Waipi'o Lookout Draft Environmental Assessment

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RC-0442 Table 1.Kuleana claims made in Lalakea. Claim Number Applicant Name 7860 Kawahineamiu;Palau 7871 Kaelemakule;Samesona 8472 Keawe 8487 Kaunaunahi 9930 Lono 11102 Kahiamoe The Boundary Commission testimony for Lalakea and adjoining Waipi`o (Appendix B)is informative with respect to the locations of place names, important landmarks, and land use activities. However,there are no specific references to the land that makes up the current study area. CONSULTATION To gain further insight into past land use and potential cultural significance relative to the current project area,and in an effort to identify any past or present traditional cultural places and activities associated with the project area, the following individuals and institutions were consulted: Margaret Loo, Kelly Loo, Ku`ulei Badua, Elliot Markell, Friends of the Future (Waipi`o Commnity Circle), and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. None of the consulted parties identified any traditional cultural places or associated activities relative to the study property. Ku`ulei Badua, president of the Kukuihaele Community Association, explained that she spent much of her live away from the area and suggested that Kelly Loo and his sister-in-law Margaret Loo would be good sources of information.Ku`ulei Badua was very supportive of the proposed acquisition of the Rice property and the development of a"ranger"program. Born in 1933,Margaret(Rodrigues)Loa has lived and worked in the area her entire life.As a child she walked the area traits inauka to makai and frequently visited her godmother,who was the last to live in the Puerto Rican Camp in the matfka portion of the plantation. As a young adult she worked for the plantation in the macadamia nut orchards in upper Lalakea.Margaret Loo explained that the house that is currently on the Rice property was moved there sometime during the last 40 years, and that before that the land was in sugarcane cultivation The plantation house was originally located in what was called Stable Camp at Kukuihaele. Kelly Loo,born in 1932,currently lives on the parcel next to the study parcel.He was born and raised in Waipi`o Valley, and lived there until 1959. He is of Hawaiian ancestry with a little Chinese on his father's side. He worked for 40 years for the Hawaiian Irrigation Company. According to Mr. Loo, from the 1940s to the 1960s horses were keep on a portion of the current study parcel and the rest was cultivated in cane as part of the plantation fields. Mr. Loo currently works for a company that gives tours of the Valley and on his off time works the taro to`i that he still maintains. He was unaware of any traditional cultural activities occurring on the current study parcel. Mr. Loo expressed that he was in favor of the proposed county acquisition of the Rice property and the development of a ranger station, especially if it meant educating the tourists and providing additional parking for the lookout area. Additionally, Elliot Markell was contacted. Mr. Markell, age 73, currently lives in the Volcano area, but has maintained a home in Waipi`o Valley for the past 50 years.He was acquainted with the Rice family and on occasion visited the elder(now deceased) Mr.Rice at his home on the current study property.Both Mr.Markell and Mr.Rice were married to women of Hawaiian ancestry.Elliot Markell explained that Mr. Rice was a collector of ethnographic and historic artifacts (Mr. Rice had a collectables store in Honoka`a town) and that he had items decorating the house and yard (presently there is an early twentieth century horse drawn buggy in the enclosed garage on the property).Mr.Markell expressed some minor reservations concerning the effectiveness of a ranger program and the geological stability of the Rice property;however, he agreed that if effective and stable,the program and the property are a good idea. 8