Maui: February-March 2014

“The Life” Cel ebra t in g the a r ts, cu ltu re, a nd s us t a inabilit y o f t he H awa iia n I s l a n d s Maui County Edition

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February–March 2014 • Pepeluali–Malaki 2014

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“The Life” Celebrating the a r ts, culture, a nd susta inabilit y of the Hawa iia n Isla nds

February–March 2014 Pepeluali–Malaki 2014

UA MAU KE EA O KA ‘ĀINA I KA PONO.

The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

[Its sustainability depends on doing what is right.] Proclamation by Kona-born King Kamehameha III in 1843. Later adopted as the Hawai‘i state motto.

Publisher, Marketing, Operations Barbara Garcia Bowman, 808.442.3244 x1, Barb@KeOlaMagazine.com

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Kaualani Pereira, 808.442.3244 x 2, MCeditor@KeOlaMagazine.com

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Land 13 Whispering Winds Bamboo Cooperative Farm Ola Honua—Life-giving Earth

By Kaualani Pereira

Ocean 9 Restoring Connectivity

The Life and Livelihood of a Lawai‘a

By Mikala Minn

People 5 Kimokeo Kapahulehua

A Leader for Sustainability

By Kame‘ema‘e Smith

Aloha from the Publisher

This issue completes our first year of Ke Ola’s Maui County edition. We also reached another milestone recently with our Hawai‘i Island edition, which completed its 5th year of publishing. Although the Maui County edition is growing at a slower pace than the Hawai‘i Island edition did in its first year, we are incredibly excited at the reception it’s getting! We’re getting comments from people telling us they see Ke Ola’s Maui County issue everywhere and that everyone loves it and is talking about it! That is music to our ears!

We have complete confidence that our second year will bring exponential growth. As more businesses find it a viable alternative for their marketing, you’ll get to read more and more stories, because as the number of advertisers grows, the number of overall pages will increase, giving us the opportunity to tell even more inspiring Maui, Lāna‘i and Moloka‘i stories.

We chose a painting of bamboo as our cover for this issue in honor of the Chinese New Year, since bamboo has been a symbol of good fortune in the Asian culture for thousands of years. It symbolizes longevity, durability and endurance because it can adapt and grow in many different conditions and still be strong. Since it grows rapidly, it also symbolizes prosperity. We love these analogies and are applying them to Ke Ola Magazine, too—watch us grow like bamboo! Happy New Year, may this be a year of abundant health, joy and prosperity.

Aloha pumehana,

Barbara Garcia, Publisher

Spirit 4 E Ho‘alahia Mai Na Kanaka Lawai‘a

By Cultural Practitioner Kaui Kanakaole

Ka Puana - The Refrain 18 Under Maui Skies

By Wayne Moniz

Departments

16 Featured Cover Artist: Jordanne 17 Talk Story with an Adverrtiser

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E Ho`alahia Mai Na Kanaka Lawai`a | By Cultural Practitioner Kaui Kanakaole

La‘ila‘i ē! La‘ila‘i!

La‘ila‘i ka moana kai uli, kai hohonu Ho‘ālahia mai ana i na wa‘a e holo, E liuliu, e mākaukau, a lāna i ke kai, Aia ka i‘a la i ke kai, Aia ka i‘a la i ka ‘āina, ‘Ono wale maila ka i‘a, E Kauhi ē! Hō mai ho‘i ua i‘a!

Calm! Calm!

The dark, deep ocean is calm, Encouraging the canoes to sail, Prepare, get ready to float on the sea, Fish are in the sea, Fish are on the land, Fish are delicious, Kauhi! Give me fish.

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

n “Ka Mo‘olelo Ka‘ao o Hi‘iakaikapoliopele,” Hi‘iaka utters this chant to Kauhi, the great fisherman of the chiefs. Her travels have found she and her companion tired and hungry and they come across Kauhi, who has just come in to shore from fishing and is passing out fish with his left and right hand to the mass of people who have gathered on the beach. She praises him in this chant, his prowess as a fisherman and his generosity to the people.

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The skill set required to be a good fisherman is vast, from knowledge about the ocean, tide, and moon, to carving a canoe that will safely take you where you need to fish, to making all the pono lawai‘a (fishing gear). Fishermen of our past and present carry these traditions that have fed not only our bellies, but our spirits. Ola na kanaka lawai‘a!

Ola na kini e!

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Kimokeo Kapahulehua:

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A Leader for Sustainability

awaiian culture is sustainability. Ancient Hawaiians encountered the same issues we face today: sustaining life on an island chain more remote than any in the world, maintaining a peaceful community, preserving natural resources, and navigating vast oceans that connect us to other island peoples. For 1600 years before western contact, Hawai‘i’s people successfully sustained themselves. Now, Hawaiians like Kimokeo Kapahulehua are discovering that cultural legacy is a rich resource for today and for tomorrow.

Peel away modern trappings and soon we discover how little it takes to sustain life, health and community on Maui.

