Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 2, 1 February 1992 — The past is prelude to the future [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The past is prelude to the future

By Moanikeala Akaka Trustee, Island of Hawal'i

Looking back some 20 years we see that we Hawaiians have moved forward in spite of many I obstacles: laek of governmental support; outward benign neglect and greed that have been overwhelming these islands . for over a century.

Back in 1970 the Kalama Valley struggle on Bishop Estate Land marked the beginning of our modern Hawaiian struggle for justice for our 'aina and people. Recently, Susan Faludi's artic!e in The Wall Street Journal last September made known nationally the injustice done to Hawaiians on Department of Hawaiian Home lands. In December the Hawai'i Advisory Committee to the United States Civil Rights Commission released their report "A Broken Trust: the Hawaiian Home Lands Program. Seventy years of failure of the Federal and State governments to protect the Civil Rights of Native Hawaiians." This report also points out that "in addition to Lualualei the federal government has breached its duty as trustee by allowing other lands in the homestead inventory to be leased to other federal agencies. For example, the U.S. Army is currently oeeupying 295 acres of Pohakuloa, Hawai'i under a general lease that was executed in 1964 for 65 years at $1 for the entire term."

I related to you in my eolumn last month how the Japanese Government is now negotiating with the federal government so that Japanese troops ean eome with their artillery to blast and bomb Pohakuloa for military exercise. Many Big Islanders and Hawaiians throughout the Hawaiian nation are disturbed and reject these plans. To leam the U.S. Army is paying $1 for a 65-year general lease makes one wonder if they intend to charge the Japanese a penny for less than a year. The U.S. Navy uses 25 acres in Kekaha, Kaua'i for military storage; they also pay $1 for 65 years. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses 54 acres in Keaukaha, Hilo, for a radar communication facility set aside by executive orders of the governor of the Territory of Hawai'i in 1948. Past governors doing this had these orders declared illegal by Judge Kimura after we grass-roots Hawaiians closed down the Hilo Airport Runway on Labor Day 1978.

Rod Burgess, former OHA trustee, in testimony given to the Civil Rights Commission in 1990, stated "the most galling cause for denial of homestead leases is the historical practice of the federal government in illegally setting aside trust lands for military purposes. Enough land has been taken from the trust corpus by the federal government to satisfy the needs of all those beneficiaries currently on the waiting list." There has been mueh progress these past two decades since the time of Kalama Valley and the Hilo Airport action of the mid-'70s. The founding of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana spearheaded the cessation of the bombing of our sacred island of Kaho'olawe where

George Helm and Kimo Mitchel mysteriously disappeared. Today the Kaho'olawe Conveyance Commission is set up to implement the cleaning up and return of Kaho'olawe to the Hawaiian people.

The Aloha 'Aina movement these past two decades, islandwide, has helped to focus attention on land-use issues and how the misuse of our island home has had detrimental effects on our quality of life as well as negative social and psychological impact on our lives. The physical destruction of our 'aina by improper development affects us all; present and future generations of all of the people of Hawai'i.

There has been more progress recently because grass-roots Hawaiians, as well as other Hawai'i residents, are becoming more and more aware of and concerned about the destruction of our 'aina and oeean. Golf courses have taken the forefront while over-built resort complexes like the Hyatt Waikoloa are closing whole wings of their hotel because they are over-built. There are too many luxury resorts to compete for the tourist dollars at this time, admitted state economist Greg Pai some months ago. Yet more requests for resort development keep coming before the State Land Use, County Planning Commissions and County Counpils.

As chairperson of OHA's Health and Human Services Committee, I am very concerned about the pesticides and toxic poisons that are a part of golf course development. The dangers of these cancer-causing agents leaking into our water-table, coastal waters and marine sea life (whieh we eat) is a threat to our health and safety. We already see the high ciguateria rate as a by product of resort and marine development along our coastal shoreline.

Recently I tried to intervene, on behalf of the 23,000 registered Hawaiian voters that elected me, as a part of a contested case hearing before the Hawai'i County Planning Commission relating to Japanese developer NANSAY Corp's proposed six golf course complex in South Kohala. I pointed out my concerns relating to health, water quality and archaeological issues. Because an OHA secretary typed my request for intervention to Norman Hayashi of Hawai'i County Planning Department on official OHA stationary (whieh includes my name as trustee), OHA Chairman Clayton Hee and OHA administration question my use of OHA stationary. This, though I specifically stated at the outset of this

request for intervention that I was representing the 23,000 plus registered Hawaiian voters that elected me trustee of Hawai'i Island, -intimating I was in no way representing the full Board of Trustees! Instead of raising concerns about my use of official stationary of a board I was elected to be a part of, my fellow trustees and our staff should have been more concerned about the damage that a six golf course complex (the largest ever proposed on these islands) would do when the pesticides and toxic poisons percoIate into our ground-water table and coastal waters! Dr. John Mink, hydrologist and husband of Congress-woman Patsy Mink, stated at the Office of State Planning (OSP) Golf Course Seminar several months ago that it sometimes

