Mahukona has been a part of Makaliʻi’s genealogy since the Bertelmann ʻohana was first introduced to Koʻa Heiau Holomoana by the Solomon ʻohana in the early 1990s. Marie and Sonny Solomon are Makaliʻi ʻOhana Kūpuna, and their daughter Patti Ann was a well known paddler and steerswoman for Kawaihae Canoe Club. She would become a beloved steerswoman, watch-captain, and family for Makaliʻi ʻOhana.
In the early 1990s, Kūpuna Solomon formed the hui Nā Makaʻala o Kohala with a group of Kūpuna from Kohala in order to address a potential resort development proposed by Surety Kohala. While the development faced decades of delays and resulted in the eventual sale of the 642 acre parcel, Mahukona remained untouched.
In 2020, Hawaiʻi Land Trust approached the Solomon ʻOhana and Nā Kālai Waʻa.
They had a path to save Mahukona from future potential resort development and place the land into conservation for community stewardship. “If they have a place of their own that they can come, feel touch, it’s real. Our people are real” said Patti Ann in a recent video produced by Hawaiʻi Land Trust, and she should know. Her physical connection to Koʻa Heiau Holomoana goes back generations, and she worked diligently to ensure that
future generations would be able to continue
voyaging from Koʻa Heiau Holomoana.
Hawaiʻi Land Trust is $1.2M away from reaching their $20M goal to purchase and permanently protect and steward Mahukona lands. They continue to work with the Solomon ʻohana, Kohala community, and Nā Kālai Waʻa to develop long term stewardship plans for this unique place. Nā Kālai Waʻa’s Holokai and Mahukona Stewardship programs bring students and community groups every month to help with native species eradication, to work in our Hālau Kālai Waʻa (vessel maintenance warehouse), or to learn at one of the coastal wahi pana (special spaces).
To learn more about the Ola Mahukona campaign, you can visit HILT.org/mahukona.
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