Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 10, 1 October 2011 — Kunia group raises awareness of Pōhākea Pass [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kunia group raises awareness of Pōhākea Pass

By Kekoa Enomoto KUNIA, O'ahu — A group of four women is staring down bulldozers to protect O'ahu places that figured in Hi'iaka's epie journey between Kaua'i and Hawai'i Island. Members of Nā Wāhine O Kunia have been hosting hikes in the area to bring awareness to their campaign to save archaeological sites and wildlife along Pōhākea Pass in the Wai'anae Mountains. Meanwhile, a revised Wai'anae Sustainable Communities Plan has proposed a $250 million to $500 million "second access highway" for people to commute daily via Pōhākea Pass. More imminently, developers of the 854-acre Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands subdivision of 5and 10-acre farm lots have ordered earth movers to cut through pristine dry-land forest. The bulldozers are carving what looks like a threelane swath through the area that contains stands of indigenous kl, kukui, 'ōhi'a lehua, wauke and laua'e, a type of fern. "I am totally against it (bulldozing) because of all the birds and wildlife," said Nā Wāhine's Leilehua Keohookalani, a lifelong rancher and 40-year Kunia resident. "The heiau, all the terracing — there's just a lot of archaeological sites that need to be kept."

The attorney for C & C Farmlands LLC responded that the Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands developer is committed to preserving any archaeological sites, and the landowners are bound legally not to disturb the sites. "The big portion of 854 acres has been previously cultivated," said Ray Iwamoto of the law firm Schlack Ito, referring to former pineapple and sugarcane plantation lands. "And in that flat lands, the ehanee of there being historical sites is very remote. But in the gulches - in 'Ēkahanui Gulch, for example - there are sites, and the developer wants to preserve them and protect them." "Everybody who buys a lot in Kunia is subject to recorded CC&Rs that require them not to disturb anything," Iwamoto said about conditions, covenants and restrictions of eaeh deed. "Also in the CC&Rs, at least in the first amendment, we appointed these ladies of Nā Wāhine O Kunia as a cultural advisory committee; so we try to work with them. ... All the farmers, we're trying to educate them to be respectful of all the sites." Iwamoto added, "We plan to direct our archaeologist to do a supplemental review of the Pōhākea Trail." Keohookalani, of Nā Wāhine o Kunia, said due diligence should be done. "There are iwi (bones) on the premises, so that's important,"

she said. "We have signs asking new owners to please contact us if any archaeological sites are on their property, but nobody has called to this date," she added. Kyle Kajihiro, American Friends Service Committee Executive Director, who had joined a prior Pōhākea hike, recalled when Hi'iaka reached the apex of Pōhākea Pass in the epie tale. "Hi'iaka goes up Pōhākea and sees her 'ōhi'a groves burning" on Hawai'i Island, he recounted. "Hōpoe, her aikāne, is killed at that point. "At the lookout, Hi'iaka ean see smoke and she chants. There's a beautiful passage cited in several versions of the story. It's a climax moment at Pōhākea, a key turning point in the story. . . . You ean see why this is a really important plaee, so we would like to protect" Pōhākea Pass, Kajihiro said. Besides mythology, physical remains point to a rich historical and cultural landscape in the Kunia foothills. "We checked out some (Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands) properties and most of them have some significance to it. We go up there at least onee week," said Sheila Valdez, founding leader of Nā Wāhine O Kunia, noting the presence of petroglyphs, apparent burial mounds and bowls hollowed in boulders that resemble birthing stones. "One heiau was carbon dated to the year 1200" by an archaeologist, she said. Nā Wāhine member Amy Kelly envisions reestablishing an apparent pu'uhonua for healing beside a Kunia stream. "We just felt compelled to save the archaeological sites, to save the national treasures," she said. Concerning the proposed second-access highway through Pōhākea Pass, a City and County of Honolulu planner said a commuter thoroughfare "is not imminent," but a mid- to long-term project is to be studied by the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization in one or two years. "If it (a highway) is considered feasible," said Randy Hara, project planner for the Wai'anae Sustainable Communities Plan, "then the route, where it's going to be located and the impacts of it to historical and cultural sites . . . all those kinds of impacts have to be studied . . . to address the kinds of concerns those women have." Wāhine O Kunia Honouliuli is on Facebook; their page features numerous photos. ■

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LAND & WATER

The view of 0'ahu's west side as seen along the Pōhākea Pass hikes organized by Nā Wāhine 0 Kunia. - Courtesy Photo: Sheila Valdez