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KīPUKA KULEANA Perpetuating kuleana to place through protection of cultural landscapes and family lands This place will feed you, if you know how to take care of it Young Hāʻena Fisherman, 2009 About Us Kīpuka Kuleana is dedicated to perpetuating kuleana, ahupua‘a-based natural resource management and connection to place through protection of cultural landscapes and family lands. Kīpuka Kuleana is a Hawai‘i nonprofit founded in 2017 on the island of Kaua‘i. Out of gallery Our Vision Long-time families continue to live in, share the practices and history of, and care for every ahupuaʻa on Kauaʻi. Our Mission ​Perpetuating kuleana, ahupuaʻa-based natural resource management, and connection to place through protection of cultural landscapes and family lands. Who we are What we Do Ways to Support

Mālama Stewardship Supporting community care of lands and waters across the island of Kauaʻi We engage directly in community cleaning, restoration, and stewardship efforts, while also helping to nurture community groups leading this work. ​ ​ We serve as an umbrella nonprofit for new community efforts, facilitate meetings and planning, and connect groups with one another to learn. ​ ​ We hold lands in trust as kīpuka (spaces of community caretaking), family reunions, workdays, cultural workshops, education and resurgence. 1/7 Projects and Resources Kaiāulu Koʻolau Educational Program This is an ʻohana based ʻāina education program focused on teaching our keiki to eat from and care for their Kīlauea community and surrounding ahupuaʻa through hands-on ʻāina and project-based learning.

ʻĀPana ʻOHANA Workshop About ʻĀpana ʻOhana was a five-part workshop series from September to November 2020. The purpose of these workshops was to educate and empower Hawaiian and local long-time ʻohana struggling to mālama (maintain and steward) their kuleana and ʻohana heir lands. Over 194 people engaged in group discussions led by local speakers and contributed to 388 total participation hours. As part of this workshop series, a number of new and innovative resources were developed by Huliauapaʻa . The Importance of ʻĀina Research Pūlama Lima and Donovan Preza Property Tax Leanora Kaiaokamalie, Mike Hubbard and Mason Chock Foundations of Access, Easements, and Right of Entry Peter Morimoto and Shae Kamakaʻala Quiet Titles and Adverse Possession Lance Collins and Bianka Isaki Estate and Trust Planning Nicholas Mirkay and Kelley Uyeoka Resources 1/4 Maps and Where to Find Them Handout Provides examples of different types of maps ​ Includes links to map repositories and collections ​ "How-To" Steps for finding county Tax Map Keys Download 1/4 How to Family Search Guide Step-by-step instructions on how to find Bureau of Conveyences documents ​ Color-coded aid for understanding how to read the index ​ ​ Step-by-step instructions for how to find and download land deeds Download 1/2 Hawaiʻi County Calendar for Tax Relief, Annual Filing, and Tax Exemptions Tax exemption calendar deadlines ​ Exemptions are categorized by themes which include short summaries of what each entails ​ Clickable links to download online applications Download 1/3 Maui County Calendar for Tax Relief, Annual Filing, and Tax Exemptions Tax exemption calendar deadlines ​ Exemptions are categorized by themes which include short summaries of what each entails ​ Clickable links to download online applications Download 1/4 Honolulu County Calendar for Tax Relief, Annual Filing, and Tax Exemptions Tax exemption calendar deadlines ​ Exemptions are categorized by themes which include short summaries of what each entails ​ Clickable links to download online applications Download 1/4 Kauaʻi County Calendar for Tax Relief, Annual Filing, and Tax Exemptions Tax exemption calendar deadlines ​ Exemptions are categorized by themes which include short summaries of what each entails ​ Clickable links to download online applications Download 1/4 Types of Access Handout Includes description of different types of access ​ Clickable links to State statutes and county ordinances ​ Defines important terminologies related to types of access Download 1/5 Glossary for Quiet Titles and Adverse Possesion Glossary indexed into four main sections: Quiet titles Adverse Possession Land Court County Tax Records ​ ​ Includes narratives and diagrams for understanding concepts, words, and phrases concerning Quiet Title and Adverse Possession. Download 1/4 Basic Guide to Conservation Easements Learn the basics of conservation easements ​ Outlines the benefits and function of conservation easements ​ Discusses property rights and conservation easement management plans Download 1/3 Hawaiʻi Estate Planning Resources Hawaiʻi Estate Planning Resources organized by categories: Lawyer Referral Estate Planning Resources, Advance Care/ Incapacity Planning ​ Clickable links embedded for each resource Download Back to top

Donate to Kīpuka kuleana Kīpuka Kuleana is sponsored by Huliauapaʻa, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose purpose is wahi kupuna (ancestral lands) stewardship across the Hawaiian islands. Because Kīpuka Kuleana is awaiting tax exempt status, Huliauapaʻa receives donations on our behalf. All donations designated for Kīpuka Kuleana will go to Kīpuka Kuleana.

