IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i11p3975-d179526.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Āina Kaumaha: The Maintenance of Ancestral Principles for 21st Century Indigenous Resource Management

Author

Listed:
  • Natalie Kurashima

    (Kamehamea Schools, Natural and Cultural Resources, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA)

  • Jason Jeremiah

    (Kamehamea Schools, Natural and Cultural Resources, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA)

  • A. Nāmaka Whitehead

    (Kamehamea Schools, Natural and Cultural Resources, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA)

  • Jon Tulchin

    (Kamehamea Schools, Natural and Cultural Resources, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA)

  • Mililani Browning

    (Kamehamea Schools, Natural and Cultural Resources, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA)

  • Trever Duarte

    (Kamehamea Schools, Natural and Cultural Resources, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA)

Abstract

Globally, there is growing recongition of the essential role indigneous people have in biocultural conservation. However, there are few cases of applied indigenous resource management today, especially from the indigenous standpoint. In this paper, we provide an example of the maintenance and adaptation of an indigenous resource management system in Hawai‘i from the perspective of an instrumental ‘Ōiwi (Indigenous Hawaiian) social institution, Kamehameha Schools. Kamehameha Schools is not only the largest private landowner in Hawai‘i, but is uniquely tied to a lineage of traditional ali‘i (chiefs) resulting in present-day influence, decision-making authority, and wealth to fund a perpetual vision for its ancestral lands and communities. Notably, we share our journey from the perspective of indigenous resource managers, using the ‘Ōiwi methodology of mo‘okū‘auhau (genealogy and continuity) to guide our (re)discovery of what it means to steward in an indigenous way. First, we ground ourselves in ‘Ōiwi worldviews, recognizing our genealogical and reciprocal connections to ‘āina (land and sea). Then, we examine the functions of the traditional institution of the ali‘i and the chiefly principle of ‘āina kaumaha—a heavy obligation to steward the biocultural health of lands and seas in perpetuity. We detail how ‘āina kaumaha has manifested and transferred over generations, from traditional ali‘i to the royal Kamehameha line, to Kamehameha Schools as an ali‘i institution. Finally, we discuss how we endeavor to meet inherited obligations through Kamehameha Schools’ resource management approach today, which includes active stewardship of vast tracts of native ecosystems and Hawai‘i’s most important cultural sites, influencing biocultural well-being through representing ‘Ōiwi perspectives in diverse industries, and developing the next generation of ‘Ōiwi stewards. We provide a guide for indigenous organizations (re)defining their ancestral ways of stewardship, as well as for the many non-indigenous agencies with obligations to native lands and people today working to incorporate indigenous systems into their current management. Given that much of the world’s lands are indigenous spaces, we argue that the restoration of effective biocultural resource management systems worldwide requires the maintenance, and in some cases reestablishment, of indigenous institutions at multiple levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Natalie Kurashima & Jason Jeremiah & A. Nāmaka Whitehead & Jon Tulchin & Mililani Browning & Trever Duarte, 2018. "‘Āina Kaumaha: The Maintenance of Ancestral Principles for 21st Century Indigenous Resource Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3975-:d:179526
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3975/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3975/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Trosper, Ronald L., 2002. "Northwest coast indigenous institutions that supported resilience and sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 329-344, May.
    2. Richard Howitt, 2018. "Indigenous rights vital to survival," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(7), pages 339-340, July.
    3. Kanoeʻulalani Morishige & Pelika Andrade & Puaʻala Pascua & Kanoelani Steward & Emily Cadiz & Lauren Kapono & Uakoko Chong, 2018. "Nā Kilo ʻĀina: Visions of Biocultural Restoration through Indigenous Relationships between People and Place," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Fikret Berkes, 2017. "Environmental Governance for the Anthropocene? Social-Ecological Systems, Resilience, and Collaborative Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Kekuhi Kealiikanakaoleohaililani & Natalie Kurashima & Kainana S. Francisco & Christian P. Giardina & Renee Pualani Louis & Heather McMillen & C. Kalā Asing & Kayla Asing & Tabetha A. Block & Mililani, 2018. "Ritual + Sustainability Science? A Portal into the Science of Aloha," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kevin Chang & Kawika B. Winter & Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, 2019. "Hawai‘i in Focus: Navigating Pathways in Global Biocultural Leadership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, January.
