KAILUA-KONA — A harsh but unassuming aa lava field that contains one of the island’s most significant historical sites is “just inches” away from being forever in public hands.
The $4.25 million needed to buy the 47-acre Kuamoo Battlefield and Burial Grounds in Keauhou has now been raised. The educational non-profit founded by the decendants of warriors who fell there — with the help of the Trust For Public Land Hawaii — expects to finalize the purchase by the new year.
On Saturday, music, food and the donation of a final $20,000 check by Big Island Toyota in Kailua-Kona marked the achievement at a hoolaulea held at the dealership.
Margaret Schauttauer, the owner of the tract, sat watching a performance by The Makaha Sons. She said her goal for the land has been accomplished.
“It’s what I wanted from the beginning — people who will protect and preserve a very important and historical place,” she said. “It makes me a very happy old lady.”
Schauttauer, who is in her 90s, twice extended the deadline for the purchase. The state Legacy Land Conservation Program granted $3 million to the cause in 2013, and the remaining $1.5 million was met with numerous smaller contributions.
The battleground is the final resting place of some 300 Hawaiian warriors who died in the 1819 struggle that ended the kapu system. The battle marked a period of upheaval and transformation that saw both a purging of the old ways and the arrival of the first missionaries to the islands.
“It was such a hard time for the kupuna to manage the many changes in the world,” a tearful Keola Beamer explained following a performance of music and hula which he and his wife Moana put on to celebrate the day.
Beamer’s family founded Aloha Kuamoo Aina, the educational non-profit which will oversee and restore the property once the purchase is finalized. Long-term plans for the land include the building of an educational center.
Beamer is descended from Chiefess Manono, who died in the battle uttering the famed words “malama ko aloha,” which mean “keep your love.”
“Many of us here in Hawaii have a connection to the battle,” Beamer said. “Many of us have relatives who were lost. It has great gravitas to us.”
The educational center for the site will incorporate place-based learning and will safeguard the graves, shrines, heiau, homesites, historic trails and other features. The center will offer a way to learn from the conflicts of the past, “so we will never be in that place again,” Beamer said.
The historic sites are in need of restoration after years of grazing and neglect. That preservation is part of the vision of AKA. While the purchase is a huge milestone, fundraising and organizing efforts will continue, looking ahead to the restoration work, said Leslie Uptain, director of philanthropy for the Trust For Public Land.
“We’re still short of seed funding for AKA to hit the ground running on restoration work,” Uptain said. “We’re pleased, but we’re not finished yet. The purchase is really a phase one.”
In the short term, invasive species will be cleared from the land and it will be made more accessible to visiting groups, Beamer said.
“The worst that can happen now is that Kuamoo will be preserved for generations,” he said. “The best that can happen is we can learn the message of malama ko aloha.”
Info: www.ProtectKuamoo.org