Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 3, 1 Malaki 1989 — Kamakas of Waikane, Llanes of Miloliʻi — Two Hawaiian Families Under Attack [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kamakas of Waikane, Llanes of Miloliʻi — Two Hawaiian Families Under Attack

By Moanikeala Akaka Trustee, Hawai'i

I have been asked to write about the pilikia being experienced by two Hawaiian families, namely the | Kamakas from Waikane Valley on O'ahu, and the Llanes 'ohana from tiny Miloli'i, Hawai'i island, the last remaining Hawaiian fishing village in these islands. Both families have

been under siege: the Kamakas by the U.S. military who have eondemned their 'aina at beautiful Waikane Valley; and the Llanes family who were innocently attacked at dawn one early February moming by the Kona poliee, guns drawn and cocked. No one should be treated as these fwo families have been, but to receive treatment like this as Hawaiians adds insult to injury! We should be eoncerned! The Kamaka family has owned 187 acres of Waikane Valley since 1862. From 1942 until 1976, the U.S. military has leased this 'aina from them, using it for military training and target practice. The Kamakas initially had this agreement with the Army (then the Navy took over). The compensation was $1.79 per acre, whieh amounted to $335 per year for the 187 acres for the whole 'ohana to divide. According to the contract, the military agreed that "when the lease expired the military would clear the property of all unexploded ordnances so that the land could onee again be used by the Kamaka 'ohana." The Marines conducted two extensive sweeps of the property for unexploded ordnance, removing 42 highly explosive rounds and 12 tons of practice ammunition in 1976; 190 explosive rounds in 1984. The military had originally thought they had completely cleared the land in 1976; more bombs found later led to the 1984 clearance. Now the govemment says it is unknown how many more shells lay buried or hidden in the thick vegetation of this beautiful valley, abundant with fruit trees and streams of 'opae. According to Joe Kamaka, there are strawberry guavas, regular guavas, mountain apples, avocadoes, lilikoi, wild plums (the black ones), mango, lychee, bananas,

and mueh mountain 'opae in the stream. The military has recently moved to condemn the Kamaka 'aina saying there's simply no way they ean remove the unexploded mortar shells and other ammunihon. They insist upon fencing this land off from use. They had offered the Kamaka family $735,000 in 1986 in exchange for the 187 acres. The Kamakas refused to accept that offer, insisting that the government fulfill its part of the contract to this family and remove the unexploded ordnance, so that their 'ohana could move back on the 'aina — possibly selling part of it. The military move for condemnation because of the remaining ordnances is a "cop-out." The family wants their land back— period! It is a very bad precedent to allow the military to break its contract with this or any Hawaiian family. As Judy Tsutsui, member and spokesperson for the Kamakas, states, "they ean send a man to the moon and back but they can't figure out how to clear our land; on Bikini Island we're spending millions to scrape off top soil and replace it. Aren't we just as important here in Hawai'i?" A real estate agent representing 30 owners of the 187 acres said the property is worth 13 times more than the $735,000 the feds offer. So again the government tries to take advantage of Hawaiians. What is also ironic is that these same Kamakas have had mueh trouble with the state courts these past few years. The judge halted the trial refusing to allow evidence of the Kamaka family's elaim to that 'aina. What kind of "kangaroo court" system do you eall this? The family has spent mueh time and money in the courts; they are not wealthy people. lt has not been easy to maintain their birthright. In no way will the Kamaka family be able to purchase a like property with the paltry sum offered by the feds. They insist upon and should be able to keep the land — the 'aina of their forefathers, where their 'ohana is buried. It is just shibai that the feds can't elean up that 'aina. The second incident I want to mention is the situation with the Delfredo Llanes family of Miloli'i. This 'ohana is related to the Paulos and Kaheles — residents of Miloli'i for generations. They were home both asleep one early Saturday morning in February. Pearly (Mrs. Llanes), was standing in the front yard of their home in this sleepy fishing village when all of a sudden the Llanes household was converged upon by eight nervous Kona

polieeman with guns drawn, cocked to fire. The poliee rushed past Pearly into the house without knocking, their guns aimed at her innocent family while shouting "freeze, don't move!" Delfredo Llanes, the head of the household, was jolted from his sleep as his wife yelled for him and saw apolieeman entering, gun aimed at Llanes and shouting, "don't move." Llanes' 3-year old grandchild, understandably scared, jumped from her bed on the other side of the room and ran to her grandfather, panicking as the nervous polieeman aimed the gun toward the noise the keiki made. Llanes' cousin Larry Baker was asleep and told me he opened his eyes that morning looking up into the barrel of a gun. He could see the policeman's finger pulling the trigger back. There was another eop standing nextto him with his gun also aimed at him, and a third polieeman outside the window with his gun aimed at Larry as well. The polieeman asked if he were someone else. A horrible tragedy could have happened that day. The gravity of this invasion and violation of domestic tranquility would suggest a serious and imminent danger to the community. These Kona polieemen were looking for someone who was not residing in that home, though he was 'ohana and had been known to visit in the past. Delfredo later asked the sergeant (who had not been part of the raid) at the Kona Poliee Department, "what if something had happened and someone had gotten hurt?" Sergeant Mathieson twice stated, "but no one was hurt, were they?" What a callous attitude. The px)lice were very fortunate, thank the aumakua no one got hurt! After the poliee brought the 'ohana out front of the house, they tried to give Delfredo a warrant with no name on it. The search warrant stated they were looking for a t-shirt, pair of shorts, and a eheap Casio watch with a plastic watchband (currently on sale for $9.98 at Longs)! For these petty objects, the Kona poliee attacked this innocent Hawaiian 'ohana of eight, three of them small keiki. The guy the cops were looking for, they leamed, was out surfing. One citizen coming out of his house across the way on the way to his outhouse was thought to be the suspect the poliee were looking for. So the cops ran toward him — but retreated when 20 startled villagers laughed at their mistake. Were it not for the severity of the circumstance, one might see this as a Keystone Kops comedy — but the Llanes family is still terrified by this whole experienee. The question is whether such heavy-handed "SWAT-squad" behavior was necessary or whether these tactics were used because the Llanes family and the guy they were lookingfor are Hawaiians from a poor fishing village. You ean bet that the poliee would never act like that at the condos at Keauhou 20 miles down the coastline where the rich haoles lounge in the fancy condos Bishop Estate owns. They would never pull anything like that on the fancy haole houses on Ali'i Drive where very few Hawaiians reside. Especially for such small claims — I repeat, t-shirt, shorts, eheap watch. This action was inspired by a misdemeanor offense. These poliee antics do not belong in the United States of America and certainly not Hawai'i — but smack of eommon practices where oppressed peoples live under the heels of totalitarian regimes. All people of these islands and this nation must be alarmed at these two blights upon the concept of law and order. This is an excellent opportunity for the United States government to show its sincerity and genuine eoneem for the Hawaiians — not to mention its legal obligation to live up to the letter and spirit of its contract with the landlord Kamaka family. Malama pono. Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono.