Thanks to recently completed murals by Artist Patrick Ching, Kohala Hospital’s new emergency waiting room is an oasis of beauty and calm. “I'm really into the psychology of what the people are going through when they are here. I use colors that are calming, soothing and horizontal lines,” said Ching.
    The project is a collaboration anchored by the Kohala Hospital Charitable Foundation (KHCF) and includes funding and support from Kohala Hospital and a Century 21 grant through Kohala High School. “Another aspect of our collaboration was to fund a portion that would support our students' afterschool internship with a high quality mentor such as Patrick Ching. The students spent time with Patrick shadowing / painting some of the images as directed and learning about the real life aspect of what it takes to do what he does as an artist,” said Kohala High School STEM and AP English Teacher, Fern White.
     To begin preparing for the project, Ching shared ideas with KHCF board members. “I talked with board members to see what's important to them and what kind of ideas they had and then what kind of ideas I came up with,” explained Ching.
     Ching spent many hours visiting places he intended to include. “I went around taking photographs and then I looked at them and to conjure up images with the space. Then I came up with small watercolor sketches to scale,” he said, which he shared with board members as the project unfolded. “The areas in the paintings are kind of in the directions that you see them,” he added pointing to the painting of Pololu on the North wall. 
    The paintings seem to emerge from the walls as if being soaked up from the beauty that is Kohala “Rather than a rectangle, I try to bring the colors of the room into the painting. I leave a little of my first layers of color showing along the edges and notice that they are different than the color the mural ends up being. It makes people's eyes dance and it joins all the different picture together.  I also used the wall colors like this purplish blue in the mural so that all ties it together,” said Ching.
    And keeping with a forest theme, the murals also engulf prosaic reminders of modern life. “You do your sketches but when you come to the actual wall there might be things that you don't count on. I tried to  to make that corner disappear (pointing to the Pololu painting) and I noticed this big red exit sign I didn't plan for so I added these two red birds at the end.  When you're walking out of the emergency room you get to enjoy the dance of red and greens,” said Ching.
    The whole effect is one of peace and healing. “In the three weeks since Patrick's been painting it's already made a huge difference. Our mission was to create a healing environment,” said Kohala Hospital Administrator Gino Amar.
Ching got to experience that first hand. “If I did get in their way, I'd give them a paint brush,” joked Ching. “I did get to see it have the desired effects on the people coming in. They were all under stress for different reasons. And even the guy with the high blood pressure said, 'Oh that's just what I needed',” he added.
    The emergency waiting room is the icing on the cake of a long concerted effort on the part of the KHCF, who raised funds for the addition of the new waiting room and the creation of a state of the art emergency room, that looks like it could be the sick bay for the USS Enterprise.  
    The new emergency room came to fruition through the efforts of many. For almost six years the Kohala Hospital Charitable Foundation has collaborated with Kohala Hospital and conducted many fund raisers.   
    “The really big fundraising started in 2012, when we knew this (new emergency room) was actually going to happen. We really went into gear. We did golf tournaments that were extremely successful and we had big community events at Kahua Ranch with 400 people,” said board member Betty Meinardus.
    With inimitable Kohala style, support for the project also came from grass roots sources. “You know we had people that would give $10 but now they feel that they are part of the hospital. People gave a lot of money. It was really amazing, all the people in the community were so generous. This is our community hospital and community supported emergency department,” said Meinardus with pride.  ​

​Re-establishing the Trails
   When complete, the Ala Kahakai Trail will be the cordage that binds the canoe together. “Itʻs a system of trails, not one single trail. When we did our consultation with the kūpuna (elders) they said donʻt forget to include the mauka to makai trails because that’s the trails we use to access the mountains and the sea to gather,” said Aric.
   The 175 mile trail includes four national parks and traverses 220 ahupuaʽa. “There are descendants whose families tie into historic events and each one is unique. Communities said they wanted the chance to manage their shoreline areas. It was all based on the ahupuaʽa,” said Aric.
   To that end, a management plan emerged from the stakeholders along the trail. “We went through a whole consultation process with the community for the management plan. It was vetted by county, state and federal agencies all the way up to Washington D.C. and it all came back positive. We were really happy that they were able to understand that this is how we want to manage the trail. It makes total sense,” explained Aric.
   The Highways Act of 1892 also makes it possible for NPS to identify and reclaim any historic routes. “Now it includes the shoreline trail and the Māmalahoa trail in Waikoloa. Ancient trails, pre-contact trails and then also historic trails. We can preserve routes, even if the trail is not there. It may have been covered by a lava flow or paved over but the route is still there and we can interpret that trail and create public access,” said Aric.

