developing a Kaua'i Nui Kuapapa exhibit with 3D hologram images about Kaumuali'i. NeSmith says the third phase of the project, a few years from now, will integrate historical and cultural data from Kaua'i Nui Kuapapa into curriculum for the county's schools. Schools within eaeh moku will also have access to the moku sign logos, as will businesses and the puhlie, to encourage a sense of plaee on a eommunitywide basis. Partners in the project include the Kaua'i Historical Society, the Office of the Mayor, Kaua'i County Council, Hawai'i Tourism Authority, Kaua'i Visitors Bureau, OHA Trustee Dan Ahuna, DataSpace Industries, Datawise Consulting and Pass the Projects. ■

Man Ali.ce Ka'iulani Mi.lham, a Portland, Ore-gon-based freelance journalist, is a fortner newspaper reporter and colunmi.st from California 's Central Coast.

CULTURE

The Nāpali sign was blessed at Kē'ē Beach Sta1e Park on May 30 as part of a coordinated launeh at six locations on Kaua'i. - Courtesy: īimothyMaVega