🌊 TWO IMPORTANT UPDATES + FOUR WAYS TO SUPPORT KŪPAʻA KUILIMA RIGHT NOW 🌿

As decisions impacting Kahuku and our ʻāina continue to unfold, staying informed and taking action is critical. Here’s what you need to know, and how you can help.

🔔 UPDATE #1: CWRM MEETING STATUS

The Arete project is NOT on the December 16 Commission on Water and Resource Management agenda. However, community members are strongly encouraged to submit testimony now ahead of a possible January presentation.

CWRM commissioners have already raised serious concerns, including:

• Reliance on outdated 2013 SEIS & 2012 CIA

• Missing cultural consultation

• Lack of an adequate Ka Paʻakai analysis

• Incomplete responses to iwi kūpuna concerns

• No full development context

Submitting testimony now helps ensure the commission continues to demand transparency, pono process, and accountability.

🔔 UPDATE #2: DECEMBER 9 OIBC MEETING – IWI KŪPUNA

At the December 9, 2025 Oʻahu Island Burial Council (OIBC) meeting, the Board discussed ANOTHER Inadvertent Discovery of Unidentified Native Hawaiian Skeletal Remains at Turtle Bay Resort, located within:

ʻŌʻio 1, Ulupehupehu, and Punalau Ahupuaʻa, Koʻolauloa, Oʻahu - TMK: (1) 5-7-001:050

This discussion underscores the ongoing and very real impacts of development on iwi kūpuna and reinforces why proper cultural consultation, transparency, and adherence to the law are non-negotiable.

📄 Meeting materials are publicly available via DLNR SHPD.

✊🏽 FOUR WAYS YOU CAN HELP RIGHT NOW

1️⃣ SUBMIT TESTIMONY TO CWRM (MOST URGENT)

✍🏽 Even a few sentences in your own words makes a difference.

🔗 Submit testimony: https://forms.gle/rU3ueXjkfQeKdd618

2️⃣ DONATE DIRECTLY TO KŪPAʻA KUILIMA (Tax-Deductible)

We are now an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your donation directly supports:

• Advocacy for a new SEIS & SMA

• Environmental & cultural research

• Community organizing & education

• Protection of iwi kūpuna, shoreline, and endangered species

💚 Venmo: @Kupaakuilima4ever

💚 Mail checks:

Kūpaʻa Kuilima

56-193 Pualalea Street

Kahuku, HI 96731

3️⃣ GIVE THROUGH HULI25 (Nov 1–Dec 31)

Through Hawaiʻi People’s Fund’s HULI25 fundraiser, 50% of your donation comes directly back to Kūpaʻa Kuilima when you select our name.

➡️ Donate: bit.ly/huli2025

✔️ Select “Kūpaʻa Kuilima”

This is a powerful way to support community-led advocacy and aloha ʻāina during Makahiki.

4️⃣ BUY A KŪPAʻA KUILIMA FUNDRAISING T-SHIRT

Designed by Kelsey Ige (@alohawares), our shirts honor the resilience of the hala and the fragile beauty of the ʻilima, symbols of strength, protection, and aloha ʻāina.

🌺 $30 each - Limited supply

⚠️ 2XL SOLD OUT and Only 5 XL left

📌 Order: linktr.ee/kupaakuilima

Every purchase helps fund our movement. 🤍 Mahalo nui for standing us and protecting the future of this ʻāina. Kūpaʻa. Kuilima. Aloha ʻĀina.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook too! @kupaakuilima