Local conservation groups are replanting Maui’s mountains and shorelines with native plants that grow well in Hawaiian soils without fertilizers and thrive in many microclimates without irrigation. Some Hawaiians are growing traditional food crops like taro, breadfruit and sweet potato that improve health and longevity. Others are revitalizing streams and ancient fishponds to balance ecology and produce a steady supply of fresh fish.

| By Kama‘ema‘e Smith

Volunteers are restoring ancient sites and practicing ancient traditions. Maui’s artisans are recreating ancient crafts and tools.

It seems the simple lifestyle that served the ancestors so well, still works.

A community leader, expert paddler and Hawaiian practitioner raised on Kaua‘i, Kimokeo is helping Hawaiians succeed by adapting old ways in a modern world. His early career with Gray Line Tour Company took him to O‘ahu and Maui. After retiring from business management, he settled on Maui and under the tutelage of Kumu Hula Keli‘i Tau‘a, became a Hawaiian cultural practitioner and kahu. He started living a traditional Hawaiian lifestyle, and farming taro. Always a practical get-the-job-done manager, Kimokeo viewed Hawaiian practices as tasks to reach goals. As his understanding of the Hawaiian culture grew, his kuleana (responsibility) became creating cultural projects with positive benefits for the people of Maui.

“A taro patch is not just something to admire and feel good about—it is your source of food. If you respect it and work hard to keep it going, then you expect a good harvest,” says Kimokeo.

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Students listen attentively. Photo by K. Smith

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

In his way of thinking, canoes are not showpieces, but a means for travel, food gathering, transporting goods and physical conditioning. Fishponds are not backdrops for photos, but aquaculture sites to raise edible limu (seaweed), and limu eating fish that will feed the community. Voyaging canoes carry persons and goods to distant lands for trade and exploration; they are training vessels for young sailors, captains, and navigators.

While many cultural projects promote good will, pique our nostalgia, and develop respect for the past, Kimokeo looks for projects that have the potential to produce sustainable benefits to Hawaiians and all of Maui’s people—that is, projects that

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create food, shelter, skill building, or education. “As a Hawaiian, I don’t need much to sustain myself on Maui. I can get along well with what the land and the sea provides. But to do that, I rely on many skills. I am teaching the kids what I know, so they can get along too and sustain themselves in the future.”

Looking at the cultural projects Kimokeo works on, all are doing just that—producing benefits for children and adults. As an active member of the Kihei Canoe Club, he participates in competitions and teaches scores of children paddling and how to be good citizens. He helps brings the joy of paddling to physically and emotionally challenged keiki in their Adaptive Paddling Program, a collaboration with the County of Maui Department of Parks and Recreation, Hālau Maui Nui O Kama and Access Sport America. Kimokeo helped Maui Canoe Club start the Mana‘olana Canoe Club where cancer survivors build up their strength and renew their spirits.

At Hana Pono, LLC, Kimokeo and Kumu Keli‘i Tau‘a do cultural impact assessments to identify and interpret cultural artifacts, practices and historical land use for parcels being considered for development.

As President of ‘Ao‘ao O Na Loko I‘a O Maui, he oversees restoration of Ko‘ie‘ie Fishpond near Kalepolepo Park in the Ka‘ono‘ulu section of Kihei. Once ruined by a century of storm surge and neglect, fishpond walls have been rebuilt by volunteers who now continue to maintain them. Maui children and adults are learning how to plant edible limu and raise limu-eating fish, bringing traditional aquaculture back to Maui.

Kimokeo is Vice President of Waste Not Want Not, a Maui nonprofit that collects excess fruit from backyard fruit trees to feed the hungry. This year, Waste Not Want Not volunteers collected

experience left him with a keen zest for life and a deep kuleana to leave behind a positive legacy. “You see, I have a vision for the next 20 years, and what we do now counts,” he says.

“It’s not about the paddling, the canoe, the fishpond itself,” he explains. “It’s about how these sustaining skills and being part of a working ‘ohana benefit keiki, seniors, cancer patients, disabled kids, everyone…That’s what’s important.”

Hawaiian Leadership

Mo‘okiha Wa‘a Kaulua

Drive and Destiny Among all these projects, there are tangible benefits to the community; outcomes speak for themselves. “It’s not enough to get a grant and just complete the project, because it will only fail when the money runs out. Today, donors want to know they are investing in something that gives a permanent benefit.” How Kimokeo turns a project into sustained benefits is the magic of his vision and drive.

Where does Kimokeo’s drive to preserve Hawaiian sustainability come from? What pushes a man to take on so much for his community? Partly, it’s his kuleana. Years ago, he accepted a kuleana to take his canoe to all eight islands of Hawai‘i, and in 2008, he paddled over 1600 miles through the Northwest Hawaiian Islands (Papahānaumokuākea), as far as Kure Atoll.

Kimokeo is also a survivor. Once, he nearly died from ciguatera poisoning after eating contaminated fish. The near death

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

over 60 tons of ripe fruit, distributed to the hungry via the Maui Food Bank.

