2022-12-05 US NPS 11.29.22 TCP FIRST DRAFT

Home

PART I. BACKGROUND At the request of Glenn Mason (Mason Architects, Inc. dba MASON), on behalf of the National Park Service, Kepa and Onaona Maly of Kumu Pono Associates LLC prepared this ethnohistorical study in support of the development of a National Register Nomination for the biocultural landscape of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (HAVO). Situated on the Island of Hawaii; the lands of Puna, Ka`u, and those lands adjoining them (Figure 1), which comprise the 'aina (lands) within the National Park, contain many significant wahl pana (storied, sacred landscapes). These same lands are also the focal point of some of the most practiced and cherished customs of the Hawaiian people, passed down from antiquity to the present-day, still being taught for the future. While it is impossible for us to collect all that might be said, believed or practiced on these `aina, we have endeavored to provide a culturally respectful and representative sampling of why so many Hawaiians place high spiritual and practitioner values on the `aina. The initial study concept suggested that the study would focus on the area around the caldera of Kilauea nui, Halema`uma`u, and adjoining `aina' and would also incorporate the Moku'aweoweo summit region of Mauna Loa.' During early discussions with National Park Service managers (who also consulted with their KOpuna Consultation Group), it was determined that the scope of work should be expanded to include not only the summit caldera regions, but also wahi pana (storied and sacred landscapes), and traditional-historical accounts from various `aina which are within the current boundaries of HAVO. We suggested that we would first focus on knowledge of traditional cultural practices, beliefs, and the on-going cultural attachment of native Hawaiians with Pete Honuamea, as documented largely through Hawaiian language resources; and then include selected historical accounts—many not widely accessed—that might describe traditional and customary practices, and the history of land use between the 1820s to the period of development of the national park. At the request of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate in 2005. Kumu Pono Associates LLC prepared an ethnographic study of Keauhou, Ka`u ("He Wahl Mo olelo no Keauhou a me na Wahl Pana ma Calla..." Maly& Maly, July 23, 2005). Our focus at the time sought to research and incorporate a significant collection of Hawaiian language resources, and included a number of early historical accounts recorded by foreign residents and visitors to the volcano region. Many of the narratives have received little or no review since they were originally recorded, but add essential information to the historical record. In the current study, we have incorporated some of the documentation we covered in 2005. and greatly expanded on both the Hawaiian and non-native accounts to convey a deeper understanding of the cultural attachment many Hawaiians share with their biocuttural landscape. This area would generally align with the original region set aside in 1916 during the formation of what at the time was known as the Kilauea and Mauna Loa sections of the national park, containing an area of approximately 48,000 acres (see Part IX of this study covering development of the national park). G "Cultural attachment"embodies the tangible and intangible values of a culture. It is how a people identify with, and personify, the environment (both natural and man-made) around them. Cultural attachment is demonstrated in the intimate relationship (developed over generations of experiences) that people of a particular culture share with their landscape—for example, the geographic features, natural phenomena and resources, and traditional sites, etc.,that make up their surroundings. This cultural attachment to environment bears direct relationship to the beliefs, practices, cultural evolution, and identity of a people. In Hawaii, cultural attachment is manifest in the very core of Hawaiian spirituality and attachment to landscape (James Kent, "Cultural Attachment: Assessment of Impacts to Living Culture," September 1995). Draft-Efhnohistorical Study of`Aina within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Kumu Pono Associates LLC(working draft ver.November t4,2022) 1