HomeMy WebLinkAboutSTU.24-02 - Final Report Photos
Pōhāhā I Ka Lani
Waipiʻo Valley Lookout Stewardship Program
Photos for January 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025
P.O. Box 412 Kurtistown, HI 96760
Website: www.pohahaikalani.com
Email: pohahaikalani@gmail.com
On January 4, 2025, we partnered with the wonderful and talented Kainani Kahaunaele to offer a
free event called Kūmaka. Kūmaka offered authentic mele and hula that speak of Waipiʻo Valley.
We focused on Native Hawaiian traditions such as chant (oli), song (mele), dance (hula), and
cultural history specific to Waipiʻo Valley. Through Kūmaka, we aimed to educate individuals
about the cultural significance of this sacred area.
Perpetuating Hawaiian culture through this genuine experience as the beautiful mele is sung,
chanted and danced to. The moʻolelo and place names were shared as well.
Kūmaka aimed to foster a deeper cultural understanding of the importance of stewardship of
Waipiʻo Valley, Waipiʻo Valley rimlands which includes the PONC location on the land called
Koaʻekea.
The food we prepared were mainly gathered from our different farm locations in and above
Waipiʻo Valley. The desserts were also made with produce we grew. Over hundred lei were made
utilizing plants we also grew at our different farm sites.
Musicians and hula dancers that performed at this gathering included: Kainani Kahaunaele,
Kaniaulono, Hāʻenaala & Kūaea Hāpai, Earl & Mark Kalawaiʻa, Jon Palos, Lito Arkangel,
Pulapula Yamanoha, Kaimana Kawaha, Kapua Kaʻauʻa, Moku & Kalei Young, Grant Kaʻauʻa,
Grant Baclig, Kahanuola Solatorio, Lina Robins, Healani Youn, Kalei Aarona Lorenzo, Kaʻea
Lyons, Kaʻiu Damas, Ryan McCormack, Pele Kaʻio, Mānaiakalani Kalua, Malia Nobrega-
Olivera, Ānuenue Pūnua, Koʻiahi Pūnua, Mahina Paishon, Emma Coloma-Nakano, Kēhaulani
Enos, Tem Nakano, Mehana Vaughan, Uʻilani Bobbit, Piʻilani Lua, Kauʻi Dalire, Manu Boyd,
Robert Cazimero, Nā Kamalei, Kuana Torres Kahele, and Raiatea Helm.
Sound Engineers were Brandon Nakano & Kaleo Akau.
3 Photographers/Film Crew companies helped to document the event which included: Andrew
Agcaoili, Andrew Hara, Joey Trisolini, and Mark Holladay.
Tanya Bierne and Jennifer Holani were in charge of the kitchen.
The photo above features a family who was staying in Kukuihaele and while visiting Hawaiʻi,
they chose to volunteer their time to help us prepare for the Kūmaka gathering.
Examples of the type of pūpū served. The sec6on for the main food was located to the right of
the pūpū.
The day was filled with beau6ful music, hula, chan6ng and ʻono food. Musicians selected mele
that honored / spoke of Waipiʻo Valley.
Above: Photo of some of our college friends who came out to kōkua with this gathering.
To prepare for the Kūmaka Event, many individuals came out to volunteer to help prepare the
site to ensure there was beauty all around. For the second half of PONC stewardship for 2024,
we worked along other families on New Years Day to help prepare the site as well as on January
2, 2025, and January 3, 2025. On January 4, 2025, we had a large group come to the site to
volunteer with seQng up tables, benches, decora6ons and we had help with cleaning up as
well.
January 4, 2025 the photo below shows one of the groups that came forward to volunteer on
January 4, 2025. They were the staff and students visi6ng from Carroll University.
January 5, 2025 visitors volunteered to help care for the gardens. We cleaned areas where the
sugarcane were growing.
January 20, 2025
Families from different parts of the island spent their holiday helping to mālama the gardens.
January 25, 2025
Volunteers from Hilo, Mountain View, and Kona came to help rotate weed mats, and dig out
guinea grass clumps. We needed to replant most of our orchids as we keep finding the orchids
out of the ground. S6ll lots of glass and other metal items are being found on the property.
