ʻOhana Owned
Aloha

We are a small family business operating out of our home in Mānoa, Hawaiʻi. We launched Onepaʻa Hawaiʻi at the end of 2020 as an experiment and means to provide for our family. Today, our little endeavor has grown in ways we never imagined in a short amount of time. We owe all we know to those who have come before us. We look forward to doing better everyday.

Mahalo for being here.

- Kaniela & Tash

HE ʻAʻALIʻI KŪ MAKANI MAI AU AʻOHE MAKANI NĀNA E KŪLAʻI

ka manaʻo o

Onepaʻa Hawaiʻi

Onepaʻa carries a number of meanings for our ʻohana. What started as a nickname for our son grew to hold many layers.

"One" in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi means sand. It is often used for a "home place," as in "one hānau" or sands of our birth.

"Paʻa" contains a number of meanings but generally refers to something that is sturdy, immoveable, strong or determined. Simply put, onepaʻa is literally "stuck sand." We all have that special place that sticks to us...

Through relationships and community the name continued to unveil itself.

Digging Deeper

One (pronounced oh•neigh) has a mysterious and universal effect on us humans. We draw lines and sink our footprints in it. We build castles and kingdoms upon it. It calls out to us with stories of connection and creation. It can be solid and immovable, but may also move with the wind and tides of the season. Ebb and flow. As a global species, sand lies deep in our cultural conscience and today it is one of the most important solid substances on earth. A story we will save for another time...

Together, rock and sand are opposite but binding, a consequence of each other, a result from their counterpart, a shift from their beginnings, a deeper understanding of the other, for perhaps they really are just the same, but represent different stages in time.

The shifting sands of our future rely on the ancient sands of our birthplace. Each grain stands upon the one before it experiencing the ebb and flow in the NOW based on what happened in the BEFORE. 

We are forever grateful to those who share the stories of times before us so we may understand the unique sequence of past and present human experiences that will ultimately come to define the future of our island communities.  

E ʻonipaʻa i ka ʻimi naʻauao.