Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 5, 1 May 2022 — Protecting Our Cultural Places Palauea Cultural Preserve in Honua'ula Maui [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Protecting Our Cultural Places Palauea Cultural Preserve in Honua'ula Maui

By Lori Kanoelani Walker, OHA lntegrated Assets Manager The Palauea Cultural Preserve is a cultural and historical site in the ahupua'a of Palauea, moku of Honua'ula, on Maui. The Oflice of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) acquired the property in 2013 to protect and preserve the cultural sites situated among a development of million-dollar homes and resorts. Palauea Cultural Preserve is one of the few remaining, intact, sites in the area. Historically, this property was the site of a Hawaiian fishing village and remnants of such activity ean be found throughout the property. During a reconnaissance survey taken of the entire 20.735-acre preserve, the archaeological fieldwork crew found partial remains of a traditional (pre-contact) Hawaiian village, whieh was onee home to several related families. The upper portion of this site, about one-third of its original extent, was destroyed by the construction of a golf course and roadway corridor. Despite this, the remains of a few habitation structures are still present. A confirmed burial was also found onsite. Other features

Axis deer pose challenges to 0HA's efforts to mālama the Palauea Cultural Preserve on AAaui so plans are underway to build fencing that will close off the top portion of the property. - Photo: Shane Tegatden on the site include small, rectangular walled enclosures surrounding a freshwater spring, a long rock wall, an extensive heiau-shrine complex, and evidence of a fishing shrine. In total, 12 structures were found. The property also contains an old grove of 26 wiliwili trees and a number of native and Polynesian-introduced plant species, 200+ of whieh were planted by the University of Hawai'i Maui College (UHMC). UHMC has main-

tained a leadership role in the stewardship of Palauea since 2007 when they started to restore the land with native plant species. Restoring native plant habitat is vital to preserving the biodiversity of our places. Urbanization and development have impacted intact, ecologically productive land, fragmenting and transforming it into, in this case, luxury homes and hotel resorts. Although development contributes to Maui's eeonomy, it does so at the cost of environmental degradation and digging away at significant cultural sites. Palauea has the opportunity to heeome a hub for eonservation efforts and cultural engagement. For years, UHMC has utilized this property to bring students from their Hawaiian studies and archaeology programs to Palauea for place-based education experiences. Palauea serves as an outdoor classroom where students ean nurture a personal connection with the land. These efforts to mālama the preserve eome with major challenges posed by large herds of axis deer. These deer roam the slopes of Haleakalā and frequently SEE PR0TECTING 0UR CULTURAL PLACES 0N PAGE 18

PR0TECTING 0UR CULTURAL PLACES

Continued from page 7

Heiūu complex ūf the Poloueo Culturol Preserve. In the background, through the frees, luxury homes ore visible, indicotive of how close developers eome to the heiau. - Photo: Shane īegarden make their way on to the preserve; so mueh so that distinet deer trails ean be seen aeross the property. These trails eross through the property with evidenee of deer trampling over arehaeologieal sites and endangering their struetural integrity. Furthermore, deer have been observed eating the native plants that have been propagated on site by

the UHMC. The deer have also been observed grazing on the naturally sprouting seedlings of one of the last existing wiliwili groves in the area. As a mitigative effort, OHA is planning to eonstruct a fence to prevent deer from accessing the property. The Maui Office of Eeonomie Development (OED) awarded OHA funds to mitigate these challenges by building a fence to keep deer out of the property, whieh will enhanee the continued protection of native plant species and archaeologieal sites. The fence will close off the top portion of the property, preventing the deer ffom entering. This measure will enahle more efficient stewardship of the site and protection of the outdoor classroom offering greater experiential learning opportunities in culture, habitat restoration, and archaeology. OHA wishes to acknowledge and extend its gratitude to the UHMC and its Hawaiian studies program, for their dedication to the stewardship of this aina, and to the Maui OED for supporting the continued protection and preservation of this plaee. ■