A Native Hawaiian nonprofit has successfully preserved Hawaiʻi Island land for generations to come. ‘Anaeho‘omalu Kapalaoa, a 27-acre plot of land in Waikoloa Beach Resort, will now be permanently protected by Nā ‘Ōiwi O Pu‘uanahulu, a Native Hawaiian descendant-led nonprofit.
The board is completely made up of one family, which includes the Alapaʻi, Keakealani and Haʻo families, who are all direct descendants of those who originally inhabited the land. Lehua Alapaʻi spoke about the deep cultural, ancestral and historical significance of this reclamation.
“To return to our land, find our place again, find our stories again, and just to remember where we came from, to remember where we are, and to think about what it could look like in the future, is everything,” she said.
This plot of land is the last undeveloped beachfront property in the Waikoloa Beach Resort. It would’ve been subject to further resort expansion and development if it hadn't been acquired for conservation by Na ʻŌiwi.
Alapaʻi explained that there's a stark line between the resort property and where her family's land starts. She hopes this visible contrast makes it abundantly clear how much has been stripped from the land.
“Everyone who crosses over from the resort side will both physically see it and intrinsically feel it. It's an opportunity for them to be fully present and ask themselves what it truly means to be in this place,” Alapaʻi said.
“Remembering the hard place that my ʻohana comes from and the journey we're on together to come back to our ʻāina, to where we belong, that's going to take time and healing to repair all of the history of hurt.”
This reclamation was made possible through the Trust for Public Land Aloha ʻĀina program, which focuses on restoring lands to Native Hawaiian ownership. The land was bought for $7.4 million, with $3 million coming from the State Legacy Land Conservation program and the rest coming from the County of Hawai‘i's Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund. Hawaiʻi County now has a conservation easement on the property, which protects it from being changed and ensures the land is protected in perpetuity.
Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, the Aloha ʻĀina project manager, said the story of ‘Anaeho‘omalu Kapalaoa is not unique.
“There's so many projects that we work on that are not successful because of the way people look at ʻāina as real estate, where you're competing with outside dollars from people that look at land as investment. So when we get these incredible opportunities like this one, it's like magic,” she said.
“For this ʻohana to come back and reclaim this space and reconnect and have this opportunity to heal, it is part of a larger movement across Hawaiʻi of people, of place, saying it's our turn now,” Hayashi said.
This stretch of land is riddled with the moʻolelo of high chief Lonoikamakahiki and commoner Kapaihiahilina, which Alapaʻi says is an illustration of love and mihi, or deep remorse. Lonoikamakahiki built an ahu at the boundary of Kona and Kohala, where ‘Anaeho‘omalu Kapalaoa lies, as a symbol of aloha.
“You see Lonoikamakahiki made this ahu to apologize, to repair relationships. That’s what this can do for us. It opens up that opportunity to mend our relationships with each other, but most importantly, with the ʻāina,” she said.
Alapaʻi says there will eventually be plans to open this space up for people outside of her family who want to see, learn and mālama the land. The area will be a kīpuka, or an oasis in a lava bed, where community members will be able to participate in educational programs, restoration work, and cultural practice.
But for now, her first and only priority is getting her family back to the ʻāina that they've been disconnected from for so long. She said it is not her family's intention to exclude others from the space, but rather a pause to allow her ʻohana to rebuild what has been broken.
“We know our place, we know how to take care of it. We just want to lead those efforts,” she said. ”Right now is the time for us to return, to reconnect, and to remember.”
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