For many, Hana is the idyllic little country town at the end of a scenic drive along Maui’s windward coast. Its small bay, churches, and rolling green pastures are reminiscent of an era many today feel nostalgia for. But Hana’s isolation has posed a challenge for its economy and has limited opportunities for its younger generation. Most of the district’s youth are Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian and come from low-income backgrounds, with low SAT scores. Few attend college.
Residents often find themselves caught between their love for their rural lifestyle and environment and their need for work. Often the only choice they have is to settle for a service-sector job with the local resort or move to the city and sacrifice the beauty and pleasures of country living, Hana style.
Enter Makahinu and Pat and Cockett, a husband and wife team dedicated to helping Hana overcome this dilemma. Kukulu Kumuhana (meaning to build a foundation) is their alternative education project and non-profit organization. Like many grassroots visions for community preservation and empowerment, it is ambitious. Unlike many, it is being built on strong foundations, not least of which are recent federal grants of about $2.4 million.
Pat has been a force of change in her own right at Hana School. In 1997, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs granted her funds to start up an agricultural-ethnobotanical program at the school, focusing on the propagation, protection and reforestation of Hawai`i’s native plants.
Much of the Pat’s own knowledge came from her father, who was a forester. She was taught in the old style, going out into the field and learning about the plants and their habitat directly. “Basically, I learned from doing,” she says, and that’s the approach she uses with her own students. She moved to Hana in 1979 and fell in love with the area, eventually becoming an English and Hawaiian Studies teacher at the school.
After realizing that there were gaps in the conventional curriculum, Pat designed an alternative that would give students more concrete knowledge about where they came from and what made it precious enough to protect. In keeping with Hana’s agricultural zoning, the ag sciences program was developed to preserve the area’s natural resources and contribute to a more diversified, community-based economy. It incorporates relevant vocational skills including aquaculture, tissue culture, hydroponics and sustainable agriculture into a broader scientific and cultural understanding of the entire ahupua`a.
Once introduced to Pat’s ag sciences program, one is left to wonder why all of Hawai`i’s schools don’t follow suit. Apart from the learning that occurs, it just looks like so much fun.
Much of the students’ work focuses on an ongoing experimental garden on school grounds. Plantings are grouped into categories such as endemics (plants unique to Hawai`i), endangered species, Polynesian introductions, la`au (medicinal), and landscape or ornamental. A corridor of banana, breadfruit, wauke, kukui, ginger, and many other species is flourishing on the campus. Some of these plants, such as native sandalwood, will later be replanted in the wild. Instead of using herbicides, students clear weeds with hand tools and learn the long-term advantages of organic growing methods. Along with gaining insight into the utility of scientific research and inquiry, they gain an appreciation for traditional cultural uses and values.
“There’s a lot of labor in this program, so you can’t be afraid to get your hands dirty,” says Pat, “but conservation awareness is a big component of it and one that ultimately benefits the kids and the community.” She takes her students on frequent field trips and community service activities, from collecting rubbish strewn on Kahiki Nui mountain to clearing invasives in the wild and replanting natives.
Out of the program’s success sprouted the seeds for Kukulu Kumuhana. Pat and Makahinu wanted to build a bridge between the school and the broader community. “Our community is so full of expertise and rich resources, but it’s not always easy to access them directly through the school,” she says.
Based on this approach, Kukulu Kumuhana combines a commitment to preserving Hana’s environment and culture with sustainable local economic development. The centerpiece of the project is a “youth entrepreneurial cultural learning center” directly across the street from Hana High and Elementary School, which is also Kukulu’s main partner. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has granted the permission to use five acres for the center, with the prospect of expanding it some day to 11 acres.
A group of hale is planned for the site. Some will house student displays describing Hana’s environment, history and culture. Others are planned for demonstrations of arts and crafts, including kapa making and wood carving practiced by artisans in the community. Plots of land will be offered to people wanting to experiment or contribute their knowledge of different products. Eventually, there will be an animal husbandry component as well.
So far, one hale has been built and blessed. A little over an acre has been cleared with equipment and labor donated by Maui County. A rock wall is up and a small taro patch has been planted. Maki, who knows how to wala`au, goes out into the community to garner support. A former musician, his enthusiasm and energy for the project are infectious.
“We’re trying to get the kids to break ground and utilize their creativity because we want them to have a connection to where they’re from. You can travel the world, but it’s nice to know youÿve got a great place to come home to.”
In partnership with organizations such as Alu Like, Na Pua Noe`au, Haleakala National Park and the Kipahulu `Ohana, Kukulu Kumuhana hopes to create a series of links uniting everyone with similar values along the coastline, an activity Maki likens to “threading the needle through the flowers.”
“This is a we/us/our thing, and the land is allowing it to happen.”
For more information:
Kukulu Kumuhana
P.O. Box 413
Hana HI 96713
808 248-7287
[email]KukuluKumuhana1@aol.com[/email]
— Catherine Black
Volume 12, Number 1 July 2001
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