Wai: The Vitality of Hawaiʻi

Ola i ka wai – Water is Life

Prosperity - from the Fresh Water Therapy Series

“Our earliest moments of life begin in wai (water). The fluids that hold us in our mother’s womb protect us and allow us to grow until we are born into the world. After we leave our mother’s waters, the rest of our lives are spent being nourished, cleansed, and cared for by the waters that flow from the Earth. Wai is the tethering force between all life, connecting the peaks of our highest mountains to the smallest creatures in our forests.”

In Hawaiʻi, water is more than a simple element; it’s the source of life, a cultural cornerstone, and a symbol of wealth. This philosophy is beautifully captured in the Hawaiian word waiwai. By repeating the word for water, we speak waiwai, meaning wealth, value, and prosperity. “Before western colonization, attaining waiwai in Hawaiʻi was often connected to one’s knowledge of place, along with their relationship to their surroundings. Waiwai reflected an abundance of resources and an ability to reproduce life. A wealthy place had access to fresh water resources, and a wealthy person could feed and provide for those around them. This ancient insight holds true today, as those who control water also control wealth.” A powerful reminder that our true wealth is not measured in material possessions, but in the abundance and health of our natural resources, especially fresh water.

(Quotes from Waiwai by Kamanamaikalani Beamer)

Vitality - from the Fresh Water Therapy Series

The vitality of Hawaiʻi is inextricably linked to this living water. Our mountain ʻōhiʻa forests act as natural sponges, collecting mist and rain that trickle slowly down to the forest floor, filtering through layers of lava rock and eventually augmenting the watersheds that support all life. Wai feeds the kalo patches that have sustained generations, fills the aquifers that provide our drinking water, and supports the unique ecosystems that define our islands. When our forests and streams are clean and healthy, so is the land, and so are we.

My wife, Meghane Hernandez, under a native Hawaiian ʻōhiʻa forest canopy in The Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve.

“When wai becomes stagnant due to poor management, this reflects a lack of commitment to caring for one’s resources, thus resulting in the inability to give and share generously. In Hawaiian culture, wealth is not an economic quantum, but a social ideal. Though in a contemporary context, wealth is commonly understood within its relationship to capital and product. Waiwai, being utilized as both the term and symbol of wealth, grounded the goal of Hawaiʻi’s ancestral societies’ economic mode of production, where water is healthy, shared, and abundant for all. The goals of these ancestral leaderships often focused on creating circular systems that function like the natural water cycle and producing a state of flow where things are not allowed to stagnate. Circular economic models reflect the regenerative nature and organic cycles of our environment in an effort to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. Water is a truth serum that tests our philosophies, our relationship with the natural world… and our budgets.” (Waiwai by Kamanamaikalani Beamer)

Gaia - from the Bird’s Eye View Series

Though rainfall is seasonal and plentiful in the Hawaiian islands, the diversion and exploitation of fresh water for tourism and industrial agriculture produced by western colonizers—as well as the disheartening pollution of our aquifers caused by the U.S. military—have created a history of major issues that we’re still navigating through today. Our island communities continue to fight for justice, equal access, and the proper management of our precious wai by political authorities. Virtuous stewardship of the land and natural resources is imperative to create a sustainable living environment for future generations in these isolated islands. We have a lot of work to do to restore the balance and flow of life that the ancestral societies of Hawaiʻi seemed to integrate so well into their cultural living practices.

Raindance - from the Fresh Water Therapy Series

As an artist, my lens serves as a kāhea—a call—to explore, conserve, and cultivate a conscious relationship with the Earth. Through each of my fine art series, my photographs aim to reflect and share the vitality of nature. These visual journeys through the Hawaiian wilderness serve as a visual therapy and a reminder that the health of our natural environment both shapes and reflects the health of humanity.

I believe art not only decorates our interior worlds, but has the unique ability to reconnect us to what we cherish most. Using art to bring the therapeutic blessings of a waterfall or the quiet strength of a mountain into our homes and businesses, we can live and develop a new relationship with the vital resources that sustain us. I hope this art inspires a deeper commitment to protecting our natural resources, ensuring that health and wealth are preserved for future generations. Water is essential to all life; there are no substitutes…

E mālama i ka wai — Cherish the water.

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