May Events: Natural Resources

The care and preservation of natural resources has always been intertwined with the Native Hawaiian culture, including in the Honoʻuliʻuli ahupuaʻa. Honouliuli National Historic Site will highlight the native Hawaiian flora and fauna that now exist on the land that once housed the camp with two speakers and a bird tour. Additional events this month are a special tour and bookstore displays.

Check out the Natural Resources page to learn more about what flora and fauna can be found in Honouliuli National Historic Site.

Please Note:

Nearly all of our Speaker Series events will be virtual.

Event details will be posted closer to the month in which they take place. Please check back for updates to the calendar and event pages.

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Speaker: Olivia Wang

U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Date and Time: May 14, 2025, 5:00-6:00 PM (HST). Please register for the event using the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86089755406

Discussion Summary: The Ecology and Conservation of Pueo: Lessons from Hawaii’s Native Owl

Short-eared Owls are a globally distributed species that inhabit a variety of habitat types across five continents and many island chains. Pueo are the subspecies of Short-eared Owl native to the Hawaiian islands, and as one of the only native terrestrial predators in Hawai‘i, Pueo play an important ecological role in the islands. Through adapting to the unique ecosystem of Hawai‘i, Pueo appear to have evolved some notable differences between them and their continental cousins. In addition to their ecological importance, Pueo hold cultural significance to native Hawaiians and appear frequently in mo‘olelo. As the landscapes of Hawai‘i undergo rapid development and change, Pueo face new challenges to overcome.

Biography: Olivia Wang is currently a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, working on migratory bird conservation and research in the Pacific Islands. Originally from Southern California, Olivia found her interest and passion for wildlife conservation while in college at the University of California, Davis. After graduating she worked on a variety of avian research projects throughout California, working with everything from hummingbirds to hawks, and eventually found her way to graduate school at the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa. There, she completed her Master’s research on Pueo (Hawaiian Short-eared Owl) breeding ecology. Olivia is grateful to have the opportunity to continue working in Hawai‘i bird conservation in her role with USFWS.

 

Speaker: Emily Grave

University of Hawai'i

Date and Time: May 28, 2025, 5:00-6:00 PM (HST). Please register for the event using the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82427161828

Discussion Summary: Wiliwili: Exploring the Cultural Significance and Evolving Pollination of a Native Hawaiian Tree

In this talk, Grave will explore the ethnobotany and cultural uses of the endemic wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis), as well as its pollination biology and a bit of demographics. Wiliwili, a native Hawaiian tree, holds great significance for several reasons. Historically, Hawaiians have used its lightweight wood for making tools, surfboards, and canoes, while also utilizing the tree for medicinal purposes. From a pollination biology perspective, the tree’s vibrant, tubular flowers were originally adapted to attract native pollinators, particularly Hawaiian honeycreepers and certain bees, which played a crucial role in its reproduction. However, as these native pollinators have retreated to higher elevations, new pollination relationships have developed in the tree's lower, dry forest habitats. This evolving interaction between wiliwili and its pollinators underscores the critical need to preserve native ecosystems in order to protect both plant and animal populations in Hawaiʻi.

Biography: Emily Grave is the Senior Manager of Forestry Partnerships and Sourcing at Terraformation, where she leads efforts to promote sustainable forestry practices that help combat climate change. With a strong passion for conservation, Emily has focused her career on ecosystem restoration and building environmental partnerships worldwide. She earned a Master of Science in Botany and a Bachelor of Science in Ethnobotany from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa, where she gained extensive knowledge in plant sciences and the ways in which people interact with plants.

 

Bird Tour (Hosted by Olivia Wang, USFWS)

Date and Location: May 10, 2025, Kapolei Community Park, 91-1049 Kamaaha Loop, Kapolei, HI 96707, Tour begins at 8:00 AM. Please meet near the tennis/pickle ball courts.

About the Event: Join U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Olivia Wang as she guides the community through Hawaii's natural landscape, home to a unique and vast array of native, migratory, and non-native Hawaiian birds. If you would like to learn more about the birds of Hawai‘i or other bird tours, please visit our partner the Hawai‘i Audubon Society.

This event is first come, first serve and spots are limited. To confirm your registration, please email us at [e-mail]

 

Konko Mission Tour

Konko Mission of Wahiawa

Date and Location: May 17 2025, Konko Mission of Wahiawa, 207 Muliwai Ave, Wahiawa, HI 96786, 10:00-11:00 AM (HST)

Street parking is available but this may be difficult since the Mission is located in a residential neighborhood. No RSVP required.

About the Event: Honouliuli National Historic Site recognizes and honors the women imprisoned at the camp during wartime. In honor of Women's History Month, we are partnering with Konko Mission of Wahiawa, a mission founded in 1940 by Reverend Haruko Takahashi, a Honouliuli incarceree. The Konko Mission of Wahiawa will reflect upon the history, vision, and legacy of Takahashi and explain the mission's significant connection to Honouliuli, give an overview of the spiritual practices conducted, and even have a hands-on experience to write a prayer of gratitude. Haruko Takahashi's life story will be shared and there will also be a showcase of her memorabilia and photos.

