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Pritchett photo 300 dpi square

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Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Business & Tourism

You know this complaint, you’ve heard it before, maybe you’ve said it yourself:

“Tourism here turned the Islands into a theme park, commodifying the Indigenous culture that those same colonial forces had previously pushed toward extinction. Hula, once prohibited, is now an iconic experience. Can you even say you went to Hawai

Dancers in grass skirts keep smiling for an audience watching through the screens of their phones, recording the performance for social media to prove they were there. Tourism glorifies Hawaiian culture, but not Hawaiian people. Yet Hawai

 because the economy will suffer if the dancing stops.

The industry is projected to bring in $860 million in tax revenue this year, down from $1.1 billion in 2023. Hospitality leaders are already begging the state for “dramatic changes” and “increased marketing.”

Tourism is, in this author’s words, a pattern of “elitism, entitlement, exploitation, extraction.”

I’ve seen variations of this lament for decades. This specific iteration I’ve quoted was just posted by our friends at 

, written by columnist Jenny “Jeta” Tang.

Tang is, her bio notes, “an interdisciplinary artist and creative technologist based in Honolulu. Her work has been showcased at Burning Man, where she was the only registered artist from Hawai

That’s very cool, I’m happy for her and I hope she flew to California, enjoyed the unique natural wonders of the playa and really celebrated that opportunity. I don’t have a bone to pick with her, I generally like her column.

It’s that particular complaint itself, issued so often, by so many of us. Here’s the big problem with all of our grumbling about tourists coming here:

[{"type":"text","text":"We travel. A lot."}]

In 2024, the most recent year for which there is data, the 

 tells us that 1.5 million kama‘āina returned from domestic trips to the Mainland, and about 277,000 returned from foreign destinations. That’s a total of 1.8 million residents who came home from a trip somewhere that year and of course, that’s more than our population of 1.4 million because some people took multiple trips.

When we travel, we expect there to be jet fuel in the plane and a flight attendant to bring us snackies. We expect hotels to exist, with desk clerks and housekeepers, so we can check in and drop our jet-lagged bodies into some clean sheets.

We expect tour guides and docents. We expect restaurants staffed with waiters — good grief, we even call them 

 — bussers, cooks, dishwashers. We expect locavore menus, which means armies of farmers working whatever land we’ve flown to. We expect shops filled with authentic trinkets labored over by local artisans (or an affordable made-in-China facsimile). We expect the culture of wherever we’re visiting to express itself to us in some pleasant, convenient, digestible way. We expect the Japanese to be all Japanese-y for us, the French to be snobbishly French, the Germans to be gruffly Teutonic, the Las Vegans to be all … I dunno, gamble-y … with us, and the New Yorkers to be amusingly surly.

“That pretzel guy called me an a**hole! OMG I love it, that’s so New York!”

So, unless the complainer has taken a vow of travel poverty and committed himself or herself to spending the rest of their lives on these lovely Pacific islands, going nowhere, extracting nothing, exploiting no one, I just don’t want to hear this variety of Marxist-lite grumbling. Look at those words again:

[{"type":"text","text":"“Elitism, entitlement, exploitation, extraction.”"}]

These are academic buzzwords, expressions of dogma, almost meaningless as instruments of understanding. And speaking of hypocrisy, 

 is itself a $1.5-billion industry, expected to grow to $2.1 billion by next year.

These academics fly. They fly to conferences, stay in hotels, play tourist on their free time — and complain about other people who fly while pitying the people who serve them.

I don’t know what is wrong with academics, writers and artists that they can look at a housekeeper and see only an object of pity. Do they not understand work? (That question perhaps answers itself.) Do they not understand that everyone working for a living, at every social class, is serving someone else?

[{"type":"text","text":"Are you an architect with a demanding client? You’re serving."}]

Are you a tax account with 250 customers all needing their tax returns completed at the same time and each one thinking their tax picture is a special case? You’re serving.

Are you a developer driving from an appointment with skeptical financial backers to a neighborhood board meeting where every NIMBY is going to verbally smack you around? You’re serving.

Are you a doctor, with anxious patients who show up armed with the worst medical advice they could find on Reddit and who second-guess your care? You’re serving.

We cannot use this “exploitation/extraction/oppression” complaint. It gets us nowhere. The fact is, humanity would be better off if every single one of us had a comfortable, middle-class life or better, with some leisure time for a vacation. 

