Keanae village sits at just about midpoint between Paia and Hana, beneath the Koolau Gap in Haleakala Crater. In the upper reaches, the rainfall averages 150 inches a year. The peninsula where the village sits, amid taro patches fed by Keanae Stream, was formed by a later eruption of Haleakala which flowed through the Koolau Gap down Keanae Valley. It juts out into the sea, surrounded by black jagged rocks.

Time seems to have stopped here. Ohana, family, is still the most important thing. The lo'i, taro patches, still have to be tended. Kalo, taro roots, are still pounded into poi for the table and for sale outside the valley. Opihi can still be harvested and throw nets are cast by fishermen for the schools of reef fish along the black rocky coast. Hunters still go "up mountain" to get meat for the table. And everybody shares.

There is an old saying that with a poi pounder and a throw-net (and a lot of hard work) a man can provide food for his family. It is still true in Keanae. Land ownership in both Keanae and neighboring Wailuanui varies significantly from other parts of Hawaii. Numerous royal patent grants (the sale of crown land to individuals and groups or associations) were awarded for sizeable parcels of land during the fifty years after the Mahele. These lands generally were used primarily as pasturage for mules and cattle and have played a significant role in sustaining the Hawaiian community in the area.

Beginning in the latter part of the 19th century Chinese immigrants began leasing taro lands for rice farming from Hawaiians in Keanae and Wailua. Crop destruction by birds caused the rice farming to die out and taro farming continues in these areas on a smaller scale.