In 1970 Frances “Patches” Damon Holt and her sister Harriet “Haku” Damon Baldwin, founded Moanalua Gardens Foundation (MGF) to prevent Kamananui (Moanalua) Valley, the last undeveloped valley in urban Honolulu, from being overtaken by a major freeway. The great granddaughters of Samuel Mills Damon who inherited the entire ahupuaʻa of Moanalua (land to sea district) from Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Patches and Haku fought to maintain this precious wahi pana (storied place) whose history dates back to the 1100s. Part of the Moanalua ahupuaʻa that sustained life and the cultural practices of hula and chanting in ancient times, Kamananui Valley was the intended pathway for the construction of the H-3 freeway until MGF stepped in to stop construction and effectively preserved 3,700 acres of this historic site for future generations.
Since then, MGF, a nonprofit organization, has continued the sisters’ legacy of conservation in its work and mission to preserve and perpetuate the precious cultural and natural resources of our islands through education and stewardship of Kamananui Valley and celebration of the annual Prince Lot Hula Festival. A pioneer in environmental education, MGF developed, in the late 1970s, the first culture-based environmental education K-12 curriculum in Hawaii which was used extensively in public and private schools throughout Oʻahu with a groundbreaking distance learning program for neighbor island schools.
In 1978, MGF launched the Prince Lot Hula Festival to continue the legacy of hula and chanting begun in the 1600s by King Kākuhihewa in Kamananui and perpetuated by Prince Lot Kapuāiwa when he hosted paʻina (gatherings) at his summer home in Moanalua. Over its more than half a century of service to the community, Moanalua Gardens Foundation has become one of the most respected environmental and cultural preservation organizations in Hawaiʻi winning awards for excellence in both areas.
