Manaʻolana: Hope on the Ala Kahakai National Trail
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In a place defined by constant change, where history is honored and tomorrow is uncertain, the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail traverses an evolving landscape, bridging past, present, and future.
Hawaiʻi is still growing. The islands were formed one by one as the Pacific Plate slid over a plume of magma and punctured Earth’s crust. Over time and continuing today, lava boils up to the surface, where it cools, hardens, and gives birth to new land.
In a place defined by constant change, where history is honored and tomorrow is uncertain, the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail traverses an evolving landscape, bridging past, present, and future.
Honoring the past and preparing for the future inspires the work of Aric Arakaki, Superintendent of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, located on Hawaiʻi Island, also known as The Big Island.
“We, along with the communities we work with, are documenting, preserving, protecting, and, when managed, making trails available to the public,” says Arakaki.
Ala Kahakai, which means “trail by the shoreline” in Hawaiian, is an important part of the ancient trail known as the Ala Loa, the major land route that connects communities islandwide. Trails like this one were created beginning when the island was settled around 500 AD and are in continuous use today.
The trail follows the contours of the island, connecting communities and transporting visitors across sandy shores, lava flows, and craggy coastlines. It links four National Park Service (NPS) units and numerous sacred places that are significant to Hawaiʻi’s history and critical to the preservation of Hawaiian culture.
That’s why, on November 13, 2000, Ala Kahakai was established by an act of Congress as a National Historic Trail. The act encourages “communities and owners of land along the trail, native Hawaiians, and volunteer trail groups to participate in the planning, development, and maintenance of the trail,” and sets forth that administration of the trail be carried out in consultation “with affected Federal, State, and local agencies, native Hawaiian groups, and landowners.”
Now, the National Park Foundation (NPF) is working in partnership with the nonprofit Hoʻāla Kealakekua Nui (HKN) within the Kealakekua and Kaʻawaloa land sections of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. Through HKN’s Hana Lima (Working Hands) Program, they are supporting necessary improvements to the trail. This includes restoration and preservation efforts to minimize impacts to the trail from visitors, climate change, and other factors.
NPF is funding capacity building and workforce development in coordination with the Hana Lima Program, which educates volunteers on cultural traditions and provides opportunities to participate in restoration activities, such as the removal of invasive vegetation, out-planting of native plants, and trail stabilization and repair.
I Ka Nana No A ‘Ike: By observing, one learns
Imagine an island with land divided roughly like a bicycle wheel, with a hub and spokes stretching from a high point on the island out to the shore. Land in ancient Hawaiʻi was divided in this “mountain to sea” method called ahupuaʻa.
The word ahupuaʻa is a combination of two Hawaiian words. Ahu means cairn or pile of rocks and puaʻa means pig. Ahupuaʻa boundaries were traditionally marked by these small heaps of stones, where tribute, often a pig, was made to the island chief. These slices of land were akin to counties and were further subdivided into segments plots called ‘ili and then smaller plots called kuleana, which were worked by an extended family.
These cross sections of land guaranteed equitable access to the resources needed to support a community. The boundaries usually conformed to watersheds, with streams providing natural boundary lines, and a cultivated, irrigated lowland area for the growing of crops like taro and sweet potato.
Ancient Hawaiians believed in the interconnectedness of nature and used the resources of their ahupuaʻa in balance. They practiced aloha (respect), laulima (cooperation), and mālama (stewardship).
The Ala Kahakai trail was built to allow Hawaiians to travel around the island, outside their ahupuaʻa, for ceremonial processions and to gather or trade subsistence and plant-based materials for medicines, food, and clothing.
Now imagine, with many of these property lines still in place, trying to maintain a coastal trail that traverses hundreds of ancient settlement sites and more than 200 traditional land divisions. Sixty percent of the trail is on public land, but 40 percent is on privately-owned land. This can create conflict between caretakers of the trail and developers and landowners.
Given so much crossover on privately-owned land, it can be difficult to promote visitation along some portions of the trail. “We can’t promote certain segments of the trail unless we have good trail management,” says Arakaki. “This requires us to work in ways that benefit the various communities along the trail, understand their story in an authentic way, and ensure that visitors feel welcome and safe.”
Trail management, then, must honor cultural heritage and minimize impacts to the trail. That’s why each trail segment is managed by community-based, descendant-led teams that are dedicated to protecting the island’s special ecosystems and Hawaiian culture.
Manaʻolana: Hope
Even with this model for managing the trail, there are countless challenges in a place like this.
Along the Ala Kahakai trail specifically, there are challenges to documenting the interconnected features and history of the trail, including archeological sites, which require careful documentation and record keeping. And, as with any island or coastal ecology, climate change poses challenges related to everything from coral reef health to rising sea levels.
But change is a built-in aspect of life in this landscape. The existence of Native Peoples here today is proof that their ancestors knew how to adapt, and that in these communities resides the manaʻolana (hope) that the original inhabitants of these lands and their children will continue to thrive, too. This is why it’s important to Arakaki, as a manager of this changing landscape, to partner with the local communities who understand it better than anyone.
“Everything we do is truly community-driven,” Arakaki says, “with numerous state, county, and NGO partners. I’m focused on the community and the work we’re doing with HKN. We are building community and government capacities to co-manage the trail together.”
Indeed, Arakaki and his team support the families and HKN on co-management planning with Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park; implement The Nature Conservancy-facilitated Community Action Plan; work with University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo's Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center and Cornell University on grant proposals and other collaborative efforts to support HKN initiatives.
“Communities managing their trails is part of our tradition” he says. “We have always cleaned trails and repaired causeways. We can see evidence of this by signatures left along the trail by our ancestors.”
Through the NPF-supported project, community partners are removing invasive vegetation, out-planting native plants, and repairing trails. Additionally, NPF is funding cultural research and kilokilo (visual observations) along the trail, at the Hikiau Heiau (ceremonial temple), and at other project areas actively being monitored or restored.
“How do we reconnect or enhance the connections between communities and their ancestral lands?” asks Arakaki. “The connection is deep. It’s a stewardship. It’s necessary to be one with the environment in order to thrive on an island. People are part of the land.”