For the past five years Kimokeo has helped raise over $170K for cancer survivors through the “Paddle for Life” event. Fifteen canoe clubs from all the Hawaiian Islands compete in this fun event to raise money for the many Pacific Cancer Foundation programs that benefit and support Maui cancer survivors.

To bring cultural meaning and significance to canoe paddling, Kimokeo coordinates canoe club participation in traditional Hawaiian protocols directed by Kumu Keli‘i Tau‘a. Each year, 20 canoes bring ho‘okupu (offerings) to the ahu (shrine) at Wailea Beach, to bless the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Hui Holomua Business Fest.

In 2012, Kimokeo became President of the Hui o Wa‘a Kaulua Assembly of Double Hull Canoes to raise funds and community awareness for a voyaging canoe in dry dock for 17 years. The restoration of the 62-foot Mo‘okiha o Pi‘ilani, named after Maui’s King Pi‘ilani and the mo‘o (lizard) goddess of Mokuhinia Pond, is now completed. Over 500 children have participated in “Keiki Crew Training,” learning about the Hawaiian Star Compass, celestial navigation, lashing and knot tying, and parts of sailing canoes.

In many ways Kimokeo’s style of leadership is also from Hawai‘i’s past, learned from the elders in his own family. Great earthworks of Mau—fishponds, heiau (place of worship), systems of ‘auwai (ditch irrigation) that fed thousands of kalo (taro) patches—were conceived and built without blueprints, bulldozers or power tools. Hawaiian chiefs and experts communicated instructions orally. Workers memorized specific tasks. Problems were resolved by discussion, demonstration, and trial. Projects were planned, initiated, sustained and completed with prayer and ceremony. The great Ala Loa footpath that circumnavigates Maui, still visible as the Hoapili Trail in south Maui, is a wonderful example, as is Pi‘ilanihale, the heiau of King Pi‘ilani in Hāna, the largest heiau in Hawai‘i.

In his book, Ku Kanaka: A Search for Hawaiian Values, George Hu‘eu Sandford Kanahele describes Hawaiian leadership as a balance of spirituality, respect for the past, responsibility for the future, and a keen understanding of the dynamics of hierarchy, mutual benefit, reciprocal authority and aloha. Sustaining the community was everyone’s task, but responsibility fell to family headmen and the ali‘i (chief).

In June of 2013, Kimokeo lobbied the Hawai‘i State Legislature to provide permanent harbor slips for all the Hawaiian voyaging canoes in Hawai‘i. He went before this body with the support of all the voyaging organizations and legislators representing districts that are homeports for the canoes. Governor Abercrombie signed legislation to allow Ko‘ie‘ie fishpond in Kihei free docking.

Photo by Joylynn Paman Hawaiian chiefs built a very successful civilization with resources limited to mountain rock and trees, kula (fields) and firewood, and all that the waters of Kane and the seas of Kanaloa provided. Today, these resources are obscured or altered by modern development. If Maui were once again isolated from the rest of the world, survival would rest on the same ancient resources, and return to the sustaining lifestyle of the ancestors.

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Sharing the Legacy

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

Practical wisdom is what Kimokeo wants to redeem and share with the next generation. “Today we are teaching keiki what we know about growing our food, farming our fish, paddling, sailing, finding our way by the stars, reading the clouds for weather.

Our kūpuna passed these things down to us so we can sustain ourselves. We need to teach the next generation so they know, too.”

He teaches youth and gathers others who wish to do the same. Members of his hālau perform cultural services throughout the community. Within all the organizations he supports, when Kimokeo identifies volunteers who share his vision and want to work, he empowers them to do the job. He acts as overseer and mentor. On most business occasions, he is not a man of many words, limiting his comments to the task or problem at hand— assisting, informing, making sure that resources are applied to move the current project forward one-step-a-time. When he takes action, he does it efficiently and purposefully.

“Does anyone else have anything else they want to say?” is always his last question before closing a meeting. He wants to be certain that all questions and concerns are voiced. Meetings take time, and in Kimokeo’s thinking, time is too precious to spend holding back issues.

In many ways, meetings with Kimokeo are reminiscent of accounts in John Papa ‘Ī‘ī’s Fragments of Hawaiian History, (translated by Mary Kawena Pukui) where conversations and commands of the chiefs were very brief. Responsibility for careful attention and fulfilling the requests exactly is the kuleana

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of the listener.

All is carried out in a kindly unemotional manner befitting a chief.

Nevertheless, the heaviest responsibility falls on the shoulders of Kimokeo, who accepts the burdens of leadership with grace and calm.

His strength and reserved intensity inspires confidence.

Amidst fanfare last summer, Mayor Arakawa posed with Kimokeo, an honoree at Akakū’s 2013 Maui Walk of Heroes. This very notable but humble Hawaiian is a Maui community leader charting a course for sustainability that is as old as Hawai‘i itself.

