Pololu is sacred. This valley is rich with the history of our ancestors. This means our 'ohana is this wahi pana. Much of this area has remained untouched until recently due to the rising amount of visitors. We are here to Protect Pololu and the mo'olelo (stories) of our ancestors for our keiki (children) so they may know who they are and where they come from.
One of the ways you can help is to visit our virtual tour. Our group is focused on limiting access to this area for cultural and environmental preservation. Our petition has almost 1 MILLION signatures. Please sign.
Sign Our Petition
Donations to change.org do not directly come to our project. Please donate to us directly here.
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO VISIT:
-Stay off the sand dunes. This area is the resting place of our kupuna (ancestors).
-Pololū has no restrooms.
-Parking is very limited.
-There is only one road to get in and out of Pololū.
-There have been several rescues in the valley recently. This is not an area for swimming and the trails are not meant for visitors who do not know this area well.
*New sign has recently been installed for safety.
ʻĀINA KNOWS' ALL
Showing aloha for our precious Pololū Valley and all of our ancestors there, ‘ohana of Pololū, Niuliʻi, Makapala, and community members of Kohala weaved and collected lei lāʻī for our 2nd Annual E Lei ʻO Pololū Day.
The lei was once again draped across the valley floor where the public trail meets the sand dunes. Additionally, a sturdy, pink rope joined the lei to offer a permanent, visual marker for visitors to stay off the sand dunes.
As our first group of ʻohana headed down with lei and rope, the Pololū Stream was trickling into the ocean. An hour later, the banks of the river rapidly started falling into the stream due to flash flooding. These unpredictable conditions created no opportunity to cross without being knee deep in the brown murky waters and with the aid of left over rope. The beach trail was now blocked by the flooding river mouth. We are grateful that many in our group had understanding and knowledge of the valley and that we were able to cross back over the stream safely.
It was a stark reminder that Pololū should not be accessible 24/7 for everyone, leaving it up to hikers to take the risk. If there were hundreds of visitors who went down that day like they do on any other regular day, there is no doubt that people would need to be rescued.
We love Pololū. This is our wahi pana. May our mo'olelo continue to be passed down though the generations. We are these stories. Aloha ʻĀINA.
Mahalo to all of those who helped make this happen. We MAHALO you!
About Protect Pololu
PROTECT POLOLŪ Project is an approved community project under the fiscal sponsorship of North Kohala Community Resource Center, a 501c-3 non profit organization in North Kohala. Our project is comprised of lineal descendants, cultural practitioners and the extended Kohala community. Our efforts are focused on protecting Pololu through education and stewardship of the land.
Artist Ashley Lukashevsky
Projects to Fund
The Pololū Stewardship program is a collaborative project that started in August 2021 with the hiring of four full-time stewards. We are blessed to have stewards who know and love this wahi pana. There has been an increase of traffic and rescues in this area because visitors do not know the history and significance of this valley to the people of this place. We are grateful to have stewards that can tell them that mo'olelo. Please support and donate by clicking below.
HELP US
PROTECT POLOLU
Go to our virtual tour at tinyurl.com/virtualpololu. Sign our petition at www.change.org/ProtectPololū
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Read updates and latest news from people who live in and are lineal descendants of the Kohala community.
