Puna regenerating economy with new cultural, entrepreneurial community hub

A 45-foot long slide standing 15 to 20-feet high awaits Big Island residents and visitors of all ages interested in the ancient Hawaiian sport of heʻe hōlua, or lava sledding.

The Pāhoa Lava Zone Museum is a nonprofit aimed at creating a vibrant and sustainable community by promoting responsible stewardship of lower Puna and educating Puna’s residents and visitors about the impacts of the 2018 Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone eruption.

With help from the community, including a cultural practitioner and hōlua expert, kumu Keone Kalawe, the Pāhoa Lava Zone Museum has been able to modernize the practice of hōlua by making it safer with artificial turf and portable for events.

The hōlua project has already been taken to Pohoiki and the Hawaiʻi Academy of Arts & Science for cultural events, and it will also be used toward a larger mission to regenerate the Puna’s economy through Hale Hālāwai O Puna, a community hub that will be located in downtown Pāhoa.

This new cultural and entrepreneurial community hub will give residents and visitors better access to culture, creativity and authentic experiences rooted in the dynamic Puna community, said Amedeo Markoff, principal officer of the Pāhoa Lava Museum.

“Hale Hālāwai O Puna is for all Puna’s cultural practitioners to share the art forms they produce with everyone, whether its carving waʻa, lei making, poi pounding, hula dancing, or hōlua sledding,” Markoff said. “This will be an opportunity to educate visitors, so when they go out they donʻt become a problem and then the community can the utilize the power of economy they bring with them.”

The 2018 Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone eruption and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has caused a ripple effect on Pāhoa’s economy due to the loss of vacation rentals, agricultural land and the fish industry with the disappearance of the Pohoiki boat ramp.

“We have less infrastructure, but there are many people moving to Puna and downtown Pāhoa hasn’t seen positive benefits from it,” Markoff said. “I think the county has seen the need to help us focus on the economy.”

The new hub also will be beneficial to the cultural practitioners in Puna.

Last week, the Hawaiʻi County Council voted to transfer $10,500 in contingency relief funds from Hawaiʻi County Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz to the Department of Research and Development Tourism for a grant that will be used to partially fund the hub, which will educate keiki to kupuna through cultural practices and promote economic opportunity from tourism.

“Native Hawaiian communities want a resurgence of practice and pride with tourism, and this reimagining of tourism will show the community how it can be done in a regenerative and sustainable way, with practices unique to the lower Puna area, like the hōlua sled,” Kierkiewicz said.

With help from county funds, Hale Hālāwai O Puna will launch with a cultural mākeke (market) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.

“We wanted to do a large community hui with members of the county to get this project off the ground and show what these events could look like through Hale Hālāwai, which is more than a market,” Kierkiewicz said. “This is an opportunity to prioritize what is important to the people of Puna and give cultural practitioners, artists, and small business owners the opportunity to thrive.”

Some of the demonstrations that will be featured during the hub’s launch event include, heʻe hōlua, carving waʻa, lei making, pounding poi, drinking ʻawa and hula dancing.

Heʻe hōlua was a form of recreation typically practiced by aliʻi (ruling class), but was also done in honor of the goddess Pele, who was revered for her ability to hōlua. The sledding act — then and now — is steeped in protocol, including oiling papa hōlua (sleds) and riders with kukui nut oil and sometimes laying down mats of pili grass or ti leaves to smooth and add friction to slow the ride.

“The idea is to encourage tourism on our terms, in a way the community supports,” Kierkiewicz said. “Sometimes our visitors are not aware of what they are stepping into and how special these places are that many locals frequent.”

Ultimately, the hope is to establish a foundation of tourism in Puna that is “respectful, equitable and circular, so success is reinvested into the community,” Kierkiewicz said.

The first event on May 3 also will commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 2018 eruption with an Activate Puna town party and evening paina (concert) from 4:30 to 10 p.m. The entry fee is $10 in advance and $15 at the door, with all proceeds supporting the cultural mākeke and future town parties.

After the launch of Hale Hālāwai, the Pāhoa Lava Museum will host two more cultural mākeke in June and have plans continue hosting the locally-focused marketplaces, cultural celebrations, community meetings, educational workshops and town parties in the dynamic gathering place of downtown Pāhoa.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Hale Hālāwai O Puna website, which will be live soon.