Technical ReportPDF Available

Traditional & Customary Practices Report for Manaʻe (East) Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi

Authors:

Abstract and Figures

Over the years, the people of Manaʻe (East Molokaʻi) have witnessed a notable decline in the health of their watershed. A significant part of this declining health is the degradation of the mauka (mountain) native forests, which has subsequently had a drastic effect on all of the ahupuaʻa (traditional land divisions) of Manaʻe, from mauka (mountain) to makai (sea). Ensuring the well-being of these mauka areas is essential to the preservation and perpetuation of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices carried out in the moku (district), given the symbiotic relationship between the people and their ʻāina. Thus, Manaʻe residents are passionate about protecting their moku and the resources that sustain them. It is their protectiveness of their island that often puts them at odds with each other in deciding how best to care for her – which is at the core of this report. In 2013, the possibility of protecting Manaʻe’s mauka rainforests with a fence was proposed to the community through the draft East Slope Watershed Start-Up Management Plan (“East Slope Management Plan”), which was prepared by the East Molokaʻi Watershed Partnership (EMoWP). That plan was based on the recognition that the degradation of these mauka areas was largely attributable to an influx of habitat altering invasive plant and animal species that have significantly impacted native forests, the life that inhabits them, and the freshwater they foster. The proposed fence has elicited strong reactions from the Manaʻe community – both for and against such a fence. It also caused some community members to call for additional planning that looks at the entire moku and all of its ahupuaʻa, from mauka to makai. In response to these strong reactions, the planning process to create this report was undertaken. The purpose of this report is to accomplish the following objectives: (1) Recognize that the people of Manaʻe (East Molokaʻi) regularly exercise Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, and document those practices. (2) Provide an explanation of Native Hawaiian legal protections pertinent to Manaʻe kamaʻāina’s traditional and customary practices. (3) Develop a framework for a community-based Subsistence and Ahupuaʻa Management Plan for the Manaʻe Moku, Mauka to Makai. (4) Summarize community recommendations for the East Molokaʻi Watershed Partnership’s East Slope Management Plan (January 2014 draft). The primary steps taken to reach these goals included: • Documentation of residents’ traditional and cultural practices in the moku of Manaʻe; • Gathering mana‘o (input) from key informants (kamaʻāina and other experts) regarding how best to protect these resources and practices; • Analysis of legal protections specific to Manaʻe families exercising Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices within their moku and ahupuaʻa; • Reconciling varied perspectives and information where possible and finding common areas of agreement in manaʻo shared by Manaʻe families in terms of traditional and modern ʻāina (land) stewardship and ahupuaʻa resource management; • Identifying the recommendations that best incorporate and honor the collective manaʻo, and weaving them into a framework for a community-based Subsistence and Ahupuaʻa Management Plan for Manaʻe, Mauka to Makai. • Summarizing community recommendations for the East Slope Management Plan.
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
... Some ranches in Hawaiʻi already offer work-trades that have increased hunter access to feral pigs. Given recent impacts from exponentially growing Axis deer populations on the islands of Maui and Molokaʻi (Akutagawa et al. 2016), private landowners may be more willing to develop agreements with hunters to reduce deer populations on their lands. ...
... The Hawaiian value of kuleana can be defined as rights as well as responsibilities (Vaughan 2018). In Hawaiʻi, pig hunting was affirmed as a traditional and customary right under Hawaiʻi's State Constitution, Article XII, Section 7 in the State v. Palama 2016 court case, involving a Hawaiian farmer and hunter as the defendant and DLNR as the plaintiff (Akutagawa et al. 2016). The court ruled that since hunting existed in Hawaiʻi before 1892, the act of hunting pigs on private property was constitutionally protected. ...
... Yet, participants in our study recognized the integration of protected rights with responsibilities. The Akutagawa et al. (2016) study utilized interviews on the island of Molokaʻi regarding resident perceptions of hunting as a traditional and customary right and their opinions on a potential fencing project that would exclude ungulates from one area of the island (Akutagawa et al. 2016). One participant in that study recommended building small fencing units that were easier to manage because large fences may fall into disrepair. ...
... Integrating place-based and complementary knowledge systems into assessments can help ensure sustainable management under future climate change. 194,195 Traditional Cast Net Fishing Species loss threatens the traditions, livelihoods, and resilience of Pacific Islanders. ...
... Based on a broad evidence base including peer-reviewed literature and Indigenous Knowledge, there is very high confidence that adaptation actions such as traditional farming, fishing, and land management practices can help build more resilient water and food systems. 73,116,119,175,194,195,202,203,204,205 Key Message 30.2 ...
