
The Hawaiian people have used the land invariably as a resource of guidance and nourishment. Those who live upon the land, or ‘āina, possess a responsibility to cultivate these islands that hold such rich ancestral lineage dating back thousands of years. This relationship, which inevitably includes caring for the land itself, guarantees the perpetuation of Hawaii in both an environmental and cultural sense. Without the ‘āina, the Hawaiian people have nothing. From the land comes life, sustenance, and reciprocity. As a native Hawaiian in the youth community, I strive to advocate amongst my peers the importance of sustaining the ‘āina ethereality now and forevermore. It is essential to pass on the knowledge that my ancestors held dear, especially in this time of environmental turmoil.
“More than seventy percent of Kauai’s beaches are eroding while Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline”
-NBC
“virulent disease [has] wiped out tens of thousands of acres of mature ‘ohi’a lehua trees” in the forestry regions of Hawaii.
-Goldfarb
These atrocities affect indigenous wildlife as well as the future of Hawaii’s economy. Imagine visiting a Hawaii with no trees and no beaches. No sea turtles or rare birds. That would not be Hawaii, but rather a sore reminder of what once was. With the depletion of Hawaii’s natural beauty comes the degradation of the Hawaiian way of life that has been integrated dependently with the land.

In order to preserve Hawaiian culture and morals, we must prioritize the value: malama ‘āina, malama kanaka…care for the land, and the land will care for the people.
A call for perpetuation of Hawaii is not simply confined to conservation of beaches for tourists to lounge on and greenery for the lush-seeking eye. In fact, this is a call to awareness and action. By broadening the perspective of Hawaii’s youth on climate related and societal issues, a desirable sense of oneness with the land will be established and their cultural heritage will acquire new significance in their eyes.
In order to portray that environmental education goes hand in hand with survival of a people, one must first identify the issues negatively impacting Hawaii’s natural resources and population. After this, solutions can be determined, followed by action to ebb the strife tearing land and people- or kanaka- apart.
The undivided companionship of these three levels of understanding ensure awareness, thoughtfulness, and vivacity thereafter. These factions of the bigger picture must be coherently comprehended to change the future.
Inhabitants of Hawaii and visitors alike do not realize how much Hawaii has changed in recent years. Hawaiian cultural practices such as hula and luau are exploited to gain economic benefit. With increased traffic to the islands, pollution in the air and on land has sky-rocketed; barges are the sole provider for the island inhabitants, and traditional Hawaiian farming techniques- though proven effective- are scarcely utilized. Beginning with the dismissal of traditional ways of land and resource cultivation, Hawaii has been fated for ultimate destruction. These changes begin a chain reaction that reaches into the most remote areas of Hawaii.


Hawaiians built lo’i, a form of aquaponics farming that sufficiently provided kanaka for generations. A system of trading between mountain and sea resources ensured that no matter where one lived, the full benefits of the ‘āina were reaped and sowed again.
Land in ancient Hawaii was divided into pie shaped regions that extended from the mountain to the sea, each slice containing all the essentials to thrive: fresh water mountain springs, land on which to plant and from which to harvest, forests for wildlife to live and be hunted, and the sea to catch fish and other useful sea life.
The survival of native wildlife has additionally been put at risk, with animals’ homes being taken over by development or by the encroachment of invasive species.


Heavy oceanic traffic is in danger of becoming ineffective as climate change drastically alters Hawaii’s geographic outlay. Sea levels are rising, and with this comes the infliction of “increased coastal flooding and erosion, damage [to] coastal ecosystems, infrastructure, and agriculture, and negatively affecting tourism” (GCRP). Those that wish to visit Waikiki beach ought to do so while it is still an option, because higher seas means less access to staples of Hawaii’s tourism attraction, which includes Waikiki and Kailua beach on the east side of Oahu.
Potential water-front property is both at risk and contributing to the erosion of sandy regions as they call for the construction of seawalls, thereby perpetuating the over population and destruction of Hawaii’s shores. Creatures living in the sea struggle to find uninhabited (or at the very least uncrowded) beaches as they once could. Buildings and infrastructure so precariously close to sea produce runoff that implements an imbalance in the ocean ecosystem. The effect of foreign pollutants entering this delicate ecological community can be seen by observing coral bleaching.
“Mass bleaching events are becoming more common…water temperature spikes in Hawaii have also been linked to coral disease outbreaks… rising water temperatures can harm the algae that live inside corals. Because algae provide food for the coral, a loss of algae weakens coral and eventually kills them.”
-United States Environmental Protection Agency
The disruption of natural ecosystems is not confined only to the ocean. As more visitors enter the islands, foreign diseases and species have spread. Native birds are left without a home or vulnerable to pathogens, sent astray in search of new nesting grounds. Invasive species take advantage of native susceptibility. They attack and subdue native species, effectively deplete food sources, and live in the only suitable places remaining- which leaves native species without sustenance, and without a home.


