Fishpond Work and Programs
COMMUNITY
EDUCATOR & LEADERSHIP TRAINING
YOUTH
KIAʻI LOKO
COMMUNITY
Hui o Kuapā welcomes schools, community groups, and visiting organizations to learn about Molokaʻi’s loko iʻa, ʻāina, and traditional Hawaiian stewardship practices through hands-on, place-based experiences.
These visits provide opportunities for students and participants to engage directly with the fishpond, learn from kiaʻi loko, and better understand the cultural, environmental, and historical significance of loko iʻa. By sharing ʻike and inviting others to participate in mālama ʻāina, Hui o Kuapā builds relationships with local and visiting groups while inspiring a broader network of people to become active stewards of Hawaiʻi’s natural and cultural resources.
Interested in bringing your group, contact Maile Naehu!
EDUCATOR & LEADERSHIP TRAINING
The Alakaʻi Academy is a three-day immersive workshop on the island of Molokaʻi, done in collaboration with Ka Hale Hoaka–School of Hawaiian Knowledge, where participants engage in hands-on, culture-based practices to strengthen leadership grounded in aloha ʻāina. Through meaningful, place-based experiences, participants build pilina to self, to one another, and to ʻāina while deepening their understanding of the reciprocal relationship between ʻāina and kanaka.
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Participants will reflect on their personal values and leadership philosophies while learning to adopt a culturally responsive, ʻāina-based lens to develop a pono leadership framework. Through experiential, explorative, and reflective learning, participants gain practical tools to lead with intention, strengthen relationships, and cultivate spaces rooted in ʻike, kuleana, and community well-being.
This academy is designed to transform how leaders see themselves, their communities, and their role in shaping a more balanced and connected future.
Through our partnership with Ka Hale Hoaka we are a Hawai’i DOE preferred vendor and a certified Nohona Hawaiʻi provider for OHE-the Office of Hawaiian Education. Which means we can service any DOE department, school, or office in these fours areas of expertise:
ʻĀina-based
Education
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Hawaiian language
Hana Noʻeau
Hawaiian arts
ʻIke Hawaiʻi
Hawaiian knowledge
Interested in Alakaʻi Academy, contact Kumu Maile!
YOUTH
These loko iʻa-based programs uplift Indigenous youth by grounding learning in cultural identity, ancestral knowledge, and deep relationships with ʻāina and kai. Through immersive, place-based experiences at ʻŌhalahala, one of Molokaʻi’s traditional fishponds, students learn about the history, function, and restoration of loko iʻa as ancestral food systems rooted in sustainability and kuleana. Hands-on learning, reflection, creative expression, peer discussion, and ʻāina stewardship help youth strengthen cultural and technical skills while developing confidence, leadership, and a sense of community responsibility. Through these experiences, youth deepen their connection to place and carry the lessons of loko iʻa into their families, schools, and communities—rooted in identity and inspired by ancestral resilience.
KIAʻI LOKO
Hui o Kuapā is committed to restoring and caring for Molokaʻi’s traditional loko iʻa as living cultural, ecological, and food systems. Through the restoration of fishpond walls, mākāhā, waterways, and surrounding ʻāina, Hui o Kuapā works to rebuild the systems that sustained generations of Hawaiians while strengthening food sovereignty and community connection. The work is grounded in the role of the kiaʻi loko, who observe, maintain, and live in relationship with the dynamic rhythms of the pond. Hui o Kuapā welcomes community members, families, students, educators, and volunteers to participate in restoration work and learn alongside experienced kiaʻi, creating opportunities for people to contribute their time and ʻike while developing a deeper sense of kuleana to ʻāina and kai. By bringing the community together to mālama the loko iʻa, Hui o Kuapā is not only restoring physical structures, but also revitalizing the relationships, knowledge, and collective stewardship needed to sustain these ancestral food systems for future generations.