WAIPIO VALLEY — It was early morning, around 7 a.m., April Fool’s Day 1946, when one of the worst tsunamis ever to strike the Hawaiian Islands, also invaded the quiet, peaceful Waipio Valley on the Hamakua Coast.
Hilo and Laupahoehoe were hardest hit and a total of 159 people were killed islandwide. The tsunami also devastated the Lalakea Loko I‘a fishpond (along with a few others on Maui and Oahu) that had been used by the people of Waipio for centuries.
It is a traditional Hawaiian fishpond, with a punawai spring fed pond, a loko i‘a kalo (taro section) primarily fed by the Wailoa River and a loko puuone section, which ebbs and flows with the ocean tide. It is primarily a brackish water pond for salt water fish. Valley residents enjoyed the rich agricultural yield from the valley floor; taro, lotus root, and rice, while the fishpond provided a stable and constant abundance of fish.
But after the tsunami, the main pond was totally neglected and currently is overgrown with Egyptian reeds. When it was operational, it was completely walled and subdivided into three distinct sections represented by the six types of Hawaiian fishponds. The re-activation of the fishpond is already underway, with plans to rebuild the paths and wall sections still in disarray since the 1946 tsunami.
On Friday, that changed.
“It is with great anticipation that our family and network of dear friends are dedicating themselves to restore the precious waiwai (wealth) of Waipio.” Kenrock Higa, who spearheaded a group’s pond restoration efforts with with support from local nonprofit, Kua’aina Ulu Auamo (KUA).
The Lalakea Loko Wai Hui, the Honokaa community, and members of Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa (HMLI), a statewide network of Hawaiian fishpond care practitioners, gathered at the lookout Friday then descend to the valley floor to gather once again at the punawai (spring) of Lalakea fishpond.
At the spring, Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa members also added a rock from their Loko I‘a to a kuahu built to commemorate the ponds rebirth.
“Waipio Valley was once the ancient capital of Hawaii Island and remains today as one of the last defined ahapuaa,”Higa said. “The waiwai of an ahapuaa is its precious water. Lalakea was so prized in antiquity that many battles raged around it and several invaders tried to destroy the pond because of their disdain for the Waipio based chiefs. It is our good fortune to observe the waiwai of Lalakea continue to give life. Therefore, we are dedicating ourselves to the reactivation of the fishpond.”
Kenrock K. S. Higa is a retired lieutenant colonel who currently lives on Oahu with his wife and ohana. In the months ahead, he will be moving to the Island of Hawaii to focus on the restoration effort.
“It is my firm belief that the fishpond’s reactivation is the key to healing Waipio Valley and will make the valley whole once again,” Higa said. “The task ahead is challenging, however, through aloha, the reactivation of Lalakea Loko I‘a will be achieved. Please join us in this worthy cause.”
Higa said he is returning to the source of his Hawaiian heritage because he feels a strong attraction “to my ancestors.”
“I feel my ancestors would be happy” about the restoration of the fishpond,” he said. “I feel like I’m going home.”