Mālama Kakanilua

Mālama Kakanilua‘s mission is to protect rights of iwi kupuna by upholding the “Act for the Protection of Places of Sepulture,” an 1860 law passed by the Hawaiian Kingdom to protect burial sites and graves and to protect all places that are sacred to Hawaiʻi’s people. Their work focuses on protection of iwi kupuna and water resources from Central Maui, specifically ‘Īao and Waihe‘e aquifers and Nā Wai ‘Ehā streams, to strengthen loʻi kalo practices currently under fire by the high demands of luxury development in South Maui. That same development is occurring over unmarked Hawaiian burial grounds, and their challenge to Blackstone Real Estate’s plans to expand the Grand Wailea Resort (the largest water customer in all of Maui) which is built over a burial ground. In 2024-2025, they are extending their ongoing work through: (1) challenging Grand Wailea’s water meter consolidation project, which calls attention to even greater increases of water use for this luxury resort; (2) working with other organizations against the H2 project’s second-home luxury development in Mākena,; (3) organizing an Iwi conference with iwi protectors from across Hawai‘i and America; and (4) organizing panels with adjacent water protectors to address such South Maui developments taking water from Wailuku and proposing to do the same in Ha‘ikū.

malamakakanilua.com