Avoid moving / disturbing stones.
- These wahi kupuna were left in our care by those who used to inhabit Kapälama. It is our kuleana to pass them down intact to future generations. If some are to ever be rebuilt, much discussion (and protocol) needs to take place.
- These places are like books. If we learn to read their language, we can learn much about those who lived here. The more we change them, the more the books become about us, rather than the kupuna.
- Nobody has mapped or photographed these places yet.
- Sometimes even random-appearing stones are part of an organized pattern that only is evident after mapping.
Never bring stones to a wahi küpuna
- See above
Avoid disturbing anything under the surface. This includes being too aggressive about pulling up plants by their roots.
- Nobody has done any sub-surface excavation yet.
- Often, the most valuable information, such as charcoal deposits or midden, lies just under the surface.
- Layers of sub-surface information are fragile and can be easily destroyed.
If you see coral at a wahi kupuna, never touch it.
- Coral gives a wahi küpuna religious significance.
- The coral would have been brought by someone as a ho’okupu. To move or remove it would be disrespectful.
- Coral can be carbon dated, giving us information about those who built these places.
Never enter caves.
- Campus caves were sometimes used for burials.
- Caves may preserve delicate remnants of the past, just below the surface. They are valuable as places to collect sub-surface samples.
Do not plant at wahi kupuna, even native plants.
- It may be fine, but planting needs discussion and permission from the administration, according to current campus policies.
- Sometimes, native plants have cultural significance that may conflict with the nature and purpose of a particular wahi kupuna. Again, consultation is necessary.
Do not cut or disturb native plants at wahi küpuna. If you are helping to malama a site, only cut down plants you know for sure are introduced non-natives.
- Some native plants, such as ti and noni, were planted at sites in ancient times and are a precious, living link with those who planted them hudreds of years ago.
- Some indigenous plants are equally-precious remnants populations of the forest originally at Kapalama, even before human settlement of O’ahu.
- This includes small plants you may at first think are just “weeds.”
Do not sit on stone structures at wahi kupuna.
- This is a sign of disrespect.
- Sitting on structures could weaken them.
Never enter forest areas without permission, without a teacher present.
- School rules place forest areas off limits to students.
- Wahi küpuna could be damaged by unsupervised play / hiking activities.
- You may not know where all the wahi küpuna are located, and accidentally damage one. Some are not easy to recognize.
Do not tell others where these places are located or bring them to these places later.
- Even if you are respectful of a wahi küpuna, your friends may not feel the same way.
- If a wahi kupuna is vandalized or damaged in some way, you become partly responsible.
- Those you bring may be fine, but their friends may not understand the nature of the place, or respect it.
- More than a few of our campus wahi kupuna have already been damaged or completely destroyed or looted for artifacts and iwi by people without respect for these treasures.
- These wahi kupuna were left in our care by those who used to inhabit Kapalama. When you come to one of these places, it becomes your kuleana, whether you are aware of it or not, to pass it down intact to future generations.