HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0021.144 - Testimony - CA-7 - PONC fund and Maintenance fundKeali'ikoa Hanoa
8th grade student
Volcano School of Arts and Sciences
Volcano, Hawai'i 96785
February 4, 2019
Charter Commission
Hilo,Hawai'i 96720
Regarding : 2% land fund program
Aloha Charter Commission,
My name is Keali'ikoa Hanoa and my parents are Pernell and Healani
Hanoa. We live in Mark Twain or by Kamaoa road which is a little pass
Waiohinu. I'm an 8th grade student at Volcano School of Arts and Sciences
and I am honored and happy to get to go to Kawa and malama the aina
down there. I've been going to Kawa for about two years now, doing and
putting in a lot of work. Kawa is a really precious.
Kawa was a special fishing site that was cherished by my Great Great
Grandfather, Henry Barba and other fishermen in the area. In the early
1980's, he filed a lawsuit Barba vs. Okuna. This resulted in the right to
Public shoreline access in Hawai'i. My Apiki `ohana still maintains our
Kuleana land at Kawa. The cultural values and historic sites are priceless.
When I first went down to Kawa, it was overgrown, really messy, and there
was only one spring. But with the guidance of Na Mamo 0 Kawa - Uncle
Kaui Felder, Uncle Kai Maguire, James Akau, Uncle Duane and Aunty
Clarissa Pua - We cleaned the place up by cutting the bushes back,
moving branches, picking up rubbish around the beach, uncovering the
hidden springs. Now after two years of cleaning and hard work, you can
Comm. No. 21.144
really see the difference. Everything is more open, not overgrown or messy
and there are more than one spring. It is a phenomenal and beautiful place.
Kawa is a sacred place or a Wahi Pana that should stay that way so that
when I get older, I will be able to get to see future generations doing what
we're doing and it'll bring back a whole lot of memories. This place is a
wildlife park which is public, but not crowded with people. Kawa can't have
flushing toilets or working faucets. Kawa is important to not just only the
people who live in Hawai'i, but for the people who come to visit as well. It's
also the home of many native creatures and plants.
Mahalo for listening,
Keali'ikoa Hanoa