Ahupua’a

Healthcare.
Education.
Debt forgiveness.
Affordable housing.

Tune into the presidential debates, read your favorite news source, or scroll through your social media feed, and you’ll hear a host of self-certified experts giving their opinions on these topics.

Each opinion is predicated on an implicit meritocracy. In other words, fundamental to our understanding of what people deserve is our understanding that people get what they are willing to work for.

In ancient Hawai’i, land was split in long wedge-shaped slices that extended from the mountain (mauka) to the sea (makai). At different elevations, different resources were available. It was necessary to allocate the land this way to assure access to all the necessary resources the island provided for flourishing. These slices of land were called ahupua’a.

Fundamental to ahupua’a is the belief that if anyone doesn’t have full access to the means of flourishing then the whole community is weaker.

What if we begin our conversations about these topics with flourishing as the rule and not the exception? Where resources are plenty and not scarce?

People like us are unwilling to talk about healthcare, education, debt, and housing in the same way. We begin with an ahupua’a perspective.

Your voice, your ahupua’a perspective matters!