Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 9, 1 September 2022 — Building Pilina with the 'Āina [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Building Pilina with the 'Āina

An OHA grant is helping īhe Kohala Center engage the Kawaihae community in restoring the area's dryland native forest. By Ed Kalama Hānau ka 'āina, hānau ke ali'i, hānau ke kanaka. Born was the land, born were the chiefs, born were the eommon people. The land, the chiefs, and the commoners belong together. Their goal is to connect people to the land, believing that by helping to heal the aina, people ean also heal themselves. The Kohala Center (TKC) is an independent, community-based nonprofit focused on research, education, and aina stewardship for healthier ecosystems. They believe that by turning ancestral knowledge and research into action, conditions are cultivated that reconnect Native Hawaiians with their plaee, water, food and eaeh other. The organization was recently awarded a $150,000 grant ffom the OfHce of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) for its "Ho'olauna Kawaihae: Building Pilina Through Respectful Engagement" project whieh focuses on the restoration of leeward Kohala s dryland forest system focused in the ahupua'a of Kawaihae Komohana. OHA's Grants Program supports Hawai'i-based nonprofit organizations that have projects, programs and initiatives that serve the lāhui in alignment with OHA's Mana i Mauli Ola Strategic Plan, whieh builds upon the Native Hawaiian strengths of 'ohana, mo'omeheu and aina. "Through this project, we're able to help connect our community to the natural, historical, and cultural resources of the ahupua'a of Kawaihae, where our organization holds kuleana as a steward of this plaee," said Kaimana Chock, an aina-based education specialist and

Kilohana Nursery project manager with TKC. Onee a rich and diverse native ecosystem full of native plant, bird, and insect species, Chock said our dryland forests have been greatly reduced by cattle and other ungulates, human activities, the influx of invasive species, wildfires and climate change, and other threats. "This project looks to continue work to mālama our remaining dryland forest resources in Kawaihae and expand efforts of reforestation by engaging our community members directly in the work, building their pilina (relationship) to the aina and the forest," Chock said. "By introducing our participants to the remnants of our native forest and restoration efforts - and the different species that make up the forest - the wai resources, the inoa aina (plaee names) and characteristics of plaee, the cultural and archaeological resources in the area, and more, we are building and strengthening our eommunity's capacity to steward and be stewarded by the aina of Kawaihae." The project operates by inviting Kawaihae's eommunity of hoa'āina (companions/caretakers of the land) to participate in regular Hoa'āina Day experiences in ma uka areas of Kawaihae. Participants engage in four essential stewardship practices with the native dryland forest: ho'olauna (a process of introduction), kilo (a process of observation), hana (a process of work and activity), and mo'olelo (a process of storytelling and story-keeping). These practices are grounded in 'ike Hawai'i and draw, as well, from western understandings of best practices in conservation. Activities take plaee primarily at Keawewai, a 60-acre property in Kawaihae stewarded by TKC, with occasional engagements at the Koai'a Tree Sanctuary and Koai'a Corridor in nearby Pu'u Kawaiwai. Examples of hana completed during Hoa aina Days include planting forest species, mālama of outplantings through invasive plant species removal and mulching, respectful visits to cultural sites, and other activities. Through these hoa aina experiences, the goal is that the 140 Native Hawaiian participants will increase their 'ike of Kawaihae, respectfully engage with aina, gain a great-

er knowledge of the cultural, historical and archaeologieal resources of the ahupua'a, and eventually help TKC to determine the best culturally informed and place-based stewardship practices for Kawaihae's dryland forests. "If you look ma uka from Kawaihae, you will see what looks like a small patch of green in a landscape of barren, dry areas on both sides of Keawewai - this is where the water flows and is captured by reservoirs, gullies and rock basins whieh is carried down the gulches during the rainy season," said Diane "Maka'ala" Kanealii, who along with her husband Maha have participated in several Hoa aina Days. "For us, Keawewai represents what old Hawai'i looked like before the land was deforested, before cattle ranching decimated the lands. By participating in the workdays, we have the opportunity to participate in helping to heal the land with restoration of native plants for the next generation." Kanealii said that by helping care for the land, she's helping to care for herself. "It is a perfect plaee to spend some time to heal a plaee and a plaee to heal. This project proves that by taking steady baby steps, aina and po'e ean be restored, one plant at a time. We are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, so we give back to the lands that give us so mueh," she said. "The success of Keawewai is a success for us all. We go to Keawewai to give back to a plaee that is nourishing the aina as we are nourished in spirit and healing ourselves." "OHA's grant program is so important for eommunities and organizations across Hawai'i to be able to engage in work that builds on the heahh and wellbeing of our kānaka and lāhui. "Through OHA's support, TKC has been able to create the space to engage with multigenerational systems of 'āina stewards," Chock said. "We are honored to hold this space in Kawaihae, yet all of our aina and communities across Hawai'i need stewards who will help in big ways and small to do their part to contribute to our collective heahh and wellbeing. Engaging with aina through mālama is just one way that we ean all give back to this plaee we eall home." ■

Work completed by The Koholo Center (TKC) volunteers during "Hoo'ōino Doys" ot the 60-ocre property in Kowoihoe thot TKC stewords indudes plonting notive forest species, mōlomo of outplontings through invosive species removol, ond mulching. - Photos: īhe Kohala Center