​Storied Places
   Each section of the trail has its own stories and sacred sites. Beginning at ‘Upolu Point in North Kohala you can walk through history from the birthplace of Kamehameha I to Puʽukoholā Heiau, completed in 1791 as a tribute to the unification of the islands.
   A coinciding event south along the trail was the capture of the Fair American. When Captain Thomas Metcalfe of the Fair American anchored at Kaʽūpūlehu in the winter of 1790, he had no idea that Chief Kameʽeiamoku was lying in wait to avenge the flogging he had received from Thomas’ father, Simon Metcalfe, aboard the Eleanora a few weeks earlier. After killing all but one of the crew, Kameʽeiamoku commandeered the Fair American and presented it to Kamehameha.
   The lone survivor of the attack was Isaac Davis who, along with John Young, became an instrumental military advisor for Kamehameha’s unification efforts. “There are descendants of Isaac Davis and Kameʽeiamoku who took over the Fair American and we brought them together and created a video with them. That’s a story right there along the trail,” said Aric.
   Continuing on the trail, you will be treated to a glimpse of the history of an advanced culture and its sacred sites. “One of the most powerful things that anybody can do is to step onto a trail alignment. Itʻs really not something you can talk about, but as soon as you are in it, you capture that feeling of all the people who have traveled through these same footsteps you are traveling. You get to see the landscape as they saw it, from very different perspectives,” explained Nahaku.

​Walking the Trail
   There’s still much work to be done before the entire trail is ready with signage and other safety features. “The policy of Ala Kahakai Trail is to open and make trails public as community-based management plans are established, in place and implemented. Many sections of the trail have not been able to have that happen yet,” said Nahaku.
One section of the trail that is officially open begins at Pelekane Bay, going south to ‘Anaehoʽomalu Bay. “Weʻve connected with all the resorts, homeowners associations, and the Kohala Coast Resort Association. Weʻre working with them to provide interpretation and signage,” said Aric.
   Safety and protocol are a primary concern. Sacred sites need to be protected and travelers need to understand the particular protocols associated with them and the trail as a whole. “Weʻre working on a brochure right now that gets into safety and protocol. Eventually we want to frame this as a pilgrimage trail you come on and become spiritual. You can visit shrines and learn and take it in and come out of it a different person,” said Aric.
   Trail systems like the Ala Kahakai provide a foundational metaphor for human history and life on our planet; they connect us and move us through life. “Trails that you take in your life, a path that you choose. We can interpret the trails of the Polynesians as they moved across the Pacific and then we can even take it back further to the human diaspora out of Africa. All of our ancestors walked on trails and moved across the planet,” concluded Aric.
 
For more information:
Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail: nps.gov/alka/index.htm
Ala Kahakai Trail Association: alakahakaitrail.org/
E Mau Nā Ala Hele: emaunaalahele.org/

For centuries the spirit of the voyaging canoe lay dormant only to be reawakened with a question: Is it possible to sail a voyaging canoe to Tahiti using non-instrument navigation? Now, many years later on Hawaiʽi Island Pwo navigator Chadd Paishon asked a different question: Can this island provision one canoe for one voyage?
  “Some years ago before we started the worldwide voyage, on island already we've got our school garden. I was trying to figure out for myself, what do I say to the garden folks about the canoe? If our kūpuna were able to come here aboard their canoes and able to sustain themselves, then is it possible for us to provision one canoe for one voyage?” said Chadd
  Land and waʽa crew are striving to answer that question with a resounding “Yes!” through a three year Administration for Native Americans (ANA) grant awarded to Na Kalai Waʽa for the Hanauna Ola program, which will culminate in a sail to Papahānaumokuākea in 2019.
  Began in 2016 and now in its second year, the ʽOhana Makaliʽi is digging deep into traditions to prepare for a 2019 sail that will be fully provisioned from the soil and hands of the island and in the process re-establish the cultural practices that make up a healthy voyaging based life.
  “At Na Kalai Waʽa, what we try to do is to re-discover what that core is and try to live that legacy. And that legacy is to involve everybody. Not only human beings but animals too. The health of the ocean. It's not separate. It's pretty much everything,” said Shorty Bertelmann, Pwo Navigator and Hanauna Ola sail director.
  Along with 30 waʽa crew, the program is made up of a group of ten school gardens plus Hōʽea Moku, the Na Kalai Waʽa canoe garden in Kohala, who will endeavor to provision Makaliʽi for a one month voyage.​

