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VOICES OF PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA
In 2017, Huliauapaʻa partnered with Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and was awarded the NOAA Preserve America Initiative Funding (PAIIF) grant to lead a series of ethnographic interviews documenting the formative history of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM).
Our focus was gathering the moʻolelo and manaʻo of Native Hawaiian leaders who are responsible for the movement that resulted in effective advocacy and protection for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) from 2000 to present. These community leaders forged successful partnerships which led to the integration of Native Hawaiian cultural values and concepts into the Monument management. While focused on documenting the history of the monument, this project also helped gain insight into indigenous principles, philosophies, and unique epistemologies deeply embedded in native worldview and the relationship between people and place.
Specifically, this project captured the important roles that the Native Hawaiian community had in the historical timeline events with the establishment of:
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The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve in 2000 by President Clinton;
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The NWHI Reserve in 2005 by the State of Hawai‘i;
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The NWHI Marine National Monument in 2006 by President Bush;
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The inscription of the region as the first, and currently only mixed (natural and cultural) UNESCO World Heritage Site in the U.S. in 2010; and
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The most recent proclamation for the expansion of the Monument in 2016 by President Obama.
The ethnographic interviews and videos that were produced will allow these stories to be available online and accessible through various media outlets, featured at various museums, and interpretive centers in Hawai‘i. We are grateful to all the partners who collaborated on this project:
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NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center – Socioeconomic Program;
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NOAA NMFS Voices from the Fisheries;
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NOAA MNFS PIRO Marine National Monument Program;
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;
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State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources;
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and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.