Comm 26-041 - LOS 26-06 Muise, Kuulani

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Comm 26-041 From:Kuulani Muise To:PONC Testimony Subject:PONC Application for Hakalau-iki Date:Wednesday, March 4, 2026 8:18:50 AM March 4, 2026 Ke aloha nui i oukou e k County of Hawaii, My name is Kuulani Muise. I am writing to you in support of the application to purchase the shoreline easement of Hakalau-iki (TMK 2-9-002:001) in perpetuity by the County through the Public Access Open Spaces and Natural Resources Preservation (PONC) Fund process. Hakalau-iki! So storied and precious to those of us who live in and love Hilo-palik. In the kaao of Pele and Hiiaka, Hiiaka and Wahinemao leave Piihonua and arrive at Hakalau. There they see men, women, and children surfing. Hiiaka points out that they are not real people but supernatural beings. When Wahinemao doubts Hiakas observation, Hiiaka tells her if she tears a lehua branch and throws it into the sea and the surfers scatter, than they are surely supernatural - which she does, and they do. The branch she threw into the water was said to be from the ancient ululehua (lehua grove) called Malaeakini, with its famous bristly lehua maka ooi. It was a place of healing and was visited often by anyone traveling along the cliffs to Hakalau. "He ululehua kaulana loa keia i ka wa kahiko. He wahi keia e hele nui ai na poe hoolana ma'i ia mau la. A he ulu lehua makaikai nui ia nohoi e na huakai hele makaikai." ÏKuokoa Home Rula, Volume VII, Number 4, 22 January 1909 In my reading, this ina, this parcel, is very likely the area in which the lehua grove of Malaeakini stretched. From Hakalau-nui south to Wailea. A rain associated with Hakalau is ka ua l lehua o Malaeakini. Though years of sugar plantations have supplanted some of these stories and knowings, they are still there on the land at Hakalau-iki (and in our old newspapers), waiting for us to remember themÏthe storied ulu hala of Wailea (with their kaikamhine kk hala, the famed hala-opening girls), the thick hau grove of Kahaukomo, and Ulukkahi, the long-remembered ulu trees of Hakalau-iki. Beyond our stories of planted abundance, there are the many waters to remember and mlama, the rivers, springs, and aekai. Awakee, Awakapu, Nhakaipu stream, Kpalaha falls that comes pouring out of the cliff face at Manamana, the twin springs of Wailea-kai. Brilliant stewardship is one way to recover and reintegrate with these artifacts of abundance and healing and I can not commend any hui more excitedly than Makahanaloa Fishing Association and Kmaulihou to that work.