My name is Jen Mather and I currently reside in Wailuku in Pūʻali Komohana, Maui Komohana. Mahalo for the opportunity to offer comments on Bill 107. I respectfully urge this committee to consider naming the area the Hāmākua Loa Biocultural Preserve.
As we all know, this region holds deep ancestral significance. Land Commission Awards in the area reveal long-standing ʻohana settlement and cultivation along the streambeds, with dryland agriculture on the plateaus above. Land Grants and Patents point toward aliʻi and government lands that were then sold off to poʻe haole. These landscapes once sustained families through systems rooted in deep knowledge of land and water; this is well established through the historical records and oral histories. Today, these practices are being reawakened on these lands that were taken for sugar and pineapple. Mālama Hāmākua Maui, a local nonprofit, is restoring the forest, practicing agroecology, and providing intergenerational education, work that is both cultural and ecological. This is not static preservation, it is living practice. That is what defines a Biocultural Preserve.
A Cultural Preserve, as most open spaces are named across the Pae ʻĀina, often centers on protection of sacred or archaeological sites like heiau or burials, where use is limited to prevent degradation. These are vital sites, no doubt, and this model works where appropriate, but it tends to emphasize preservation and interpretation rather than active, daily use and may unintentionally freeze cultural relationships in time. I acknowledge this is a fine line we need to balance on - preservation and practice.
A Biocultural Preserve, however, recognizes the interrelationship between biological and cultural systems, emphasizing that the health of human communities and the ecosystems they live in are deeply intertwined, that culture is inseparable from ecology. It’s not just about safeguarding sites; it’s about restoring relationships between people, plants, streams, gulches, and seasonal rhythms. In healthy ahupuaʻa systems, these connections were always alive.
Other biocultural models like Kīpahulu ʻOhana, Heʻeia, and Limahuli show how culture and conservation can thrive together. That same opportunity exists in Hāmākua Loa. These lands are being cared for by kamaʻāina and hoa ʻāina, not as artifacts, but as ecosystems of knowledge, growth, and practice.
Naming it a Biocultural Preserve affirms this vision. It reflects what is already happening on the ground and signals a commitment to a future where restoration, education, and stewardship go hand in hand. It’s not just an extra three letters, it’s a deeper kuleana. It says we are not only preserving the past, but restoring relationships between people, place, and practice into the future. This is what I find so cool about archaeology, as well. When people think about it, they imagine us digging in the dirt to find old stuff, but what it is really about is understanding the world around us and the ways in which our kūpuna cared for it and how we can continue that legacy. I urge you to choose a name that reflects that vision of learning and doing. I don't know if that IS the County's vision, but I think it should be.
Mahalo for your consideration and for all the mea Hawaiʻi you ʻauamo. May the legacy we choose be worthy of your calloused shoulders.
Aloha mai kākou,
My name is Jen Mather and I currently reside in Wailuku in Pūʻali Komohana, Maui Komohana. Mahalo for the opportunity to offer comments on Bill 107. I respectfully urge this committee to consider naming the area the Hāmākua Loa Biocultural Preserve.
As we all know, this region holds deep ancestral significance. Land Commission Awards in the area reveal long-standing ʻohana settlement and cultivation along the streambeds, with dryland agriculture on the plateaus above. Land Grants and Patents point toward aliʻi and government lands that were then sold off to poʻe haole. These landscapes once sustained families through systems rooted in deep knowledge of land and water; this is well established through the historical records and oral histories. Today, these practices are being reawakened on these lands that were taken for sugar and pineapple. Mālama Hāmākua Maui, a local nonprofit, is restoring the forest, practicing agroecology, and providing intergenerational education, work that is both cultural and ecological. This is not static preservation, it is living practice. That is what defines a Biocultural Preserve.
A Cultural Preserve, as most open spaces are named across the Pae ʻĀina, often centers on protection of sacred or archaeological sites like heiau or burials, where use is limited to prevent degradation. These are vital sites, no doubt, and this model works where appropriate, but it tends to emphasize preservation and interpretation rather than active, daily use and may unintentionally freeze cultural relationships in time. I acknowledge this is a fine line we need to balance on - preservation and practice.
A Biocultural Preserve, however, recognizes the interrelationship between biological and cultural systems, emphasizing that the health of human communities and the ecosystems they live in are deeply intertwined, that culture is inseparable from ecology. It’s not just about safeguarding sites; it’s about restoring relationships between people, plants, streams, gulches, and seasonal rhythms. In healthy ahupuaʻa systems, these connections were always alive.
Other biocultural models like Kīpahulu ʻOhana, Heʻeia, and Limahuli show how culture and conservation can thrive together. That same opportunity exists in Hāmākua Loa. These lands are being cared for by kamaʻāina and hoa ʻāina, not as artifacts, but as ecosystems of knowledge, growth, and practice.
Naming it a Biocultural Preserve affirms this vision. It reflects what is already happening on the ground and signals a commitment to a future where restoration, education, and stewardship go hand in hand. It’s not just an extra three letters, it’s a deeper kuleana. It says we are not only preserving the past, but restoring relationships between people, place, and practice into the future. This is what I find so cool about archaeology, as well. When people think about it, they imagine us digging in the dirt to find old stuff, but what it is really about is understanding the world around us and the ways in which our kūpuna cared for it and how we can continue that legacy. I urge you to choose a name that reflects that vision of learning and doing. I don't know if that IS the County's vision, but I think it should be.
Mahalo for your consideration and for all the mea Hawaiʻi you ʻauamo. May the legacy we choose be worthy of your calloused shoulders.
Me ka haʻahaʻa,
Jen Mather