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Cultural and Historical Preservation Working Group
Preliminary Themes, Goals, and Objectives from the
Small Group Meetings
These themes (recurring ideas) were derived from 130 small group meetings conducted across the Puna district.
Preliminary Themes (CTR –CH/KAI; PLAN - CC)
- Protect Historic Sites
- Practice Hawaiian Values
- Create and Sustain an Educational Program on Local Traditions
- Build a Hawaiian Cultural Center
- Identify and Preserve Historic Buildings
- Hawaiian (island) Themes & Style
- Protect Native Gathering Rights
Preliminary Goals
To respect, preserve, and protect historic sites and native gatherings rights
To encourage local styles (aesthetic themes)
To create a Puna Cultural Center
Preliminary Objectives
These objectives have been derived from themes generated from 3,394
ideas provided by broad citizen participation. The numbers in
parentheses indicates which theme or themes were used to develop the
objectives.
A. Ensure historic sites and buildings are protected (1,5,6)
B. Create a Hawaiian Cultural Center (3, 4)
C. Create and sustain educational program on local cultural traditions (3, 4)
D. Encourage Hawaiian (island) style buildings and design (7)
E. Create and maintain access to the ocean and thus protect native gathering rights (7)
Excerpts from Previous Plans
Considerable time, thought, and community-wide effort has been applied
to the issue of cultural and historic preservation in Puna over the
past decade or more, resulting in a number of plans that have made
specific recommendations. Pertinent excerpts from those plans are
below.
"The most significant historic feature known in Puna was the Waha’ula
Heiau located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It was the first
laukini heiau (temple presided over by the high chief) to be built by
the priest Pa’ao in 1275 A.D. and the last in use until its destruction
in 1820 by Liholiho. The site was destroyed in 1997 by Kilauea lava
flows.
There are currently 9 historical sites in Puna that are listed on the
State and/or National Historic registers. However, there are numerous
other sites throughout Puna that have been identified as having
historic significance.
Puna’s coastal areas have relatively dense concentrations of
historical, cultural, and burial sites. Historical sites are not
uncommon on subdivision lots. Under lots, there are lava tubes,
many of which have significant sites and burials. The presence of
historic sites and the cultural integrity of the communities increase
the potential for eco-tourism which can help support cultural
appreciation and understanding."
The County of Hawai'i General Plan,
adopted by ordinance in 2005, sets the land use and community
development policy for the County of Hawai'i, and is intended to serve
as a guide for state and federal government and private sector, as
well.
"Course of Action:
Support the establishment of Hawaiian Heritage Corridors."
- Support efforts by the Historic Preservation Division to preserve
and interpret several large landscapes with ruins of houses, fields,
paths, and religious structure, at Kahuwai Village and a land section
in Keauohana and other sites, working with landowners, the National
Park Service, and with the Puna Hawaiian community, to result in a
number of linked interpreted historic sites for limited access.
- Support efforts by the Historic Preservation Division to
identify, with the Puna Hawaiian community, sites that are of
traditional cultural significance - burials, gathering places, and
extremely sacred areas - to protect from public access and
interpretation.
- Support and collaborate with the State Department of Land and
natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division to conduct
comprehensive field surveys and continue to improve the inventory of
historic sites in Puna that identify the distribution of known historic
sites and help predict the relative likelihood of historic sites in the
different parts of Puna.
- Collaborate with subdivision associations to institute volunteer
community historical survey boards to facilitate identification and
protection of sites within subdivisions and to devise acceptable means
to assist owners in protection of sites.
- Restore traditional and historical place names.
Kurtistown’s historic name is Ola’a. Ihope road was Ola’a Black
Road. Other instances or replacement of Hawaiian names should be
corrected.
- New town centers created in the subdivisions should be given Hawaiian names associated with that particular part of Puna.
- In Keaau, encourage research and documentation, and, if appropriate, application for historic district designation.
- Where designated, historic districts should be recognized with signs at entrances to the area.
- Encourage research and documentation, and where appropriate,
historic designation of additional sites, including those along trails
and old rights-of-way.
In addition to these
County-sponsored plans, there is a community-initiated plan for Volcano
that contains recommendations for cultural/historic preservation:
- Protect and conserve out natural resources and natural beauty from undue exploitation, encroachment, and damage.
- Develop methods to encourage the saving of the forest ecosystem including native trees and the native understory.
- Preserve green spaces and wildlife corridors in future developments.
- Encourage and streamline the process for he consolidation of
lots. Discourage the subdivision of lots and ohana dwellings
built on speculation.
- Identify the major lava tube systems under the Volcano area and
discourage the use of any of the tube system for disposing of
wastewater including septic systems.
- Educate property owners, renters, realtors, heavy equipment
operators, business owners and others about alternatives to practices
that may be destructive to the natural resources, beauty or
environmental quality of the Volcano area.
- Promote the prudent use of management of the Volcano area’s unique, fragile and significant environmental and natural resources.
- Support the increase in tax incentives to protect natural resources and native ecosystems.
- Support equal tax assessments for all agriculturally-zoned parcels whether they are cleared for farming or forested.
- Discourage the subdivision of inappropriate commercial use of public lands.
- Identify and protect exceptional native trees and/or plant and animal communities.
- Develop programs, guided walks, and written materials to increase
knowledge and appreciation of native ecosystems and features as well as
threats to them such as mosquitoes, invading alien species, ect.
- Reproduce “Building in Forest,” “Controlling Noxious Weeds,” and
similar pamphlets on identifying and growing native plants, and
disseminate to the community.
- Inform lot owners about environmentally sensitive waste disposal systems that do not require large clearings.
- Encourage partnerships among community stakeholders.
- Develop community dialogue on issues that may affect Volcano’s unique environment.
- Encourage cooperative land-use development and management to protect native ecosystems.
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