    2. Kanoeʻulalani Morishige & Pelika Andrade & Puaʻala Pascua & Kanoelani Steward & Emily Cadiz & Lauren Kapono & Uakoko Chong, 2018. "Nā Kilo ʻĀina: Visions of Biocultural Restoration through Indigenous Relationships between People and Place," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, September.
    3. Leah L. Bremer & Kim Falinski & Casey Ching & Christopher A. Wada & Kimberly M. Burnett & Kanekoa Kukea-Shultz & Nicholas Reppun & Gregory Chun & Kirsten L.L. Oleson & Tamara Ticktin, 2018. "Biocultural Restoration of Traditional Agriculture: Cultural, Environmental, and Economic Outcomes of Lo‘i Kalo Restoration in He‘eia, O‘ahu," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, November.
    4. Stoeckl, Natalie & Jarvis, Diane & Larson, Silva & Larson, Anna & Grainger, Daniel & Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation,, 2021. "Australian Indigenous insights into ecosystem services: Beyond services towards connectedness – People, place and time," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    5. Mikko Kurenlahti & Arto O. Salonen, 2018. "Rethinking Consumerism from the Perspective of Religion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, July.
    6. Ming Lu & Zhuolin Tan & Chao Yuan & Yu Dong & Wei Dong, 2023. "Resilience Measurements and Dynamics of Resource-Based Cities in Heilongjiang Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, January.
    7. Xi Zhao & Yuming Liu & Wenchao Jiang & Dongri Wei, 2023. "Study on the Factors Influencing and Mechanisms Shaping the Institutional Resilience of Mega Railway Construction Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    8. Targetti, Stefano & Schaller, Lena L. & Kantelhardt, Jochen, 2021. "A fuzzy cognitive mapping approach for the assessment of public-goods governance in agricultural landscapes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    9. Tasos Hovardas, 2021. "Social Sustainability as Social Learning: Insights from Multi-Stakeholder Environmental Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-20, July.
    10. Alexandre de A. Gomes Júnior & Vanessa B. Schramm & Fernando Schramm, 2023. "Problem Structuring Methods in Social-Ecological Systems," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 461-478, June.
    11. Melanie Zurba & Dominic Stucker & Grace Mwaura & Catie Burlando & Archi Rastogi & Shalini Dhyani & Rebecca Koss, 2020. "Intergenerational Dialogue, Collaboration, Learning, and Decision-Making in Global Environmental Governance: The Case of the IUCN Intergenerational Partnership for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Bliss, Sam & Egler, Megan, 2020. "Ecological Economics Beyond Markets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    13. Okura, Fumi & Budiasa, I Wayan & Kato, Tasuku, 2022. "Exploring a Balinese irrigation water management system using agent-based modeling and game theory," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    14. Scott E. Kalafatis & Kyle Powys Whyte & Julie C. Libarkin & Chris Caldwell, 2019. "Ensuring climate services serve society: examining tribes’ collaborations with climate scientists using a capability approach," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 115-131, November.
    15. Per Angelstam & Terrence Bush & Michael Manton, 2023. "Challenges and Solutions for Forest Biodiversity Conservation in Sweden: Assessment of Policy, Implementation Outputs, and Consequences," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-58, May.
    16. Francisco Candel-Sánchez, 2012. "Pigouvian taxes and the Varian’s mechanism in dynamic settings," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 39-51, August.
    17. Ethmadalage Dineth Perera & Magnus Moglia & Stephen Glackin, 2023. "Beyond “Community-Washing”: Effective and Sustained Community Collaboration in Urban Waterways Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, March.
    18. Sattler, Claudia & Loft, Lasse & Mann, Carsten & Meyer, Claas, 2018. "Methods in ecosystem services governance analysis: An introduction," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(PB), pages 155-168.
    19. Marco Casazza & Francesco Gonella & Gengyuan Liu & Antonio Proto & Renato Passaro, 2021. "Physical Constraints on Global Social-Ecological Energy System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, December.
    20. Chien, Herlin & Saito, Osamu, 2021. "Evaluating social–ecological fit in urban stream management: The role of governing institutions in sustainable urban ecosystem service provision," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3975-:d:179526. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.