Recent News...

Nurturing a Future of Abundance
(Direct Relief, Aug. 2024)

"Food insecurity became more apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic, Peralto said, and the group is focused on sustainable food production so that “when something like this happens again, it won’t be such a crisis, in terms of food, at least.”

huiMAU was one of two groups Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity supported with $450,000 through the Consuelo Foundation. The foundation has worked with communities across Hawai‘i since 1986, focusing on promoting well-being and preventing abuse and neglect.

Read Full Article HERE

Recent Video Features...
He Haʻawina Imu
More than just a traditional ʻŌiwi method of cooking food, the imu provides us with many teaching / learning opportunities. Like many of our ancestral practices, the art of kāhumu is a source of inspiration for the ways in which we think about kuleana in ʻohana, kaiāulu, and lāhui. ʻAʻole i ʻenaʻena ka imu i ka māmane me ka ʻūlei, i ʻenaʻena i ka laʻolaʻo. The imu is not heated by mamane and ʻulei wood alone, but also by the kindling. It takes us all knowing our kuleana and striving to fulfill our kuleana with excellence for us to achieve the collective futures abundance we envision for our communities. // Mahalo nui to our talented and generous neighbor here in Paʻauilo, @dustinjoshuaacdal for filming and creating this beautiful video from our ʻŌpio Fest Community imu this past month! 
Video by Dustin Acdal, 2024

Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea ma Hāmākua, 2023

E MAU KE EA o ka ʻĀINA // In July 2023, we gathered as a Lāhui to celebrate Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea here in Hāmākua Hikina, and in communities throughout Hawai’i. Moments like these remind us of the words spoken by David Kahalemaile on Lā Ho’iho’i Ea in 1871 and shared again by ʻōpio at #LHEHamakua2023, “ʻO ke ea o ka honua, he kanaka, koe naʻe nā mea ola lua: ola i ka wai, ola i ka ʻāina” (The ea of the earth is people; aside from the two things that give life: life from water and life from the land.) With ʻāina and wai as original sources of life, we, kānaka, people serve an important function and have kuleana to act in ways that generate and maintain “ke ea o ka honua,” the life / breath / sovereignty of the earth. This is how we Ea. E mau ke ea o ka ʻāina. E mau ke ea o ke kanaka. E mau ke ea o ka honua. #EaMaiKakou #huiMAU #LaHoihoiEa #WaHoihoiEa Video by Anianikū Chong, 2023
Kahi Hānai Kanaka o huiMAU - huiMAU Hub Grand Opening
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On June 2, 2023, we celebrated the grand opening of our community hub, Kahi Hānai Kanaka o huiMAU. The name of our Hub was inspired by the moʻolelo of our famous aliʻi of Hāmākua, ʻUmi-a-Līloa, who was known as a generous, caring chief, gifted with the aloha and ability to hānai kanaka—feed & nourish people. The space he created in nearby Waipunalei where he fed people, physically, intellectually, and spiritually was known as “kahi hānai kanaka o ʻUmi,” and it served as a “hub” in their time for the cultivation of ea and the resurgence of pono in Hāmākua and across the Island of Hawaiʻi. Similarly today, we intend for huiMAU’s Hub in Pa’auilo to serve as a piko for our community to gather, be fed, and build pilina that will feed our keiki and moʻopuna for generations to come. 
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Video by Dustin Acdal, 2023

HoAMa - huiMAU Mentoring Youth in Paʻauilo, Hāmākua
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huiMAU's HoAMa Youth Mentorship Programs have been creating safe space for youth in Paʻauilo, Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi to hōʻama (ripen, grow into maturity) since 2016, through Hawaiian culture-based mentorship and ʻāina-centered educational programming. This video shares some of huiMAU's work with ʻōpio in our HoAMa After School Program in 2022-23, focusing on the maiʻa (banana), and the connections between this kupuna crop of ours and the name of the place we call home here in Paʻauilo.

