Hawaiʻi Rising

18. Pōhāhā I Ka Lani: Land Stewardship in Waipiʻo Valley

A conversation about kuleana and community care with Kūlia Tolentino-Potter, co-founder of Pōhāhā I Ka Lani.

Pōhāhā i Ka Lani builds upon nearly two decades of the organization’s land stewardship and revitalization efforts in Waipiʻo Valley, helping to ensure that the wahi pana thrives with native plants and deepens the relationship between residents and visitors helping to mālama ʻāina. The hui hosts a culturally-based community stewardship program to address and mālama the culturally rich Mahiki area, where trespassing into fragile ecosystems, illegal dumping, and illicit activities threaten the delicate balance in Waipiʻo. The Liko No Ka Lama Project seeks to connect families, individuals, and other organizations with ‘āina stewardship and cultural education to increase the social and emotional competence of ‘ohana and keiki.

Website: pohahaikalani.com

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii

17. Mālama Mākua: Piko of Peace

A conversation about ʻāina and activism with Lynette Cruz and Sparky Rodrigues, board members of Mālama Mākua.

Mālama Mākua is a Kanaka Maoli-led non-profit organization dedicated to bringing about the return of sacred Mākua Valley for culturally appropriate use. They preserve and protect this wahi pana on Oʻahuʻs west side through continuous community access and engagement, establishing constant presence and practice in a place that has been occupied by the U.S. army since World War II. The non-profit organization hosts free cultural accesses to ancient and culturally-vital sites in sacred Mākua twice each month, and address the cultural, social, and legal issues associated with the use of Mākua Valley, especially the environmental and cultural impact to the land and sea and to Native Hawaiians and other people.

Website: malamamakua.org

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii

16. Aloha Kuamoʻo ʻĀina: Stewarding Land, Stewarding Stories

Dr. Kamana Beamer, executive director of Aloha Kuamoʻo ʻĀina (AKA), tells the story of the historic Battle of Kuamoʻo in this interview alongside AKA program director Kelsy Jorgensen.

AKA offers a critical and special place in Kona for ʻŌiwi youth and all families across their island to deepen their cultural and spiritual ties to the land. Since 2016, AKA has connected over 2,000 community members and Native youth to Kuamoʻo’s landscape and history through managed access, community restoration projects, and place-based cultural education.

Website: kuamoo.org

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

15. Honua Scholars: Reclaiming the Technology Sector in Hawaiʻi

A conversation about the future of STEM in Hawaiʻi with Kyle Yoshida and Maveric Abella, founding members of Honua Scholars.

Honua Scholars empowers local students to pursue STEM careers and advanced degrees to be Hawaiʻi’s STEM leaders. Formed in 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic and the perceived dissonance between culture and science, Honua Scholars supports STEM development alongside culture through an ecological social framework. Honua Scholars encourages civic engagement in the STEM community and advocates for reclaiming Hawaiʻi’s technology sector to be run by Hawaiians for Hawaiians.

Website: honuascholars.org

14. LAING Hawaiʻi: Language, Power, and Identity

Meet Anthony Arce and Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt from Language Acquisition and Immersion for the New Generation (LAING).

LAING Hawaiʻi utilizes heritage language learning as a tool for social and political education. Their programming provides opportunities for cultural reclamation of ancestral knowledge as they work towards collective liberation and radical futures. LAINGʻs current programming includes Ilokano and Visayan-Cebuano language courses; Wellbeing Workshops to support health and wellness in our community during the COVID crisis; Tungtungan Sessions language partner exchange in collaboration with Unite Here! Local 5; and Pakasaritaan Storyteller’s Corner, where skills and stories are shared by collaborators in their native language.

Website: lainghawaii.org/

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

13. Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative Molokai: A Grassroots Vision of Energy Justice

A conversation with Todd Yamashita, the president of the Ho’āhu Energy Cooperative Molokai (HECM). 

HECM was born out of a grassroots community effort to shape Molokai’s energy future through community-developed and -owned renewable energy projects. Their mission is to produce locally owned, affordable, renewable energy for the benefit of their members, the community, and the environment in Molokai. HECM's objectives are sustainability, affordability, resiliency, and energy independence/sovereignty through community-based renewable energy projects, workforce development programs, and community organizing.

Website: hoahuenergy.coop

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii

12. Ka Pā o Lonopūhā: A Healer in Every Home

An interview about health and healing in the home with Keola Chan, the kumu at the traditional Hawaiian healing school Ka Pā o Lonopūhā.

Ka Pā o Lonopūhā was founded in 2009 to train the next generation of lomilomi practitioners. They are dedicated to reviving the practice of Lomi Ae by taking a holistic approach to health. Rooted in Mauli Ola, their goal is to raise the consciousness of traditional Hawaiian healing practices.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Lonopuha

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai’i, Hawaii 

11. Kū-A-Kanaka: Education with Aloha

Meet Krisha Zane, the EA Ecoversity Administrator at Kū-A-Kanaka, LLC.

Kū-A-Kanaka is a native Hawaiian women-owned and -operated social enterprise headquartered in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island that founded EA Ecoversity, a Hawaiian culture-based higher education and career training program that provides blended online and offline learning in an atmosphere of aloha. EA Ecoversity offers a tuition-free, personalized program designed for Native Hawaiians ages 15-30 with a flexible micro-credential model.

Website: www.kuakanaka.com

Tags: Hawaii, Hawai'i, Hawaiʻi

Red Hill DeTour with Kyle Kajihiro

Since families living in military housing first found fuel in their tap water in November, the Red Hill water crisis has mobilized a broad movement demanding the shutdown of the 80-year-old facility and the protection of Oʻahu’s water.

In today’s special episode, we join organizer and scholar Kyle Kajihiro for a DeTour, or demilitarization tour, and learn about U.S. militarism and grassroots activism in Hawaiʻi. We visit the Red Hill fuel storage facility, drive through the residential area affected by the latest spill, and pay our respects to the koʻa constructed by Hawaiian cultural practitioners outside Pacific Fleet Command.

Kyle is an organizer with Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice, the Oʻahu Water Protectors, and Mālama Mākua, and he teaches in the Ethnic Studies and Geography Departments at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

 

Tags: Hawaiʻi, Hawai'i, Hawaii

10. Makahanaloa Fishing Association: Shoreline Access and the Right to Fish

Jaerick Medeiros-Garcia and Blake McNaughton are the president and vice president of Makahanaloa Fishing Association on Hawaiʻi Island.

Makahanaloa Fishing Association seeks to grow and protect their community’s rights to provide food for their families and maintain the generational bonds to the treasured shoreline areas of Hilo Palikū. The Association is currently trying to establish permanent and protected access to the shoreline of Pepeʻekeo on Hawaiʻi Island through the Public Open Lands and Natural Resources Conservation Commission. Education, outreach, and activation of this community-focused stewardship effort is the primary goal of the Association as they fight to stop the continual degradation of access to the ʻāina that nourishes their bodies and spirit.

To see photos from our visit to Pepeʻekeo in November, visit the HPF blog at www.hawaiipeoplesfund.org/blog/.

Tags: Hawaii, Hawai'i, Hawaiʻi