Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 7, 1 July 2013 — Why historic preservation? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Why historic preservation?

This month's eolumn is inspired by two recent experiences, one as master of ceremonies for the 39th Historic Preservation Awards staged by the Historic Hawai'i Foundation, and the other as master of ceremonies for a memorial service at the Waikīkī Natatorium War Memorial. You should know that I am an outspoken and undeterred advocate of preserving the Natatorium. So I guess I was swept into a cerebral state that made me want to

write about the importance of historic preservation. There's a Hawaiian proverb - Ke ala i ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope - the road. to thefuture lead.s through the past. It's a pieee of wisdom that says it's important to know where we've been in order to figure out where we should be going. It assigns a high priority to preserving our history and keeping our past connected to our future. It is absolute in the belief that, as a matter of puhlie policy, preserving our historic buildings, landscapes, artifacts and all meaningful physical evidence that we were here is important. Perpetuation of the community history is a mark of a great society. An example of the work recognized by the Historic Hawai'i Foundation in past years is Kūka'ō'ō Heiau or temple in Mānoa Valley. Historical evidence suggests that the heiau was built in early history, eventually becoming an agricultural temple of the māpele class dedicated to the rites and rituals surrounding food productivity. Restored in 1993, Kūka'ō'ō Heiau survives as the last intact Hawaiian temple in the greater ahupua'a of Waikīkī and remains an extraordinary link to the past. Surrounding Kūka'ō'ō Heiau is a garden featuring endemic and indigenous plants as well as Polynesian introductions. Many of the plants are on the endangered species list, and others are threatened or at-risk species. Through the Native Hawaiian garden,

the Mānoa Heritage Center preserves native species and promotes an understanding of the useful and heneheial properties of plants. The heiau, gardens and heritage center are the result of the inspiration, vision and hard work of Sam and Mary Cooke, who have been honored by HHF for their contribution to preserving the past. And HHF every year acknowledges the more recent past, giving Preservation Awards for books, databases and renovations of

historic structures. Among the thousands of Earth's living species, only humans are eapahle of altering large expanses of the natural environment and creating built environments that stand as testaments to our need for comfort, safety, sustenance, entertainment and artistic expression. In exercising our ability to construct, arrange and develop these clusters of human habitats, we have created a wondrous time tunnel of human history that stretches across the ages. These historic corridors that frame the clusters of cultural landscapes, structures, objects and artifacts of our past eome together like a time wave upon whieh rides our eommunity memory, pausing briefly in the present, then tumbling us forward into our future. To be the caretakers and protectors of these corridors of human existence is among the noblest of human endeavors. To not preserve our past is to be without a reflection in the waters of time. For those of you would want to learn more and better yet lend a hand of support, you ean go to the websites of Friends of the Natatorium, natatorium. org, and the Historic Hawai'i Foundation, historichawaii.org. Mālama Pono.

I've been updating my website with videos, arti.cles, poetn, news and more - not just about OHA, but about everything that i.t means to be Hawaiian, includingfood, music, places to go, events, books, resources and more. CheckoutPeterApo.com. I

PetEr Apo

TrustEE, O'ahu