There will be another Konko Mission tour in the month of August.

For more information on Japanese women in internment camps, visit our Women in the Camps page or read Breaking the Silence for an overview of Honouliuli.

 

Partnering with Patagonia and Friends (Table Event)

Patagonia Honolulu

Date and Location: May 17, 2025, Patagonia Honolulu, 535 Ward Ave, Honolulu, HI 96814, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM (HST),

About the Event: Honouliuli National Historic Site is joining its 10th Anniversary partner, Patagonia, to bring the community a table event at their store in Honolulu on Ward Ave. Joined by Kalaeloa Heritage Park and U.S. Fish & Wildlife, the National Park Service will have activities for all ages that help share the importance and history of Honouliuli National Historic Site and how its partners continue to restore and preserve the ʻāina of the state of Hawai'i.

 

AANHPI Bookstore Displays

da Shop

Date and Location: May 2025, da Shop, 3565 Harding Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816

About the Event: In honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, da Shop will feature a bookstore display during the month of May highlighting books related to Honouliuli and the Japanese incarceration experience in Hawaiʻi. Feel free to peruse their selection in person while visiting the store.

In addition, you can also check out Honouliuli National Historic Site's recommended reading list about internment and incarceration in Honouliuli, Hawai'i, and Japanese American incarceration on the continent.

 

AANHPI Poem Reading and Bookstore Displays

Barnes & Noble

Date and Location: May 10, 2025, Barnes & Noble, 1450 Ala Moana Blvd Ste 1272, Honolulu, HI 96814, 2:00-3:00 PM (HST)

About the Event: In honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, Barnes & Noble is welcoming Richard Hamaski, a renowned local poet who contributed to The Gate of Memory, an anthology of poetry written entirely by descendants of incarcerated Japanese Americans. Richard will read a few poems from the book written by him and other poets.

The store will also feature a bookstore display during the month of May highlighting books related to Honouliuli and the Japanese incarceration experience in Hawaiʻi. Feel free to peruse their selection in person while visiting the store.

In addition, you can also check out Honouliuli National Historic Site's recommended reading list about internment and incarceration in Honouliuli, Hawai'i, and Japanese American incarceration on the continent.

 

Memorial Day Weekend Event: Meet the Author Gail Okawa

Pearl Harbor National Memorial Theatre and Bookstore

Date and Location: May 24, 2025, 1 Arizona Memorial Place, Honolulu, HI, 96818, 12:00-1:30PM

Biography: Gail Y. Okawa, PhD, is Professor emerita of English at Youngstown State University-Ohio, and the coordinator for CONNECTIONS: Santa Fe Internment Camp Internee Descendants Group. Her book research included serving as a scholar-in-residence at the Asian Pacific American Program at the Smithsonian Institution (2002), and as a visiting scholar for the Center for Biographical Research at UH Manoa (2003-2019).

About the Event: MOUNTAINS OF MEMORY, DEPTHS OF GRATITUDE: Stories of Hawai`i’s Japanese Internee Fathers and Their American Military Sons in Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile

Dr. Gail Okawa, a granddaughter of a Japanese Christian minister from Hawai`i imprisoned in US internment camps during WWII, will introduce her 18-year book project Remembering Our Grandfathers' Exile: US Imprisonment of Hawai`i’s Japanese in World War II in an illustrated talk. Her presentation will share her journey of discovery—learning what happened to her maternal grandfather Rev. Tamasaku Watanabe, who was arrested immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack and, along with hundreds of Hawai`i Japanese, exiled from the Hawaiian Islands to prison camps run by the US Justice and War Departments in Louisiana, Montana, and New Mexico, with others imprisoned at the Honouliuli Internment Camp on O`ahu.

 

Dr. Okawa learned, too, and will share stories of imprisoned fathers who had sons in the highly decorated Nisei 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service. Some visited their interned fathers and fought and, in some cases, died in Italy in the Rome-Arno campaign and in the breach of the Gothic Line, in France during the rescue of the Lost Battalion, and in New Guinea in the Pacific.

Inspired to travel in 2019 to sites in Europe where the Nisei sons fought, she learned that the Italians and French in liberated villages have not forgot the sacrifices of the Nisei decades later, and she will interweave wartime stories with present-day remembrances.

Dr. Okawa's book will be available at the Honouliuli National Historic Site bookstore, which is located in the Pearl Harbor National Memorial bookstore, and she will be there for a book signing following her presentation.

 

Honouliuli Monthly Bookstore Educational Item

Pearl Harbor National Memorial Gift Shop

Date and Location: May 2025, 1 Arizona Memorial Place, Honolulu, HI, 96818

About the Event: The Honouliuli National Historic Site bookstore is located in the Pearl Harbor National Memorial bookstore. The bookstore, which carries items beyond just books, provides visitors with a range of interpretive and educational materials about Honouliuli. The income generated from these items supports important historic preservation, ongoing research, visitor interpretation, natural and cultural resources management, and educational programs at the park.

To find other ways to help support the park, explore the drop down menu under the Get Involved section of the navigation banner.