January 29, 2025
Visi6ng families helped to weed around the ʻōhiʻa trees in the front of the parcel as new fencing
was being put up. When we first started our stewardship of the area in 2016, community
members filled out surveys and noted they wanted bamboo fencing. We had no idea that the
bamboo would need to be changed so o[en. We also didnʻt realize that the physical labor of
harves6ng the bamboo, preparing it and hauling it to the fence line would be le[ for us to do.
A[er redoing the bamboo fencing mul6ple 6mes, we tried u6lizing eucalyptus trees. Trees were
cut, debarked and oiled. Families drove in from different parts of the island to help us. Wild
dogs were s6ll able to come on to the property with the eucalyptus fencing. With this, we are
trying a new style of fencing.
This shows the process of puQng up the fencing. Each piece was cut into size and burnt to give
it a unique color. We oil the fencing on a regular basis with mineral oil.
February 23, 2025 Residents from Hilo, Puna, and Volcano came to kōkua with gardens.
February 24, 25, 26, 2025
Families visi6ng Hawaiʻi assisted with cleaning up the upper back por6on of the parcel. We are
still finding a lot of trash that has been buried on the site. Even though this is our 9th year of
cleaning up this space, we are s6ll finding items such as car ba`eries, glass, plas6cs, metals, and
car parts.
On the other side of the back por6on of the parcel, those we contracted used an excavator to
fill holes. Wild pigs dug large holes. We are constantly doing what we can to make the area
safe. In this photo, it gives an example of trash that we con6nue to find on the property. The
trash is mixed in with the soil.
LOTS of metal s6ll being found on the property. We were told that prior to us receiving
stewardship of the area, a local kupuna took his machine and buried the trash in different
areas. As we clean different areas, we are taking out the trash that this individual had buried. It
is in these areas that car parts, 6res, roofing, glass, and pipes are being found.
This is what our team is needing to do to get trash taken out from the property. Our family
recently purchased an older flatbed truck to help haul out the large pieces of trash since we
can’t take trailers to the rubbish dump.
It has taken so many people coming forward to clean up this parcel over the 9 years of our
stewardship. People traveled early in the morning from different parts of the island to help.
Visi6ng families spending 6me on their vaca6on to help mālama ʻāina. We con6nue to do what
we can to mālama this space.
9 years later and this is how much trash is being taken out in one day.
February 27, 2025
Honokaʻa School students cleaned up the front sec6on of Koaʻekea. They weeded the garden
along the Waipiʻo Valley access road and then dug out guinea grass on the hill.
March 4 & 5, 2025 Hawaiʻi island residents came to help us with weeding around the bananas
growing in the area.
The second half of the day, we taught people how to make 6 leaf lei.
This area has come a very LONG way!!! We are excited with all the progress.
Here’s an example of how beau6ful things are growing on the parcel.
March 11, 2025
This is an example of how our team needs to clear the bamboo along the fence line. KS owns
the parcel in the back of this area and their bamboo is constantly falling over onto the PONC
parcel. In addi6on to the bamboo, we have large amounts of palm leaves lined along our fence
line from the neighbor’s palm tree. Volunteers on this day helped us to drag the palm leaves to
the loca6on of the bamboo. We rented a chipper to chip the bamboo and all the palm leaves.
Here's the progress on the back area below the fence line where the bamboo on KS’s parcel is
growing. Most of the trash was removed. We are now able to mow in this loca6on. The bamboo
clumps that were growing in this area were mulched down a few 6mes with a forestry mulcher.
April 8, 2025
Honokaʻa School has been helping us throughout the years. On this day, the Hawaiian Studies
students came to kōkua to clean the gardens. It was raining on this day but the students helped
out even in the rain. On days such as this, keiki would have appreciated having a covered space
they could have gone under to take a break from the rain.
Grateful that so many students have been able to kōkua with taking care of the area. Rain or
shine, doing what they can to help care for this parcel.
April 20, 2025
Hosted 11 youth and 3 adults. As we do with each group, we shared moʻolelo and history of the area.
Helped with gardens.
April 22, 2025
12 visitors helped to clean up the banana patches. Community members that we contracted to
help us, cleaned the banana pulapula of pests.
April 23 & 24, 2025
6 Volunteers con6nued to help clean out banana patches.
May 1, 2025
9 Hawaiʻi island residents helped to weed around the front gardens. The ʻolena is blooming
beau6fully.
