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Mizu Wai is a community art initiative rooted in the ancestral relationship between water, wai, and people of East Maui. Grounded in Native Hawaiian epistemologies of ʻāina (stewardship) and pilina (relationality), throught the documentation of creative lauhala weavings and their accompanying stories, this project integrates visual art, ecological mapping, and participatory workshops to illuminate water’s cultural, environmental, and spiritual currents as living carriers of moʻolelo (stories) and memory.
THE PROJECT WILL CULMINATE IN
WORKSHOPS
The kūpuna workshop will seed stories shared in community workshops and in the resource kit. The mo'olelo of the community workshops will, in turn, also be shared as resources on this project kit page. Additionally, physical ohana kits will be created for families of East Maui to mail to ohana living away from Hawai'i.
THE PROJECT WILL CULMINATE IN
- an open source water story education kit (shared on this page)
- two East Maui mini place-based materials libraries (one for Friends of Twin Falls and one for Nā Moku ʻAupuni ‘O Ko‘olau Hui of Ke‘anae.
- an oral history StoryCore collection
- a poster of participant story designs and an art installation
WORKSHOPS
The kūpuna workshop will seed stories shared in community workshops and in the resource kit. The mo'olelo of the community workshops will, in turn, also be shared as resources on this project kit page. Additionally, physical ohana kits will be created for families of East Maui to mail to ohana living away from Hawai'i.
What is your story of wai?
ADVISORY BOARD
The Mizu Wai project is grateful to be guided by an Advisory Board holding deep mana'o and 'ike of place.
To read more, click on the Advisory Board heading above. Advisory Board Members include:
Jessie Kapeka Kekiwi-Aweau of Nā Moku ʻAupuni ‘O Ko‘olau Hui
Maile Davis of Friends of Twin Falls
Moses Bergau of Aha Wai O Maui Hikina/ East Maui Regional Community Board (representing Nāhikū)
Dr. Lokelani Chanelle Tolentino of Hawaii STEM Labs
The Mizu Wai project is grateful to be guided by an Advisory Board holding deep mana'o and 'ike of place.
To read more, click on the Advisory Board heading above. Advisory Board Members include:
Jessie Kapeka Kekiwi-Aweau of Nā Moku ʻAupuni ‘O Ko‘olau Hui
Maile Davis of Friends of Twin Falls
Moses Bergau of Aha Wai O Maui Hikina/ East Maui Regional Community Board (representing Nāhikū)
Dr. Lokelani Chanelle Tolentino of Hawaii STEM Labs
Jessie Kapeka Kekiwi-Aweau
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Maile Davis
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Moses Bergau
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Dr. Lokelani Chanelle Tolentino
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MO'OLELO STORY WEAVING KIT RESOURCES
- WORKSHOP ACTIVITY SHEETS
- ULANA (weaving) INSTRUCTIONS
- OHANA MAILING KITS
- ORAL STORIES: Mizu Wai Story Corps [stories to be uploaded by Dec 2026]
- ART POSTER. This will be developed in late 2026 from participant weavings and stories and will include select augmented reality (AR) elements
- GALLERY-this will showcase participants' creations, as well as AR elements
- SEED LIBRARY STORY CARDS & LABELS: read about the special collection of old family Maui seeds used in this project. [under development]
- ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Ahupua’a & Watershed Units of Maui
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ABOVE: Workshop resources [document link]
WORKSHOP POSTERS
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MAHALO
This project is supported by an inaugural East Maui Water Authority Grant and a 2026 Hoʻākea Source Grant Award from the Pu'uhonua Society. Workshops are conducted in collaboration with Friends of Twin Falls and Nā Moku ʻAupuni ‘O Ko‘olau Hui. A showcase event in early 2027 is also in the works.
LINEAGE OF KNOWLEDGE
This project carries forward the ulana (weaving) knowledge of the Keanahala Weaving Group of the Pu'uhonua Society.
Mizu Wai is developed by artist and educator Corinne Okada Takara. Corinne is the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of East Maui Irrigation surveyors from Nāhiku (Stephen Tadashi Okada and Saihei Okada). Saihei Okada’s history and contributions are notably referenced by James Keolaokalani Hü‘eu Jr. in VOLUME II WAI O KE OLA: HE WAHI MO‘OLELO NO MAUI HIKINA, an oral history publication by Kumu Pono Associates documenting the families of Hāmākua Poko, Hāmākua Loa, and Ko‘olau, East Maui.
This project is supported by an inaugural East Maui Water Authority Grant and a 2026 Hoʻākea Source Grant Award from the Pu'uhonua Society. Workshops are conducted in collaboration with Friends of Twin Falls and Nā Moku ʻAupuni ‘O Ko‘olau Hui. A showcase event in early 2027 is also in the works.
LINEAGE OF KNOWLEDGE
This project carries forward the ulana (weaving) knowledge of the Keanahala Weaving Group of the Pu'uhonua Society.
Mizu Wai is developed by artist and educator Corinne Okada Takara. Corinne is the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of East Maui Irrigation surveyors from Nāhiku (Stephen Tadashi Okada and Saihei Okada). Saihei Okada’s history and contributions are notably referenced by James Keolaokalani Hü‘eu Jr. in VOLUME II WAI O KE OLA: HE WAHI MO‘OLELO NO MAUI HIKINA, an oral history publication by Kumu Pono Associates documenting the families of Hāmākua Poko, Hāmākua Loa, and Ko‘olau, East Maui.
