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Donate to Kīpuka kuleana Kīpuka Kuleana is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that accepts tax-deductible donations. To donate by credit/debit card or bank transfer, please complete the form below. Checks can be mailed to: Kīpuka Kuleana. PO Box #662132. Lihue, HI 96766. ​ Mahalo for supporting our work on Kauaʻi!

Mālama Stewardship Supporting community care of ʻāina (lands and waters) across the island of Kauaʻi We participate in community efforts to mālama (care for) and restore culturally significant ʻāina. ​ ​ We lead cultural education programs and field trips, including our annual Kaiāulu Koʻolau Summer Program, that impart critical skills and knowledge grounded in place to the next generation of land protectors. ​ ​ We cultivate kīpuka (spaces of community caretaking and cultural restoration) so that families may gather, mālama, practice cultural traditions, and teach from places integral to their identities. Kaiāulu Koʻolau Summer Program A four-week program for keiki (children) focused on growing connections to community and ʻāina and cultivating a sense of identity through place. 1/20 Through this program, keiki come to know ʻāina through cultural practices, including mele and oli composition, map reading, moʻolelo and place names, fishing, foraging, lei making, hula and kanikapila. They learn how ʻāina must be cared for and sustained before it may feed community, and they work hard to mālama ʻāina, from planting native species to harvesting foods at ʻĀina Hoʻokupu o Kīlauea. Over two camping trips, they practice gathering their meals and cultural cooking techniques like building imu, pulehu, and steaming. One of the group's favorite activities is the culminating cooking competition, which gives keiki three hours to gather and prepare lunches using area ingredients. During a final hōʻike (reflection), keiki share and celebrate their learnings from the program with their ʻohana and kumu (teachers) through presentations, hula, music and a shared meal together. Special mahalo to the community members and partners who make this program possible: ʻĀina Hoʻokupu o Kīlauea, ʻĀina Aloha Economic Futures, Hawaiʻi Land Trust, Kiaʻi Kāhili, Limahuli Gardens, Namahana Education Foundation, Aunty Ann Eu, Aunty Kaninau Villanueva, Aunty Lei Wann, Uncle Atta Chandler Forrest, and Uncle Gary & Aunty Bebe Smith.

We feel, we have kuleana, responsibility for the land, for the people. That's what this is all about. - Kūpuna raised in Wanini, March 2015 Our Why Keeping ʻohana lands in ʻohana hands sustains communities. ʻĀina, meaning “that which feeds,” is the Hawaiian word for lands and waters. ʻĀina encompasses all that feeds us, from heavens to earth to ocean, especially relationships between places and the people who call them home, who have fed their families here across generations. Traditionally in Hawaiʻi, ʻāina, an embodiment of our Gods and ancestors, could never be bought, sold or owned, but was held in trust by the governing aliʻi of an area, who gave it to area ʻohana as their responsibility without right of ownership. Under Hawaiian land tenure, families could stay and pass this land to their descendants, even as ruling aliʻi changed, as long as they cared for it well. ​ Today, long-time families from the island of Kauaʻi are finding it increasingly difficult to continue to live here and care for the lands that feed them. Under western and American law, people from other parts of the world, many of whom vacation on the island, can buy lands on Kauaʻi for vacation homes, real estate investments, or residence in a place that feels like paradise. The land here has become some of the most coveted and expensive on the planet, with over a million visitors a year recreating across the island. Meanwhile, long-time residents struggle, working multiple jobs to pay for food, rent, and rising property taxes tied to escalating land values; simultaneously, they face the loss of homes, decreased access to ʻohana fishing and gathering areas, and increased pressure to move from their communities and the island. Most who buy land on Kauaʻi have no idea they are displacing long-time area families, have no way to learn about the ʻāina they are becoming caretakers of, and have no connection to surrounding communities. Kīpuka Kuleana restores relationships between people and ʻāina by restoring land and the ability of local communities to care for it.