[{"type":"text","text":"We want that, yes? Global prosperity? I do!"}]

Doesn’t the left want something like that, as well, as it argues ceaselessly for taking money from some people so that others have more? Or is their offer nothing more than free subsistence living for the masses, a carbon-neutral proletariat trapped in 15-minute cities? (These questions also answer themselves.)

Where there is a real problem with the absolute good of a growing global tourism market, it’s the numbers. That’s worth talking about. We don’t like feeling crowded here at home by our annual visitor count. We don’t like feeling crowded when we travel and find ourselves in a crush of people all visiting the same greatest hits of scenic views and must-see attractions. It’s a thing to be managed — a First World problem, as they say, and good for us if that’s our problem.

That conversation is healthy and functional, and never-ending, because the numbers and the pricing to control it will always be in flux. Let’s have that conversation instead.

A. Kam Napier is editor in chief of Aloha State Daily. His opinions in Pipikaula Corner are his own and not reflective of the ASD team.

Diamond Head viewed from Kakaako 0125

<title>Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i's tourism hypocrisy</title>

An awful lot of us think tourists do nothing here but "extract" and "exploit" the Islands and their people. But guess what we do the minute we have two weeks off?

Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i's tourism hypocrisy

WEB square crop Hayley Lehman Headshot RGZ1636

Haley Lehman

Government & Politics

A Honolulu City Council bill is heading to the mayor’s desk after Waialua resident Kathleen Pahinui advocated for a bill to permit farmers markets and food distribution in underutilized public parks.

The Waialua Bandstand hosts concerts about once a month and Pahinui said she believes the small park could be better utilized. The Waialua Farmers Market is on Saturdays behind the Waialua Sugar Mill, and Pahinui said that if the farmers market was permitted to meet at the Waialua Bandstand, it could make the market more visible, easier to find and make the park more of a gathering place in the North Shore community.

Pahinui met with city councilmembers and worked with the Department of Parks and Recreation on the bill.

, sponsored by Councilmember Andria Tupola and passed by the Honolulu City Council on Wednesday, would allow nonprofits to operate food distribution events and farmers markets in public parks.

Tupola said that she sees the bill as an opportunity to revitalize Oʻahu’s public parks while supporting farmers and food security efforts.

“In a lot of our parks we see vandalism, illegal camping and too often our response is the same: we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to eradicate problems over and over which isn’t sustainable. What we really need in our parks is transformation, bringing back life, bringing back community and bringing back food,” she said at a City Council meeting in July. “Can you imagine some of our underutilized parks with a regularly operating farmers market? I’m excited about that. It transforms our parks into positive community gathering spaces instead of places that we’re constantly policing.”

The Committee on Housing, Homelessness and Parks adopted suggestions from the Department of Parks and Recreation to clarify that farmers markets are operated by nonprofits, are subject to the department’s rules and regulations, are not located on properties where the people’s open market program operations and are not located in highly utilized parks. 

 operate for about 45 to 60 minutes at 13 locations on Oʻahu.

The bill received opposition from tour operators and the Waimānalo neighborhood board.

The City and County of Honolulu banned unregulated commercial activity at beach parks between Waimānalo and Makapuʻu in 

Kimeona Kane, chair of the Waimānalo neighborhood board, expressed concern in a March letter to the council that the bill goes against Wāimanalo stance against commercial activity in public parks.

“If this is allowed, it may undermine the current law that supports our community position, protects our public spaces from disrespectful attention and overwhelming strain on conditions and value of life for local residents,” Kane wrote. “There could be potential for this bill to serve other communities, and I encourage them to seeks these opportunities, however I do believe that other options can and do exist, where Farmers Markets may take place.

Pahinui told ASD that she shares Kane’s concerns about commercial activities in public parks, which is why she pushed for the bill to be for nonprofit organizations and in smaller parks off the beaten path.

Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau Executive Director Brian Miyamoto supported the opportunity to support small farmers and improve access to fresh food, and wanted the council to clarify that “products being sold are locally grown or produced.”

His requests that the bill prioritizes Hawaiʻi grown agricultural products, direct participation by farmers and local producers and transparency in product sourcing and labeling did not make it into the final bill.

