Ka Wai Ola News

Ka Wai Ola News Indigenous media outlet sharing news, features and events with a focus on the Native Hawaiian community

January is the month to learn about Kalaupapa’s history and people. Ka ʻOhana o Kalaupapa is hosting a free webinar:Ber...
01/17/2026

January is the month to learn about Kalaupapa’s history and people. Ka ʻOhana o Kalaupapa is hosting a free webinar:

Bernard K. Punikaiʻa, Kalaupapa Warrior
Sat. Jan. 24, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
A presentation about the amazing life of one of Kalaupapa’s greatest leaders and defenders. Register by email to [email protected].

An ongoing photo exhibit featuring the people, family members and landscapes of Kalaupapa is on display at the Molokaʻi Museum & Cultural Center in Kalaʻe. The museum is open Tues. - Sat, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Essays about historic events and people of Kalaupapa are available on online. Visit Ka ʻOhana o Kalaupapa's website at kalaupapaohana.org.

The state legislative session opens on Wed. Jan.21. We hope to advance policies that improve the conditions of Native Ha...
01/16/2026

The state legislative session opens on Wed. Jan.21. We hope to advance policies that improve the conditions of Native Hawaiians and defending against attacks on Native Hawaiian rights. OHA’s trustees have approved the following bills for our team to champion. We hope the lāhui will join us in supporting these bills.

1. Relating to Island Burial Councils - proposes reducing quorum requirements, authorize OHA to provide per diem stipends for regional members, and extend timeline to fill mid-term vacancies to 75 days.

2. Relating to Historic Preservation - close this loophole made by Act 293 (2025), remove “nominally sensitive” language and limit the residential exemption to projects without a ground-disturbing impact.

3. Relating to the Land Use Commission (LUC)- mandate that at least one LUC member have expertise in water resource management; empower OHA to recommend candidates for the existing Hawaiian land use and cultural practice expertise seat.

4. Protect Reef Fishes from Commercial Aquarium Collection - prohibit extraction of Hawaiʻi’s nearshore marine life for commercial sale as aquarium pets and ornamental aquarium displays, with exceptions for scientific and educational institutions.

5. Relating to Rent Stabilization - establish a 3% cap on rent increases, but provides exemptions for owner-occupied properties.

Learn more at kawaiola.news/columns/na-oiwi-olino/summary-of-ohas-2026-legislative-package.

In an act of bold defiance against U.S. military might, on Jan. 4, 1976, nine aloha ʻāina evaded a U.S. Coast Guard bloc...
01/16/2026

In an act of bold defiance against U.S. military might, on Jan. 4, 1976, nine aloha ʻāina evaded a U.S. Coast Guard blockade in the ʻAlalākeiki Channel to make landfall on the ravaged island of Kahoʻolawe.

Determined to support an Aboriginal Lands of Hawaiian Ancestry (ALOHA) bill demanding U.S. reparations to Kanaka ʻŌiwi, they wanted to draw national attention to the illegal role that the U.S. played in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and protest ongoing U.S. military control and destruction of Hawaiian national lands.

George Helm, Emmett Aluli, Kimo Aluli, Kawaipuna Prejean, Walter Ritte, Ian Lind, Ellen Miles, Steve Morse, and Karla Villalba were later dubbed the “Kahoʻolawe Nine,” becoming contemporary folk heroes.

Their courage in risking not only arrest but death to stand in opposition to the desecration of Hawaiian land was the catalyst for the formation of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana (ʻOhana) and the birth of the modern Aloha ʻĀina Movement that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Read the full article online at kawaiola.news/cover/laa-maa-paa.

This month marks 50 years since the historic landing of the “Kahoʻolawe Nine” – an act of daring and courage that became...
01/16/2026

This month marks 50 years since the historic landing of the “Kahoʻolawe Nine” – an act of daring and courage that became the catalyst for the formation of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana and the birth of the modern Aloha ʻĀina movement.

Read the January 2026 Ka Wai Ola online at kawaiola.news.

OHAʻs Hawaiʻi Island Traveling Beneficiary Services initiative is designed to meet Native Hawaiian beneficiaries where t...
01/08/2026

OHAʻs Hawaiʻi Island Traveling Beneficiary Services initiative is designed to meet Native Hawaiian beneficiaries where they live, work, and raise their families.

This month OHA staff will be available in Pāhala, Kona and Pāhoa. Office hours are 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, closed 1:00 - 1:45 pm.

For more information call 808-594-1835 or visit OHA.org.

La'i'ōpua 2020

Join us on Kauaʻi for our next Community Briefing on Military Leased Lands. Jan. 14, 2026, 6:00-8:00 pm, at the Kekaha N...
01/08/2026

Join us on Kauaʻi for our next Community Briefing on Military Leased Lands.
Jan. 14, 2026, 6:00-8:00 pm, at the Kekaha Neighborhood Center
8130 ʻElepaio Rd, Kekaha 96752
Watch the livestream at youtube.com/OHAHawaii.

