{"id":221213,"date":"2025-09-02T16:42:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T02:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=221213"},"modified":"2025-09-02T18:35:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T04:35:45","slug":"new-chapter-moku-o-loe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/09\/02\/new-chapter-moku-o-loe\/","title":{"rendered":"New chapter of stewardship: \u02bbAha Ho\u02bbomaika\u02bbi for Moku o Lo\u02bbe"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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From left: Donahue and Hewett. (Photo credit: Maria Frostic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa’s Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute of Marine Biology<\/a> (HIMB<\/abbr>) began the new academic year by reaffirming its commitment to island stewardship and honoring HIMB<\/abbr>\u2019s new director Megan Donahue at Coconut Island (Moku o Loʻe)<\/span> on August 25. The campus hosted an ʻAha<\/span> Hoʻomaikaʻi,<\/span> a Hawaiian protocol meaning “to make all things good,” to clear a path into the future. Led by kupuna and Kumu Hula, Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, a small group participated in a ceremony around the island to strengthen the bond between the institute and the land and sea that sustain it.<\/p>\n

“It was an honor to be joined by the kūpuna of this place and past leaders of HIMB<\/abbr> to recognize their sustaining care for this island,” said Donahue. “Along with our students and the HIMB<\/abbr> ʻohana,<\/span> we envision a future of innovation in marine science and education that honors people and place. Today\u2019s protocol and celebration joins the past and the future of Moku o Loʻe<\/span> with a continuity of stewardship.”<\/p>\n

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HIMB<\/abbr> faculty, staff, and students prepared the imu over the weekend in the lead up to the ʻAha<\/span> Hoʻomaikaʻi.<\/span> (Photo credit: Jia Cashon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hoʻomaikaʻi<\/span> ceremony came at a pivotal time for HIMB<\/abbr>. The institute recently completed a collaborative community design process for pono stewardship, resulting in the creation of a formal Mālama ʻĀina<\/span> Plan for Moku o Loʻe.<\/span> This plan includes climate adaptation strategies and solidifies HIMB<\/abbr>‘s dedication to UH<\/abbr> Mānoa\u2019s strategic plan to become a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning (NHPoL<\/abbr>). NHPoL<\/abbr> is responsive to Native Hawaiians, including students, employees, communities and ʻāina,<\/span> and is also reflective of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> for all, and incorporates Hawaiian culture, language, ceremony, history, principles, values and worldviews.<\/p>\n

Community, stewardship in action<\/h2>\n

The formal protocol was complemented by hands-on stewardship from the broader HIMB<\/abbr> community. Faculty, staff, students and community partners participated in a collective effort to care for the island, embodying the principles of mālama ʻāina.<\/span> This was followed by an ʻahaʻaina,<\/span> a shared feast, celebrating the collective effort and the beginning of a promising new semester.<\/p>\n

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Hewett arrives on Moku o Loʻe<\/span> and initiates the ʻAha<\/span> Hoʻomaikaʻi<\/span> with an ancient chant over the waters that surround the island. (Photo credit: Maria Frostic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“As our kūpuna led the ʻAha<\/span> Hoʻomaikaʻi,<\/span> I had the honor of witnessing a glimpse of where we are headed as a research institution, grounded in the values of Â鶹´«Ã½,”<\/span> said HIMB<\/abbr> Stewardship Coordinator Aimee Sato. “There was no distinction between a researcher, staff or community member, as everyone found themselves planting kalo, weeding areas of the island, cleaning the shorelines of trash, opening the imu, laying out lauhala mats or frying fish together.”<\/p>\n

Leading up to the ʻahaʻaina,<\/span> members of the HIMB<\/abbr> ʻohana<\/span> caught fish, gathered locally harvested foods from Moku o Loʻe<\/span> and throughout the region, and readied an imu (underground oven) in preparation. This collective effort symbolizes the commitment and teamwork that are foundational to the institute’s mission.<\/p>\n

This blend of traditional Hawaiian protocol, hands-on stewardship and community gathering reflects HIMB<\/abbr>‘s holistic approach to marine science. It underscores the belief that world-class research and community-based stewardship are not mutually exclusive but are deeply intertwined. By honoring the past and working together in the present, HIMB<\/abbr> is creating a sustainable and culturally-grounded future, demonstrating what it truly means to be a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning.<\/p>\n

–By Maria Frostic<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HIMB<\/abbr>\u2019s new director Megan Donahue was honored at Coconut Island (Moku o Loʻe)<\/span> on August 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":221214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[53,1465,1314,73,9],"class_list":["post-221213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-hawaii-institute-of-marine-biology","tag-manoa-native-hawaiian-place-of-learning","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/manoa-himb-ceremony.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221213"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221221,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221213\/revisions\/221221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}