Much like these birds, the Hawaiian people now struggle to survive in a land so full of foreigners.
The high demand and low supply economy in Hawaii makes living in paradise very pricey. A significant influx of foreigners-made-homeowners makes finding houses even more difficult. Coupled with the crippling reliance on imported (and therefore more expensive) goods, living in Hawaii is exceptionally upscale and can be especially difficult for people to sustain this way of life.




Hawaiian homesteads have been established and are somewhat similar to Indian Reservations in the Continental U.S., with parallelism in quality and location. Hawaiian homes are built in virtually the worst land on each island. Dry, barren regions are set aside for natives while covetable spots are claimed by newcomers. Even if Hawaiians wanted to embrace traditional Hawaiian farming practices, the land on which they live would not permit it. By taking the land from the people, the spirit of the people has been wiped from the land. This ties with Hawaiian degradation of certain cultural practices. On the top of many visitors’ to-do lists is the experience of a Hawaiian Luau. Of course, it is exciting to watch the hula and fire-dancing while enjoying Hawaiian music and delicacies, but beneath the surface luau are a cheap and fraudulent exploitation of ancient Hawaiian rituals with one goal: raking in tourist monies.
The meaning of a song- or mele- is lost in translation, leaving a shallow adoration of idealistic Hawaii. Ultimately, what is lost with the meaning is the soul of a hula and the heart of a people.
Some problems may go untouched by human inhibition merely because people are oblivious to the proliferating effects. A turn from traditional Hawaiian practices within the Hawaiian Islands set in motion the catastrophic downfall of Hawaii’s sustainability.
The solution is to turn back to these traditional practices- with a modern twist- in order to perpetuate Hawaii as it is meant to be. There is no hope in asserting that traditional practices alone will suffice in altering Hawaii’s current path, because that starry-eyed contention simply would not stand in the face of the 1.4 million inhabitants of Hawaii. What is most important at this point is awareness of the past, action in the present, and contingency of the future.

The past reveals successes and failures, as well as lessons learned. The present exhibits the dynamism of humans and current lifelessness of the land as an outcome of past failures. The future is determined by what today accomplishes.
Nothing can be done in a day once it is gone, and the ticks and tocks are waning with increased rapidity for Hawaii’s cultural values, specifically that of reciprocity with the land.
The people have largely relinquished belief in Hawaiian values, particularly to malama- or care for- and aloha-or love- the land and its creatures.
Adjusting the attitudes and perspectives of Hawaii’s youth could be the answer to reestablishing and eternalizing the presence of malama (care) and aloha (love) for the land and its creatures in addition to the vital Hawaiian moral of cherishing ‘āina bounty.
There are already several programs in existence that achieve this by teaching youngsters how to cultivate and upkeep a lo’i, how to play training games of ancient Hawaiians, and how to properly create musical or construction instruments. One such program in which I have had the opportunity to participate is the youth summer program at Waipa ahupua’a.


Waipa long-term malama ‘āina goals are:
To restore the health of the natural environment and native ecosystems of the ahupua’a, and to involve [the] community in the stewardship, restoration, and management of the land and resources within the ahupua’a of Waipa
To practice and foster social, economic and environmental sustainability in the management of Waipa’s natural and cultural resources
The genre of information dispersed throughout these programs is extremely valuable to the proliferation of Hawaii’s culture as a whole. Ultimately, these foundations should be built as a place of cultural refuge, or pu’uhonua, “where people can experience nature in its raw form. They will experience the tenderness and the ruggedness and learn of the necessity to preserve it. At the same time, the land is a cultural refuge. The Hawaiian culture which inhabited this land prior to any other cultures, will continue to thrive and rediscover itself, without the threat of annihilation” (Greenlees).

By implementing greater access to authentic cultural learning experiences, Hawaii would be educating the posterity of the islands, sharing legitimate information about the lives of ancient Hawaiians, and initiating a generation of transition into a new age.
Loss of a culture cannot be defined as a mere forfeiture of certain practices and rituals, but rather should be expanded to include the extinction of the lively people who can be identified by that culture in question. Essentially, it is the loss of a people and the heartbeat that unites their blood. If action is taken now, Hawaii’s cultural liveliness and moral compass can be perpetuated as a source of guidance and sustenance for the young and future generations. The land and people will cease to exist as clashing counterparts. Pretentiousness will subside to appreciation. Amongst this current chaos and ostensible hopelessness, there is a silver lining: from this point forward, there is still time for Hawaiian youth to take up the cause to preserve their homeland and culture. The heartbeat of the islands and the story of our ancestors can prevail.