But even beyond the voyage, the hope is that the roots of Hanauna Ola will establish themselves as a foundation for a sustainable, healthy life. “If we can provision Makaliʽi, 14 crew members, three meals a day, for a month then we can feed our families. If we can do that for the canoe, it's possible we can do it for our community. Whatever we do on the canoe is really a reflection back on what we can do on our moku,” said Chadd.
  The ʽOhana Waʽa has sailed many journeys and the Hanauna Ola program is the wind beneath the sails that will extend those journeys throughout the generations.
 “What I’ve learned from the canoe is that it's a community based entity. There's intention behind it. There's spirit behind it. There's family behind it. Every bit from mauka to makai is wrapped up between those two hulls. It's through Hanauna Ola, that we will sustain the generations through voyaging,” concluded Chadd. 

It’s a dark Monday morning and the sun is hiding behind a shrouded Mauna Kea, but the Kawaihae canoe Club is alive with purposeful activity. The kupuna group knot together in small groups awaiting their “commodore”, George Fry to assign seats and canoes. There are a few first timers who will occupy seat five in canoes with more experienced paddlers, seat one calling the stroke, seat six steering. Everyone working together, the canoes are soon in the water bobbing outside the interior break wall.
   “Paddles up” calls the steersman and “huki”. The first few strokes wake up stiff muscles and if you’re fortunate, by the time the canoe rounds the outer break wall and heads south to Maumae, your heart is filled with joy. You are lost to the rhythm of the paddles and surrender to an ancient ocean world as the sun’s rays brighten behind Mauna Kea.
    Paddling has been an integral part of island life since the first arrivals centuries before. It embodies the spirit of Hawaiian culture and what it means to be an island dweller. According to Hawaiian historian, Herb Kane, "The Wa'a shaped the Hawaiian people physically, intellectually and spiritually as much as the Hawaiians shaped the logs that became their canoes." Canoes were built, distances traveled, fish harvested with many hands working together and this is at the heart of paddling. But there was also time for fun and that is where canoe racing or hei hei waa came in. ​

    At the southern end of the district is Anaehoomalu and the Waikoloa Canoe Club, which began in 1984. It’s Saturday morning and first time paddlers are just coming out of the water. To augment their numbers, the club has been conducting a Saturday membership drive over the last four weeks. Newly appointed head coach Daniel Legler is excited about the new season. “We have about 100 racing paddlers from kids all the way up to kupuna and 60 or 70 adults that are open or competitive paddlers. My first year I'm just going to take what we have and try to improve on it.”
     The key to success is how blended the crew is and Legler has a few techniques for that. “I buy some sunglasses and spray them with paint so they cannot see. If I'm sitting in four and I'm trying to watch the guy in two and I'm missing him, but you put the blinders on and you feel the canoe,” said Legler. “I have everyone paddle on one side. Put a bucket on and the drag resistance behind the canoe where you can slow your stroke down. All those tools help blend, blend, blend. But the most important thing to me is that everyone who comes down here has fun. If you have fun, everything falls into place,” he added.
     Both clubs have websites where registration information and schedules can be found. KCC ages 12 and up: http://kawaihaecanoeclub.org/ ; Waikoloa Canoe Club ages 10 and up: http://www.waikoloacanoeclub.com/ . Anyone interested is encouraged to come and give it a try. 
​

