I woke up early last Wednesday to a text from my father. His message, a link to devastating news, had the following headline “Much of historic Lahaina town believed destroyed as huge wildfire sends people fleeing into water.” My heart sank. Just a few months ago, I dined in the quaint Maui town at the Lahaina Pizza Company, talked with local artists in galleries, walked with my spouse beneath the town’s gargantuan banyan tree, and toured the old courthouse to gaze upon the flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii that once flew over the storied building before its removal in 1898 — the year Hawaii became a territory of the United States.
Alaska and Hawaii share a lot of history. Not only did these the states fight their battles of statehood together in the first half of the 20th century, they share exploration and colonial histories both with the United State and Russia, and engaged in the mid-19th century North Pacific whale hunting that brought the “na keiki o na kai anuanu” — Hawaiian for “the boys of the cold sea” — directly from the old capitol of Lahaina to Alaska’s arctic waters where they lived, worked and perished.
Not only do we share these histories together, but the Hawaii Tourism Authority travel statistics demonstrate that between 1988 and 2020, the maximum percentage of Alaskans traveling to the Hawaiian Islands ranged from 4.8% to 12.6% of the population over the 32-year period. Alaskans clearly love Hawaii.
As I digested the news of the fire over breakfast, my mind wandered toward several of my favorite communities in Southeast Alaska. Were it not for the rainy weather, this could have easily been historic Skagway, downtown Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. They are similar to Lahaina with thriving spots of tourism containing shops, galleries, restaurants, cruise ship ports, some of the state’s greatest historical and cultural treasures, and of course people’s homes and memories. Under the right conditions of a hotter, windier and drier summer, it could have been any one of these communities turned to ash.
If you feel so compelled, like I do, to provide aid to the people of Maui — our neighbor in the Pacific — consider reaching out to the Maui Mutual Aid Fund via Instagram or PayPal to make a donation or offer aid. For those also concerned with destruction of the Lahaina’s historic and cultural heritage, consider donating to the nonprofit Lahaina Restoration Foundation. Since 1962, the LRF has preserved and restored much of the town’s historic landmarks and structures.
Given this current tragedy, they will have much more work to do and will need our support. To the people of Lahaina, I say this: Your neighbors to the north stand with you; we keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
— Pierce Bateman
Anchorage
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