Keeper of the Bay
A STORY OF CARING FOR KAHALUʻU
Cindi Punihaole
Here, the Reef Heroes project shares the story of a native Hawaiian's struggle to continue her family’s place-keeping heritage in the face of profound cultural change and human environmental stressors. Growing up following in the footsteps of her kūpuna (ancestors), Cindi Punihaole learned to live in harmony with nature. Now, she listens to the cries for help from the land and seeks to heal it.
As outside development, industrialization, and tourism have risen, Cindi has seen the islands’ ecological health decline and bears witness native species’ struggle to survive. For years, she’s observed the physical manifestations of a societal shift from protection to exploitation. And for years, she’s fought to reverse this.
Cindi embodies the bay she protects. Gentle and inviting on the surface; brimming with life and spirit and generations of Hawaiian wisdom within. She is soft spoken but powerful; patient though tenacious; understated yet strong. Her slight figure is offset by her striking black hair and directly intelligent brown eyes. Full of aloha and quiet determination, Cindi Punihaole is a true “keeper” of the land.
PAST CENTURIES
For native Hawaiian families of centuries past, protecting ancestral land was more than a means of survival – it was a way of life. Land and ocean alike were spiritual entities to be revered and admired. Generation after generation passed forward the wisdom and skills needed to manage the islands’ natural resources. This balanced stewardship allowed humans to sustainably coexist within Hawaii’s vast and diverse ecosystems.
CINDI’S FAMILY IN MAKALAWENA (Circa early 1900s)
The elders of Cindi’s great-great grandparents generation served as teachers of the land for families on the Kona Coast in the mid-1800s. These cultural leaders worked closely with the ‘ohana of Ka‘üpülehu, tending to fisheries and protecting natural resources. Their job was one of great honor, and they passed their knowledge down to their extended family. From her family, Cindi learned the practice of protecting land and ocean.
Born in the spring of 1950, Cindi Punihaole grew up on the beautiful Kona coast. Her elders taught her the customs and practices of caring for the land, ocean, and ancestral sites. She learned that the island sustained her family in the present and also connected them to their past. Her education was the product of generations of knowledge-sharing, passed down to her by familial and community mentors.
In addition to the many lessons taught by her parents and older siblings, Cindi also learned lessons from extended family. For instance, Cindi spent summers with her Auntie Annie Punihaole-Kealaula, a tiny yet capable woman who was considered one of the best fisherwomen of her time.
“She would take a canoe out and harvest a bounty of mackerel from the fishing ground and was also skilled in throwing a net and seeking out invertebrates and reef fish as a food sources," says Cindi.
Auntie Annie ensured that both Cindi and her brothers learned to respect all of the island’s inhabitants, from the tiny coral polyps that bloomed in their local bay to the turtles that stopped to rest on shore. Cindi remembers, “I was about 5 or 6-years-old and my two older brothers were fishing off a rock in front of Auntie Annie’s house, and before long they were luring a large puhi (eel) on the hook. They got it all the way up on the rocks where we were standing, and the eel was squirming and they were laughing. When my Auntie Annie heard all the ruckus and came to investigate, she was so upset that she told them that they were going to have to eat what they caught. Thank God I was little and did not have to eat it because it looked horrible. They never did that again and it was a learning lesson for all of us.”
CINDI WITH HER FATHER AND __________
Cindi's education was the product of generations of knowledge-sharing, passed down to her by familial and community mentors. Growing up in a family of hunters and gatherers instilled in Cindi a profound respect for her community and the natural resources of the land.
As Cindi and her brothers grew up on the same land that her great, great grandparents once cared for, they would continue to learn her family’s most valuable lesson – “being respectful of place and people no matter who or where you are.”
Cindi and her brothers collected dry wood to build fires, read by kukui lamps (kerosene lamps), learned to raise and kill animals for food, and were even responsible for planting food for the family to eat. “It was a difficult life, but now I am grateful that we were raised during those years and in that kind of environment,” says Cindi. “The earth was so fertile and everything that we planted grew large and healthy. It was important to know how to raise your own food, and how to live off the land. The land was such a big part of us, and we believed as a family and community that if you took care of place, it would take care of you.”
“As far back as I can remember, families always had an extension from the Mauka (mountain) lands to the Makai (ocean) lands,” says Cindi. “There was never a separation for us between the land and the people, the ocean, and the forest. Mauka and Makai were respected and taking care of the lands and the ocean was your survival.”
Cindi left Hawaii shortly after high school to earn a degree from Washington State. She remained on the mainland for almost 30 years. but brought with her the deep ancestral knowledge captured beautifully by one of her father’s favorite sayings:
“Love your land like you love your sweetheart and it will always take care of you.”
But, when, Cindi returned home to live in 1998, she found a different Hawai’i. Heartbroken, she realized that the bountiful land that she was raised on was becoming a decimated shadow of what it once was.
THE PRESENT CENTURY
Contacts:
To help Cindi in her fight to protect this sacred bay, please support the Kahalu'u Bay Education Center.