Chapter
Full-text available
https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/30/ Climate change—especially sea level rise, altered rainfall patterns, and rising ocean and air temperatures—impairs access to clean water and healthy food, undermines human health, threatens cultural resources and the built environment, exacerbates inequities, and disrupts economic activity and diverse ecosystems in Hawaiʻi and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands. Adaptation efforts that build upon community strengths and center local and Indigenous Knowledge systems improve resilience.
... This allows community members to co-develop place-based management strategies for fishing areas based on Indigenous values and intergenerational practices (Delevaux et al. 2018). Thereafter, a number of communities received the same designation, including Kaʻūpulehu on Hawaiʻi Island's Kona coast (Delevaux et al. 2018) and Moʻomomi on Molokaʻi (Akutagawa et al. 2016). Another example is the communitybased non-profit Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi, which has restored nearly 2 acres (0.8 ha) of loʻi (traditional stone-faced terraced pondfields for growing kalo) since 2008, which has resulted in environmental, cultural, and economic benefits (Bremer et al. 2018). ...
Article
Full-text available
Given the dire consequences of the present global climate crisis, the need for alternative ecologically based economic models could not be more urgent. The economic and environmental concerns of the circular economy are well-developed in the literature. However, there remains a gap in research concerning the circular economy’s impact on culture and social equity. The underdeveloped social and cultural pillars of the circular economy, along with universal policy goals calling for a context- and need-based framework, makes it necessary to bridge natural and social science objectives in the circular economy. Islands can serve as model systems for studying the circular economy. We examine how Hawaiʻi, through the philosophy of aloha ʻāina, the Hawaiian ancestral circular economy, and contemporary community approaches toward advancing Indigenous economic justice can be one model system for understanding principles of circularity and policy advocacy. We introduce the concept of the ancestral circular economy and how aspects of this Indigenous institution can inform the development of universal circular economy policy goals. Furthermore, we present aloha ʻāina as a framework for reciprocal care between human–environment relations while addressing the social and cultural pillars that aid in the development of these dimensions of the circular economy.
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Nonnative feral ungulates have both direct and indirect impacts on native ecosystems. Hawai‘i is particularly susceptible to biological invasions, as the islands have evolved in extreme geographic isolation. In this paper we explore the ecological impacts of nonnative feral goats in the Hawaiian Islands, including what is known and what remains to be determined. Understanding how invasive vertebrates impact island ecosystems is important as it provides an appropriate context for developing contemporary solutions to pressing management problems. A current lack of knowledge, such as the behavioral ecology of goats and their impacts on specific species and plant communities, limits the effectiveness of ecological restoration and conservation in Hawai‘i. Emerging technologies in wildlife tracking and remote sensing will enable a better understanding of the behavior and ecological impacts of these nonnative animals in what is already a highly degraded ecosystem.
Aina v. Land Use Commission, 94 Hawai'i 31, 45, P.3d 1068
  • Ka Pa
  • Ka
Ka Pa'akai O Ka 'Aina v. Land Use Commission, 94 Hawai'i 31, 45, P.3d 1068, 1082 (2000) (citing Stand.
No. 57, reprinted in 1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1978
Comm. Rep. No. 57, reprinted in 1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1978, at 639 (1980)).
2012) (defining TEK as "a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment
  • Fikret Berkes
FIKRET BERKES, SACRED ECOLOGY 7 (3d. ed. 2012) (defining TEK as "a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment.").
humility and in the hope that it is staying true to Kumu John's teachings. ʻOia ihola me ka haʻahaʻa a me ka ʻoiaʻiʻo
  • Id
Id. humility and in the hope that it is staying true to Kumu John's teachings. ʻOia ihola me ka haʻahaʻa a me ka ʻoiaʻiʻo.").
Kawika Winter Presentation, supra note 49
  • Dr
Dr. Kawika Winter Presentation, supra note 49.
Conservation Past and Present: Applying "traditional ecological knowledge" philosophies to contemporary conservation practices on Kauaʻi, Presentation at the Univ. of Haw. at Mānoa Imi ʻIke Nat. Resources and Envtl
  • Kawika Dr
  • Winter
Dr. Kawika Winter, Conservation Past and Present: Applying "traditional ecological knowledge" philosophies to contemporary conservation practices on Kauaʻi, Presentation at the Univ. of Haw. at Mānoa Imi ʻIke Nat. Resources and Envtl. Mgmt. Research Seminar Series (Dec. 10, 2014) [hereinafter Winter, Conservation Past and Present].
358 Id. 359 Id. 360 Id. 361 HANDY & PUKUI, supra note 66
  • Id
Id. 358 Id. 359 Id. 360 Id. 361 HANDY & PUKUI, supra note 66, at 4. 362 HANDY, HANDY & PUKUI, supra note 91, at 56.
Conservation Past and Present, supra note 356
  • Winter
Winter, Conservation Past and Present, supra note 356.