Kimokeo Kapahulehua

Being Hawaiian

Kimokeo Kapahulehua is a font of Hawaiian wisdom in South Maui. He is also tireless in the preservation of the resources of Maui and Hawai‘i and in working for the perpetuation of what is authentically and meaningfully Hawaiian everywhere. He is a remarkable paddler and a sponsor of koa canoe building for Maui’s canoe clubs, a member of the Kihei Community Association board of directors and chair of its committee on parks.

Kimokeo is involved with the Maui Coastal Land Trust and… well, this list could go on just about forever. The shocking thing is that one day, between his full-time job as a limo driver for the Fairmont Kea Lani and a meeting of the Kupuna (Elders) Council of Maui, he was able to make time to talk to Maui Weekly. Here’s some of what he told us about his very busy life.

Kimokeo—called “Bully” by his family from an early age—was born on Kaua‘i on in 1947. His father—the son of two full-blooded Hawaiians from the island of Hawai‘i, went to live on Ni‘ihau when young. His maternal grandfather was also native Hawaiian while his maternal grandmother was an Azores-Portuguese immigrant to Hawai‘i. So, Kimokeo is three-quarters Hawaiian by blood, a very rare reality today. However, if passions count, he’s at least 100 percent Hawaiian.

Naturally, we could have talked about dozens of laudable accomplishments and high-minded plans—and we did talk about a good number—but timing being what it is, the effort that you might find most interesting is the revitalization of the Hawaiian fishpond, Ko‘ie‘ie Loko I‘a, at Kalepolepo Park in Kihei which is finally becoming a reality.

Anyone who has ever tried to build on Maui has an idea how complex and demanding the process is. When you mean to intentionally touch a recognized Hawaiian historic site, the ante goes up, even though everyone is clear that your purpose is revitalization. Let’s just admit that the years of delays that plague housing developers are nothing by comparison to the paperwork, experts, testimonies, waiting and explaining required for restoring a fishpond.

One of the late-stage high hurdles was the environmental assessment. That, after only a few years, is now complete, opening the way for the labor to begin now that decades of forms and hearing are also complete. “We have to go back to the (state of Hawai‘i) land board for a lease on the wall,” Kimokeo says. “We’ll be leasing just the wall, not the water, and the hearing for that has been rescheduled for Aug. 27.” Before passing through that final barrier, the group managing the Ko‘ie‘ie Loko I‘a restoration, called ‘Ao‘ao O Na Loko I‘a O Maui (Kimokeo is president), needs to get a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. That is expected to come through this month as well.

Reminded that some neighbors are worried about the restored fishpond increasing seaweed problems or causing beach erosion, Kimokeo smiles. “It’s a good problem,” he says, explaining that each time they have to solve a problem or answer a concern, he and the ‘Ao‘ao discover information that may be useful in other preservation projects. Every solution, he sees, as a bit of research—a precedent, directive or warning.

In partnership with the Whale Sanctuary right next to the fishpond, Ko‘ie‘ie has become a designated site for significant cultural and natural science education. One of the upcoming results of this educational mission is that six remote-viewing, remote-control boats will soon be added to Ko‘ie‘ie’s resources. Not only will these allow kids to explore the pond, the sea beyond and the reef, they will also carry testing equipment to monitor chemical (and other) conditions of the water.

All discussion of fishponds in Hawai‘i eventually lead back to Joe Farber (see book review, page xx), the head environmental planner for such work. Many other experts have to be engaged as well for marine archeology, coring analysis, cultural approval, and so forth. Then, once all the objections are answered, the revitalization of the fishpond becomes a community effort, a cultural event.

“These ponds are built on compassion,” Kimokeo says. “When they are here, that’s going to be….” He gives up trying to find an appropriate English word and whispers, “mana,” the Hawaiian term for energy, spiritual power. “You’re going to want to carry one pohaku (stone),” he adds. “You will want to be there and do this. Carry one pohaku….” Then he explains the significance of the stones from the piko (largest stones) to the ‘ili‘ili (tiny pebbles that stabilize the wall). His eyes close as he mimes the placement of a few ‘ili‘ili. “Like the father now,” he says, “who will be saying, ‘my family is steadfast’ as he puts them in.”

It is better—better mana, at least—to discover much of what is true and Hawaiian in the presence of a master like Kimokeo. So, when you go to help with the rebuilding of Ko‘ie‘ie, ask him and listen carefully when he answers.

There will even be a taste of the respectful relationship with nature implied by efforts like the revitalization of Ko‘ie‘ie in the gift the ‘Ao‘ao O Na Loko I‘a O Maui is preparing to give to Senator Daniel Inouye when he visits the fishpond. It will be a ancient-style fish trap. Kimokeo has been lost a bit for what to say. He asked around, then decided to “use my own saying.” He says, “I will tell him that it reminds us we all are learning not to take more than we should.”

When he is not engaged in inter-island paddling events, Maui Coastal Land Trust efforts, the fish pond, reforestation, trail cleaning, learning and teaching Hawaiian culture, tending to his family’s needs or earning a living, Kimokeo is always looking for more ways to give something to the community, especially things that will last into future generations. He sees, as perhaps we all need to, that need restricts what we should properly take from nature and the world, but need also directs us not to restrict what we are willing to give back.

Watch for the announcement of the blessing of the revitalization effort at Ko‘ie‘ie. “You want to carry at least one pohaku.”

Kimokeo Kapahulehua. His name, ka-pahu-lehua, refers to a drum made of lehua wood or, perhaps, to the drumming sound of lehua branches tapping each other in the wind, a sound that is often heard on lava-covered land long before any other plant has sprouted.