Community Initiative Spotlight

Hanohano Naehu (Native Hawaiian)

2003/04 Ambassador

Hanohano Naehu is unique to the AIO Ambassadors Program. He is the first Native Hawaiian to participate in the two-year program. Born and raised on the island of Moloka’i, Hano is committed to his island and his people and would like to see both become more self-sufficient. The economy on the island is lagging behind the rest of the state, due to the closure of the pineapple companies in the 1970’s and 1980’s that employed sixty percent of the people on the island. Turning away from the largest industry in the state, tourism, Moloka’i is looking for other options. The island has great agriculture and aquaculture potential, and this is where Hano steps in.

Hano’s community initiative is to restore a traditional, walled fishpond that covers approximately seventy-three acres. The Lokoi’a Fishpond Project is a federally financed program that aims to meld the traditional subsistence and Western economies by examining the feasibility of using Moloka'i's fishponds as moneymaking ventures.

Hano accepted a position working with the community outreach and education division of the project. He not only is reconstructing the fishpond, but also educating visitors and the Moloka’i community about Native Hawaiian values. Hano says, “It is very important to live environmentally correct on this island, much like our ancestors did. I say this because my ancestors lived and thrived on this island-nation for over a thousand years, while most of the damage has been done only in the last two-hundred years.”

His community project is giving him a great opportunity to research and try out traditional and modern ideas in aquaculture. Hano says that Moloka'i can excel economically without compromising the things that make the island and its people special. Hano feels really lucky to be able to use his core cultural values in his work, “I have accepted this role as a leader in my community because I want to. I am just in the right place, going down the right path, at the right time.”