Na Oiwi Puuanahulu

Nā ʻŌiwi

o Puʻuanahulu

"E hoʻi nā keiki oki uaua o nā pali."

Home go the very tough ones of the hills.

ʻŌlelo Noʻeau 288

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Vision

Continued Cultural and Natural Resource Awareness, Restoration & Preservation of Nā

Ahupua’a O Pu’uwa’awa’a a me Pu’uanahulu from those who have passed on, to those who

live in the present, a legacy to be carried forward by future generations.

Mission

To create a unique self-sustaining educational, cultural, and recreational center with a series of

programs and services that is committed to Natural Resource Management, Historical Site

Preservation, Reviving Traditional Cultural Activities, while sharing in the Responsibility of

Perpetuating the lifestyle of Nā Ahupua’a O Pu’uwa’awa’a a me Pu’uanahulu.

Board of Directors

Ranging in ages from 29 – 79, all Board members of Nā ʻŌiwi o Puʻuanahulu have been raised in the beloved homelands of Nā Puʻu and are commited to the preservation and protection of the natural and cultural integrity of those lands. Following in the footsteps of numerous generations before them, they are paniolo, farmers, fishermen, healers, and observers of our natural world. They continue to live, work and keep close to the land there in Puʻuanahulu and Puʻuwaʻawaʻa, serving community, taking care of ʻāina, and nurturing future generations.

Quinton Hooper

President

Quinton Hooper also serves as Vice President of Keiki o Da ʻĀina, a non profit fundraising entity for childrens programs in the community. He has worked for more than 11 years at Reyes Holdings, helped lead the youth program at the LDS church and was a football coach at Kealakehe High School.

Kapena Alapai

Vice President

Kapena Gordon Alapai is the Director of national non-profit, Arts in a Changing America (ArtChangeUS). He enters the field of arts and culture as a student of Hawaiian Language from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani at the University of Hawaiʻi Hilo, and as a trained arts and cultural manager from Pratt Institute in New York City. He currently serves as Board President of the Kahilu Theatre Foundation in Waimea Hawaiʻi, and is a consultant for Kituwah Services LLC in evaluating Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant programs to Native Hawaiian organizations.

Malia Lightner

Secretary

Malia Lightner is a full-time mom of two, works part-time for the Hawai'i Rural Water Association, is Treasurer for the ʻOhana Pūnana Leo o Waimea (Ka Ua Paliloa), is a member of the Kaʻūpūlehu Marine Life Advisory Committee, and a director on the board of the newly formed non-profit organization, Hui Kahuwai.

Debralee Kailiwai-Ray

Treasurer

Debralee Kailiwai-Ray, farmer, resides in Pu'uanahulu on multi-generational ʻohana ʻāina. She served as a volunteer Board of Director and Officer for Punana Leo o Kona, ʻEhunuikaimalino, Pu'uanahulu Community Association, and Napu'u Water Company. Currently, she serves as an ‘ohana representative on the Pu'uwa'awa'a Advisory Council of the Pu'uwa'awa'a Forest Reserve in the lands of Nāpu'u. She is a kia'i mālama ʻohana and iwi kūpuna for over thirty years, a legacy from her Tūtū, Nelson Hao, Tūtū Mary Kaaihue-Kamakele and father, John Kailiwai. She has paralegal experience specializing in Hawaiian land titles and genealogy research and served as a legislative assistant for eight years. She is a recent Hawaiian Studies and Liberal Arts graduate and will start on her BA in Humanities and Hawaii Pacific Studies next year.

Kaeo Alapai

ʻŌpio (Under 35) Seat

Kaeo Alapai is our ʻŌpio Board Member (35 and under), raising two children and their goats on his ancestral and multigenerational homestead in Puʻuanahulu. He is a third generation truck driver at West Hawaii Concrete and a basketball coach at Kealakehe High School.

ShirleyAnn Keakealani

10-Year Resident/Kupuna Seat

ShirleyAnn Keakealani, our Kupuna Board Member, is the family genealogist, archivist and gifted orator, caring for the histories and stories of our place. She gives freely of her time to support, advise and teach community, and especially the next generation, through our “Huakaʻi i Puʻuanahulu” series and the many genealogy workshops she hosts. In addition, she has worked over 40 years at Royal Kona Resort, serving as a supervisor before retiring, and was a cultural advisor for Hui Aloha Kiholo.

Tisha Kekuʻiapoiwa Bredeson

Mitchell Seat

Tisha Kekuʻiapoiwa Bredeson is the granddaughter of Edith & Charles Mitchell of Puʻuanahulu. She is a mother of 4 children and wife of Diego Bredeson, residing in south Kona. From Pu'uanahulu to Papa Bay and beyond, she is passionate about working side by side with ʻohana to mālama ʻāina, nurturing those connections never to be forgotten. She is a highly experienced and trained researcher in moʻokūauhau, genealogy and land conflict, but she especially loves spending time with and taking care of her tūtū, children and moʻopuna. “Learning to love and serve” is her motto.

History

Nā ʻŌiwi o Puʻuanahulu has a wealth of experience in land protection and land ownership. Integration and elevation of traditional and customary practices, and land and resource stewardship is part of its genealogy and legacy. For generations our families have advocated for the protection of iwi kūpuna, historic sites, water and the natural and cultural landscape of Puʻuanahulu and Puʻuwaʻawaʻa.

Formally established in 1998 as nonprofit Puʻuanahulu Community Association (PCA), descendants and community members of Nāpu'u succeeded in protecting 10 acres from a golf course development which they own and steward. On this 10 acres PCA established a kauhale (center) for their community and hosted events such as wahine and keiki rodeo and Puʻuanahulu Country Fair.

Nā ʻŌiwi o Puʻuanahulu was formed in 2020 as a successor nonprofit to PCA, continuing the legacy of their kūpuna to mālama ʻāina and community. We continue to host community events, outreach, educational and genealogical workshops at the community center to promote the long term health and wellbeing of the Nāpu'u region. A portion of the property is leased to the Puʻuanahulu Volunteer Fire Department Company 16 Bravo and partners with Firewise to promote fire prevention and preparedness.