May 3, 2025
Hosted 5 individuals from O’ahu and we focused on cleaning the different gardens on the
property. The photo below is what the group wanted to share of the parcel a[er they were
done cleaning the front sec6on.
May 8, 2025
6 Hawai’i island residents helped to weed around the ‘ahu area and cleaned the top por6on of
the ‘ahu. We removed the vines growing around the area, weeded the ulu tree area (that is
growing next to the ‘ahu), and removed the yellow leaves from the 6 leaves.
May 9, 2025
17 Parker School students & 5 adults helped to mālama the front hillside of the parcel. We shared
moʻolelo and history as we do with each group.
May 11, 2025
4 Hawaiʻi island residents helped to plant ve6ver and we focused on mulching around plants
since it has been so dry. Our laukahi plants have dried up.
May 25, 2025
10 individuals from Hilo came to kōkua. We shared moʻolelo like we normally do with each
group, shared history of the valley and then par6cipants helped with tending to the ʻāina.
May 31, 2025
13 youth + 2 adults from Oʻahu came to learn and kōkua.
June 6, 2025
10 visitors & 8 Hawaiʻi island residents came to hear moʻolelo, history of the area, and help mālama
ʻāina.
June 17, 2025
15 Kamehameha School students with their Summer Program came to learn and Kōkua. Since a
male has been stealing puakenikeni daily from the PONC site to make lei and sell the lei, the
keiki planted more puakenikeni in hopes that when we need to make lei, there will be enough
for us as well. For years now, students and families that help to care for the puakenikeni have
come to gather flowers but werenʻt able to gather flowers since the male comes to the site early
in the morning. Even when we informed him that we needed to pick flowers, we s6ll found him
on the property stealing the flowers.
June 18, 2025
11 youth and 2 adults helping along the hillside where our team is working on puQng up
fencing for safety as it is a major drop off. The photo below shows the fencing and in front of the
fencing is a major drop off.
The fencing behind Jesse and Judah also was redone as pigs con6nued to come through that
loca6on. The fencing that both men are leaning on shows how it connects to the back fencing in
the loca6on where we are constantly cleaning up the bamboo falling over from KS’s land.
June 21, 2025
Large community day. We spent the morning sharing mo’olelo, doing protocol and sharing
history.
June 24, 2025
2nd group from Kamehameha Schools Summer Program. They helped with the front gardens.
On the following page, a le`er from Julian Walstrom is included. We hosted Julian and his
haumāna from Parker School in addi6on to some of their parents at Koaʻekea. It is such an
honor to be given opportuni6es to work with so many school groups, families, organiza6ons,
and individuals as we con6ue to care for Koaʻekea.
Aloha,
As a third grade teacher at Parker School, I have had the privilege of seeing firsthand
the impact that Pōhāhā I Ka Lani has on our keiki and community. Their work is not only
meaningful, but essential. By providing authentic Hawaiian cultural education rooted in
the values of aloha ʻāina and mālama ʻāina, they create opportunities for our students to
learn in ways that are both relevant and deeply transformative.
Through place-based education, our haumāna are able to connect classroom learning
with the land, history, and cultural practices of Hawaiʻi. This connection fosters a sense
of responsibility, identity, and pride that cannot be replicated in a textbook. Pōhāhā I Ka
Lani helps students understand that sustainability and conservation are not just abstract
concepts, but living practices tied to our ʻāina and our future.
Much of this success is due to the amazing presence and dedication of Auntie Kūlia.
Her deep knowledge, warmth, and tireless commitment bring these lessons to life in
ways that truly resonate with the keiki. She embodies the spirit of aloha and the
importance of ʻāina-based learning, making every experience meaningful and lasting for
our students.
Their programs, guided by leaders like Auntie Kūlia, support the growth of
environmentally conscious, culturally grounded young leaders who will carry these
values forward. For our school, this partnership enriches the curriculum, inspires our
students, and strengthens our collective commitment to honoring and protecting the
land that sustains us all.
I am deeply grateful for the work of Pōhāhā I Ka Lani and strongly support their
continued efforts to provide this vital education for our keiki and community.
Me ke aloha pumehana.
Julian Walstrom
Third Grade Teacher
w. (808) 930-0072