​It takes a garden to grow a community and that is what has happened at the Mala’ai Culinary Garden  over the last ten years. The seed for the garden was germinated ten years ago when Amanda Rieux arrived in Waimea from the Edible School Yard in Berkeley, to be the garden director for the as yet non-existent garden.
   “When we first started I felt like the tailor in the Emperor’s New Clothes. I would tell people, it's going to be great and they were like, uh huh.” But the actual seed for the garden was the work of Waimea Naturopath, Michelle Suber who wanted to contribute to the health of the community she had come to love.
    “She came to the Edible School Yard and spent two weeks with us. She spent time in the garden, in the kitchen classroom, with the executive director, principal and the teachers. She was trying to replicate it,” said Rieux. Two years later and a chance email to Suber and Amanda found herself planted in an as yet imaginary garden.
 “You have to know where you are before you know where you’re going,” said Holly Sergeant-Green, Mala’ai garden teacher and much like the first Polynesians who arrived in the islands, close observation of the land and natural systems was the first order of the day. “You first try to look at it and you watch how the weather patterns are and what the rain fall is and all those things and you see what's already there. Almost immediately I started doing some work with Pua Case and that whole sense of what this place means,” added Rieux.
    They listened and the land spoke to them. “We had a blessing pretty early on with Dean Kalka. We had probably a hundred people and we had no idea where we were going to be centered in this little piece of land but [as it happens], we were all standing around what was to become the central crop area,” said Rieux.
    Garden classes were conducted on straw bales at first that were handy shelters from the relentless trade winds. “I was just out standing in the field, literally in a wind tunnel. You could sit behind the bale and get out of the wind and you could still hear me talk. At first we just talked about it because we didn't have any tools and we didn't have any water and we didn't have a tool shed and we just kind of imagined what it could look like. It was just kids in a field,” said Rieux.
    Initially funded by Slow Foods, the garden seemed to take on a life of its own, reaching out to the community. “Nan Pi`ianaia was really welcoming. She introduced me to Alice and Ichiro Yamaguchi. They have that beautiful garden across from where Lex Brodie used to be and they brought over our first eight kalo huli,” said Rieux.  And just as the kalo once planted becomes the parent to successive generations, the garden ohana evolved. “Community involvement and that whole idea of life bringing life. The more established the garden gets the more people come and they bring whatever their skills and their talents and their interests are,” said Rieux.  
    But the real magic came with the students. “I remember Miss Takamoto's sixth graders with picks just starting off this whole new area and in a year it looked like a completely different place to them and they were so proud of it.” Beginning with open invitations to any classes who wanted to participate, by 2010, the fifth anniversary, there was full participation by science, health, P.E. and tech classes and the garden had gone from a field to a rich haven of learning and health. Speaking at the celebration, then principal John Colson reflected, “If you look out here and you think it's beautiful, it is really beautiful. But that beauty is a reflection of all of you students and the work that you've done.”  

​    Not only does the garden produce up to three tons of food a year, but the students have created their own learning laboratory where they can engage in authentic learning experiences. “I coordinate with the science teachers with what the students are learning in the e science program, so every [garden] lesson is relevant to what they are learning in class,” said Sergeant-Green, garden teacher and resident science maven. This connection will become even stronger in two years when construction of the new STEM building will be completed. It will be situated adjacent to the garden and its doors will open out into a tangible world of wonder.  
    For students, there are also some big confidence building life lessons. “One of the things that the kids thought was valuable working out here was team work. You figure out how to work together and you see that you can do more work when you're working together. That's so important that they're recognizing it,” said Alethea Lai, executive director since 2010. With their participation in such events as the Super Kitchen, students also come to understand that they are valuable contributing members of the community. “The most important thing that we can do is to empower our kids to feel like leaders in the community and to recognize that they have a role, they have knowledge, they have skills, and that they're valuable,”said Rieux. “But a big mark of success is that the kids like it. They want to be here. We have very few discipline issues.”    

