Hawaiian Cultural Support

Photo credit: Hui Aloha ‘Aina Momona

Ceres Trust provides support for efforts that further Hawaiian knowledge, culture and the use of the Hawaiian language; the perpetuation of Hawaiian resource management and governance; and the rights of Hawaiians to environmental health, justice and sovereignty.

“Intact native communities like Molokai who provide an honored place for their kupuna (elders); cherish their kamali`i (children); maintain a sense of community and kuleana (sacred responsibility) to each other and to their place are as kīpuka (oases) in an increasingly unfriendly world. Like the kīpuka that serve as islands of abundance where vegetation gathers and bores through hardened lava beds, some native communities persist and serve to teach us how to return to ourselves and restore our relationship with each other and the natural world. These kīpuka are the seed-bearers, ready to plant the pulapula (seedlings) that come from the collective `ike (knowledge) passed from the elders. As the world grapples with the consequences of excess, it searches for these kīpuka to learn how to live pono (in right relationship).” ~Sustainable Moloka’i

Resources

UA MAU KE EA - Sovereignty Endures: An Overview of the Political and Legal History of the Hawaiian Islands by David Keanu Sai · UA MAU chronicles Hawaii’s history through storytelling, interviews, archival images and Hawaiian-language newspaper articles, documented with hundreds of footnotes and additional references. Sovreignty Endures Textbook
Hawaiian Kingdom blog, weblog of the acting government of the Hawaiian Kingdom presently operating within the occupied State of the Hawaiian Islands.

GRANTEE PARTNERS

‘Aina Momona

Awaiaulu

E Kupaka Ka Aina

Hui Aloha ‘Aina Momona

Hui o Kuapā

Hawai’i People’s Fund

Indigenous Crop Biodiversity Festival

Movement for Aloha No ka ʻĀina (MANA)

Video Resources of Interest

Molokai - Legacy of Aloha ‘Āina

Hui O Kuapa - Hawaiian Learning Center, Molokai

Jerry Konanui on Kalo, Biodiversity, Ancient Wisdom, and Modern Science

Stories from the Field

Heroes of SB3095 – This is what democracy looks like

In 2015, Syngenta, Dow, Dupont and BASF successfully sued Kauai County for the right to spray poisons next to schools, and not tell us about it. Today, as a result of the passage of SB3095, they can no longer do this. Over the next 4 years the Restricted Use Pesticide and neurotoxin chlorpyrifos, will be phased out and its use totally prohibited.

‘Āina Momona created an Aloha ‘Āina Fellows Program, a land-based initiative on Molokai that works to engage emerging professionals and grow leadership capacity-building on the Island. Fellows worked with the community to collect data on the potential sale of Molokai Ranch, held informational meetings, gave professional presentations, attended weekly classes, and ran community work days at important, damaged sites in the natural environment.

‘Āina Momona organized the ‘Onipa‘a Kākou event on January 17, 2018, bringing the broader Hawaiian community together for this event, which raised awareness for several Native Hawaiian issues happening across the state. The day culminated in thousands of people joining in a day of unity to recognize the day of solemn injustice against the Native Hawaiian people 125 years ago.

After attending the 2017 Seed Festival, an attendee was enthusiastic in becoming involved in growing adapted seed and was excited we would soon be making it available through the Hawai`i Seed Growers Network and Hawai`i Public Seed Initiative.

Dan Rudoy, Collection Manager for the Breadfruit Institute, is a specialist in organic, holistic and regenerative farming practices. He is managing the institute’s incomparable conservation collection of 150 breadfruit varieties using regenerative agricultural practices.