Jennine Sullivan, executive director of Feeding Hawaiʻi Together, wrote to the council that the bill strengthens local food systems and improves community wellbeing.

Feeding Hawaiʻi Together operates The Pantry, which distributed 2.2 million pounds of food in 2025. “Expanding access points for fresh food is critical to meeting the growing needs of our community,” Sullivan wrote.

The bill also supports small businesses and improves access to fresh, nutritious food, Sullivan stated, writing, “Allowing farmers’ markets in public parks creates more opportunities for communities to connect directly with local agriculture in accessible, familiar spaces.”

ʻElepaio Social Services distributes food to about 1,200 kūpuna each week through four pantries on the west side of Oʻahu, including at Nānāikapono Protestant Church. Director of Community Impact and Engagement Cassidy Keola wrote that the bill would allow ʻElepaio Social Services to operate the pantry in a public park, like Nānākuli Beach Park, which could make it more accessible.

“Holding food distributions at a park would improve operation logistics and efficiency and re-open the church to community members. Plus, hosting a distribution in a public and visible space such as park would help us reach more community members who may not know of our services,” Keola stated.

Ted Kefalas, director of strategic campaigns for Grassroot Institute of Hawaiʻi, wrote to the council that Grassroot supports legislation to lower barriers to entrepreneurship.

“Selling food or homemade wares at a farmers market is a low-cost, low-risk way for people to turn an idea into a business. This measure would give more Oahu residents the opportunity to start up small businesses and participate in the tourism industry,” he wrote.

Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi President and CEO Sherry Menor wrote that the bill supports one of the chamber’s missions to support the economic viability of agriculture careers and reduce operating expenses, and food and economy security as food prices rise.

Tupola speaks at Council meeting

<title>Bill passed by City Council would allow farmers markets in underutilized parks</title>

The Honolulu City Council passed a bill on Wednesday that would allow the Department of Parks and Recreation to permit nonprofit organizations to host farmers markets and food distribution events in underutilized public parks.

Bill passed by City Council would allow farmers markets in underutilized parks

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

The headline this week is $300,000 for lawmakers and state staff to fly somewhere and study transit-oriented development. Nobody knows where the trip is going.

Readers will see that headline and file it under government waste. That’s the easy reading, and it’s usually right. But it doesn’t have to be.

The appropriation went to the Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority, which voted two weeks ago to transfer the money to the Department of Health. I chaired HCDA’s board until June. The vote came after I left.

Coordinating big infrastructure is one of the few things government exists to do. State and county governments own the ports, the airports, the highways, and the bus and rail networks. Those systems decide where housing can go, how much of it can be built, and what it will cost. A rail line is a housing policy whether anyone calls it that or not.

And these decisions are close to permanent. A rail line reconfigures a community for generations and costs billions. The price of getting it wrong is not only the money spent. It’s the century of consequences that follows. $300,000 is a small price to pay for better decisions. Sen. Chris Lee, who used to chair the Senate Transportation Committee, said the state shouldn’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish. He’s right.

Lawmakers should fly coach, sleep in modest rooms, and skip the room service. But 

, and I expect they’ll follow the receipts. The question isn’t whether the trip should happen. The question is where it should go.

The biggest fight in Hawaiʻi government over the last decade has been Honolulu against the state, and the fight has been about transportation money. The counties want more of it. The state thinks the counties spend it badly. It wants proof of return, either in tax revenue or in something the public can point to, like affordable housing. Rail sits at the center of that fight, with a slice of the general excise tax feeding it.

Critics are right that ridership is low. Skyline carries 11,000 to 12,000 riders on a weekday, against the 84,000 the city hopes for once the line reaches Ala Moana. They’re also right that development around the stations has barely moved, more than a decade after the route was drawn.

Why? Zoning at the county level came slowly. Some areas lacked the sewer and water capacity to support redevelopment. Nobody had the capital to build at scale. And Hawaiʻi has almost no firms that know how to redevelop whole districts around a transit line. Those four gaps are the whole story of rail’s disappointment.

So the trip has to answer four questions at once. Which country zones well? Which one matches its transit buildouts with the infrastructure to support them? Which one has capital looking for a home? And which one has companies that specialize in redeveloping around stations?