AʻO Education and Research We enhance connections to ʻāina through education We lead field trips with local schools, a summer program for area keiki, college courses, workshops, and training for community learners of all ages. ​ Our educational efforts center on learning stories, place names, land-use history, policy, and ecology of particular ʻāina while building capacity to care for these places across generations. 20150306_140553 _DSC0329_rv _DSC0250_rv 20150306_185908 _DSC0357_rv We assist families, community groups, landowners, and government agencies with cultural, historic, and archival lands research to aid in the care and protection of ʻāina today Specialize in māhele and kuleana records, translation, place names, archival maps, historic images, land-use plans, and analysis to support policy reforms. ​ ​ Train people to conduct needed archival ʻāina research on their own. ​ ​ Build community archive of Kauaʻi lands, cultural practices, and ʻike to guide future restoration, caretaking, education, and governance. Projects and Resources (W)Anini Project A project to increase historical and cultural understanding of the past and present-day Wanini (Anini) area Learn More ʻĀpana ʻOhana Five-part workshop series in 2020 focused on maintaining kuleana and ʻohana heir lands Learn More

Accomplishments Education Conducted twenty field trips to share the ecology, history and culture of ahupuaʻa on the north-east coast of Kauaʻi, to students and teachers from preschool to graduate school. Hosted a workshop on family lands in December of 2016, attended by 40 individuals. The workshop included presentations on family land trusts, tax breaks, resources to conduct geneaology and lands research. Speakers included lawyers, staff from Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, Hawaiian language and lands researchers, and an expert from North Carolina who spoke on models used in other parts of the U.S. to protect family and heir properties. Participant evaluations were overwhelmingly positive (95% of respondents rated the workshop educational and useful, with 100% saying such programs are important to the community, and expressing interest to participate in the future). We aim to hold another workshop in early 2018. Acquisitions Facilitated the purchase of family lands in Kalihiwai belonging to the Pānui ʻohana in the summer of 2017. The family lost their great great grandmotherʻs land, where they had grown up for generations, to a forced partition auction in 2015. It was purchased by a real estate firm and put up for sale. A conservation buyer was identified to purchase the property from the firm. The conservation buyer and family members are actively working to arrange an owner-financed buy back, and establishment of a family trust so that the land will remain with the family in perpetuity. A stewardship agreement and right of entry are being negotiated so the family can continue to care for and use the land. Funding The team obtained a $310,000 National Science Foundation, Science Engineering and Education for Sustainability Grant in 2012, which just ended in 2017. Grant applications were submitted to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Native Voices Rising in 2017. Stewardship Team members have initiated four separate clean-ups of coastal sites in area ahupuaʻa, engaging over 100 volunteers, many students, in hauling out truckloads of trash. Assistance Since 2016, members of the project team have assisted seven different families facing loss of their ancestral lands. Team members have provided research assistance including land records, genealogy tracing and, translation of deeds written in Hawaiian. They have also helped families to set up tax payment plans, and connected them to legal advice and meetings with professionals willing to help them set up trusts etc. at low cost. Back to top

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Support / Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides Out of gallery Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides $19.95 Purchase from Common Ground Common Ground is a Kauaʻi-based community hub that supports local entrepreneurs and businesses. They elevate stories, products and community connection through their "creative campus that brings together changemakers, thinkers and do-ers." About the Author Mehana Blaich Vaughan grew up where the districts of Halele‘a and Ko‘olau meet on the island of Kaua‘i. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, and the Sea Grant College Program and Hui ‘Āina Momona at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Mehana’s research and teaching focus on community relationships with natural resources, particularly in indigenous settings, as well as place-based education. Her home is on Kaua‘i with her husband, mother, and three children. Kaiāulu is her first book. Product Details ​ ​ Based on two decades of interviews with over sixty Hawaiian elders, leaders, and fishermen and women, Mehana Blaich Vaughan’s Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides is a deeply personal and affecting book about how community interacts with natural resources. The northeast coast of Kauaʻi, where Mehana was born and raised, can be a picturesque playground for tourists, but for centuries the catch from this local reef and the sharing of that food has helped sustain area families. What happens when these fishing families become increasingly unseen, many of them moving away due to global commodification and loss of access to their coastal land? This book skillfully explores a community’s enduring efforts to nurture respectful relationships with natural resources and perpetuate these practices for future generations.

Hōʻahu to set aside for the future Hōʻahu Lands Fund The Hōʻahu Lands Fund supports the protection and restoration of Native Hawaiian lands on the island of Kauaʻi. Make A Contribution Inquire about Hōʻahu Hōʻahu means to set aside for the future. The word 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. This practice allowed for the sharing of abundance amongst those with plenty and those in need. Hale hōʻahu also provided collective security for times of unstable weather, drought or famine, preparing communities for uncertainty. ​ 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, leave it better than we found it, and work to address historical legacies of injustice. The Hōʻahu Lands Fund directly supports protection and restoration of Hawaiian lands threatened by sale and development. Hōʻahu is part of a larger global "Landback" movement to restore ʻāina to indigenous people and ensure they have the authority and cultural independence to steward, govern, and protect the places they call home - places vital to us all.

What we DO We always use the word kuleana to refer to land, but kuleana is really your responsibility to that land. Kīlauea Community Member, January 2016 Aʻo: Education & Research We enhance connections to ʻāina through education. We assist families, community groups, land owners and government agencies with cultural, historic and archival lands research to aid in care and protection of ʻāina today Resources & Projects Mālama: Stewardship We support community care of lands and waters across the island of Kauaʻi Resources & Projects Kākoʻo: ʻOhana Support We provide tailored support to families working to keep ancestral lands Resources & Projects Hoʻomalu: Policy and Protection We work with government on policies to protect ʻohana and their lands Resources & Projects Back to top