Kākoʻo ʻOhana Support We provide direct, tailored support to families working to keep ancestral lands. ​ We connect ʻohana with tools to keep their ancestral lands. See our Resources page for details. Below are examples of resource areas: ​ Hoʻoponopono : to help ʻohana come together in discussions about ʻāina ​ ​ Genealogy research : to help ʻohana research their ancestry to qualify for tax exemptions, claim land, register iwi kūpuna ​ Legal assistance : to address probate, title challenges, access issues, quiet title defense, partition action, etc. ​ Tax exemptions and payment plans : to work with the County of Kauaʻi tax office to reduce the financial burden of taxes Conservation resources: to protect ʻāina using tools like the cultural conservation easement and models like descendent-led nonprofit organizations ​ Family land trust set-up: to keep land within the ʻohana for generations to come ​ Trust and estate planning : to set up wills and trusts (revocable, irrevocable, etc.) ​ Homeowner's financial assistance : to receive grant funds and loans through groups like Hawaiʻi Community Lending ​ Where families have lost lands, we help them to negotiate access and stewardship agreements so they can continue to care for ʻohana ʻāina. We work with ʻohana to craft respectful solutions tailored to particular ʻāina and circumstances, while also connecting area ʻohana to one another. Projects and Events Inaugural ʻOhana Workshop (2016) With support from Native Voices Rising, our founders brought together 20 community members at QLCC to discuss the protection of kuleana and ʻohana lands in 2016. The manaʻo from this workshop planted the seeds for the formal establishment of Kīpuka Kuleana from 2017-2018. Wawa's Legacy (2017) We advised and supported an ʻohana that successfully protected their ancestral land through a conservation purchase in 2017. ​ ʻĀpana ʻOhana (2020) We co-hosted an online workshop series with nonprofit Huliauapaʻa and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that reached over 200 community members in 2020. This workshop provided resources for families and others seeking to protect kuleana and ʻohana heir properties. Resources ʻOhana ʻĀina Workshop (2023) On January 21, 2023, we hosted an in-person workshop at Liliʻuokalani Trust for 65 community members that provided resources for protecting ancestral ʻāina. Resources ʻOhana ʻĀina Workshop (2024) On February 10, we gathered again at Liliʻuokalani Trust for our annual ʻOhana ʻĀina Workshop. 65 community members, including 12 facilitators, shared manaʻo and resources for protecting family lands.

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 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 Top- What we do

AʻO Education and Research We enhance connections to ʻāina through education Lead cultural field trips with local schools, an annual summer program for keiki (children) and ʻōpio (youth), college courses, workshops, and trainings for community learners of all ages. ​ Center 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 a community archive of Kauaʻi lands, cultural practices, and ʻike (knowledge) 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 ʻĀpana ʻOhana Five-part workshop series in partnership with Huliauapaʻa and OHA in 2020 focused on maintaining kuleana and ʻohana heir lands Resources

Wed, Oct 28 | Zoom ʻĀpana ʻOhana Workshop 3 Access, Easements, and Right of Entry Registration is Closed See other events Time & Location Oct 28, 2020, 10:00 AM – 10:05 PM HST Zoom Share this event

Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides by Mehana Blaich Vaughan All book proceeds benefit Kīpuka Kuleana. Mahalo for your kākoʻo (support)! $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." ​ Special thanks to Jon Champlin, our champion at Common Ground! Mahalo to our local business partners and supporters! Limited copies of Kaiāulu sold at the following locations: ​Kauaʻi Limah uli Garden & Preserve Gift Shop (Hāʻena) Sway Hanalei (Hanalei) Hunter Gat herer (Kīlauea) Aloha Exchange (Kīlauea, Kalaheo) Kīlauea Lighthouse and Gift Shop (Kīlauea) North Shore Pharmacy (Kīlauea) The Kauaʻi Store (Kapaʻa) KIKO (Kapaʻa) Kauaʻi Museum (Līhuʻe) Talk Story Bookstore (Hanapepe) Kōkeʻe Museum (Kōkeʻe State Park) ​ Oʻahu Native Books / Na Mea Hawaiʻi (Honolulu) ​ California Stanford University Bookstore (Stanford, CA) About the Author Mehana Blaich Vaughan grew up where the districts of Haleleʻa and Koʻolau meet on the island of Kauaʻi. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, and the Sea Grant College Program and Hui ʻĀina Momona at the University of Hawaiʻi 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 Kauaʻi with her husband, mother, and three children. Kaiāulu is her first book. About Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides 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. "Kaiāulu is a book of prayers, an exquisite inquiry into the nature of reciprocity and what it means to be human. Never have we needed the compassionate intelligence of Mehana Blaich Vaughan more. In the tradition of wisdom writers like Robin Wall Kimmerer and the storytelling magic of Louise Erdrich, we see a leader of the next generation on the page and in the world." - Terry Tempest Williams, author of The Hour of Land June 17, 2024 ​ We are honored that the Office of Faculty Development & Academic Support (OFDAS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa selected Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides as their summer book pick. UH faculty can borrow the book through the Center for Teaching Excellence's Place-Based Education Library. ​ https://www.ofdas.hawaii.edu/ ​ Mahalo OFDAS for uplifting our nonprofit's work to protect ancestral lands and cultural landscapes on Kauaʻi. December 4, 2023 ​ Mahalo to Seattle-based writer and community organizer Siobhan Ring for reviewing Kaiāulu in The Forge. Because of Siobhan's advocacy for Kaiāulu (published in 2018), The Forge inaugurated a new occasional series called "the Classics of Organizing" to spotlight not-so-new books that hold important lessons for community organizing. ​ https://forgeorganizing.org/article/review-kaiaulu-gathering-tides

