Aloha! I’m a ‘Alae ke’oke’o currently thriving in the coastal wetlands of Pu’uloa and Kapapapuhi Point. We nest year-round in this place we call home which is critical for our survival. I’m endemic to Hawai’i and have a recognizable white beak and black body. I’m able to live a bountiful and stressless existence, but it hasn’t always been this way. Not long ago, my species was almost extinct due to pollution, invasive plants such as pickleweed, and animals like mongoose that ate our young. Thanks to humans who worked tirelessly to restore our habitat, today we roam freely in the Pouhala marsh. My babies love swimming where freshwater flows down from the surrounding mountains and meets the sea. We enjoy lunch under the cool canopies of the taro plants, and play hide and seek with human keiki in the lo`i kalo. In the afternoons, we graze on the moist grass adjacent to the edges of the loko i`a walls watching fishermen catch their dinner while enjoying ours in the sunset. This species is important to the abundant future of Pu’uloa and Kapapapuhi Point because the welfare of the ‘Alae ke‘oke'o is directly linked to the condition of that land. In other words, a signifier of the 'Āina Momona. This post is part of Kapapapuhi Futures - a collaborative creative writing and futuring project developed by art and science students in LCC ZOO 200L and UHM ART 484 to envision and celebrate Ewa’s abundant futures as part of the work of Hui O Ho‘ohonua. 

Reciprocity