Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 5, 1 May 1990 — The mana of Kaho'olawe [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The mana of Kaho'olawe

By Clarence F. T. Ching Trustee, O'ahu

Bombs and shells are probably landing on 'Aina Kaho'olawe as part of the biennial, U.S.-sponsored RIMPAC war games at the very moment that you are reading this article. The Navy announced that the "games" are to

be held Apnl 9 to May 20. Although the ships and planes of Japan and Australia are not being used to defile the 'aina, those of the U.S. and Canada, and possibly South Korea, are. The present bombardment of the island is designed to maintain battle preparedness in the event of a national emergency. It provides the major excuse for Unele Sam to keep jurisdiction of the island. Were it not so, Unele would have to return jurisdiction to the State of Hawai'i. The entire island is listed on the Nahonal Register of Historic Places. Are there any other listed nahonal historic sites that are allowed to be bombarded, bombed and strafed with such destructive weapons of war? It is easy for the military to elaim that such training is necessary because, at times, the pilots haven't been able to hit the broad side of a barn. Errant bombs have actually fallen on Maui. Stray bullets have missed their targets and hit some of our ancient archaeological sites. The R1MPAC bombing provides an excellent occasion to resurrect the written thoughts of my first visit to the island. Some of my impressions of that Sept. 15, 1979 visit follow: At early morning 1 was among a group of mostly young Hawaiians, impatiently waiting at Hulupoe Harbor on Lana'i for pre-arranged transportation to take us to then-mysterious Kohe Malamalama o Kanaloa — Kaho'olawe. Windjammer II slid past the line of fishermen and women fishing for halalu and up to the dock. It released its complement of tourists and took on the anxious individuals who would become part of a brother-sisterhood whose interpersonal ties would be welded into lifelong relationships. What eommon as-yet-undiscovered bonds existed in this mixture of people from all parts of Hawai'iand from all walks of life? We went to contribute to the mana of the island but ended up as recipients of the flood of supermana that materialized there. Almost everyone left with mueh more than eaeh brought. We left Lana'i headed for the island in the distance, eaeh person harboring his or her own expectations of the events to eome. The island seemed to be standing still for an awfully long time but finally there we were, off its coast, approaching swiftly. Others were already there, from a distance they looked like ants. Two boats, and finally, a eanoe eame into focus. Such excitement. We were there! Kealaikahiki, the landmark from whenee ancient Hawaiian voyagers took their bearings for trips south to Kahiki. The Windjammer stopped. The kupuna, some women and children were hurriedly put on the boats and taken c!oser to shore, transferred to the eanoe and then to shore. The young and adventurous ejected themselves from the mothership and, experiencing the clear, buoyant water, made swift progress towards the shore with determined strokes. With the strong current constantly pushing everyone off course, numerous alterations were needed to keep the target beach directly ahead. After what seemed like an eternity of swimming, I saw the bottom and fellow swimmers immediately ahead were beginning to struggle out of the

water. I was struggling too. My cutoffs seemed to be made of lead. So were my arms and legs. Ha! I touched bottom. Do I march up the beach triumphantly or do I crawl because I'm exhausted? I ended up staggering out of the water and eollapsing with some of the others, within touch of the lapping waves. I gathered my breath and checked my surroundings. It was a near catastrophe when our gear failed to eome off the smaller boats. Without shoes or slippers, the hot rocks and coral we eased over almost did us in. Did our ancestors make fheir beachheads with such a combination of agony and ecstasy? The rededication ceremony that we were invited to was both new and moving, my eoneentration was broken at times by cameramen getting the best angles for their shots. The male dancers were superb in their highly articulate and precise movements. Such discipline, their bare feet ignoring the kuku kiawe scattered through the area and the seeminglyover-hot dirt stretching between the clumps of weeds. Camping on the arc of elean, golden sand was heavenly. Such campmates. There was a sense of oneness and mutual respect as we learned to live together and with eaeh other, doing chores for others that we hated doing for ourselves. Miee, getting into and eating everything, provided contrast on this island of contrasts. The beach was their beach. We were intruders — strangers from a foreign world. Co-existence, although acquiesced to temporarily, changed to open warfare before too long. The marine-life was rich and teeming, at least when c'ompared to Oahu's. But the opihi that was supposed to be abundant in the area, had been about wiped out by those preceeding us. If the opihi ean be decimated so quickly andeasily, what is next? Man, in his thoughtlessness, continues to be the culprit in upsetting the balance of the natural environment. Man ean be as devastating as the bombs and bullets that have inflicted such wounds on Kahoolawe's 'aina. The piles of Waikiki concrete are ever-present reminders of the aina's desecration. But the porpoises, at least a hundred strong, cruised carelessly in the bay, leaping and splashing. The hike over the almost-deso!ate stretches was hot and the remains of practice warfare — target vehicles, parts of exploded ordinance, expended flares, parachutes and spent bullets — was strewn over the hardpan and among the bomb cra-

ters. Unexploded ordinance, some visible, others hidden, waited patiently for some foolish human or animal to trigger them. The obvious misuse of Kaho'olawe brings to mind the fragile balance of life on all our islands and the struggle of our land-poor people. Our people must continue to fight for survival in the face of government-caused, double-digit inflation. How ean the construction of luxury apartments costing a quarter million or more dollars fill the needs of our people? Who ean afford them? They are being buiīt for foreigners from foreign places, mere intruders in our Hawai'i as we were on that pristine beach. And where does the precious water to flush those foreigner's toilets eome from? Eaeh new unit helps deplete the supply of water necessary to grow the kalo on whieh we thrive. Will the threat of nuclear waste storage on Palmyra or the burning of nerve gases on Johnston add to the stress of modern life and be timebombs like the unexploded ordinance we gingerly bypassed on our hike? But the view of Kahoolawe's sister islands from her topmost pu'u was breathtaking. Those islands formed a protective ring shielding Kaho'olawe from yet other intruders. And the beautiful people. Na Pua o Hawai'i. Our youth eonhnue to maintain their Hawaiian ideals in the face of such pressures as poverty, discrimination and inequality and show promise as they remember fragments of the old days taught them by their makua. They step bravely towards the future — the future of the Hawaiian nation, a nation within a nation. Nations that sometimes eomplement eaeh other, but oftentimes conflict. My emergence from the island, while physically no problem, was pSychologically as difficult as the exhausting swim to gain her shores a few days earlier. Such mixed emotion — the mana of theidyllic days and nights spent there and the urge to return to home and family — flowed through me as I swam to the ship that had returned for us. My discovery of Kahoolawe's spirit was aeeompanied by a new enlightenment and appreciation for all things Hawaiian. It wasn't anything specific that was learned or done there. The combination of mana from the island blended with that of the opio, and the opportunity to think of and share ideas, seems to have created in me a new sensitivity and awakening regarding the present and future wellbeing of Hawai'i and the Hawaiian people. Going to Kaho'olawe was like going to the well to get a drink of sweet, eool water. I have been there. Now let others take their turn. All should have a taste and learn to appreciate, love and live it together.