Our Team Kīpuka Kuleana was founded by four mothers living and raising their children on the island of Kauaʻi. These women include an associate professor, a lawyer, a GIS specialist and archival researcher, and a nonprofit director with expertise in conservation easements - all dedicated to perpetuating kuleana and connection to ʻāina across generations. A volunteer-run hui since 2016, Kīpuka Kuleana became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2018, hired its first staff member in 2021 and welcomed its first executive director in 2024. Board of Directors Mehana Blaich Vaughan President and Co-Founder ​ Mehana Blaich Vaughan grew up in Namahana and Kalihiwai, Kauaʻi, on the border of the moku of Haleleʻa and Koʻolau. A graduate of Kīlauea Elementary School, Mehana went to high school on Oʻahu, then studied sociology and secondary education at Harvard University. After a decade of teaching middle school in Hawaiian charter schools, developing ʻāina-based education programs on Kauaʻi, and training teachers in culturally grounded education, Mehana returned to school herself to pursue a doctorate in environmental studies at Stanford University. Mehana is an associate professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management and U.H. Sea Grant College program. Her research, teaching and outreach focus on understanding and nurturing community care and governance of land and waters in Hawaiʻi. She loves to dance, make lei in the wili style of her grandmother, Amelia Ana Kaʻōpua Bailey, and share moʻolelo shared with her by beloved kūpuna. Mehana's first book Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides was published in 2018. She lives in Kīlauea with her husband Kilipaki, mother Beryl, and three children - Pikomanawa, Piʻinaʻemalina, and Anauleikupuna - who, along with her father, Gary Blaich, inspire this work. Elif C. Beall Treasurer ​ Elif Beall is a licensed attorney, community advocate, and budding writer. Elif was founding Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA), and has served in many non-profit positions including executive leadership, development, and communications. Elif lives on the north shore of Kauaʻi with her husband, where she has resided since 2004. In addition to Kīpuka Kuleana, Elif also serves on the Kauaʻi Island Council for the Hawaiʻi Land Trust. She's happiest when in nature, or when practicing hula or lei-making, or discussing good questions and hopeful futures with family and friends. Jennifer Luck Co-Founder ​ Jennifer Luck is the Chief Operating Officer for Common Ground Kauaʻi . She previously served as Executive Director of the Kauaʻi Public Land Trust, Kauaʻi Island Director of the Hawaiʻi Land Trust, and Managing Director of the Porter Trust and Wai Koa Plantation, where she oversaw the perpetual conservation of a 4-mile walking trail, multi-stakeholder negotiations for a dam remediation project, tenancy contracts and master plan renovations of 500+ acres of agricultural land. In addition to Kīpuka Kuleana, Jennifer sits on the boards of the Hawaiʻi Land Trust and Namahana Charter School. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Jennifer lives on the north shore of Kauaʻi with her husband Jason and daughters Midge and Frankie. She is happiest when she is spending time with them and her extended ʻohana, surfing, running and making lei. Malia Akutagawa Board Member ​ Malia Akutagawa is from the island of Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi. As a Kanaka ʻŌiwi, she was raised in a traditional, subsistence lifestyle; learning to fish, crab, gather limu (seaweed), prepare traditional foods and lāʻau lapaʻau (traditional herbs for medicinal healing). Malia was influenced strongly by her mākua (parent generation) and kūpuna (elders) in the aloha ʻāina movement to protect traditional lands from developers. This inspired her to become an attorney. Malia focuses her legal advocacy work on Native Hawaiian access, gathering, and religious rights; historic preservation and native burials protection; land use and environmental law issues; climate change law, policy, adaptation, and action planning; indigenous governance; native landback; and peacemaking utilizing traditional hoʻoponopono principles. Malia is an Associate Professor of Law and Hawaiian Studies and is part of Hui ‘Āina Momona, a consortium of scholars at the University of Hawaiʻi - Mānoa charged with addressing compelling issues of Indigenous Hawaiian knowledge and practices. Our Staff Tina Aiu Executive Director tina@kipukakuleana.org Tina Aiu grew up in Wailua, Kauaʻi, where her family roots go back several generations. Her work with Kīpuka Kuleana is inspired by her kūpuna and stems from her 14 years of experience working with land trusts and other grassroots organizations to protect 'āina for communities across Hawai'i. ​ After earning her Bachelor's degree in Biology from Loyola Marymount University, Tina returned to Hawaiʻi and worked to connect high school youth to ʻāina as a Team Leader with Kupu's Hawaiʻi Youth Conservation Corps. The experience inspired her to pursue a career in land conservation. Tina earned her J.D. and Environmental Law Certificate from William S. Richardson School of Law