 Singapore’s public housing, and he’s also fond of Vienna’s social housing, much of it built under socialist governments. Both are worth understanding. Neither is a model Hawaiʻi can copy. Our state leans toward overreach, but it has neither the ideological unity of Red Vienna nor a leader with the standing of Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore also runs on a civil service whose professional culture rivals its best companies, and it pays accordingly. The prime minister’s salary was recently raised to $2.8 million. Nobody at the Capitol is proposing that.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Go to Japan."}]

Japan lives with the constraints we live with. Scarce urban land, earthquakes and typhoons, imported food and energy, an aging population.

It has one of the best zoning systems in the world. Small urban parcels can be 

, which is why its cities feel alive in a way few others do. It’s a slow-growth economy sitting on enormous capital that needs somewhere to go. A delegation could come home with investors, not just design notes. And nearly everything standing in Tokyo was built after 1945, because the war leveled it. Few countries have more recent experience rebuilding cities.

Anyone who has hired a contractor knows the fear. What if he takes the deposit and vanishes? What if he goes under halfway through? That fear shrinks when your partner has been in business for a century and is counted among the best builders in the country.

Consider Tokyu Corporation, which has run commuter rail across greater Tokyo since 1922. Tokyu doesn’t just operate trains. It masterplans the districts around its stations and develops them. Shibuya, home to what’s often called the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing, grew up around a Tokyu terminal that once served about a dozen passengers a day. Projects like 

 remake entire neighborhoods by the time they open. 

And Tokyu is already here. Its transit-development expert has sat on the governor’s advisory committee since 2024. Last October he walked the committee through 83 slides on the Skyline, including a fix for something HART never designed: passing tracks so some trains can run express. The state is now negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the company.

Japan and Hawaiʻi share a love of baseball. For years Hawaiʻi has refused to swing big. It bunts. It settles for singles. That habit shows up most clearly in infrastructure. The state rarely attempts real masterplanning. When it does, it can’t manage the work over time, so projects drift and die. It parcels out work through RFPs and gets piecemeal results. Playing small yields small returns, when it yields any. But there are teams that play big and win big in development, and Japan has several of them.

You don’t meet those teams by reading. Gov. Josh Green learned that on his first trip to Tokyo after taking office. He thought he was going to 

, he said, and “was actually talking about partnerships.”

If the goal is to learn how transit networks work, buy a book. If the goal is to actually redevelop Honolulu around its rail line, you visit the people who build cities around theirs. And you build relationships that outlast the trip. Hawaiʻi has spent years counting the cost. It has even sat down with people who have finished the work. Now it’s time to take them seriously.

Relationships in Japan aren’t made by one traveler with a per diem. Seriousness means a full delegation, receiving the hospitality of hosts, and returning it here. That will cost more than $300,000. It’s still cheaper than another decade of empty lots beside the stations.

That’s how you tell a partner you’re ready.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Is Hawaiʻi?"}]

HART rail car

<title>Hawaiʻi’s $300,000 transit-oriented development trip should go to Japan</title>

Lawmakers and state staff have $300,000 to fly somewhere and study development around rail stations. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why the trip is worth taking, why Singapore and Vienna are the wrong models, and why Hawaiʻi should book Tokyo and stay long enough to make a friend.

Hawaiʻi’s $300,000 transit-oriented development trip should go to Japan

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

[{"type":"text","text":"There’s a new, open-air dining concept in Honolulu."}]

 just opened to the public and is located on the terrace of Halekūlani Bakery. The open-air space is named after the seabirds found throughout Honolulu.

Terns is the latest concept by chef Vikram Garg, founder of Umi by Vikram Garg — also located at Halepuna Waikīkī by Halekūlani — and Masala Maya, a takeout concept for Indian cuisine. Terns represents Garg’s vision of creating exceptional culinary experiences for every occasion, from casual meals with friends to destination dining.

“I didn’t want to make it (this space) formal,” he says. “The idea is to be outside, enjoy and have fun.

“Terns was created as a place where people can slow down, connect and experience exceptional food in an approachable setting,” he states. “The menu is designed for sharing, conversation and discovery, bringing together global influences while honoring the spirit of Hawaiʻi.”

Terns is currently open during evenings (when Halekūlani Bakery is closed) from Wednesdays to Sundays. Diners can enjoy globally inspired shared plates and rum-based cocktails in a laid-back atmosphere.