Share your manaʻo in our survey regarding Military Leased Lands oha.org/aloha-aina-survey.

OHA is hosting community informational briefings throughout the pae ‘āina to raise awareness on the number of military leased lands set to expire between 2028 and 2031. These lands are part of the Public Land Trust and are currently held by the US Army, Navy, and Air Force on the islands of Hawai‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i, and Ni‘ihau.

Learn more about Military Leased Lands oha.org/aloha-aina.

Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou!!!Have a year full of joy, good health and love. May this year bring good things for the Lāhui! (Th...
01/01/2026

Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou!!!
Have a year full of joy, good health and love. May this year bring good things for the Lāhui! (The future is what you make it.)

12/24/2025

Mele Kalikimaka a me ka Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou! Wishing you all blessings and joy during this holiday season. Be safe and enjoy time with your family.

OHA offices across the pae ʻāina will close at Noon on Wed, Dec 24, Christmas Eve. The offices will be closed from Thurs...
12/24/2025

OHA offices across the pae ʻāina will close at Noon on Wed, Dec 24, Christmas Eve. The offices will be closed from Thurs, Dec. 25 through the New Year holiday. Al offices will reopen on Mon, Jan 5 in all locations.

If you need to contact us please email [email protected]. For any other information visit oha.org online.

Have a safe and happy holiday with your ʻohana.

Bernice Pauahi Pākī Bishop December 19, 1831Bernice Pauahi Pākī was born in Honolulu at the kauhale ʻAikupika of her fat...
12/19/2025

Bernice Pauahi Pākī Bishop
December 19, 1831
Bernice Pauahi Pākī was born in Honolulu at the kauhale ʻAikupika of her father, Abner Kuhoʻoheiheipahu Pākī. Her mother was Laura Kanaholo Kōnia.

Named for her aunt, Queen Pauahi, she was also given the Christian name of Bernice. As the last direct descendant and inheritor of the Kamehameha lands, she placed more than 375,000 acres of ancestral lands in a perpetual endowment to educate Native Hawaiian children known today as Kamehameha Schools.

Lived With Purpose: A Grandfather’s Guide to Living with Honor, Heart and Humor by John TsukayamaA memoir that shares Ts...
12/19/2025

Lived With Purpose: A Grandfather’s Guide to Living with Honor, Heart and Humor by John Tsukayama

A memoir that shares Tsukayama's perspective on Hawaiian values and community challenges through the lens of his experiences as a graduate of Kamehameha Schools, an IRS officer, a private investigator, a security executive, and an academic.

Tsukayama, an adjunct professor at BYU Hawaiʻi, has a Ph.D. in international relations. His memoir weaves together his personal stories and professional experiences in which truth meets consequences. Despite a life spent seeking painful truth in the shadows, his memoir is a story of hope and a manual for living.

With a personal philosophy centered on Hawaiian values, hospitality, and extending the definition of “family,” his memoir is intended to pass along lessons of kuleana to future generations. A significant portion of his book details his work as an investigation team leader for the 1997-1999 Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate “Broken Trust” controversy, which he calls “the most important case of my life.”

His first book, The Process of Investigation, now in its fourth edition, is a collaboration with Charles A. Sennewald first published in the 1980s.

Available at Amazon beginning December 15.

More at kawaiola.news/hoonaauao/books-for-the-lahui-four-new-very-different-publications-to-inform-inspire-and-entertain

KAPU Series "Sacred Hawaiian Burials" by Keoni Kealoha AlvarezThe accidental discovery of a burial cave near his ancestr...
12/18/2025

KAPU Series "Sacred Hawaiian Burials" by Keoni Kealoha Alvarez

The accidental discovery of a burial cave near his ancestral home in Puna on Hawaiʻi Island set the trajectory for Alvarez’ life. He was only 8 years old at the time, but he has made it his life’s work to protect iwi kūpuna, and in particular, to watch over the iwi resting in the burial cave he stumbled upon more than 35 years ago.

Over the decades, Alvarez has immersed himself in learning about traditional burial methods, eventually producing a film, KAPU: Sacred Hawaiian Burials, along with several books that detail this remarkable discovery and what he has learned since.

There are now four books in the series, beginning with a children’s book, The Boy and his Hawaiian Cave, published in 2021 followed by KAPU: Hawaiian Burial Methods published in 2022, KAPU: “Sacred Hawaiian Burials” – the book version of his film – published in 2023, and in May 2025, Alvarez published his fourth book, a hardcover coffee table book by the same name that uses illustrations and culturally grounded narrative to help people understand traditional Hawaiian ways of honoring the ancestors.

All books in the KAPU series are available on Amazon, and the two-hour film can be viewed on PBS Hawaiʻi at pbshawaii.org/kapu-sacred-hawaiian-burials/.

More at kawaiola.news/hoonaauao/books-for-the-lahui-four-new-very-different-publications-to-inform-inspire-and-entertain

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