20 Years of Hawaiian Stewardship in Waimea Valley, Oahu

As Hiʻipaka LLC prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026, the Valley’s hard-won preservation stands as a powerful reminder of what community action can achieve.

From Left to Right: Aunty Kaʻula Chun, Aunty Kanani Awai, Trustee Boyd P. Mossman, Chair
S. Haunani Apoliona, Trustee Dante Carpenter, Trustee Colette Machado, Aunty Betty
Jenkins, Aunty Gladys “Honey” Awai Lennox, & Aunty Maile Agadar

Waimea Valley, nestled along Oʻahu’s North Shore, is widely recognized as one of Hawaiʻi’s most sacred and historically significant landscapes. One of the island’s few remaining intact ahupuaʻa—a land division stretching from the mountains to the sea—the Valley has served for centuries as a center of priestly authority, education, and community life. Long known as the Valley of the Priests, Waimea’s story spans nearly a thousand years and reflects both the resilience of Native Hawaiian stewardship and the enduring challenges faced by ancestral lands across Hawaiʻi.

That history includes profound transformation. In the 12th century, the stewardship of Waimea was entrusted to the Kahuna Nui of the Paʻao line, whose descendants cared for the land and its heiau, including Puʻu o Mahuka, the largest heiau on Oʻahu, Kūpopolo heiau, and Kahōkōwelowelo . For generations, families lived in balance with the valley’s forests, fields, and fisheries.

Following Western contact and the upheavals of the 19th century, that balance was disrupted. After Kamehameha I’s conquest of Oʻahu in 1795, Waimea was granted to his spiritual advisor, Hewahewa. By the mid-1800s, the Great Māhele and the pressures of debt and land law resulted in Native land loss. Waimea also became involved in the sandalwood trade that swept through Hawai‘i in the early 19th century — a period of intense harvesting that lasted roughly two decades and had largely ended by the 1830s. In 1886, ownership of Waimea passed out of Hawaiian hands entirely. Over the next century, the Valley was transformed into plantation land, military installations during World War II, and later a commercial tourist attraction.

By the late 20th century, Waimea faced its greatest threat yet. After a series of failed development ventures, plans emerged to subdivide the Valley for luxury housing. For many in Hawaiʻi, the potential loss of Waimea was unthinkable. A broad coalition of community members, cultural practitioners, environmental advocates, students, and Native Hawaiian organizations mobilized in what became known as the Save Waimea Valley movement.

Waimea Valley on the Honolulu Weekly

That movement culminated in a landmark agreement in 2006. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) with support from the Trust for Public Land, the City and County of Honolulu, the State of Hawaiʻi, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Army jointly acquired Waimea Valley for $15 million, ensuring the land would remain permanently protected. Title was placed with OHA, with a commitment that the land would ultimately be conveyed to a Native Hawaiian governing entity. Out of that victory emerged a new era of stewardship. In 2007, OHA established Hiʻilei Aloha LLC and its subentity, Hiʻipaka LLC, to manage and care for Waimea Valley. Management transitioned in early 2008, marking the beginning of Hawaiian-led stewardship grounded in cultural practice, conservation, and education. The name Hiʻipaka—meaning “to hold gently in the arms, to nurture”—reflects that mission. Paka is also the Hawaiian word for park.

In 2003, community protests prevented major housing developments in Waimea Valley and led to the City & County of Honolulu to condemn and lease Waimea Valley to the National Audobon Society

As Hiʻipaka approaches its 20th anniversary in 2026, the transformation of Waimea Valley is unmistakable. Former theme park infrastructure has been replaced with cultural gardens, restored ecosystems, and educational spaces. Native plants have been reintroduced, endangered species protected, and the Valley has once again become a place for ceremony, Makahiki celebrations, and community engagement.

Looking ahead, Hiʻipaka LLC is preparing for the next twenty years of stewardship through a major phase of reinvestment. Approximately $7 million in long-term capital improvements are planned to support the care of aging infrastructure across the Valley. Projects in 2026 include new men’s and women’s restrooms, a pavilion expansion and roof replacement, improvements to the Visitor Center and gift shop, and restoration of our resource center. This work is designed to enhance accessibility, safety, and visitor experience, and will be phased, so Waimea Valley remains open to the public throughout construction. An additional planned improvement is the development of Puʻukua, a new learning center featuring a 1,500-square-foot traditional Hawaiian hale and a surrounding lei, agroforestry, fruit tree, kalo, banana, and medicinal healing gardens, designed to strengthen Hiʻipaka’s education programs, enrich student experiences, and expand Waimea Valley’s capacity to serve more schools.

Waimea Valley

Today, Waimea Valley is home to one of the world’s most significant tropical botanical collections alongside an expanding range of Hawaiian-led cultural programs. Yet its modern history serves as a reminder that places of deep cultural and ecological importance are not preserved by chance. Waimea Valley exists as it does today because of persistence, advocacy, and collective action.

As Hiʻipaka LLC prepares to mark two decades of stewardship, Waimea stands not only as a place of reflection on the past, but as a living model for Hawaiʻi’s future—one where land is understood not as a commodity, but as a relative, cared for with responsibility and aloha.

Community members are invited to follow Waimea Valley on social media to learn more about upcoming 20th anniversary events and to join in celebrating nearly two decades of restoration, stewardship, and resilience on Oʻahu’s North Shore