Contact writer Kama‘ema‘e Smith: honumaui@gmail.com

Photo by Lyman Diego

Restoring Connectivity The Life and Livelihood of a Lawai‘a |

right shoulder. She won’t sit for long, as there is much to do around the house. Uncle Blondie nods his head toward a beam above the stairs to the front door of his house where a net is hanging. The top is green, the middle is white, and the bottom, clearly still in progress, is a deep red.

“That one is Kaula’s Uncle’s. He’s almost pau. Only the hardest part left—the skirt.”

He laughs as he remembers how many haumana (students) wanted to give up at this point, like the kids he was teaching at Hāna’s summer school for a number of years. “The skirt takes the most time”. And focus. It’s where the lead is sewn on, just as Hawaiians tied every eye using a kā (knitting needle) to measure the precise space between each knot.

As a young man, Uncle Blondie helped his father make nets in the traditional fashion, that is, from scratch. “Everybody else—all my brothers—were into diving and fishing. But me? I’d rather patch net,” says Uncle Blondie. “You know, back then, if you wanted to throw net, you had to know how to patch your own net. You go out, throw, and catch or not, you wash and hang your net. And that day, if there is a puka, you patch the net. If you wait, it’s not going to happen.”

“My father made nets, and so I wanted to be around him and do what he was doing,” Uncle Blondie says. “When I knew how,

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

T

he ahupua‘a was only as strong and finely interwoven as its fishermen’s best nets. Since we arrived to the Hawaiian Archipelago, fish has been the staple protein of our diet. The many varieties of fish in the Hawaiian waters, both perennial and migratory, provided lawai‘a (fishermen) a great selection to choose from. The life and livelihood of a lawai‘a was dependent on the seasons and the tides. To make harvesting easy and abundant, fishermen utilized handcrafted nets made of olonā (a native shrub) to surround gathering schools of near-shore fish, and to trap and entangle all kinds of fish gathering in the loko i‘a (fish pond).

In Hawaiian culture, a successful fisherman was considered highly valuable to his ahupua‘a. Within these organized divisions, mauka a makai (mountain to ocean), fishing communities made fair exchanges with mahi ‘ai (farmers) in the uplands, supplying fish, shellfish, seaweed, and salt to the entire ahupua‘a. Vital nutrients and flavor that enriched the diet of Hawaiians were harvested, trapped, and farmed, from the intertidal zone to the deep sea.

In Hāna’s one and only “subdivision”, overlooking Kapueokahi, also known as Hāna Bay, Uncle Joseph “Blondie” Kaina and his wife Barbara sit close, her hand comfortably resting on his broad

Story and Photos By Mikala Minn

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we made nets together. My father would go for a good while, then, when he went in the house, I would take over until he came back.”

When Uncle Blondie learned to make net from his father, it was weaved knot by knot. Together, they could finish one net in two weeks. And everyone in town wanted one, so they were busy.

Now, using the new method of joining Uncle Blondie with his multiple pieces most recent net of prefabricated fishnets, Uncle Blondie can share his favorite Hawaiian pastime without losing the short attention span of the Millenial Generation.

A proper throw net has a distinct pattern that allows it to catch air, open fully, and sink straight. So Uncle Blondie’s net has a center made of about 250 eye of prefab net. This is the first pu‘umana (new mesh). Then he weaves the second pu‘umana, and a larger ring-shaped piece of prefab net forms a ring around the center. Then another pu‘umana, and so on, until the final outside perimeter of the net, where the lead hangs.

Cutting just the right size and shape of each pu‘umana gives a throw net the shape and utility to do what it is supposed to do—catch fish.

When asked how he learned to cut lay nets, and make the connection between pu‘umana, the master net maker says, “I bought two nets, I brought them home and hung them up in the garage. And I just looked at them, and it looked pretty easy. So I said, I can do this.”

But no two nets Uncle Blondie makes are the same. They vary depending on a person’s height and reach. Uncle Blondie, like the best net makers, envisions the net someone will throw before it’s made. He’ll look them up and down and size them up, to envision a perfect match.

“All those guys make their nets like this now, it just makes sense.” Since Uncle Blondie learned to make net by hand, he tries to downplay the throw nets he’s making. “You know, I not one young guy anymore. If I was young like you guys, boy, I could make plenty.” But his mission has changed; he wants to pass on the skills he’s learned to the next generation of Hāna fishermen.

So, he made the change. And so did other old timers in Hāna.

Uncle Blondie nods his head toward his neighbor’s house, Uncle Andrew, and across the street, Uncle Roland, and down the road, Uncle Duke and Uncle Elliot. And then to the Heavens, Mama Mable, who was an icon in Hāna, according to craftsmen like Uncle Blondie, for making the absolute best nets, and only from scratch.

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

He goes on, “we had to make nets with more pu‘umana back then”—referring to when he would weave net from scratch,tying every single knot one by one with the hi‘a (weaver’s needle) made of bamboo.

“Nowadays, you can go to the fishing store and buy the hi‘a, but they’re all made from plastic. It’s not the same.”

