Hōʻahu
"to set aside for the future"
Hōʻahu Kauaʻi Land Tax
Hawaiʻi is a place to experience beauty and restoration through our ancestors' care and relationship with this ʻāina (lands and waters) across generations.
If you are visiting or call Kauaʻi home, Hōʻahu is a voluntary contribution that you can make to return lands to community hands and keep Native Hawaiian and long-time families rooted to their home places.
The Hōʻahu Kauaʻi Land Tax directly supports protection and restoration of family lands threatened by sale and development. Hōʻahu is part of the global "Landback" movement to restore ʻāina to indigenous peoples and ensure they can care for and protect their ancestral lands - places vital to us all.
Background
Hawaiʻi is ʻāina kulaiwi: the only homeland of the indigenous people of Hawaiʻi, land in which the bones of our ancestors are buried. The lands of Hawaiʻi are the source of all Native Hawaiian cultural practices and language and also some of the most coveted and high value real estate in the entire world. Anyone visiting, buying or living upon lands in Hawaiʻi shares a kuleana to care for this place, work to address historical injustice, and leave it better than we found it.
Hōʻahu ("to set aside for the future") refers to hale hōʻahu, houses where area residents brought regular offerings of their harvest, gathered, then saved to care for the needs of the entire community. Hale hōʻahu provided collective security for times of unstable weather, drought or famine, preparing communities for uncertainty. Hōʻahu, in times of need and plenty, cultivated shared abundance and care for all.
Inspired by Indigenous Land Taxes & Funds:
Shuumi Land Tax: Sogorea Te' Land Trust, Bay Area, CA (link)
Real Rent Duwamish: Duwamish Tribe, Seattle, WA (link)
Honor Native Land Tax: The Red Nation and Pueblo Action Alliance, Albuquerque, NM (link)
Manna-Hatta Fund: American Indian Community House, New York City, NY (link)
Tongva Return the Land Fund: Tongva Taraxat Paxaaxvxa Conservancy, Los Angeles, CA (link)
Pay Your Rent: Nii’kinaaganaa (Inuit peoples, Abénakis and Naskapi-Eeyou), Canada (link)