Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 6, 1 Iune 1990 — A glimpse at the last decade of the 20th Century [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A glimpse at the last decade of the 20th Century

By Moanakeala Akaka Trustee, Hawai'i

There are always celebrations and eommemorations of momentous occasions when decades and eenturies turn. Where were we Hawaiians in 1890? There was an internationally recognized

sovereign Hawaiian nation. Within that sovereign state the machinery of treason was formulating and clandestinely organizing an overthrow of the benevolent monarchy that had welcomed foreigners and their ideas to our Hawaiian Islands. Needless to say, these foreigners were doing very well for themselves when they opted to turn upon their generous hosts. The reciprocity act in America eame into effect about this time placing a tariff on foreign sugar. The haole sugar barons realized it would be in theireconomic bestinterest if Hawai'i were annexed to the United States. A hundred years later In this last decade of the twentieth century we Hawaiians, a proud race whose ancestors iearned to live in tune with the 'aina, are in the process of watching our homeland be devoured by greed in the name of the "highest bidder." There is defi nitely cause for alarm. We Hawaiians are from a society whose people shared and helped one another and there was no such thing as private property. Theseislandswere totally self-sufficient (unlike today) until those who eame from other shores "discovered us." We iook at ourselves and our homeland at the end of this twentieth century and we have to ask ourseives what happened? How is it that a onee abundant land of proud, strong, beautiful, and steadfast people are now strangers in their own homeland? Why is it we find ourselves at the bottom of the totem pole, while these islands increasingly become somebody else's paradise? The sons and daughters of the missionaries and sugar barons who did well for themselves in our islands are now in the process of "selling out" our homeland to foreign Japanese and other international capitalists. Thus, our 'aina slips ever more

and more out of loeal control, as we become a playground for the rich. The quality of life deteriorates for ourselves, our children and future generations and the eeonomie and psychological pressure becomes unbearable. What are we to do about this situation? Are we as Hawaiians supposed to step aside and allow these islands to be overwhelmed as we become the pawns in this game called progress by somebody else's definition? So we see ourselves as Hawaiians today in two worlds: courageously and desperately attempting to save our culture and identity while being inundated with messages from the international mass media of whieh we are a playing partner. There is no doubt that we no longer control the destiny of these, our native homeland isles. There ean only be great sadness in this, especially when we feel the current onslaught of mercantile interests that see our blessed islands and onee bountiful resources as yet another opportunity to make that extra buck. Our native rights are denied us in the worship of Pele and the destruction of the rain forest at Wao Kele O Puna and that is supposed to all right. Our Hawaiian govemor is still adamantly supportive of geothermal development in spite of the fact that the head of the state Department of Health, his own Dr. John Lewin, has candidly admitted that "geothermal energy is a nightmare" and was trying to convince the governor that it was a mistake. lt is outrageous that there seems to be no eoneem by our govemor for Pele, our Hawaiian values,.the Puna Community's health and safety, nor the protection of our rainforest, and the eeonomie non-feasibility of geothermal development. Reams of accurate, valid information have been made available to John Waihee. Information pointing out the absurdity of geothermal development. It is not only Dr. Lewin that has expressed eoneem about geothermal development. So, too, do other knowledgeable associates and members of our Hawaiian governor's own cabinet. Other gubernatorial candidates are questioning the wisdom of cabling the energy between Maui and 'Oahu. Meanwhile Pele, unrecognized by the Supreme Court, has devoured Kalapana and is adjusting the Puna coast line to her own grand design.

The governor should realize it is shibai to say geothermal will take the plaee of oil imports because the oil used for electricity is residual oil the waste byproduct from jet fuel and other oil after it is burned. At the most, geothermal will take the plaee of less than 30 percent of imported oil. True energy efficiency, exactly what this state espouses, would eliminate the need for geothermal development. Through utilizing energy efficiency methods, for example the Keauhou Beach Hotel has cut down its electric consumption by 50 percent. Why can't we move in this direction statewide? There is no end to the schemes and scams that will confront us as we try to enter the 21st century as a dignified and unique members of the global community. A friend who works at the Hawai'i Correctional Facility told me of another anniversary taking plaee this year. It seems that many of the young inmates whose souls are full of the ali'i spirit, but whose minds are clouded by a laek of knowledge of their identity and history, represent a tremendous loss of human resources. These young ali'i pay tribute today not to the government that has rendered them foreigners in their own Is!ands — nor to the aspirations of ourSovereign nation but to some uncanny connection to the fantasies of the conquenng hordes: Bugs Bunny is fifty years old in 1990 and for better or worse he's (it's) become engrained in the psyche of young Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians as well. The young paahau (inmates) at HCCC, raised on television and eomie books as a steady intellectual diet are keen on Bugs, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig and the rest of them. You may be asking "so what?" I'm not going to try to answer that but suggest to you that there are and will be attempts to change us and our Hawaiian point of reference from "Ua Mau Ke ea O ka aina i ka pono" — to "What's up Doc?" And that's a disturbing fantasy isn't it? A strong argument ean be made for the fact that we have lost mueh of our true Hawaiianity while gathering mueh of the superficial or worse from the foreign culture that invaded us. A hundred years later our situation as a nahonal and cultural entity and a people is definitely one of an endangered species. I'm afraid that "What's Up Doc?" is "That's all folks "