Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 10, 1 October 2009 — OHA grant helps ʻEwa oral history to endure [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA grant helps ʻEwa oral history to endure

By Liza Simon Public Affairs Specialist n the 1930s, Arline Wainaha Ku'uleialoha Brede Eaton, a youn| girl living in the ahupua'a of Pu'uloa, O'ahu, played in thensparsely populated wilderness. Together, she and a ehildhood friend delighted in the abundanee of hundreds of pueo, whieh would deseend around them in the forest. "Sometimes they would bite us, but only beeause we were raseal and teased them. They're really very gentle," she reealls with a laugh. Now in her 80s, kupuna Aunty Arline Eaton, rarely spots pueo where she lives today. It is not far from where Tūtū Mama Malia and Tūtū Papa Nahiala Kealoha raised her, but mueh has ehanged in the 'Ewa distriet. Transformed into sugar plantation by the mid-20th eentury, the 'Ewa plain underwent an urban explosion in the last two deeades and is now home to developments sueh as the new Hoakalei Resort and 0'ahu's seeond eity, Kapolei. Worried about how her ehildhood home would fare under ' the pressure of rapid growth, j Eaton in 2006 joined with other ( eoneerned eitizens in 'Ewa to ^ form the Hoakalei Cultural ( Foundation, dedieated to a mis-

sion of stewardship with aloha. "The way I look at it, people are always less likely to destroy something if they know it's true value," she says. "We have neweomers to 'Ewa who don't know about the plaee but they express an interest in it. The more I keep talking to them, the more they feel the love for the plaee." And still, the 'āina thrives in 'Ewa, says Eaton, pointing to area's sprawling Kauhale Preserve, whieh ineludes federally proteeted wetlands and nesting areas for endangered

and rare native bird speeies. As the foundation's president, Eaton has organized sehool and eommunity walking tours and eleanups of the preserve and other 'Ewa l loeales. She has brought in areheologieal experts to interpret heiau and other aneient sites of Native Hawaiian habitation in Pu'uloa. Meanwhile,

through HCF, she shares her own personal repository of knowledge of Pu'uloa: mo'olelo passed on to her, mele she has eomposed and eustoms from a time and plaee where stewardship was everyone's kuleana. Eaton will be highlighting this knowledge in a video doeumentary on Pu'uloa. OHA has provided the Hoakalei Cultural Foundation with $49,000 for the projeet, whieh will eover researeh, arehival eolleetion, storyboard development,

video taping and editing of Eaton's oral history by HCF. The projeet is expeeted to heeome a eenterpieee of the resort's planned heritage eenter. The resort's golf eourse opened in 2006 while work on a nearby marina will take several more years to eomplete, aeeording to a spokesperson for developer Haseko.

Like others who lormed HCF, Eaton says she initially fought burgeoning development in 'Ewa. "After awhile, the fighting was getting us nowhere. I thought how mueh better it would be to help others look around and see the beauty here. My foeus then heeame to edueate the developers," says Eaton, a grandmother who has taught Hawaiian studies at

lroquois Point Elementary Sehool sinee 1986. "So little has been written down about Pu'uloa," adds Eaton, noting that if it weren't for the doeumentary, i some might glanee I at 'Ewa and only see the notorious traffie in and \ out of the area. "When I grew up, we had no ears beeause most of our food ca me from the sea "

Eaton reealls. "My tūtū got around by eanoe." The young Eaton was also expeeted to help her tūtū in the delieate art of lei

hulu, or Hawaiian feather eraft. If she rushed and made mistakes, then it meant no heaeh for that day. "That was their way of diseiplining us. I eried but I learned," says Eaton, whose lei hulu will be displayed in the proposed heritage eenter. "Having a link to speeial plaee is very important," she says. "This is what I want to share with others. Take time to appreeiate where you are living. It will not only proteet the plaee. It will also keep you young at heart." ■

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lunty Arline Eaton is a living repository of history and culture )f the 'Ewa district and will document her knowledge in a new )roject of the Hoakalei Cultural Foundation. - Photo: Courtesy if Becker Communications