Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 12, 1 December 1991 — Bipartism merges for a moment, for a change [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Bipartism merges for a moment, for a change

By Trustee A. Frenchy DeSoto T rustee- At-Large

In September I went to Kaho'olawe aboard the Hokule'a as a member of the Kaho'olawe Island Conveyanee Commission. Traveling with me were fellow commissioners and members of the

Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana. Because we arrived aboard this historic wa'a, thjis trip was special to me and different from any previous trip I had made to this moku. I wish to share with you in my eolumn this month this account of that special day, in the words of Maui resident and teacher Margo Berdeshevsky, who was on that voyage. by Margo Berdeshevsky Bipartisan interests merged, for just a moment, on a recent Sunday. Sailors from the internationally renowned sailing eanoe, the Hokule'a, that voyages to Tahiti and back, set out just across the ehannel from Maui to controversial Kaho'olawe. Long-time loeal activists from the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, and federal appointees from the Kaho'olawe Conveyance Commission (charged with recommending the fate of the culturally significant island) joined the sailors and their guests in an impressive display of bi-partisan interests coming together. They rode together aboard the Hokule'a, on ealm waters that weekend; accompanied by the Hui Wa'a 'O Kanaloa Canoe Club's team with the PKO's Zodiac shuttling all from mooring to shore. They joined first on Maui, and then on the shores of Kaho'olawe to form circles for old rituals, calling for a time of right action toward one another, a choosing to do "what is right and must be done," and a showing of that over-used and underexperienced word, "Aloha." The sea was unusua!ly ealm. "It is never that ealm at that plaee," spoke Leslie Kuloloio of the 'Ohana afterwards. He was driving the Zodiac that ferried people back and forth, and towed the / f WBBĒE£^JZ£ĒĒ I

Hokule'a awhile, as the winds were even too ealm to sail. "Kanaloa was with us, I know." he said softly. The occasion was the first visit of the Hokule'a and her crew to Kaho'olawe, whose fate is presently in the hands of the federally appointed Kaho'olawe Conveyance Commission. In one year, the commission will have to make a recommendation to Congress as to who shall steer her course for the future and who may visit her beaches, waters, and terrains (cleared, or uncleared or explosive ordnance.) The bombs that were dropped there by the U.S. Navy for the 50 years, were ordered to cease temporarily, exact!y one year ago, by President Bush, in a political move to help get Patricia Saiki elected to the Senate. That move was unsuccessful. Daniel Akaka was reelected. But the bombs have stopped for now, and the whispers of the ancestors ean be heard in the breezes of this island where there are ancient burials and shrines, and no modern development. As to the bipartisan — what is the big deal?' The Hokule'a was designed as an exact replica of the ancient sailing canoes of Hawai'i that crossed the Pacific to Tahiti — an effort to preserve the: navigational paths and skills of old. Formerly owned by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the eanoe has recently been sold to the Maritime Museum . Its voyages are supported by federal and state grants and private donations. Its young navigator, Nainoa Thompson, who is also a director of the museum, *approached the Commission for permission to travel to Kaho'olawe to do navigational tests. It is historic for the Hokule'a to anchor at Kaho'olawe, as the ehannel of waters between Maui and Kaho'olawe and then on to the great Pacific is known as the Kealakahiki Channel. (The pathway to Tahiti). There is an historic point on Kaho'olawe known as Kealakahiki Point from whieh the the canoes of old set sail. Ancient protocol would dictate that if the eanoe wanted to visit Kaho'olawe it would have to be greeted by those who speak for the island, As the Hokule'a sailed past the point on Sunday, Emmet Aluli (one of the earliest members of the PKO) stood on shore with tear-filled eyes and looked out to the sea. "We've waited for this

moment for 16 years," he said, as others chanted into the wind nd hlew the eoneh shell in weleome. For the last 16 years, the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, an activist group of dedicated Hawaiians and their friends, have agitated for the return and preservation for the island for the Hawaiian people. The cessation of the bombing and general consciousness about the cultural signficance of the island is largely a result of the 'Ohana's efforts. In 1980 they received a federal consent decree to conduct monthly accesses to the island for religious purposes and to preserve and beautify it, and they are deemed to be the "stewards for the island." Other than the military base that is maintained there still, none may eome to Kaho'olawe without the 'Ohana's weleome. When the Cnmmission's report goes to Congress, it will have to decide whether the military must cede use of the island permanently, and who shall get it and keep it next. The federal government? The state? The county of Maui? The Hawaiian people? This weekend's events had more of the factional, while the event was surrounded with ancient protocol and ceremony, and a concerted eall for the true aloha that so often is lost in the bipartisan interests of our state. The crew of the Hokule'a first dropped anchor at Maui's Makena Landing, was welcomed by the PKO to the shores of Maui, and then the next dawn, collected the Conveyance Commissioners and sailed for the shores of Kaho'olawe. Conches sounded. Gifts (ho'okupu) were exchanged. Ancient awa ceremonies were conducted to bind the factions together with a single-hearted purpose. Now, politics entered in here as well, along with the spiritual. While on Maui, the Hokule'a crew was shuttled to nearby Palauea Beach by the PKO, and there they were treated to the awa ceremony conducted by Hana's Parley Kanakaole. Palauea happens to be mueh in the news of late — "as public access to this beach and part of Makena Road has been interfered with by developers in the area," according to Keauhou O Honua'ula, a native rights organization on Maui. And, it just so happens that across the road from the beach isan astonishing layout — another ancient site — a heiau. The assembled group was led across the path by Dana Naone Hall and Leslie Kuloloio of the Keauhou group to make traditional offerings. Eyes brimmed, as the spirits seemed to whisper here in the gentle breeze of a Saturday afternoon. People looked from one to another wondering if the ehieken skin they felt was shared or theirs alone. The point seemed to be being made with no words needed: there are places both on Maui and on Kaho'olawe, and elsewhere throughout the state, that must be seriously honored and respected by modern day man and woman.

The awa ceremony on the beach passed the eup to eaeh of the participants and invited eaeh to answer a fundamental question: "Who are you?" Crew, commissioners, 'ohana members, all responded with theirgenealogies. My father was . . . my grandfather was . . . we were originally from . . . And then eaeh spoke of what they hoped for, as they held a skein of twined coconut fiber, passed to them by Kanakaole — a symbol of the umbilical cord connected to the piko-that bound all together in the pursuit of doing what was right. The same ceremony was repeated on the beach at Kaho'olawe the next afternoon, as the metaphor of unity and eonneehon amongst Hawaiians and those who hold the responsibiIities for dreaming and determining the islands' future uses was extended across the Kealakahiki ehannel, under the sails of the Hokule'a, the Star of Gladness.

Trustee Frenchy DeSoto (left) aboard the Hokule'a on trip to Kaho'olawe. Center, Gordon Pi'ianai'a, right Emmet Aluli.

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