Community Workshops for Nā Iwi Kūpuna
Join us for two days of learning, connection, and ʻike kupuna at the Kahuku Village Association (Kahuku Community Center), hosted by Hawaiian Church of Hawaiʻi Nei through the program E Hoʻomau O Nā Mālama I Nā Iwi Kūpuna.
Participants are invited to learn and help create traditional burial vessels and materials, hinaʻi lauhala, kapa, kaula hau, and ipu umeke, to support the respectful reburial of nā iwi kūpuna. Completed items will be donated to lineal descendants and Native Hawaiian organizations for reinterment.
56-576 Kamehameha Highway, Kahuku
Friday, March 27 | 1:00–5:00 PM
Saturday, March 28 | 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Four separate workshops
No fee to attend
Open to community members who wish to learn and contribute
Visit www.hawaiianchurchhawaiinei.org and navigate to the E Hoʻomau O Nā Mālama I Nā Iwi Kūpuna page for details and registration.
Supported by Kūpaʻa Kuilima and the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations. Come mālama, learn, and help carry forward the kuleana of caring for our kūpuna with intention and respect.
Mark your calendars for Aloha Koʻolauloa on Saturday, April 18th, from 10 to 3 at Kahuku High School! This FREE community event is to celebrate ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi while fundraising for the Hawaiian Language Immersion Programs of the Koʻolauloa District. Kūpaʻa Kuilima will have a booth there.
No new permits for Turtle Bay have been applied for, or approved, recently that we were not already aware of so far. Please use this resource to join in/help us with tracking the DPP permitting site and current permits associated with Turtle Bay: https://bit.ly/3PcoecP
Kūpaʻa Kuilima T-shirts are now with NEW youth sizes! 🌿
Show your support and wear your aloha ʻāina with pride. Every purchase helps protect ʻāina, uplift community voices, and honor the spirit of Kuilima.
👉 Order yours today:
https://forms.gle/dUoyBsuRK65Z2n918 or visit our linktr.ee/kupaakuilima
💚 Venmo: @Kupaakuilima4ever
💚 Mail checks to:
Kūpaʻa Kuilima
56-193 Pualalea Street
Kahuku, HI 96731
Available sizes: Adult S–4XL + Youth S–L $30 each (add $10 for shipping) while supplies last!
🌿 About the Design: Mahalo to talented artist Kelsey Ige (@alohawares) for reimagining our logo with deep intention. Rooted in resilience, the hala tree symbolizes strength, protection, and moving into a new era. Paired with the delicate ʻilima lei, representing Oʻahu and the fragile beauty of Kuilima, the design reflects our deep connection to ʻāina.
As Ing shared: “Wanted to bring a ferocity and strength into it… paired with the delicate ʻilima lei to represent Oʻahu and the fragility of our special environment at Kuilima. Like ʻilima, it needs special care.” (2025) Follow @alohawares to see more of Kelsey’s incredible work!
The hala’s strong roots symbolize resilience and guardianship of the land, while lei hala represents protection and the carrying forward of ʻike and strength. Each shirt carries a message of protection and steadfastness. 💛🌱
📣 UPDATE: The March 2026 OIBC meeting was cancelled.
During both the January 14 and February 11 Oʻahu Island Burial Council (OIBC) meetings, additional inadvertent discoveries of iwi kūpuna were reported in areas where development is ongoing.
▶️ January meeting recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hBNz2bkDHI
📄 February board packet:
https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/shpd/about/branches/ibc/meetings/attachment/2026-02-11-oibc-board-packet/
These discoveries reaffirm what many in our community have long known, this is sacred ʻāina deserving protection and respect. Kūpaʻa Kuilima maintains that iwi kūpuna should never be disturbed, and we continue to call for a pause in development impacting cultural resources and sensitive environments.
📝 SUBMIT TESTIMONY — MAKE YOUR VOICE PART OF THE RECORD
👉 Complete the testimony form here:
https://forms.gle/kPwc1wL87pTpHuVC6
Kūpaʻa Kuilima invites community members to submit testimony to help protect iwi kūpuna discovered at Kuilima. Testimony will be shared with the Oʻahu Island Burial Council and relevant agencies to support transparency, accountability, and adherence to Hawaiʻi burial protection laws (HRS §6E-43.6 & HAR §13-300-40).
By submitting testimony, you stand for:
• Respect and protection of iwi kūpuna
• Accountability to burial laws and ethical practices
• Protection of ʻāina from disturbance and desecration
• Meaningful consultation with lineal and cultural descendants
If agenda items related to these discoveries appear at future OIBC meetings, testimony may become part of the public record.
Mahalo nui loa for helping uphold our collective kuleana.
📣 A CALL TO LINEAL & CULTURAL DESCENDANTS
⚠️ Are you connected to these ahupuaʻa?