in 2013 and then worked as a Food Systems Planner for Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services. She worked alongside the Kalihi community to establish the first farmers market and community garden in Oʻahu's largest public housing neighborhood. Tina then served as Oʻahu Island Director with Hawai'i Land Trust, managing conservation real estate transactions and mālama ʻāina projects, including the purchase and permanent protection of Maunawila Heiau in Koʻolauloa, Oʻahu. After practicing as a civil litigation attorney, Tina returned to the conservation sector to manage conservation easement, ʻāina-based education, and community stewardship projects in Maunalua for Livable Hawaii Kai Hui. Working in partnership with Maunalua community leaders, Tina was instrumental in establishing a community ʻohana garden and mala kalo for families residing in Honolulu's urban core. She has also taught Conservation Transactions as a Lecturer in Law at William S. Richardson School of Law. In 2020, Tina's heart called her home to Wailua, Kauaʻi where she currently resides with her husband Franz and daughter Makaʻalohi. Tina is the co-owner of Modesta Media , a digital media production company that primarily services the environmental sector. Having spent much of her career establishing kīpuka for communities of Oʻahu, Tina is glad to bring her expertise home to Kauaʻi through her work with Kīpuka Kuleana and volunteered her time to establish and grow the organization as a co-founder from 2016-2024. Tina enjoys spending time in the mountains, playing with her 5 year old, and practicing martial arts. Sarah Barger Development Director sarah@kipukakuleana.org Raised in Atlanta and shaped by the Pacific Northwest, Sarah Barger has spent the past decade working as a researcher, grant writer and advocate for healthier, climate resilient communities grounded in Indigenous and local stewardship. As a newcomer to Kauaʻi, Sarah planted roots in the community through farming and participating in ʻāina restoration projects with Hawaiʻi Land Trust, Mālama Māhāʻulepū and Surfrider . During community workdays, Sarah came to know the powerhouse wahine of Kīpuka Kuleana and stumbled into her dream job of building capacity for the nonprofit and supporting Landback on Kauaʻi . With a grant from Hawaiʻi People's Fund, Sarah was hired as Kīpuka's first staff person in 2021. As part-time Director of Programs, she led the nonprofit's grant writing, organizational development, communications, research, workshop planning, and ʻohana outreach. In 2024, Sarah moved into a full-time Development Director role, focusing her efforts on grant writing and fundraising, supporting land protection projects and launching the Hōʻahu Kauaʻi Land Tax. ​ Sarah has a BA in Psychology, a BA in American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and a minor in Medical Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work is guided by teachers and mentors around the world - from Aotearoa and Chilean Patagonia to Hawaiʻi - where she's had the privilege of living and working alongside Indigenous leaders and allies who are restoring health and balance in community ecosystems. Through Kīpuka Kuleana, she partners with tribal leaders and allied groups in Louisiana, California and Borikén working to rematriate and protect Indigenous lands and waters and perpetuate cultural practices, which build resilience in the face of climate change. She loves sharing Landback and community land trust research as a guest lecturer in UH-Mānoa's Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Management and as a presenter at national conferences. Splitting her time between the Pacific Northwest and Kauaʻi, Sarah is happiest on the water and in the mountains, especially when running, hiking, biking, paddling and climbing with friends. Dominique Leu Cordy Research Consultant ​ Dominique Leu Cordy grew up all over Oʻahu and now lives and farms kalo with her kāne and their two keiki in Haleleʻa and Koʻolau, Kauaʻi. She does freelance research across the pae ʻāina. Focusing on land in Hawaiʻi, she specializes in archival research and GIS mapping. She has a BA in Cultural Anthropology from University of California at Davis and an MA in Pacific Island Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has over 17 years of experience in the field of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) in Hawaiʻi, archaeology, EA and EIS review, community ethnography, historic land and historical research, and GIS research. She has guest lectured for six years for the Wahi Kūpuna Internship Program (WKIP) as well as the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu. Ms. Cordy has managed and developed cultural and historical GIS databases for government agencies, including the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE-POH), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. She engages actively in community organizations that seek to protect, preserve, and educate about Hawaiʻi's precious wahi kūpuna (cultural resources) and is a participating member of the Kaliʻuokapaʻakai Collective, the Waioli Taro Valley Hui. Dominique is the Deputy Director of Huliauapaʻa and a co-founder of Kīpuka Kuleana.