AHUPUAʻA, FISHPONDS, AND LOʻI

Puʻuhonua Society & Hoʻomau Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina

July 7 – August 30, 2023

Opening Reception

Friday, July 7, 2023

6pm

Film Screening and Panel Discussion

Friday, July 28, 2023

6pm

Puʻuhonua Society and Arts & Letters Gallery are pleased to present Ahupuaʻa, Fishponds, and Loʻi, a film, exhibition, and cataloguing project of Hoʻomau Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina.

Ho‘omau Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina’s first archiving project was to catalog and digitize transcripts and tapes from the Ho‘omana collection, depicting Kānaka systems of land use and resource management across six of the major Hawaiian Islands—Oʻahu, Lāna‘i, Maui, Moloka ‘i, Hawai‘i, and Kaua‘i. Over the course of two years (1989-1990), Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina, with producer Nālani Minton, gathered oral histories focusing on Hawaiian aquaculture/agriculture practices. By the end of their journey, Joan Lander and Puhipau had recorded over 86 hours of footage.

Eventually, this invaluable content was edited down to a 90-minute documentary program called Ahupua ‘a, Fishponds and Lo ‘i (1992). To honor the fundamental knowledge and practices contained within the Hoʻomana collection, Hoʻomau Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina has organized the first in an ongoing exhibition and screening series presenting unseen video and transcripts recorded over 30 years ago. Ahupuaʻa, Fishponds and Loʻi: Oʻahu features kūpuna, kupaʻāina, and makaʻāinana speaking about loʻi kalo, loko iʻa, and storied places in various ahupuaʻa on the island of Oʻahu. Through their individual and collective stories we come to understand more fully, the backbone of mālama ʻāina and aloha ʻāina today. These intimate portraits remind us from where and who we came, helping to shape a cultural identity that is rooted in abundance and eternally relevant.

Hoʻomau Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina is dedicated to increased access and preservation of Hawaiʻi’s stories from Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina’s (NMOKA’s) moving-image collection. Since 1974, NMOKA, an independent video production team founded by Joan Lander and Puhipau, has been dedicated to perpetuating and documenting the land and people of Hawai‘i. For more than forty years, NMOKA gathered voices and images of traditional/contemporary Hawaiian culture, history, language, art, music, dance, environment, and the politics of independence/sovereignty, leaving a vital ʻŌiwi archive for future generations. In 2020, NMOKA began collaborating with Puʻuhonua Society to continue cataloging and making accessible this collection of 8,000 video tapes.