Community members gathered at Kahana to restore Huilua fishpond in the spirit of aloha ʻāina.

“We’re at Huilua fishpond in the moku of Koʻolauloa on the island of Oʻahu. This bay area here is called Kalehualoa, so Huilua is at the south end of this bay,” said Kahiau Wallace.

“The kahea went out to have one thousand people on Oʻahu to come and huli ka lima i lalo – put their hands down and restore the fishpond, which was, and hopes to be, a viable source of food for this ahupuaʻa,” said Ānuenue Punua.

“Today we are also here in support of our ʻohana on Maunakea, which has really brought a push to aloha ʻāina. The kahea woke up a lot of our people, a lot of our ʻohana, people not knowing how to kōkua. This is one way, you kōkua in your own wahi, in your own places,” said Punua.

“Our hui is the Aloha ʻĀina Hui, and although we kākoʻo our presence in waving signs, and things we have to politically, our manaʻo is we have to hana lima in order to make a statement that we aloha ʻāina here and for the whole pae ʻāina. So by taking care of our ʻāina that’s how we can show kākoʻo for the mauna as well,” said Wallace.

“A lot of it is reconnecting, with their kupuna, with our kupuna, with the kupuna of this ʻāina. A lot of people today I know expressed that they didn’t know how to kōkua. So here is a great way, they loved that they were called out and invited,” said Punua.

“Our big manaʻo for today was ‘ua lawa mākou i ka pōhaku, ka ʻai kamahaʻo o ka ʻāina.’ The manaʻo is that the pōhaku is enough for us to live. We can make fishponds, we can make kīpapa, we can make loʻi, and through that we can feed ourselves. That’s the best way for us to be independent, by us feeding ourselves and our people,” said Wallace.

“Together we really can take our ʻāina back. There’s kupuna here, there’s makua here, and also make sure you don’t leave your keiki at home. Include everyone in this ʻohana because it’s going to take everyone to restore our nation,” said Punua.