Uncle Blondie uses hi‘a that he makes himself, even today, and he uses the same design for what makes a powerful throw net. “You want it light enough to throw far, and heavy enough to open wide and sink straight down,” he says.

His latest pupil sits across from Uncle Blondie. Kaula Moea‘i, an eighth grader at Hāna School, is shy to say the least. But he has a quiet confidence that reveals itself when he talks about the net he made with Uncle. “It’s too light. I bring it back, and when I go to throw, it slaps my back,” Kaula says. “I don’t know why, but it feels too light.” Uncle Blondie and Kaula happen to be neighbors in the subdivision.

Uncle Blondie doesn’t miss a beat, or a chance to get Kaula thinking about the art of throw net. He asks Kaula if he knows why the net feels like that. “Do you know how many lead are on your net? Did you count them?” Kaula is too shy to guess. But Uncle Blondie knows. “119. And if we had put on the more heavy lead, you couldn’t even lift ‘em!”

Kaula laughs and lowers his head humbly. He has qualities that you might have seen in lawai‘a of old. And Uncle Blondie nurtures those qualities. Kaula is a freshman in high school, and he’s trying everything, cross country, basketball, paddling and in his free time after homework and family time (he is the second eldest of seven children), he goes over to Uncle Blondie’s to work on his net. “You remember, Kaula, why I had to help you finish the skirt on yours?” His wife, Aunty Barbara chimes in, “you were so tired, after Aloha Week and float building, and your Uncle Leumel still made you come over to work on your net.” Uncle goes on, “Your hands was moving and I thought it was looking alright. Then, I see your head drop! I go, eh! He sleeping! I said, you pau. Go home, sleep.”

Uncle Blondie will always be a lawai‘a. He is a mainstay and Alaka‘i of the Akule Hui of Kapueokahi that watches over Hāna bay intently, everyday. The Hui harvests ono loa (Hawaiian Mackerel) when the opportunity arises, and they’ve recruited, simply through their continuous Hi‘a used by Uncle Blondie presence and

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generosity, a few young lawai‘a to drive a small boat to surround the school of fish when the time is right. The youthful fishermen don’t always get it right, sometimes missing the signal from shore and splitting the school, but mistakes will be made during the process, and the kūpuna know this, using every bump in the road as a teaching opportunity.

Sitting in his newly renovated Kaula Moea‘i garage, Uncle Blondie stares in the direction of the bay he knows so well, with trees and ever-crowding houses on the edge of the bay, blocking his view of the ocean.

It’s a skill every lawai‘a brings him or herself to acquire, an ability that takes patience and understanding. He keeps his gaze toward the sea, and asks me, “so what, you like make you one?” I do.

So he tells me, “you know, if you really like do ‘em and you come everyday for one hour, you be pau in one week. And plus, you get fresh eyes, so should be two shakes.”

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The days of plentiful olonā fiber are long gone, so the microfilament “suji” has replaced the strong braided twine. In its time, olonā was considered one of the strongest plant fibers in the world. Commercial throw nets are made in factories now, and the quality of the net suffers. And the mass production means that anyone and everyone can own a net. Does the quality of a net matter? It does, but not as much as having a wise mentor.

Sadly, not everyone has a great mind like Uncle Blondie showing them the way, and in turn, the art and the ecosystem suffer.

Regulations by state agencies attempt to protect the ecosystem that was once governed by kapu (taboo) and the watchful eyes of elders. Sometimes, these regulations are out of touch with the reality of a specific ahupua‘a’s needs and realities, and make it so elders cannot feed their families in the ways of old. Moon phases and other natural cycles guided lawai‘a as to when to step back and let fish and other ocean species like tako (octopus), ‘opihi (limpet) and limu (seaweed) rest and reproduce.

Still, many lawai‘a of today wait for the Māhealani moon phase to go fishing, and avoid fishing during moon phases such as ‘ole ku kahi, paying homage to their ancestry, and taking care of Hawai‘i’s vibrant ecosystems.

It’s getting dark, and Kaula is itching to leave. He stands up and puts away the net pieces strewn over the table. He closes the buckets and stacks them as they were. Uncle Blondie watches Kaula as the young lawai‘a sits down again.

Uncle says to Kaula, “I like take you out with your new net, so we can test it in the water.” Kaula nods in agreement. And so, the net weaves itself from generation to generation. ❖ Contact writer Mikala Minn: mikala.minn@gmail.com

Kipahulu

Malay Dwarf hedge

Guadua angustifolia

Whispering Winds Bamboo Cooperative Farm

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Ola Honua—Life-giving Earth

bamboo structures, and working with officials to change the building paradigm in the state.

Ryan Zucco, who has lived on the farm for 14 years, manages accounting, sales and farm machinery, changing hats from accountant to mechanic many times in same week.