    In the beginning Rieux was the sole staff member, supported by board members: Jan Dean, Sandy Barr, Vivienne Aronowitz, Roen Hufford, Ben Disco, Patti Cook and Holly Sargent-Green.  Sergeant-Green, previously a marine biologist, and initially a parent volunteer, became a contracted staff member in 2008. With this year’s Food Corp volunteer Seri Niiimi-Burch, there are now three and a half staff members and it’s estimated that the garden has served about 2500 students over the last ten years.
    Although there have been pretty lean times over the years, the belief in the work of the garden has  sustained it. “What has been really gratifying and really hard at the same time is just growing trust and belief with this work with the land and the kids and the trust that we will do it with the greatest respect and care for the kids and the culture and the land,” said Rieux. The lessons of the garden also send shoots out that encircle the wider community.  “The students on the land cultivate a deeper sense of land stewardship, healthy eating, life-long learning, cultural relevance and joy. Their families hear it and as people are drawn here, there's all this learning that waves back in,” added Rieux.
    Financial support is another kind of wave that flows into the garden. In 2007 Mala`ai got non-profit status and began fund raising with their annual Art and Sol event, coming up on April 12.  The garden has provided the opportunity for the broader community to contribute to the effort, creating a sense of solidarity.
    “The people who support us monetarily are not for the most part the parents of the kids who go to this school. And that's amazing. It makes us a stronger community all together,” said Lai.
    Mala’ai has also become a model garden for the broader educational community and with the support of the Kohala Center and such educators as Nancy Redfeather and Koh Ming Wei the Hawaii Island School Garden Network and the Ku Aina Pa program were created.
    “Early on the Rocky Mountain Institute did a feasibility study on how to make Hawaii Island sustainable. One thing they thought there should be a focus on is education around gardening and food. So we met and wanted to know what would be the best way to move this forward and the School Garden Network came from that and out of that came Ku Aina Pa, which is making sure that we're supporting teachers and that the level of teaching in gardens is excellent. If we're really going to create the change that we're talking to our students about, then it has to be on a wider level than just here,” explained Rieux.  
    The most recent Super Kitchen event was a collaboration between Na Kalai Waa and Malaai, inspired by Chadd Paishon’s query, “Is it possible in this day and age for this island to provision one canoe?” This is a vital question for the sustainability of our entire island that Malaai Garden and many burgeoning efforts are striving to answer. “We talked to the students, we talked to the teachers, we talked to community members and we talked to farmers. People felt that the issues of food security and self-sufficiency were just as critical if not more,”said Lai.
    After ten years, it’s clear that Malaai is here to stay. It takes a garden to sustain a community but it also takes a community to sustain a garden and again this community has shown what happens when e lauhoe waa (we all paddle together).
​

​    The Hawaiian Islands are an ideal shooting location for movies of all kinds and when Hollywood comes to call, they find multi-talented residents such as Tom Penny of Waimea to lend their skills.  
    In 1979 a “strange artistic yearning” brought Penny to Waimea from O`ahu where he had morphed from a U.H. Manoa art student in 1971 to a journeyman carpenter. “When I walked into the back door of the Kahilu Theatre for the first time, I thought well wow, this is it. Music, acting, painting, carpentry. The possibilities were pretty endless.”
    All through the 80’s, when Richard Smart graced the Kahilu stage, Penny worked on all aspects of theater productions. “The first one I did with Richard was The Man Who Came to Dinner. It was really great to see him doing what he loved,” said Penny.
    In the ‘90’s Penny wanted to focus on acting and studied Meisner technique with Jim Jarret. During this time he was cast in Waterworld, (filmed at Kawaihae) where he had just one line. But more importantly, it gave him the chance to watch film production in all its facets, eventually finding his way to set work. Since then Penny has worked as set dresser, prop builder, and as a grip on many movies large and small.  
    “The first blockbuster that I worked on as crew was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I was a set dresser and we shot at the Shipman Estate,” said Penny. Set dressing is both meticulous and creative work. To maintain scene to scene consistency, a file of closely guarded continuity photos are kept. However, there was one photo Penny would have like to keep. “Harrison Ford was sitting in an amphibious vehicle and Spielburg was leaning in talking and I was standing behind them talking to the head set dresser,” said Penny. 
    One of Penny’s jobs on Jurassic World was prop and set construction, which doesn’t have the flash and glamour we associate with movies. “I worked in Honolulu for three months to create all the props for a particular scene and that part of the movie took less than a minute,” said Penny.
    Grip, one of Penny’s other jobs, means manipulating light sources, whether natural or artificial to show subjects to the best affect. He was key grip for Descendents and grip for Predators, shot partially in Waipio Valley. “Lanakila (Mangauil) gave the blessing (at Waipio) and he was very specific about respect for the land and that we could expect the unexpected,” said Penny. They were soon to discover the meaning of those words. “We were loading sand bags into the back of the mule (utility vehicle) and I had the wheels chalked with sand bags and it just rolled right over them and headed down the hill toward the cliff, but there was just enough of a flat run and it stopped before it went over, and I couldn't help but think about Lanakila's words,” he added.  
    Penny was in the right place at the right time with a willingness to follow his heart, work hard and learn his craft from the ground up, and is an example of what the island spirit makes possible.