“We are working with Kō Hana Rum, but the idea is not just to have rum, but different kinds of beverages,” Garg says. “The rum cocktails we are making all have ingredients from Hawai

i, whether it’s the juice or sugar cane from Maui. All of that is 100% focused on local.”

Chips with a variety of dips, small plates with seafood and the eatery’s naan pizza have been popular appetizers during Terns’ soft opening. Choose from dips like avocado with tomatillo, cilantro and salsa ($16); smoked ‘ahi with chili pepper and green onion ($18) and salmon rillette ($18).

The ‘ahi poke features a unique presentation in the form of Hawaiian-style pani puri ($29). Pani puri is a popular Indian street food that typically features a hollow, fried dough ball stuffed with chickpeas and potatoes; this local-style rendition features the crispy, hollow shell filled with ‘ahi poke.

The chicken tikka naan ($18) — a flatbread pūpū with tomato sauce and mozzarella — has been another customer favorite.

Entrées range from fish and chips ($36) and a burger ($26) to the eatery’s loco moco ($36) and udon Bolognese ($36). The loco moco features a rice, an egg and a savory Hamakua mushroom gravy.

Meanwhile, the udon Bolognese features a twist on a classic pasta. This version is complete with Parmesan cheese.

Terns also offers a variety of curries from Masala Maya, Garg’s takeout-only concept featuring Indian cuisine. Choose from pork vindaloo ($32), lamb shank rogan josh ($42), Goan shrimp curry ($36), butter naan ($6) and more.

Diners can conclude with desserts like panna cotta with pineapple, coconut and dulce de leche ($10) and Halekulani

Terns chef Vikram Garg 090326

<title>Terns is a new open-air dining space in Honolulu</title>

Terns, located on the terrace of Halekūlani Bakery, recently opened to the public. Named after the seabirds found in Honolulu, Terns offers diners globally inspired shared plates and rum-based cocktails in a casual, outdoor setting.

Terns is a new open-air dining space in Honolulu

When her favorite sourdough baker left Oʻahu, Christine Acohido — owner of Wahiawā-based micro-bakery 

 — decided to try making sourdough herself.

“After making my first successful loaf, I started making all types of pastries with sourdough,” she says. “What started as a fun hobby blossomed into something so much bigger than I had ever thought.”

When the demand for her breads and sourdough-based pastries grew, Acohido officially opened her business last January. She says her business name is inspired by both, a family name, and the names of her two boys.

“Blossom is a family name that my mom, my oldest and youngest sister carry,” she says. “‘Blossom’ means so much to me. The name alone means to grow well or to get better. I’ve watched my mom and sisters overcome many things and never let anything get in their way. They always grew better from any situation; that’s exactly what this was built from.

“‘Rhyze’ came from my two boys, Rhyder and Rhyzen,” she adds. “They are my reasons for everything. I wanted to create something that would allow me to be with my boys every day and not miss a beat.”

The business offers plain sourdough bread ($10), along with flavors like cheddar jalapeno ($12), lemon white chocolate ($12) and ube cookies n creme ($15). Acohido says the sourdough cookies are a fan favorite; they come in flavors like white chocolate mac nut ($5) and mochi chocolate chip ($5).

“Our s’mores cookie is a brown butter base with mini chocolate chips, graham crackers and mini marshmallows,” she says. “Our chocolate chip is made the same way, but stuffed with soft mochi. The sourdough gives the cookies a subtle tang, and helps balance out the sweetness.”

While sourdough was foundation of her business, Acohido added specialty coffees because “coffee goes so well with baked goods.”

“I decided to start making my own coffee, but not just any coffee,” she says. “I wanted to create drinks using real ingredients, so you could taste the true flavors.”

The kūlolo crunch latte ($9 for 16 ounces, $11 for 24 ounces) and banana chantilly matcha ($10 for 16 ounces, $12 for 24 ounces) are the business’s bestselling drinks. The kūlolo crunch latte is made with ChadLou’s Coffee Roasters beans, homemade brown sugar syrup and condensed milk, poured over the customer’s choice of milk. It’s finished with a homemade haupia cream top, real kūlolo bits and homemade macnut shortbread crumbles.