Kawela • Punalau • Ulupehupehu • ʻŌʻio • Hanakaʻoe • Kahuku
Development is occurring where ancestral burials have been identified or inadvertently discovered. You may have a legal right to be consulted.
🦴 Iwi kūpuna are not artifacts, they are ʻohana.
Under Hawaiʻi law: work must stop when iwi are found, agencies must be notified, and lineal and cultural descendants must be consulted.
👥 ʻOhana names we are seeking connections to:
Aamo, Ahamau, Hooala, Hoolae, Heea, Kainalu, Kakala, Kaili, Kalimaloa, Kaleikini, Kamakai, Kameloko, Kamooiki, Kaohele, Kapaiaala, Kauaihikai, Kauihawale, Kaukaha, Kaumualii, Kauwahi, Kawelaluna, Kawi, Keea, Kelemana, Kekua, Kookoo, Kuheleloa, Kupau, Lauhine, Lanihau, Lokea/Waanui, Lono, Luiki, Makaino, Makilo, Makole, Malailua, Manukeokeo, Moo, Mookahi, Napoe, Naukuhao, Pahanui, Pailalau, Pakanaka, Paku, Palu, Paukoa, Puaakea, Puu, Umeume, Uwalakui, Waanui.
If your kūpuna are tied to these lands or names:
✔️ You may qualify as a descendant
✔️ You have the right to consultation
✔️ Your voice can help protect iwi kūpuna
📩 Contact us to learn more.
Honor the past. Protect the future. Stand in defense of iwi kūpuna.
#IwiKupuna #KuleanaToKupuna #NoMoreDesecration #HawaiianBurialProtection #ProtectIwiKupuna #AlohaAina
Kūpaʻa Kuilima joined community and environmental partners in filing a lawsuit challenging the City and County of Honolulu’s approval of a new luxury hotel at Kuilima on Oʻahu’s North Shore.
The County relied on a 13-year-old environmental review that ignored critical new realities, newly listed endangered species like Nalo Meli Maoli (Hawaiian yellow-faced bees), an active mōlī (Laysan albatross) breeding colony, and Hawaiian monk seals increasingly using nearby beaches to rest and pup.
Kuilima is a culturally and ecologically significant place that deserves real, science-based review, not rubber-stamp approvals. Our ʻāina, our wildlife, and our community deserve better.
We are deeply honored to be standing alongside the Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi, represented by Earthjustice, to uphold Hawaiʻi’s environmental laws and protect this place for future generations.
📄 Press release:
https://earthjustice.org/press/2026/approval-of-new-hotel-on-oahus-north-shore-sparks-lawsuit-to-protect-wildlife
📄 Legal complaint:
https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/1-2026-2-3-complaint-summons.pdf
Mahalo to @hawaiinewsnow and reporter ʻAʻaliʻi Dukelow for this important coverage highlighting the growing legal and community pushback to a proposed 375-room luxury hotel at Kuilima.
As reported by Hawaii News Now, Earthjustice has filed a lawsuit challenging the City and County of Honolulu’s approval of the project, an approval based on a 2013 environmental review that no longer reflects today’s realities.
“In the thirteen years since then, the situation on the ground has really changed,” said Earthjustice attorney Dru Hara, pointing to new science and heightened ecological and cultural sensitivity along this shoreline. “Before they come in with the bulldozers and pile drivers, we want to have a full understanding of the impact this is going to have.”
Since that outdated review, endangered Hawaiian yellow-faced bees have been documented at the project site, and the Laysan albatross population is rebounding, critical facts that were never considered. As one plaintiff shared, “You really shouldn’t be using outdated environmental reviews.”
For North Shore residents, this is about protecting what remains. “There’s a general sense in this community that enough is enough,” said community member Jessica dos Santos. “We need to protect what we love.”
Mahalo to @staradvertiser and reporter Nina Wu for detailing the legal challenge to the City and County of Honolulu’s approval of a new hotel at Turtle Bay, and the deeper questions it raises about enforcement, transparency, and cumulative impacts on the North Shore.
Filed by Earthjustice on behalf of community and environmental organizations, the suit argues the County violated the Hawaiʻi Environmental Policy Act by approving development based on a 2013 environmental review, despite significant changes since then.
“When the science advances and new species are at risk, the law requires the county to take a hard look, not look the other way,” said Maxx Phillips of the Center for Biological Diversity, emphasizing that nalo meli maoli (Hawaiian yellow-faced bees) were federally listed as endangered after that review was completed.
The case also points to cumulative development pressures at Kuilima, where multiple large projects have been approved in recent years. As Earthjustice attorney Dru Hara noted, “Hawaii’s environmental review laws are only as strong as the government’s willingness to enforce them.”
For the community, the issue is trust and pono governance. Kūpaʻa Kuilima shared that advocates were left with “no choice but to compel them to do what’s pono” when environmental standards and community concerns were not meaningfully addressed.
Article Link in “Turtle Bay Information Resource Page” at: https://linktr.ee/kupaakuilima