​Not Your Ordinary Beach Park
  Although many changes have taken place since Kohanaiki mauka residents traveled to the shore for sustenance, today Kohanaiki is carrying on in the spirit of community resource, the perpetuation of Hawaiian cultural practices and sustainability.
  Turn off the traffic-choked highway and one is immediately plunged into an eye-of-storm calmness. A narrow road lined with great heaves of lava, winds towards the sea. The road narrows and curves left running parallel to the shoreline and a series of campsites tucked under the numerous tree heliotrope. A little further on a large collection of young surfers ride the southern summer swells while parents are watchful on the shore. 
  Colorful hand-painted signs with reminders to take care of the beach, drive slowly and live with aloha, line the entry drive, complements of Keiki Surf for the Earth, a contest for youth 14 and under, now in its 22nd year.
  It’s not just about surfing though. “Kids have access to a space that is safe and healthy where they can learn and grow and have an understanding of their kuleana. They clean up marine debris, take care of the reef ecosystem and learn how to conserve water and reduce one use plastics,” said Rebecca.
  The road ends and a foot path continues past the halau, Ka Hale Waʽa, today having its thatching repaired. An ahu and lele stands south of the halau and forms the entrance to a 17’ diameter star compass, designed by Gary and Kalepa Baybayan and used to teach way finding.   
  Drawn to the star compass’s connection to canoe culture, Kumu Keala Ching brings kūpuna to the park. “I brought kūpuna down to learn about the dial itself, the movement, the celestial stars summer solstice and winter solstice and to bring information to our people by learning about the area,” said Kumu.
  Beyond the star compass is the canoe garden backed by some of the 200 anchialine ponds that dot the area. Carved out of a space once choked with fountain grass and naupaka the canoe garden contains large patches of ipu gourds, sweet potatoes and kalo.
  Besides providing sustenance and materials for the creation of traditional implements, the garden is a living laboratory of sustainability that teaches learners by allowing them to plunge their hands into the soil and life’s mysteries hidden there.

​ A Learning Laboratory
  Kohanaiki Beach Park provides an ideal setting for students to engage in authentic cultural and environmental learning. Neighboring Innovations Public Charter School has a bi-annual hands-on science program at the park. “We incorporate a lot of ethno-mathematics into our curriculum. Cordage and cordage making are one of the corner stones of our science curriculum,” said Meg Dehning, Innovations middle school teacher.
  The students experience a combination of hands-on engagement to learn about environmental science, cultural practices and give back with service work. “They had an opportunity to learn about the culture / ecological heritage of that particular section of the coastline. The students got to do lauhala weaving with Aunty Elizabeth Lee, learn to strip hau and took part in the ceremony for the star compass that was presided over by Kalepa Baybayan,” said Meg. 
  Service learning allows students the chance to give back at the same time they were receiving. “They really liked the hands on work, especially when it came to learning to weave from Aunty Elizabeth or clearing the pond or helping dig the garden. It gave them the opportunity to learn in an authentic way. These are things that you just can't teach in the classroom,” said Meg. 

​A Win-Win Model for the Future
  The Kohanaiki Beach Park provides a sense of place and connectedness to the past and the future. And it’s an example of what can be done when people bring their best intentions to the table. “The park is a model for a better community where the shore remains with for and by the community, and managed by a consortium of county, community and developer representatives. The vision is that the model be perpetuated elsewhere. The coastline must be available for everyone,” said Rebecca.
 
For more information contact:
Camping permits: https://hawaiicounty.ehawaii.gov/camping/all,details,57824.html
Contact writer: janwiz@gmail.com
 

    Like the cordage he weaves, Gary Eoff’s art stretches back through time to honor and connect with the ancestors. Previously from California, Gary and his wife Karen came to Hawaiʽi in 1980 to surf and visit Karen’s sister but found much more.  “We fell in love with Hawaiʽi, went home and packed up,” said Gary.                                    
​   With a passion for art, traditional crafts and a thirst for learning, Gary has created an array of authentic Hawaiian artifacts that capture the highly advanced cultural practices of ancient Hawaiʽi. “Learning about the past and creating artifacts from traditional materials, you go through the whole process as if you're living in the past,” said Gary.
​   Before coming to Hawaiʽi, Gary was mostly a three dimensional artist. “Right from college I just started being a craftsman. I did sculptures, welding and metal sculpture and then jewelry. I carved a lot of shell and bone,” said Gary.
​   So it’s not surprising that Gary’s first endeavor in Hawaiʽi involved making fishing lures, a utilitarian three dimensional art form. Gary creates the inserts that use the colors and shapes of prey to entice big game fish to strike.  The lures, which he still makes, are a collaboration with Marlin Parker, son of lure inventor dad George. “I didn't know about fishing but I knew about crafting. Marlin, being a great fisherman knows what makes a great lure. The action of the lure is as important as anything,” said Gary.