Video by Anianikū Chong, 2023 
Hoʻoulu Kaiāulu Mural at Hale Paʻauilo

On Sept. 24, 2022, we welcomed ʻohana of our community to come paint a mural together at our HQ in Paʻauilo, to celebrate our relationships with this ʻāina and to tell a story of this place for the future, rooted in the moʻolelo aloha ʻāina of Paʻauilo. This mural was designed by two young artists of this community, Lucon Route and Azahrae Frazier, with the guidance of our Director of Creative Development, Haley Kailiehu. It celebrates the ancestral name of this ʻāina, and those who carry the kuleana of caring for and cultivating abundance on these ʻāina—past, present, future. // Mahalo Nui to our gifted neighbor, photographer Dustin Acdal, for documenting this day and creating this awesome video! Ola ko Paʻauilo. Ola ko Hāmākua. Ola ko Hawaiʻi! Film Credit: Dustin Acdal
huiMAU featured on OC-16's Outside Hawaiʻi in October 2021
"Despite the grim news we hear everyday, there are bright lights to celebrate. In partnership with the Hawai’i Community Foundation, we are proud to share uplifting stories from local conservation groups across the islands. On this episode, weʻll learn from three non-profit organizations that are part of Hawai’i Community Foundation’s Community Restoration Partnership. We’ll see the impressive work of the Molokai Land Trust, the community-based volunteerism at Hui O Ko’olaupoko on Oʻahu, and a breathtaking approach to feed the community at Hui Mālama I Ke Ala ʻŪlili on Hawai’i Island. Outside Hawai'i is produced by Mālama Learning Center." Watch the full episode here! Copyright 2021.
Ka Maha ʻUlu o Koholālele is a community food system project, led by Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU), transforming approximately 80 acres of former sugar plantation and current eucalyptus plantation lands in Koholālele, Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi, into Hawaiʻi’s largest regenerative ʻulu (breadfruit) agroforestry system. Video by Anianikū Chong, December 2021.
Oak Foundation, in partnership with Hawai‘i Community Foundation is creating transformational change for the people of Hawai‘i Island by addressing systemic issues facing Hawai‘i Island today. huiMAU is featured in this short video, created in October 2021.
A moʻolelo of the regeneration of ʻulu agroforestry in Waipunalau, Paʻauilo, Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi. Video Produced by Anianikū Chong, in collaboration with huiMAU with the support of the Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative and the Hawaiʻi Island Strong Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. Dec. 2020.
huiMAU ʻohana shares reflections on ea and hānai kānaka on Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea during this time of COVID-19. Video by Anianikū Chong, July 2020.

Articles in the News...

"Wahi Kūpuna Stewardship"
​(Stupski Foundation, July 2024)

By Ari Datta, Food Justice Program Manager, Stupski Foundation

"Rooted in place and dedicated to building connection through food, Kahaluʻu Kūāhewa and Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili cultivate healthy and abundant communities across Moku o Keawe."

Read Full Aritcle Here. 

"Cultivating community-led change: huiMAU’s mission to promote health, well-being, and opportunity in rural Hawaiʻi"
(Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, May 2024)

"For over a decade, Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU) has worked with fellow community members on Hawaiʻi Island to restore and cultivate hundreds of acres of land using the knowledge and cultural practices that sustained their Native Hawaiian ancestors for centuries. Today, fields of breadfruit, taro, and bananas — staple foods in Hawaiʻi — once again dot the landscape of Hāmākua Hikina (East Hāmākua), which is located on the island’s northeast coast. Acre by acre, huiMAU is reversing the damage from the sugar plantations of the Hāmākua Sugar Company, which depleted the soil and almost destroyed native plants and trees. The organization is also clearing away invasive eucalyptus trees that have replaced some of the sugarcane since the company closed in 1994 — and now present a fire hazard." Read Full Article Here.

20 for the Next 20: Leon No‘eau Peralto, huiMAU

​The Executive Director of this Hāmākua nonprofit has worked to transform an overgrown plot of land into a thriving farm and community hub.

"Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili is both a nonprofit dedicated to the resurgence of Hawaiian ancestral knowledge and a community-based land stewardship in Hāmākua on Hawai‘i Island. The seed that grew into huiMAU was planted in 2003, when Leon No‘eau Peralto was a freshman in high school."

