Hoʻonohopapa Koholālele Project Wins OHA Grant

Hāmākua Cliffs. Courtesy photo. 

Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili has been awarded a $120,480 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to support their Hoʻonohopapa Koholālele Project.

The Hoʻonohopapa Koholālele Project is a community-based ʻāina and aloha ʻāina restoration initiative, which will collectively engage ʻŌiwi community members in Hāmākua and on Hawaiʻi Island in place-specific practices of mālama ʻāina (native eco- and food-system restoration) and mālama wahi kupuna (cultural landscape regeneration), applied ʻŌiwi research and cultural training workshops at Koholālele, Hāmākua.

Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU), a community-based organization of ‘ohana from Hāmākua Hikina (East Hāmākua) on Hawai‘i Island, was founded in 2011. Its mission is to re-establish the systems that sustain community through place-based educational initiatives and ‘āina-centered practices that cultivate abundance, regenerate responsibilities and promote collective health and wellbeing, according to an organizational press release.

Starting with the reestablishment of Koholālele as safe place of refuge and learning, huiMAU envisions a Hāmākua Hikina that empowers ‘ohana with the capacity to noho papa—to live and thrive in Hāmākua for generations.

“This initiative is founded upon the belief that Pae ʻĀina sustainability will be established once again by a Lāhui that embodies deep, intergenerational relationships with ʻāina as poʻe aloha ʻāina,” said huiMAU’s Executive Director, Dr. Noʻeau Peralto. “We are humbled to have the support of OHA in our efforts to restore ʻāina abundance and renew our kuleana as aloha ʻāina in Koholālele.”

For more information on this program or to get involved, visit www.alaulili.com, follow huiMAU on Facebook or Instagram @kealaulili, or contact kealaulili@gmail.com.