Case made for Fishpond
By MELISSA TANJI, Staff Writer
KIHEI
U.S. Rep. Ed Case made good Sunday morning on a promise to return to Ko’ie’ie Loko I’a in Kihei and lay stones with those rebuilding the ancient fishpond.
Stepping out of the neatly pressed suit and tie he’d wear as a member of Congress, Case put on surf shorts, heavy-duty boots and a long-sleeved shirt that said, “Revitalizing a wall; Revitalizing a Culture.” He pitched in with more than 10 others carrying, stacking and sorting through rocks to be added to the wall of the royal fishpond.
Even though waters offshore of Kalepolepo Park on South Kihei Road were calm on Sunday, moving rocks as heavy as 100 pounds left Case drenched with perspiration and wet from working in waist-deep water. Even though he had experience as a mason’s assistant, Case acknowledged the work was tough. And, although he wore rubber gloves, he was poked by some wana, or sea urchins.
Case, however, said he was delighted to see fish and tako, or octopus, in the pond.
When asked about the experience later, he just said, “Fantastic.”
The congressman’s 2nd District, which includes all the Neighbor Islands and rural Oahu, has several fishpond restoration projects, including those on Molokai and in Kaneohe on Oahu. But working on Ko’ie’ie Loko I’a was Case’s first hands-on experience.
Case said he was impressed by the volunteers’ work and with ’Ao’ao O Na Loko I’a O Maui, a nonprofit organization formed to shepherd the fishpond restoration.
“It’s certainly keeping alive the tradition of Hawaii fishponds,” he said. “The art was almost lost in the 19th century.”
After about a month of rebuilding, the workers and volunteers have restored about 140 feet of the 1,100-foot semicircular rock wall at the fishpond, which is listed as a National Historic Preservation Site. The project is between the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and the Menehune Shores condominium.
In January, during a blessing for the beginning of the project to bring life back to the ancient fishpond, Case said he’d come back to help work on laying stones in the rock wall. On Sunday, he put his words into action and pledged to return.
“Keep the boots here,” he said he told the organizers. “I want to keep good on that promise.”
In addition to working on the fishpond, Case also had a series of meetings and talk story sessions Sunday on Maui before heading back to Washington on a red-eye flight. But it was the fishpond project that was foremost on his mind.
Whether Hawaii residents are Native Hawaiian or not, they have an obligation to keep Hawaiian culture and traditions alive, he said.
“I don’t want to live in a Hawaii that doesn’t have the native Hawaiian culture in the center,” he said. Without the Hawaiian culture, the islands would just be a beautiful destination, he pointed out.
Kimokeo Kapahulehua, president of ’Ao’ao O Na Loko I’a O Maui, and Ke’eaumoku Kapu, the construction coordinator, said they were pleased with Case’s visit.
Kapu said he was happy Case could come and “kokua” with other volunteers.
Kapu said his group is “infected” with the desire to restore the pond.
“I hope (Case) gets that, too, that infection,” he said.
Kapahulehua said Case, being born and raised in Hawaii, understands “what it takes.”
He also said he asked Case for help with federal funds.
“We not going be ’hilahila’ (shame),” Kapahulehua said.
Case said the fishpond is being assisted with federal funds by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The federal agency oversees the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, which is working with the fishpond group and Native Hawaiians to conduct cultural outreach projects, such as the fishpond restoration.
The sanctuary also provides storage space for the fishpond association and has assisted the group in getting a $40,000 federal grant to prepare curriculum to teach the fishpond’s history and to learn about the waters surrounding it.
Kapu said other politicians, Mayor Alan Arakawa and state Rep. Kameo “Kam” Tanaka of West Maui, also have worked on the project.
Kapu said volunteers work four hours a day Monday through Thursday.
Officials estimate the work will take about 11 more months before it is complete.
Ko’ie’ie Loko I’a is considered one of the most intact and easily visible fishponds in the state. Its foundation base, for example, remains intact and is approximately 12 feet wide. Over the years, erosion, wave action and human activity have knocked down the walls of the fishpond, but rocks (believed to have been carried in by Hawaiians from an area near Piilani Highway) remain in the water.
Kapu said that while all the materials they need are at the fishpond, workers still need to sort the rocks and find the best places for them. The fishpond dates back to the 1400s.
Kapu, who is from West Maui, said the volunteers are also carrying out the tradition in which people from all over the island, including Lahaina, were called out to help with the South Maui pond with local residents. Kapahulehua is from Kihei.
But a challenge both Kapu and Kapahulehua have run into so far is educating people about what they are doing.
Many want to see if they can sit or go on top of the wall to fish or explore, but Kapu and Kapahulehua discourage that because people could get hurt or inflict damage to the wall.
Kapahulehua said no cement or other foreign materials are used to hold the wall together, but gravity will eventually settle the rocks into place.
“It’s not safe for them to be walking on the wall, he said.
But if one wants to get up and close with the project, the group is looking for more volunteers. So far, there are about a dozen who help.
To volunteer call, 276-7219. For more information on the fishpond see www.mauifishpond.com. |
