HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0315.038 2020-2022 From: Naliipoaimoku Harman
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2021 9:51 AM
To: Council Testimony
err.
Subject: Support Resolution 161
y
lulai 19, 2021
Members of the Hawaii County Council
counciltestimonv@hawaiicountv.gov
Re: SUPPORT for RES 161-21: Authorizes the Director of Finance to enter into negotiations for the
acquisition of lands and/or conservation easements for all or a portion of the properties identified as Tax
Map Keys 9-4-001:008, 009, 016„017, and 023, situated in the Ahupua'a of Kiolaka`a and Wai`oma`o,
District of Ka`u, utilizing the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund
(PONC).
Aloha e na Alaka`i Hanohano o ka 'Aha Kalana o Hawaii mokupuni (To the Esteemed Members of the
Hawai`i County Council),
'0 Nali`ipo`aimoku KaleilehuapuakeaaPele Keko`i`ulaakawailani lokepine Harman ko`u inoa. I am a tenth-
grader at Ke Kula 'o Nawahiokalani`opu`u in Puna, Hawaii and today is my first day of school so I am
unable to give live testimony. My first name Nali`ipo`aimoku was given to me in honor of my great, great,
great, great grandmother, a native of Ka`u. It is a name that commemorates a trip around Hawai'i island by
two of my kupuna, Ka'u chiefs who were cousins. As a lineal descendant of my kupuna from Ka`u, who
lived, worked, raised their families and are buried there, I support the awarding of the grant to Ala Kahakai
Trail Association for Kiolaka`a and Wai`oma`o, Ka`u.
Growing up on Hawaii island, I have been blessed to be able to holoholo to Ka`u. As a baby, my mom tells
me that I would fall asleep in the water at Punalu`u while waves crashed all around me and no matter how
cold the water was. My parents would take me to Honu'apo where I would pass the time exploring
tidepools with my siblings. We hiked down to Waikapuna where I helped to collect rubbish that found its
way upon the shore there because of the strong Ka`u ocean currents. I know that so many places in
Hawaii have been developed and that the experiences of my cousins and peers living elsewhere are so
limited because they do not have access to nature like we do here. As a native Hawaiian with Kali blood, I
know it is my kuleana to take care of this place. He ali`i ka `aina, he kaua ke kanaka. This land is my chief
and I will always try to protect and serve it. How will my generation and those that come after me know how
to truly take care of our `aina if places like Kiolaka`a are not protected? How will I foster aloha `aina within
my children if we no longer have these places to explore, gather, take care of and preserve? It is
imperative that we save this piece of Ka`u coastline so that we can continue to serve the `aina and keep
Ka`u Ka`u for generations to come. Once developers come in and start bulldozing, we would have failed
our kupuna. We cannot let this happen! We need to work together to malama the land and the community.
Mahalo for your time and for allowing me to share my mana`o.
Me ka `oia`i`o,
Nali`ipo`aimoku Harman
Comm. No.
Ref. To: Q l UtINAl
1 Ref. Dote AUG - 4 2021