Hōkūleʻa celebrates the 9th Annual Limu Festival in Hāna as part of Mahalo, Hawaii Sail
This weekend, Hōkūle‘a and her crew join Nā Mamo O Mū‘olea and East Maui communities in celebrating the 9th Annual Limu Festival, a community event organized by Hāna residents to celebrate the many aspects of healthy shoreline ecosystem, from limu (seaweed), to seabirds, to fish and more. Local students and keiki greeted Hōkūle‘a as she entered Hāna Bay Harbor earlier this morning.
Later tonight at the E Walaʻau Kākou Talk Story, communities will share about how they are keeping their Promise to PaeʻĀina. The ‘Opihi Partnership will report how community-led monitoring and voluntary rest areas are improving ‘opihi populations. Maui Nui Makai Network members will share about their journeys to create subsistence fishing communities: Uncle Mac Poepoe will share about Hui O Mo’omomi and its journey to becoming a Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area; Scott Crawford will present Kipahulu ʻOhana’s efforts to do the same. Kalaionamoku Luka Mossman of the Kanaka’ole Foundation and the Hale O Lono Fishpond will have manaʻo on the theme of this year’s Limu Festival: Makawalu, which means to move forward as the he’e does, feeling in all directions to make pono choices for our future.
Click here to download a copy of the E Walaʻau Kākou Talk Story flyer
The Hōkūle‘a crew–including Captains Russell Amimoto and Nakua Konohia-Lind, Eric Co/Castle Foundation, Manuel Mejia/The Nature Conservancy, and LorMona Meredith/PVS Promise to PaeʻĀina–will also be on-hand to share about the Worldwide Voyage, Mālama Honua, and how the Promise to PaeʻĀina is manifesting locally and globally. Their participation is part of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s (PVS’s) Mahalo, Hawai’i Sail to thank Hawaiʻi’s people, bring Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia home to all of Hawaiʻi, share lessons learned from the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, and deepen the organization’s connection and understanding of the important work being done here in the islands to care for the earth.
All photos © 2017 Kaipo Kiaha
“He wa’a he moku, he moku he wa’a – The canoe is the land, the land is a canoe. And like the wa’a and the crew which we care for, we must care for the land and its people. This is why we are at the Hana Limu Festival – to give back to the people and community who supported Hōkūleʻa’s voyage” said Hāna’s own Nakua Konohia-Lind, who was elevated to captain for Hōkūleʻa’s sail into Hāna.
On Saturday, hundreds of people from across Maui and Hawai‘i are expected to attend the Hāna events. There will be tours aboard Hōkūle‘a, and outreach activities about healthy shorelines, marine animals of all kinds, limu, and more. The festival also includes local music, food, hula, local crafts, and a silent auction benefiting the Dr. Isabelle Aiona Abbott Scholarship for the ‘ōpio of Hāna.
Every year, the Limu Festival promotes a deeper understanding of the inherent connectivity of Hawaii’s ocean and freshwater that provide a home for limu, fish, plants, and a vibrant fishing culture rich with traditional knowledge. Native limu is an ‘ono, nutritious part of a traditional Hawaiian diet, but also has vital importance serving as the base of the food chain, providing food and shelter for Hawaii’s invertebrates, and ensuring the overall health of Hawaii’s nearshore ecosystems.
“Celebrating limu and Hāna is one way we keep the Promise to PaeʻĀina. Going forward, we will seek to be makawalu in our thoughts and actions: like the he’e with his eight tentacles, we will move forward, feeling and searching from many directions to understand our surroundings and make pono choices for our future. We will look beyond what is right in front of us to find balance and mālama our future world that our kūpuna will pass on traditions in, we will raise our ‘ohana in, and our keiki will grow old in. We will choose makawalu as the eyes through which we see our ocean resources and the communities that benefit from our oceans. And we’ll have fun doing it at events like our wonderful limu festival,” said Claudia Kalaola, Vice President and a director of Nā Mamo O Mū‘olea.
Nā Mamo O Mū‘olea would like to mahalo this year’s sponsors for the 9th Annual Limu Festival, including Polynesian Voyaging Society, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Maui County, The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i, and Hāna Maui Trust.
About Nā Mamo O Mū‘olea
Nā Mamo O Mū‘olea is a non-profit ‘ohana of residents and families of Mū‘olea whose mission is to perpetuate traditional management of the Mū‘olea ahupua‘a, and to restore and maintain Mū‘olea’s natural, cultural, scenic, historic and marine resources for the benefit, education, and enjoyment of our community and future generations. For more information visit
For supporting the legacy of Hōkūleʻa
Become a member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society