He maintains all the diesel machines on the farm, from the wood chipper to the tractors, and keeps the Rich VonWellsheim, general manager and business well oiled. co-owner of WWBC. Seth Raabe manages WWBC’s commercial nursery, which supplies Maui and several nurseries on O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island with over a dozen species of non-invasive clumping landscape, timber, and edible bamboo plants, as well as a variety of grafted fruit trees, native and flowering trees. Seth Seth Raabe, also runs the apprenticeship program for apprenticeship the farm, educating a new generation of coordinator, sustainable farmers. nursery manager, Melanie Bondera is visiting the and co-owner. farm today. She works for The Kohala Center based on Hawai‘i Island, in their Cooperative Development program. The Kohala Center chose to consult with WWBC in 2013, in line with their mission to help cooperatives in Hawai‘i.

She and Dana Shapiro, also from the Kohala Center, have been to the farm several times Ryan Zucco, coover the last year, conducting owner of WWBC. board trainings, business

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

isty clouds form above the canopy of a densely planted forest of koa trees on a ridge above Whispering Winds Bamboo Farm in Kipahulu, Maui. The native planting, and the ridge above, is known locally as “Cable Ridge.” The trees, now about a decade old, already have the feel of an established native forest similar to the ones found in protected lands around the state.

Just as impressive as the canopy of these koa trees is the vigor of the bamboo clumps growing at a lower elevation on the land, in the 18 acre bamboo plantation. The tallest of these non-invasive, clumping bamboo species—Hitam, Oldhamii, Atter, Guadua—jut dramatically into the sky at heights of 80’ and taller. The sound in the plantation is reminiscent of a silenced orchestra, tuning and warming up just before a performance. In here, the maestro is the wind.

The three worker-owners of the Employee-Owned Cooperative Whispering Winds The Whispering Winds Bamboo nursery.

Bamboo (WWBC) have their hands full, between native reforestation, bamboo propagation, and creating a new paradigm for building in Hawai‘i. Rich von Wellsheim, Ryan Zucco and Seth Raabe are hoping to make their locally grown timber bamboo a household name, creating fiscal sustainability while perpetuating the goals of land management planned out years ago under the land’s project name Ola Honua (meaning life-giving earth): native forest restoration, timber production, watershed protection, and education. They each play a crucial role in meeting the goals of the cooperative.

Rich von Wellsheim is the bamboo mastermind and architect, with a mission to “create a culture of bamboo in Hawai‘i” by perfecting its cultivation and processing, designing and building

| Story and Photos By Kaualani Pereira

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Gigantichloa atroviolaceae, also known as ‘Atro’

operations assessments, and strategic planning with WWBC. This time, Melanie is here for a short meeting before jetting to Kahului to meet with another cooperative she is consulting with. Her services are offered for free to WWBC, and all other cooperatives in the state, as an effort to revitalize a new generation of co-ops

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

in Hawai‘i.

“These guys are really on the right track,” she shared, “and they’re so unique in Hawai‘i because they are a worker’s co-op.

There are only two other worker-owned cooperatives in the state,” Melanie added.

Besides being a leader in the cooperative model for Hawai‘i, doing business in a truly democratic structure, WWBC is pioneering the market for locally grown, sustainable timber. Their bamboo plantation, which has been organically and biodynamically managed for 13 years, is a living In the bamboo plantation, a path warehouse of timber marks a division. On the left, bamboo, a material Guadua, on the right, Atro used widely in Asia and

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Central and South America.

Here in East Maui, where rivers flow from mountain to sea, unimpeded by diversion or lack of rainfall (an average of 80 inches a year), WWBC’s clumping timber bamboo thrives just like in the jungles Bamboo poles that have of Central America and been treated and cured East Asia. The species they have focused on cultivating, harvesting, and treating are regarded worldwide as the best for building: Guadua angustifolia, Bambusa oldhamii, the chocolate black Bambusa lako, and the deep dark purple Gigantochaloa atroviolacea.

In 2011, WWBC purchased and installed a 4,000 gallon pressure treatment vessel with a Tri-Isle RC&D grant. The culms (individual bamboo stems used for building) harvested from the plantation, are treated on-site with a borate solution in the treatment vessel which protects the timber from insect damage. The availability of treated bamboo timber poles created the possibility of offering sustainable and Peeling a Nastus bamboo solid structures. shoot, ready to eat Rich, along with an intern on the spot from MIT, Yuliya Bentcheva, designed several different

Contact WWBC: info@whisperingwindsbamboo.com Contact writer Kaualani Pereira: mceditor@keolamagazine.com

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Oldhamii culms, or stems, which are used for building

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

kit structures that are assembled with stainless steel straps, a modern interpretation of the fiber lashing used on bamboo structures in Asia. This simple yet extremely strong design can be found all around WWB’s farm, from the “coconut caddy” which houses fresh cocos, to the “bee bonnet” that shelters wooden beehive boxes, to a large double carport under which you can often find Rich’s 1970 Biodiesel Mercedes station wagon.

Almost half of the land under WWBC’s care, 75 acres, has been dedicated to native plant and habitat restoration in partnership with Hawaiian Islands Land Trust (HILT) since 2004. Margaret Hecht, the original owner of the property, imagined a sustainable community stewarding the land. Four years Dolichomerithalla ago, Margaret passed the land bamboo to her son, Grey, and under the careful management of the WWBC team and Grey, the project is still living up to its original vision.