Meanwhile, the banana chantilly matcha features housemade chantilly and banana syrup that’s paired with oat milk, organic Uji ceremonial matcha and topped with a creamy chantilly cold foam. The result is a “creamy, buttery, banana profile,” according to Acohido.

“All of my syrups, purees and pastries are made from scratch,” Acohido says. “I like knowing I can control the sugar amount.

“What makes my business unique is that I have created this business from being self-taught, with no background in baking or having any barista experience,” she adds. “I enjoy creating in the kitchen, and knowing that my food and drinks make others happy is what keeps it alive.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The biz also offers bottled coffees to-go."}]

Blossom & Rhyze usually posts its schedule and pop-ups on social media. The biz tries to open every other Saturday; for updates, follow its 

“Blossom & Rhyze can mean anything from the roots of my family to simply blossom and ‘rhyze’ up to the day with a great cup of coffee,” 

Acohido says. “My goal for my small business is to have a cafe on wheels in the near future.”  

Blossom and Rhyze owner 081226

<title>This sourdough micro-bakery is on the ‘rise’</title>

Blossom & Rhyze, a Wahiawā-based micro-bakery, stemmed from owner Christine Acohido’s love of sourdough. The business is known for its sourdough loaves, sourdough cookies and specialty coffees, which include kūlolo crunch latte.

This sourdough micro-bakery is on the ‘rise’

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

The Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame officially inducted its Class of 2026 at Honolulu Country Club on Thursday night.

Four Hawai‘i sports icons representing four different sports joined the Hall of Fame in Darren Ho, Kelia Moniz, Beth McLachlin and Tony Sellitto. 

Ho, part of the 1970s skateboarding revolution, was one of Town & Country's first nationally sponsored riders. His influence in the sport was one of the inspirations behind the 2005 film, "Lords of Dogtown."

Association of Surfing Professionals Women’s Longboard Championships in 2012 and 2013, capturing her first when she was just a teenager. 

McLachlin, a former star setter for the University of Hawai‘i women's volleyball team when the program was in its infancy, became the first-ever Rainbow Wahine to receive an athletic scholarship. She led the 'Bows to multiple 

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women

) national runner-up finished in the 1970s despite no member of the team being taller than 5-foot-8. 

McLachlin was also a member of the U.S. national team in 1968 as an alternate and continued to be a part of the team through 1976. 

Sellitto coached the Maryknoll boys basketball team to four state titles, including three straight from 1978 to 1980. He transitioned to coaching college basketball, where he led the Hawai‘i Pacific men's team to an NAIA national championship in 1993. He is the only basketball coach in Hawai‘i history to win both a state championship and national championship. 

Sellitto, McLachlin and Ho accepted their honors in-person, while Moniz's parents accepted on her behalf. 

A portion of the night was also dedicated to the late 

, who has previously been inducted into the Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame in 2022. 

Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame president Eugene Price, the nephew of Larry, spoke about his uncle's legacy while also looking forward to the organization's future. The 

, set to open in the spring of 2029, will also be the new home of the Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame.

Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame 081426

<title>Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame inducts 2026 class</title>

A quartet of Island sporting legends were commemorated recently at Honolulu Country Club.

Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame inducts 2026 class

Hannah Coburn HPR

Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn

Aloha Spirit

While visiting cemeteries is a common tradition in many cultures to honor loved ones, Aunty Muriel “Puni” Ioane cannot access the graves of her own ancestors whose ties to Mākua span generations.

Aunty Puni 16x9

Community Voices: Returning to Mākua

Pua headshot

Puanani Fernandez-Akamine

Located on the east end of Molokai, the ahupuaʻa of Kūpeke includes about 300 acres, from the top of the mountain to the shoreline and out to the fishpond wall. Laʻa Poepoe’s stewardship of Kūpeke is the confluence of his Molokai lineage, aloha for his community, a passion to mālama ʻāina, an unshakable work ethic, and his foresight.

Kupeke Fishpond

Community Voices: Giving Kūpeke Back to Itself

Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn is a digital news producer at Hawai'i Public Radio and freelances for Ka Wai Ola Newspaper. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi's journalism program and hopes that her passion for writing will leave a positive impact on the Hawaiian community. She is proud of her Native Hawaiian roots and is blessed to call Hawaiʻi home for herself and her children.

Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn

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Community Voices: Returning to Mākua

Community Voices: Giving Kūpeke Back to Itself

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