takes years for the negative impact to be recognized. Eaeh area is geologically a completely different situation, circumstances and scenario must be investigated and monitored on a case-by-case basis. At this time South Kona coastline residents, many of them Hawaiians, are up in arms because in Opihihala Japanese Golf Course Developers are trying to skirt the land-use process by requesting a special permit for a 54-

room "visitor accommodation facility" (hotel) as a part of the golf course plan. And up Ihe coastline upon the cliffs above Kealeikekua Bay another planned Japanese golf course has outraged residents concerned about pesticides leaching into Ihe bay. Honolulu Advertiser reporter Hugh Clark Jan. 2, 1992 — article, "Greening of Big Island a Growing Controversy" states "by '91 the golf course project seems to have replaced the luxury hotel as the symbol of unwanted development."

Another important area of growing grass-roots awareness in the past decade is the whole issue of sovereignty. I ean remember in 1978 the Puwalu Gatherings facilitated by Alu Like wherein we grass-roots Hawaiians (elected from all our islands) met in Honolulu to discuss Hawaiian issues and problems. When the issue of Hawaiian Sovereignty was raised, Dr. Pauline Joeger-King who teaches at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa stated, "if you speak of sovereignty, you're talking revolution." I was shocked at such a statement and retorted, "you mean, of course, a revolution of the mind — not a violent one!"

In 1990 everyone is talking sovereignty, even professor King's brother federal Judge Samuel King a few months ago wrote a guest editorial for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on the virtues of Hawaiian Sovereignty. There is now money, funded through the legislature with OHA matching, for a sovereignty plan. Hui Na'au'ao whieh is made up of over 40 Hawaiian organizations including OHA, Ka Lahui, Pele Defense Fund, Hawaiian Civic Club, Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, Aloha 'Aina Education Center, The Royal Orders, Kamehameha Alumni Association and other Hawaiian community groups including those representing homeless Hawaiians, received over $300,000 of a $1 million grant through the Administration of Native Americans in Washington, D.C., that is over $300,000 a year. Hui Na'au'ao will present about 450 workshops statewide, so that we Hawaiians may begin to discuss and understand the issue of sovereignty. Thus we Hawaiians ean proceed to reestablish our Hawaiian nation. Ka Lahui should be eon-

gratulated for its grass-rooted efforts since the early 1980s when we established the Native Hawaiian Land Task Force with the help of the late Mitsuo Uyehara and Ho'ala Kanawai before Lahui's first convention in 1987. OHA Trustees Louis Hao, Manu Kahaiali'i and myself were proud to be among the first legislator of Ka Lahui; we were able to register over 5,000 Hawaiians statewide and began to educate our people about sovereignty. Now Hui Na'au'ao with its diverse makeup of groups meets almost weekly at Lili'uokalani Trust to plan educational workshops to be held throughout our islands to continued page 20

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gain an understanding of, and gather your input on what our nation will be.

Another important issue that surfaced from that Alu Like-facilitated Puwalu in the spring of '78 was the need for a statewide group to represent the Hawaiian people. At first it was suggested that Hawaiian representatives be appointed by the governor. Many of us in attendance objected strongly because we did not what those Hawaiians appointed to be rubber stamps of the governor. We knew that this group had to be autonomous and accountable to the Hawaiian people. This was the beginning of OHA. Later, that year at Con Con, OHA was established. Only, instead of the autonomous body for the Hawaiian people we desired, OHA became a quasi-autonomous Hawaiian agency, partially funded by the legislature.

Between OHA's establishment in 1980 and 1990 this office had to fight and sue to negotiate and receive our past-owed share of the ceded land revenues retroactive for that period. The state legislature and OHA agreed on a formula for what is owed OHA for those Hawaiians with 50 percent and more Hawaiian blood. The state admits it owed us $105 million compounded annually. However, OHA's independent auditors feel the state owes us millions more for this past due debt.

Onee this retroactive package is settled, the hope is that in the near future to negotiate a resource package for all Hawaiians including those with less than 50 percent Hawaiian blood. One made up of revenues and a good share of the 1.4 million acres of state-controlled ceded lands whieh will evolve into a land base for our

Hawaiian nation. The intent is to become selfsufficient so that we Hawaiians will not need to continuously go to the legislature to get revenues for those Hawaiians with less than 50 percent Hawaiian blood while legislators try to tell OHA how to spend our ceded resources.

As a Hawaiian nation we want to become truly self-sufficient of the legislature and state. OHA has and must continue to evolve. So you see these are exciting times as we reestablish our Hawaiian nation and begin to self-determine our destiny as a Hawaiian people

tor the first time in 150 years. But it is important that we remember to elect those representatives and trustees truly looking out for the best interests of your 'ohana and our precious 'aina. The future is up to us! Malama Pono. Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono.