Malama Waipio

"E malama poni I ka ‘aina; nana mai ke alo o Haloa"

"Take good care of the land; it grants you life of Haloa"

Our Hawaiian Cultural Practices and Resources

The quality and abundance of our Natural Resources within Waipiʻo Valley of our Kaiāulu “community” for the persistence of our ‘ohana (family) values, practices and life are within the subsistence of activities. “Our Inherent Right of our ‘Ohana Values in the preservation of guardianship and management to ensure availability of the Precious and Natural Resources for past, present and future generations. We will induce the Kānāwai ”Rules or Laws” of our behavior that is tied to our Cultural, Traditional beliefs and values regarding the Respect of our ‘Aina. The Virtues of sharing and not taking too much, are the Holistic Perspectives of Malama Waipiʻo to bring forth the organisms and ecosystems that emphasizes the Kaulike "balance" and Nohona "existence" of a relationship of Man and Nature. Our Hawaiian outlook that shapes these customs and practices is Lokahi "Unity" and maintaining the spiritual, cultural, traditional and natural balance with the “Elemental life forces of Nature”.

It is our Ancestral Knowledge that the Aina “Land” and its resources that are reinforced through continued management. “The management to the conditions Malama Wai[piʻo will bring onto the landscape with the resources and create the  changes due to seasonal and life cycle transformations. This alignment is critical to the preservation of our natural, traditional and cultural landscape. The land is valued beyond a commodity to us. It is the Foundation of our cultural, traditional and spiritual identity as Kānakā Māoli “Hawaiians” and Koʻpae ʻAina. We proudly have traced our lineage to the Lands and Seas in through our Valleys and Mountain regions as being originally settled by our Ancestors. 

"The Aina “Land” is our ‘Ohana and we care for it as we do with other living members of our families”. 

Hawaiian Cultural Resource Management Principles

The Four principles of our Cultural Kuleana "Responsible" duties: 

First, is the complex and basic unit of our Ahupua‘a system that is of our Hawaiian cultural resource management. 

Second, the Natural Elements of the ʻAina "Land", Lewa "Air", ʻAhi "Fire" and Moana "Ocean" that is interconnected, intertwined and interdependent. 

Third, of all the Natural Elements, ʻWai "fresh water" is the most important for Life and needs to be considered in every aspect of our ʻAina Kuleana "land responsibilities" of use and planning. 

Fourth, Our ancestors calculated the values of the ʻAina "land" and all Natural Elements and became very accustomed with its factor of its characteristics and valuable assets. Our Ancestral Knowledge of the ʻAina "land" was recorded and passed down through place names, mele "story telling", chants which were name of the winds, rains, and focal points of particular district(s), and legends; thus, it is important Malma Waipiʻo will bring forth these sources to educate about the culture, traditions and natural resources of Waipiʻo Valley.

 Cultural Land and Ocean Use Practices

Within our Hawaiian affairs, our ʻAina "land" and Moana "ocean" are integrated as a complete and unified source. Malama Waipio will set the methods and techniques of accessing, acquiring and or utilizing traditional and natural resources that may have change over time, but this does not detract from the fact that our resources are used and prepared for just Hawaiian customs that are practiced in relation to subsistence, culture and religion. Our Hawaiian customs and practices are embedded in the honor and respect for our traditional ‘ohana values and customs to guide subsistence values through harvesting of our natural resources. We only take what is needed and do not waste our natural resources. We Malama "take care of" our Papaʻhonua and Kupuna whom passed on the knowledge, wisdom and experience, with respect of all Kuleana resources to life itself.

 Cultural Practices

Traditionally, our cultural knowledge was remembered and passed down through our oral traditions in chants, legends, myths, genealogies, mele "story telling", kiʻi pohaku, scrolls  and inoa pana "place name(s)". There is still a wealth of knowledge that is kept alive and practiced by living descendants through generations of Hawaiian families, within the chosen ones who received traditional training such as wahi pana moʻolelo, kumu hula and kahuna la‘au lapa‘au. Moreover, our living culture is constantly undergoing growth and change with the influences of other culturals. Therefore, any effort to Malama Waipiʻo, we understand the sacred importance that has been documented by our ancestors therefore, the natural and cultural resources of Waipiʻo Valley must include consolidating our Kuleana of our ʻAina "Land" with the all Hawaiian and Non-Hawaiian ‘Ohana, kumu, and cultural groups who visit and live in the area to take responsibility for the Cultural, Traditional and Natural resources of the Ahupuaʻa O Waipiʻo.

Cultural Landscape

A cultural landscape is composed of physical elements, which manifest the technological and cultural basis of human use of the land through time. While Malama Waipioʻ identifies to reconstruct several components of a Hawaiian cultural landscape, of relevancy to Waipiʻo Valley. The Wahi pana, which are sacred sites such as heiau, shrines, burials, caves, graves, artifacts and geographic features associated with our deities and significant natural, cultural, spiritual, physical and historical phenomenon of past events are one of the set points for re-enactment. Malama Waipiʻo offers a description of Wahi pana in the introduction in Ancient Sites of Waipiʻo, as “The gods and goddesses of our disciples are specified and protected in places that are sacred. The inventory of sacred places in Hawai‘i includes the dwelling places of the gods, the dwelling places of venerable disciples, temples, shrines, as well as selected observation points, cliffs, mounds, mountains, weather phenomena, forests, and volcanoes.” Our domains of our ‘aumakua or ancestral deities is a very important component of our cultural landscape. These are places where particular natural and cultural areas are important as traditional domains of ‘aumakua or ancestral spirits and deities, where our Hawaiian ancestors renew our ties to the ancestral past through experiences with natural phenomena and witnessing the Ho‘ailona or Natural signs. Finally, trails and roads are part of the cultural landscape as we will provide safe passage and limited access to the cultural resources and use areas.