​Teachers
  A convergence of Gary’s curiosity, encounters provided by a budding cultural renaissance and his connection to the Kohanaiki Beach area led him on an odyssey of exploration of Hawaiian crafts.
  When the student is ready the teacher will appear and that’s what happened when Gary met Angel at Kohanaiki Beach. In the late ‘80’s when Kohanaiki came under threat of development, the Kohanaiki ʽOhana was born. “Angel Pilago was my first teacher and mentor and our Kohanaiki ʽOhana leader. He’s a cordage master and his expertise is lashing among other things. He taught me to make fishing equipment, tools, gourds and drums. Items that were used culturally at the beach,” said Gary.
  Angel, his wife, Nita, Gary and wife Karen began doing workshops centered on Hawaiian traditional and cultural practices. “We wanted to have the items to demonstrate the use of resources. Our presentations focused on how to gather materials, make the items and take care of them. I love the aesthetics and sensibilities of Hawaiian utilitarian objects,” said Gary.
  Gary continued to throw his net wide to discover other traditional crafts such as gourds. They have decorative patterns and are lashed with cordage. “Tying the gourds is super challenging. There's only a knot at the beginning and the end, they're all slip knots and there's many different ways to do them,” said Gary. But before he could learn to tie them, he had to grow gourds and get the shapes right and study the pāwehe (tattoo designs) on the gourds.
  Gary found his way to his next teacher when he attended a talk by expert weaver and cordage maker Willy McGlouthlin at the King Kamehmeha Hotel in 1992. “I had heard his name at a cultural festival. He was just making mahiole (Hawaiian helmet) He invited me to Puna and I studied with him for 20 years,” said Gary.  

​You can’t learn about Hawaiian cordage without knowing about olonā. It’s the king of all cordage plants, endemic to Hawaiʽi and the strongest natural fiber in the world.
“The Hawaiians planted it everywhere. It was used extensively in their material culture because of its strength and durability. It was tended constantly. If you grew one acre you were friends of the overseer, if you grew two acres you were friends with the chief and if you grew three acres you were friends with the King,” said Gary.
  From Willy, Gary learned the full circle of cordage making and uses. “Willy had the touch and I learned the touch. Find it, mālama it, process it, use it. Willy’s main message was to protect the resource and to gather it in a sustainable way. You don't harvest unless you give back and I didn't get any plants until I made them flourish in the forest,” said Gary.
  Cordage making connected him to another of his teachers, Dr. Isabella Abbott. “She gave a talk and I went with my olonā sling. She knew what it was and invited me to come to Bishop Museum. I spent one whole day down in the basement with the feathered capes. She would have them get out everything that was made with olonā. I could touch it, feel it, look at it,” said Gary.
​   Gary's interest in printing designs on Hawaiian kappa led him to master printer, Hiroki Morinoue in Holualoa. "I learned various styles of printing --- monoprint, western printing using a printing press and eastern style printing using a baren."

Cultural Implements and Voyaging Arts
  Through the mounting of way-finding and cultural exhibits, Gary has shared his passion for the knowledge and skills of the early Hawaiians. This comes through in the meticulously researched artifacts he creates and makes available to anyone. “I think it's so important that people can handle the actual objects,” said Gary.
  Entering the Eoff’s small living room is like entering a miniature museum that illustrates Gary’s creative craftsmanship over the last 37 years. Every corner and wall space is covered with the evidence of a life spent studying and honing his crafts. A post is draped with gourds, recessed shelves serve as displays of various weapons and implements and mahiole march atop a bookshelf.
  Gary reaches into the refrigerator and removes a bag that contains a partially completed mahiole, the most complex of weaving crafts. On average it takes about 350 hours to weave. Using iʽeiʽe fiber, the mahiole is woven over a carved wood head form. Its fine weaving and snug fit provided protection for chiefs going into battle. 

