Hawai`i remains the extinction capital of the world -- losing more of its endemic species, especially native forest birds and plants -- due to climate change and invasive species. Lahaina (the subject of Holy Ground) was once known as Malu Ulu o Lele, the shaded breadfruit grove of Lele. It was transformed from a water-rich wetland system fed by heavy runoff and streams from the West Maui Mountains, supporting extensive loʻi (taro patches) and innovative fishponds into an arid landscape primarily due to 19th- and 20th-century stream water diversions for commercial sugar plantations, which drained its historic ponds and dried up native breadfruit groves. Non-native, highly flammable invasive grasses (like Guinea grass and buffelgrass) replaced native forests and wetlands, turning the parched landscape into an easily ignitable environment that ultimately fueled destructive modern wildfires. Holy Ground is an honorific prayer and offering for the people of Lahaina. Na Wai Ea: The Freed Waters and Nu`u also honor places where the people, against all odds, have restored a measure of ecological balance.