Read Full Article Here.

​"Nā ʻAnoʻai o Koholālele" (Ka Wai Ola, February 2022)

Na Uakoko Chong
"E ka makamaka heluhelu, aloha ʻoe. E hoʻonanea pū mai me ka Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU) i kēia wahi pūpū ʻo ka ʻai a me ka iʻa no ka ʻāina kihi loa o Hāmākua. No ka ʻai: He ʻumi makahiki i kaʻahope aku nei mai ka wā i hoʻomaka ai ka mālama ʻana o ka ʻohana ʻo Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili i ka ʻāina puʻuhonua ʻo Koholālele ma Hāmākua Hikina. He mea nui kēia alu like ʻana o ka ʻohana i ia wā, no ka mea, ua ʻike maka lākou i ka hopena ʻo ka mālama ʻole ʻia o ko mākou ʻāina kulāiwi aloha nui ʻia, a ʻo ia hoʻi ka uhi ʻia o ka ʻāina e ka ʻōpala. Ua alu pū mākou me ka manaʻo hoʻokahi e hoʻomaʻemaʻe i ka ʻāina ma ka ʻohi ʻōpala ʻana, ma ka ʻōlaʻolaʻo ʻana aku i ka pūpū weuweu kini, a ma ke kanu ʻana hoʻi i ka ʻai no ke kaiāulu. Ma ka noke ʻana i kēia hana nui ma ia mau makahiki he ʻumi, i ulu ai ka pahuhopu, Ka Maha ʻUlu o Koholālele. E heluhelu i ka ʻatikala holoʻokoʻa ma ʻaneʻi.

"News from Koholālele," documenting the latest work of huiMAU at our kīpuka aloha ʻāina in Koholālele. An English translation of this article can be read here.

"Nā Pali Kāʻeʻaʻeʻa o Hāmākua" (Mānaleo Series, Kealopiko, Feb. 2022)

Kupuna of Hāmākua Hikina, Josephine Kaleilehua Lindsey, talks about the descending the treacherous cliffs of Hāmākua to fish with her uncle.

"Thriving once again as kanaka, through our connections to ʻāina and kai, is at the heart of the mission of Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU), a non-profit collective of ʻohana who focus on reconnecting to ʻike kupuna, systems and practices that are regenerative and cultivate abundance, collective health and well-being in all senses: physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Towards their goals of food sovereignty and restoring abundance they are transforming 80 acres of former sugar cane land into an ʻulu grove to feed their community now and into the future. This goes hand in hand with the monitoring of iʻa (sea creatures and plants) on their coastlines. These initiatives bring honor to the lifeways and the ʻike of people like Mrs. Lindsey, lifeways we are once again turning to for the ola they provide." - na Hina Kneubuhl

"On Hawai‘i, Reclaiming Land and Identity" (Direct Relief, Nov. 2021)

“There is a huge need for after-school enrichment for kids in a safe space. For us, the medium is also Hawaiian culture. We’re engaging them with ‘Āina, loving and caring of the land. It also includes cultivating the land, growing your own food, and growing foods that are healthy for us,” said Noʻeau Peralto, who co-founded huiMAU with his partner, Haley Kailiehu, and serves as executive director.
“We are trying to instill in our kids a sense of Kuleana (responsibility) for this place that our ancestors come from and have been in for generations,” he said." Read the Full Article here.

​"huiMAU and Ka Maha ʻUlu o Koholālele" (Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Coop Blog, 2021)

Make room for dessert!  Every delicious bite of our 3-oz. ʻUlu Chocolate Mousse contributes directly to a local community vision for Hawaiʻi’s sustainable future! That’s not only because the main ingredient is breadfruit – a climate-smart tree starch that sequesters carbon as it grows, but also through our partnership with Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU) to support Ka Maha ʻUlu o Koholālele, huiMAU’s kuleana-based effort to restore ʻulu agroforestry and community abundance in Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi Island. By donating 1% of sales from each rich, delectable, gluten- and dairy-free chocolate mousse cup to this project, we are proud to support the community-driven transition of 80 acres of eucalyptus monocrop plantation into ʻulu agroforestry. Read Full Blog here.