“I’m the traveling roadshow for abundance,” says Grey. He has arrived to the farm for a few days from a project he is managing in Costa Rica. He doesn’t visit Maui much, because WWBC is managing the land, and Grey has a fruit tree orchard in Oregon, land in California and a small farm in Costa Rica to look after.

“This is a great team to have on this land,” he says. He visits a few days a year, to “empower these guys to create abundance, which is the vision for Ola Honua.” “We’ve just finished phase 1 of this project—tree planting,” Grey says of the dozens of acres planted in teak, African mahogany, kamani and pheasantwood. Grey is here this time to plan phase 2 with the guys, looking at the bigger picture of the land and the lessons they’ve learned in the last several years.

A grant from the Hawai‘i Forest Stewardship Program, which “provides assistance to owners of private forest land that are interested in Nastus elatus conservation, restoration, and/or timber production,” has allowed WWBC to undergo its native reforestation efforts with prowess. Exclosures were laboriously erected surrounding Cable Ridge in often muddy conditions and treacherous steep terrain, with the help of helicopters, volunteers, and a paid crew of local hunters and conservationists.

Dozens of native plants are protected, while invasive species are simultaneously removed, and the effects are noticeable.

And here, the land thrives with the attention it receives, with a bit of tending, weeding, a watchful eye, and caring stewards. ❖

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W

Featured Cover Artist:

Jordanne

hen Jordanne came to visit Lāna‘i with her family in 2002, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the picturesque island.

When the rest of her family boarded the plane, she decided to stay. The island called to her. She began painting the historic homes in Lāna‘i city, wanting to capture each fleeting moment in time. As her website states, “Jordanne works mostly in PleinAir (painting in the open air.) Her mediums of choice are oils, acrylic with gold leaf and watercolor. Jordanne is known for her paintings of Hawaiian landscapes, plantation homes, bouquet arrangements and signature gold-leaf pineapple paintings.” Aside

By Kaualani Pereira

from showcasing her work at the Four Seasons Resort on Lāna‘i from 2003-2012, Jordanne opened a gallery in Makawao in 2010, where her art can be viewed on Maui. She has an award winning portfolio, a unique perspective on the islands, and a true passion for capturing the beauty of the moment.

Contact Jordanne: Jordanne@JordanneFineArt.com Contact writer Kaualani Pereira: mceditor@keolamagazine.com

Genealogical Clearings: • Cutting Psychic Cords • Honoring our Ancestors

Founder of the Ministry of Fun

LiLi Townsend

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www.MinistryofFun.com LiLi@MinistryofFun.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

Come for the best coffee when visiting the Big Island

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Healthy Skin Maui

Talk Story with an Advertiser

Healthy Skin Maui At the Hale Malu Integrative Wellness Center

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

ealthy Skin Maui is serving customers in their new office at Hale Malu Integrative Wellness Center in Wailuku. Their unique team offers a holistic approach at Hale Malu, a lovely facility with other practitioners who offer complementing services of acupuncture, massage, and even micro-current facelifts.

Dr. Alice Adee is a board-certified family practitioner, originally from California, who has been practicing in Hilo for over 20 years.

Dr. Adee still practices in Hilo, and began practicing on Maui several days a month in 2011. She now has a full time esthetician and nurse on staff at Hale Malu.

The treatments available at Healthy Skin Maui complement a wide variety of other practitioners on Maui, and they regularly refer clients to other practitioners for the best possible care.

Their services can benefit everyone: young people that may need a better skin care regimen emphasizing sun protection and controlling skin conditions like acne, and as natural aging occurs, many patients can benefit from more intensive skin care to rejuvenate their skin as well as injections to relax muscles that are causing a wrinkle or a harsh look to the face. Using small amounts of muscle relaxers from the botox family, they work to create a relaxed, natural appearance for their clients.

They also feature a pulsed light machine, similar to laser technology but faster and often more affordable, which treats sun damage, broken blood vessels, some acne conditions and hair removal.

The team at Healthy Skin Maui strives to make sure each person has a program that works for them and is affordable for long term maintenance of their appearance and health.

Healthy Skin Maui 233 South Market Street, Wailuku at the Hale Malu Integrative Wellness Center 808-270-0090 Val@HealthySkinMaui.com HealthySkinMaui.com

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Ka Puana–The Refrain Following is an excerpt from Wailuku born Wayne Moniz’s book Under Maui Skies.

Used with permission.

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, February/March 2014

A

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thousand stars glistened in the heavens, the moon so strong it seemed to penetrate Haleakalā’s lei of clouds that teased distant Kaho‘olawe. ‘Ulupalakua Ranch’s thousands of silent acres had lulled Ramón Acuna into a meditative state.

His contemplation of the summer skies was broken by snorting, scrunching sounds in the nearby shrubs. Normally, pouwai‘u did not include staying overnight with the wild longhorns. But this beast—tied to the strongest kiawe around— hadn’t exhausted his anger that morning and was still full of fire.

