Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 6, 1 June 2015 — Kapuāiwa Coconut Grove [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kapuāiwa Coconut Grove

This month 's article is written by Gayla Haliniak-Uoyd, President of the Kalama 'ula Homestead Association. Have you ever flipped through a travel guide or Googled the island of Moloka'i? The information you'd eome across would be to visit historical Kapuāiwa Coconut Grove. The description would prompt you to get excited,

"Located in the heart of Kaunakakai on the island of Moloka'i, you'll find Kapuāiwa Coconut Grove." Kapuāiwa was the name of King Kamehameha V. During the reign of Kamehameha V in the 1860s, it was said that he planted thousands of coconut trees in honor of his warriors and to shade his sacred spring bathing pools. For generations people would use the grove as a plaee to gather resources to feed their families. There was an abundance of freshwater 'ōpae, prawns and a variety of limu by the shore, kohono and 'a'ama crab was also plentiful. The coconuts were husked, and the flesh within these nuts was grounded up to make milk for cooking for baby lū'aus, graduation parties and event weddings. The milk was used to make a variety of desserts at these lū'aus such as

haupia, kūlolo and not to mention aunty's fabulous coconut eake. The leaves were also used as partitions and the husk was the fire starters for kālua-ing the pig. Everything was used and the grove was always cleaned and the springs were

always in its pristine state. Today, if you travel to Kapuāiwa Coconut Grove you will see for yourself it's not what you Googled or read in the travel magazines. Disappointment would set in and you will realize it's nothing but an eyesore. For the past five years, Kapuāiwa has turned into a desecrated refuge of dead and falling coconut trees infested with Aceria Guer-

reronis. As Llilo tolerates the Coqui frog, as Kaua'i struggles with the fire ants, and O'ahu with the Rhinoceros Beetle, Kapuāiwa is hit with an infestation of the "coconut mite." Aceria Guerreronis is a mite that infests coconut plantations. More than 27 countries are battling this mite whieh has been economically devastating and destroys up to 90 percent of all coconut plantations. As a fourth-gen-eration Kalama'ula Flomestead Association member, I remember my kūpuna saying, "Pōmaika'i nā mea āpau - everything is blessed." It is now our time to heal the ma'i that was done to Kapuāiwa by these mites. It's time to right the wrong that was done to this special historical plaee. It starts with aloha 'āina where

the community needs to get together and start to mālama this plaee. To stop the infestation we need to start to remove the fallen coconut trees and implement a better management plan for this historieal site. ■

Cūlette Y. Machadū

Trustee Muluka'i and Lāna'i

Kapuāiwa CoconuT Grove, lop, is marked by a Hawai'i Visitors Bureau sign. - Photo: Gayla Halin-iak-Lloyd