Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 6, 1 June 1990 — Kalama is Hawaiian OHA trustees affirm [ARTICLE]

Kalama is Hawaiian OHA trustees affirm

Kalama Island, its surrounding reefs, atolls and waters, are part of the ceded lands held in trust by the U.S. government for the benefit of Native Hawaiians, OHA trustees proclaimed in a resolution passed unanimously on April 27. The waters within the exclusive eeonomie zone of Kalama are not being actively used by the United States and should be returned to the State of Hawai'i in accordance with the Admissions Act, the Constitution and laws of Hawai'i, trustees declared. In raising their voices to protest the storage and burning of toxic waste on Kalama Island the Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees traced the history of the island and its naming, by King Kamehameha IV, in 1853 when he claimed it as part of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The island has also been known as Johnston or Johnson Island, Cornwallis Island and Agnes Island. Trustees noted that Kalama Island was used by Polynesian people as a fishing ground and way-station long before there was any written history, even before Polynesians first migrated north to Hawai'i.