E ola mau ka hale Kū Pa‘a

The genealogy of my ‘Ohana traces us back to ‘Āwini Valley of Kohala. Our ancestor ‘Umihulumalaokalanikia‘imaunao‘āwini protected this awāwa in the time of Kamehameha ‘Ekahi. I feel his love for our land in the way that I see my whole family love and protect Mauna Kea. We are descendants of warriors, of powerful people who stood for the ancients ways even when their own turned against them. They held true to their sacred transcendental interconnectedness to all things even when everything they knew was being taken from them.

I can still feel their courage in my veins. I see their strength reflected in the eyes of my Grandfather, my Mother, my Aunties, my cousins, my sister, and ‘Ohana keiki. I see it in my own eyes when I look at this moment that Kapulei captured on the hilltops of Waimea. I can still feel their passion for life and for love in the springs I carry in my womb.

It is ‘Umihulumaka’s name that brought forth the words Kū Kia‘i Mauna in this time. He lived on in his name that my Aunty Marie Solomon remembered so that we would always know that we come from a long line of mountain protectors. It brings tears to my eyes and fire to my core to know that I come from people who chose to stand for pono. Our legacy is to continue to stand in this way, guided by their wisdom and their love. Our kuleana is to pass it down. And pass it down we shall. This is know for certain.