"No Kahi Hānai Kanaka o huiMAU" (Nā Maka o Kana, September 2020)

"E nā makamaka, nā hoa hialaʻai o kēia nūpepa, e ʻalawa iho kākou i ka papahana hoʻolako ʻai o mākou, o Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU), i ka moku ʻo Hāmākua i nā pali lele koaʻe.  ʻO Hāmākua Hikina ko mākou wahi pono ʻī e huli ana ko mākou lima i lalo e hoʻonaʻauao, e hoʻomana, a e hoʻoulu ʻai ai ma o ka mālama ʻāina.  E like hoʻi me neia pali laumania e kū mau ana ma ke alo o nā ʻale kuakea o Koholālele, he ʻo ia mau nō kā mākou hana i ke alo pali ma kēia wā hulihia o kākou i ka maʻi ahulau e hoʻāʻo ana iā kākou." (na Uakoko Chong) E heluhelu i ka ʻatikala holoʻokoʻa ma ʻaneʻi.

huiMAU's efforts to hānai kanaka (feed and nurture people) in the community of Hāmākua Hikina during the COVID-19 pandemic are documented in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi by huiMAU's ʻĀina Education Coordinator, Uakoko Chong, for Nā Maka o Kana, Hale Kuamoʻo's Hawaiian Language Newspaper. Read the full article here.

"huiMAU: Normalizing the Lifestyle of Aloha ‘Āina" 
​(Ka Wai Ola, October 2020)

“In late March, when COVID-19 was beginning to become a reality in Hawaiʻi, our first thoughts were for the safety and wellbeing of the kūpuna and keiki in our community,” said Dr. Noʻeau Peralto, huiMAU’s executive director who holds a doctorate in Indigenous politics from the University of Hawaiʻi.
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“We knew that many in our community would be losing their employment, and that access to food would become a growing challenge for many. We acted immediately, guided by our kūpuna to hānai kānaka, as the moʻolelo of our famous aliʻi, ʻUmi-a-Līloa reminds us..." Read Full Article here.

"huiMAU: CULTIVATING HEALTHY ‘ĀINA AND STRONG ‘OHANA"
(Ke Ola Magazine, March 2018)

"The HoAMa After School Mentorship Program is a safe afterschool learning environment where students cultivate strong relationships and support networks with peers, mentors, and ‘ohana. No‘eau and huiMAU believe these support systems increase the likelihood of a childʻs success in school, at home, and in their community. By having a solid foundation, children become successful, healthy adults.

“It starts with our kids,” said No‘eau. “We look to the examples our ancestors left us through stories, genealogies, songs and chants, and we see they created time-tested models and systems of caring for our land for hundreds of generations. We need to get back to that way of thinking again—not just for a year or a few years, but for multiple generations ahead.” Read Full Article here.

Publications

Statement on Maunakea from Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (2019)

"Statement on Maunakea from Hui Mālama i ke Ala 'Ūlili." Biography, vol. 43 no. 3, 2020, p. 552-553. ProjectMUSE, doi:10.1353/bio.2020.0059.

"July 20, 2019 Hui Mālama i ke Ala 'Ūlili (huiMAU) stands in solidarity with the kia'i mauna who are standing peacefully, in kapu aloha, at Pu'uhonua o Pu'uhuluhulu for the protection of Maunakea against the further desecration proposed by the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project. We know Maunakea to be a source of ola, life and well-being, for all of us in Hāmākua, on Hawai'i island, throughout the Pae 'Āina, and the world, and thus we honor the kia'i mauna as kia'i ola, protectors of life for present and future generations." Read Full Article here.
Mahalo for visiting our Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili Website!

Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili is a community-based nonprofit organization. Our mission is to re-establish the systems that sustain our community through educational initiatives and ʻāina-centered practices that cultivate abundance, regenerate responsibilities, and promote collective health and well-being.