Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 8, 1 August 2015 — PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA

Continued from page 15 ening and understanding of traditional Hawaiian knowledge taking plaee in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a 139,797-square-mile area that protects an exceptional array of natural and cultural resources. Ongoing research eonducted by Native Hawaiian scholars and cultural practitioners in modern times have the potential to be applied to and affect archipelago-wide resource management for the betterment of the Native Hawaiian people. "You ean see the elevation of Hawaiian research being integrated with science, how it has elevated the learning of land management, as well as marine sanctuary discoveries, and how that knowledge ean benefit the pae 'āina and State of Hawai'i," said OHA Ka Pouhana and CEO Kamana'opono Crabbe, who voyaged to Nihoa and Mokumanamana in 2005 and 2007 as a member of a cultural research group. "You ean also see the cycle of knowledge generation through the leaders of the future in the generation that is coming up." One such example of this new generation of leaders is Polynesian Voyaging Society Captain and Navigator Kaleomanuiwa Wong. Wong successfully sailed the Hikianalia to Nihoa this summer to conduct navigator training and assist with the annual intertidal monitoring expedition, whieh surveys intertidal reef species, such as 'opihi (limpets), plplpl (small mollusks), and hā'uke'uke (an edible variety of sea urchin) in Papahānaumokuākea. r — r~- - ^ ^

After mele (songs), pa'akai (salt) andpōhaku (stones) were shared with the island, Wong and the crew of Hikianalia joined another expedition whieh had already anchored at Nihoa. The cultural practitioners and researchers on board the MY Searcher had just finished muhiple days of intertidal monitoring on Mokumanamana, where they counted more 'opihi on 1 mile of shoreline than are on the entire island of O'ahu. Data from these intertidal surveys are used to help better manage loeal populations of the same species in the main Hawaiian

Islands. The surveys also give community members an opportunity to see the possibilities of a pristine intertidal system. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is honored to have had a part in supporting all four of these permitted expeditions as a component of our co-management role in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The expeditions helped to strengthen the eonneehon to the ancestral knowledge held there. While eaeh of the recent expeditions had its own unique and specific activities to accomplish, eaeh access was a eall to our kūpuna (ancestors) that we have not forgotten them and still need their wisdom and guidance to face the challenges and meet the needs of the lāhui today. Papahānaumokuākea is cooperatively managed to ensure ecological integrity and achieve strong, long-term protection and perpetuation of Northwestern Hawaiian Island ecosystems, Native Hawaiian culture, and heritage resources for current and future generations. Three co-trustees — the Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior and State of Hawai'i — joined by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, protect this special plaee. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was inscribed as the first mixed (natural and cultural) UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United States in July 2010. For more information, please visit www. papahanaumokuakea.gov. ■ Keola Lindsey is OHA 's Papahānaumokuākea Manager, Brad Ka'aleleo Wong is OHA's Papahānaumokuākea Specialist andAlice Malepeai Silbanuz is OHA 's Puhlie Relations & Media Specialist.

Hikianalia_crew conducts protocol upon arrival at Nihoa. - Photo : Kaipo Kī'aha/'Oiwi TV