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| Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is working with descendants of the Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau area to build a Friends group there. Photo from Hawai'i Public Radio |
FRIENDS OF HAWAI'I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK is working with Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park to create its own Friends group, according to a story from Hawai'i Public Radio reporter Ku'uwehi Hirashi this week. A private donation of $70,000 will help to establish the Friends group, according to the Friends President & CEO Elizabeth Fien.
According to the HPR story, Fien noted that "Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau in South Kona was brought into the national park system in 1955. But its history as a place of refuge for ancient Hawaiian lawbreakers goes back centuries.
“So certain people and places and things and times were sacred. They were kapu or forbidden, and any breaking of a kapu would disturb the stability of the society and the punishment was often death. Any fugitive who broke the kapu could seek refuge within the walls of puʻuhonua. So in some senses, this is probably one of the very first sanctuary cities,” Fien told HPR. |
| Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is helping to create a Friends group at Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau. Photo from Hawai'i Public Radio |
Fien told HPR that "About four years ago I was visiting Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau and I was struck — There was a real spiritual connection — I was struck by the park, but I was also struck by the fact that so many things needed help there. Repairs need to be done and more cultural programs need to happen. So when this grant came along, I thought it would be perfect."
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| Elizabeth Fien, President & CEO of Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, is working to establish a Friends organization at Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau National Historic Park. |
Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes applied and received $70,000 through the National Park Foundation’s Strong Parks, Strong Communities program to work with a group of community stakeholders, including descendants of the area, to form the Friends of Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park.
“This grant enables us to do things like the marketing materials, website, membership,” Fien told HPR. “And our first major project that we want to tackle is we want to create an environmental cultural learning center. That’s a big project, but it’s what the descendants and stakeholders would love to see happen.”
Fien said a web site for the Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau Friends should be online soon. See more at Friends of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website at fhvnp.org.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
The PBN story noted that "people don’t just move between states, they also move between counties in Hawai'i. From 2019 to 2020, the single largest intra-island migration was the 724 people who moved from Honolulu to Hawai'i Island. The second largest migration? The 542 people who moved from Hawai'i Island to O'ahu. PBN also reported that "It’s noteworthy that for every Hawai'i county, this analysis finds that the new arrivals out-earn the Hawai'i residents they replaced. Connecting the dots that young families are leaving, and that tax filers with annual incomes at $60,000 are leaving, the data support longstanding perceptions that the cost of living drives our exodus."
PBN also reported on the population change from 2019 to 2020. "Right in the middle of that time period, in January 2020, PBN reported on findings by CBRE and University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization that Hawai'i had already become a net population loser due to stagnant wages and high costs. The labor force had shrunk by 25,000 people since 2017. As a result, Hawai'i’s GDP growth, UHERO projected, would be half that of the Mainland’s by 2040.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
KAʻŪ TROJANS RACKED UP 14 POINTS AGAINST HPA ON SATURDAY at home. The loss to the Ka Makani of Hawai'i Preparatory Academy, was six points as Kaʻū continues to score and narrow losses as the season progresses, under coach Greg Rush. The Trojans, comprised of talent from Kaʻū High and Volcano School of the Arts & Sciences, next plays Honoka'a on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the ball field in Pāhala.
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KAʻŪ TROJAN GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TAKES ON PAHOA with a home game on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at the Robert E Herkes Kaʻū District Gym. Start time is 5 p.m. for JV, followed by Varsity.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
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| See September issue of The Kaʻū Calendar at www.kaucalendar.com, and in the mail - Volcano, Kaʻū to South Kona. |