“Calle la boca!” Ramón shouted at the two orbs in the dark.

The bull snorted back in defiance.

Ramón had decided to stay the night. The bulk of the herd was back at the ranch for branding. His wife was in Hilo with the relatives. So Ramon took the time to heal his gnarled hands.

People thought he had arthritis, but his hands, like twisted kiawe, didn’t hurt. They just looked distorted from pulling strands of rawhide to make the well-known kaula ‘ili and bridles, an art he had learned from his father.

Ramón was a descendant of the vaqueros invited to this land

by King Kamehameha III to train Hawaiians in the art of cattle ranching. The vaqueros were skilled cowboys, but they were mestizos, the lowest of classes in old Mexico. Moving to Hawai‘i, they raised themselves to a respectable level, which is why Grandma Lum was able to marry Ramón’s grandfather, Ventura Acuna. Once married, he did not have to return to the poverty and degradation of Monterey.

Like a true vaquero, Ramón pulled, from underneath his blanket, the black guitar he had dubbed Makaleka, after his mother. Too showy, some Mexicans would say, a caustic comment to remind him of the caste system his family came from. Tonight he’d sing of the surreal world of Maui: a land of daylight moons, purple Jacaranda muffling the Kula hillsides, and the fragrance of eucalyptus wafting through its groves.

As he was about to sing his song of solace, a thundering jolt shook the campsite. The belligerent longhorn snorted and stomped the ground, and the hollow lava tubes beneath his feet amplified the echoes. These tunnels were dangerous. Ramón recalled when Josie Manoa took a mean spill, horse and all, into one of their crevasses. Ramón knew the bull was clamoring for a different reason this time. Someone was coming. The thirdgeneration vaquero heard jingling in the dark.

“Ramón!” a male voice called out.

He recognized the faceless voice. How did anyone know he was here? Only Chris at the ranch knew, and he’d gone home early, because Rosemary was sick.

“Ramón Acuna? It’s me, Henry Saffrey!”

“Sheriff, what the hell you doing here?”

“I’m staying overnight at my brother’s place in Makawao

to see the parade for ‘Ikuā Purdy. You heard, eh?

The celebration’s tomorrow.”

“Ho, he must have done good in Cheyenne.”

“Broke the world record. Ran that pipi down in fifty-six seconds. Get one big shindig for him in Makawao town tomorrow.”

“Auwē. I don’t think I can get back in time. I’ll stop by the house when pau hana for congratulate him. So whatcha doing here, Sheriff?”

“Ramón, I need one favor.”

“What is it?”

“You going to do your usual thing tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Go all the way down to Mākena for check the walls and fences, any strays?”

“Yeah. So?” “So you can keep your eyes on Albert Devil when you down there?”

“Albert Devil? What, he spreading cheer again?”

“If you call illegal drugs, cheer.”

“Sorry, Sheriff, but as soon as I check out the pens, I gotta go Kahului for pick up Dolores. She’s over in Hilo. Plus I no like being nīele about good guys or rotten ones.”

“I’ll pick up Dolores for you, plus give you some uku for playing deputy.”

Ramón was curious about the money. He needed to cover Dolores’ $5 roundtrip ticket on the S.S. Haleakalā. Henry uttered, “Twenty-five dollars,” and Ramón’s interest was stirred. That was a lot. His daily wage was 50¢.

“Before I say yes, tell me so more?”

“No need change your schedule. Do the same thing you normally do, but keep your maka wide open.”

“You beating around the bush, Henry.”

“Okay, hea’s the scoop. We spotted one Chinese vessel anchored off the other side of Kaho‘olawe. Albert Devil hired a couple of local boys to take their canoes out, dive thirty feet down, and untie bags of opium hanging underwater from ropes top-side. The boys don’t know how much the bags worth. Then they sail the booty over to Albert at Keawakapu for manini wage.

All you gotta do is follow Albert from one distance. He not going suspect your usual routine. We gotta send him back to San Quentin and put away the distributor, too.”

Ramón was hesitant. Albert Devil had a mean streak and wouldn’t be afraid to use his Winchester, even on his own mother. Ramón uttered a belabored, “Uh.” “Promise, all pau when you get back home, Ramón.”

“Okay, okay, as long as you no make it a habit, Henry. After all, I only one cowboy.”

He raised his hand. “Let’s get it over with.”

“Do you promise to uphold the laws of the Territory of Hawai‘i?”

“I do.”

“By the authority of the Territory of Hawai‘i, I hereby deputize you.”

“Amen!”

“Well, Ramón, I better get outta here. I’ll see you tomorrow night when I bring Dolores home.”

Contact author Wayne Moniz: wamomaui@gmail.com Available at: Native Intelligence, Wailuku; Hasegawa General Store, Hāna; Village Gallery, Lahaina; Maui Friends of the Library; Bailey House, Wailuku; Barnes & Noble, Lahaina; KoaBooks.com

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