The star compass is at the heart of the exhibit. “My main focus is on the voyaging canoe and the celestial star compass used for deep ocean navigation by early Polynesians,” said Gary.
​   In collaboration with local artists Dave Reisland (marquetry) and Cliff Johns (wood turner), the star compass was transformed into several three dimensional wood inlay pieces, one of which won first place at the Hawaiian Woodworkers Guild Show in 2016.
   Gary also created a 17 foot diameter star compass employed as part of the educational program at Kohanaiki Beach Park.
   A recent collaboration stems from Gary’s curiosity about the ancient skill of bird catching, and pairs a woven bird cage with a painting by local artist, Dominic Tidmarsh.
   To capture oʽo and iʽiwi, whose feathers were used to make ʽahu ʽula, the capes that adorned royalty, bird catchers tethered a bird inside a woven cage with food. A pole coated with a sticky substance was placed next to the cage, capturing the bird.  
​   “It will be a diorama with the bird cage and a pole in front of Dominic’s painting showing a little broken piece of olonā that the bird was tied to and the bird flying off over Puʽuoʽo because it's an oʽo bird,” said Gary.

​World Wide Voyage: Hawaiʽi Shares Its Culture with the World
  When the Hōkūleʽa sailed up the Potomac River to the Smithsonian, it carried a traveling exhibit of traditional crafts created by Gary. This evolved into the Worldwide Voyage: Hawaii Shares its Culture with the World, an exhibit inspired by the three year voyage, initially mounted at the Volcano Art Center and currently at Isaac’s Art Center until Sept. 30.
  The exhibit evolved through a request from the Hōkūleʽa ʽOhana Waʽa. “They decided they were going to tour the East coast extensively, so they decided they wanted an exhibit. I got together with Ed Kaneko, master lauhala weaver, Cliff did bowls and Dave helped with the wood,” said Gary.
  The collection traveled on the Hōkūleʽa, up the East Coast and a larger exhibit was put on display at the Smithsonian during a festival to celebrate Hōkūleʽa’s journey. “I thought of telling the story of the World Wide Voyage. The items are all on display with photos of the voyage from Oiwi T.V. There’s some art by Dave, Cliff and I that's contemporary and inspired by the voyage,” said Gary.

​Aʽo: To Teach is to Learn, To Learn is to Teach
  For many years, Gary just concentrated on learning the art, but through his teachers he came to realize that’s only part of the process. When you have discovered and developed skills, it’s time to pass them on, which Gary does through exhibits and continuous workshops at Kohanaiki Beach Park.  
  Coming up at the Volcano Art Center Gary will be providing a series of rotating exhibits focused on specific aspects of traditional arts. “Every time I speak with him it's like a whirlwind of information. He has so much to share that we've committed to doing these rotating cultural exhibits,” said Emily Weiss, Volcano Art Center Director.
  The key to our future lies in the past and through his journey with Hawaiian cultural crafts, Gary has come to understand how the wisdom, traditional practices and skills of the ancestors can protect the land and ocean resources going forward.
 
To see more of Gary’s work go to: www.http//garyeoff.com 
​Photos by Jack Wolford
Contact writer: janwiz@gmail.com

The Kohala Center with its current KWP Coordinator, Cody Dwight, seeks out funding and manages the “boots on the ground” work. “That's their forte being an organization that pools together these different programs and facilitates funding as well as the operation side so we can pool our goals and our time and effort,” said Pono.
First Steps
  Starting at the top, the idea was to extend the forest reserve zone down the mountain by eliminating feral ungulates and installing fencing to create “exclosures” in conservation parlance. “Take the forest away from the cattle and move them down the mountain. We're going to increase the size of the watershed by several thousand acres into our ranch country and that will give us a buffer for invasives,” said Pono.  
  Getting the feral cattle, probably descendants from Vancouver’s time, out of the forest was no easy task. Individual efforts by the ranches in the past had not been successful, but under KWP, the three ranches, Ponoholo, Kahuā and Parker, were able to remove feral cattle from the forest. “We learned that just by the fact that we put the three ranches together in a concerted effort, we were successful in taking back a large piece of ground,” said Pono.
  Fencing is the sustainable component of ungulate control. “The first fence up was on Ponoholo Ranch, about 100 acres. Right below, Parker ranch extended from that along the inside of the Honokane Valley ridge and right in to the edge of Pololū,” said Pono. “By the time we get done we'll have 3000 acres that we've taken back and in 50 years or so, it will be reforested,” he added. 
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