Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 9, 1 September 1992 — Nohili sand dunes, kupuna burial grounds and "Star Wars" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Nohili sand dunes, kupuna burial grounds and "Star Wars"

bv Moanikeala Akaka Trustee, Hawai'i

On July 31, I attended an overnight vigil near Nohili Sand Dunes, Kaua'i, hosted by Waimea-Kekaha 'ohana, for Hawaiians from throughout our islands. Over 150 of us attended. The famed Nohili Sand Dunes, known as Barking Sands, are now a part of

the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF). The Pentagon refers to this area as "the world's largest and most significant fleet training range" and it has been in operation for the past 27 years. In the summer of '91. a Strategic Defense Initialive (SDI/"Star Wars") launeh pad was consmicted on a part of the sacred Nohili Sand Dunes at Mana, where many ancestors from that area lie buried. The first possible launeh date for the Star Wars project was Aug. 1.

The vigil was called to aloha the 'aina and kupuna resting at Nohili. lt consisted of traditional Hawaiian and Christian religious observances — ho'okupu, chants, and pule shared through the evening at a makai bonfire in a kapu area, near the sand dunes where na 'iwi lay. Kawa'iki Elores and Rev. Kaleo Patterson very ably led the vigil. In the beginning it was important and positive that we natives shared our mana'o among ourselves. Supportive non-Hawaiians were also holding vigil outside the gate of the military base. That evening, a consensus was reached that the others be invited to join us near the sand dunes. This was a Hawaiian decision that the Kekaha-Waimea 'ohana, including Ka'ohi, Kau'ahi and Ho'okano,

strongly supported. It was a positive decision in the spirit of aloha that is a part of us. Several years ago, when the military first proposed Star Wars at Nohili, the state, OHA, and Sen. Daniel Inouye insisted the federal government do an environmental impact statement (EIS). Sen. Inouye tied the E1S to military appropriations from his Armed Services Committee. When the federal EIS was issued, it took the position that the impact to this area by the SDI launching was negligible. The eumulative impact, it stated, is "of little effect."

A letter written by OHA on July 9, 1991. to the SDI Program Manager at the Defense Department. D.C., disagreed the SDI launching would have linle effect. According to OHA's letter, "Indeed the paragraph on land use in the Environmental Assessment indicates that recreation area I could

potentially be closed to the public as mueh as two-thirds of the year. Public

access to the beach was a condition of the transfer of the area to the federal government. Closing the beach area to the loeal community two out of every three days virtually eliminates public access." Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) sites are adjacent to the

PMRF base. These lands have been unavailable for Hawaiian habitation for more than 50 years, because they are in the base buffer zone. The need for these lands for our people's use is obvious and pressing. as there is a waiting list of 20,000 families. State ceded lands and popular Polihale State Park, whieh will be considered a "hazardous zone" and an expanded buffer area for the Star Wars project, adjoin the DHHL lands.

OHA has gone on record to state, "We ean no longer ignore the detrimental effects of the PMRF buffer zone on the availability of these lands to our Hawaiian beneficiaries." OHA also raised concerns about the transport of hazardous materials from Nawiliwili Harbor, through the most heavily populated section of Kaua'i, to PMRF at Mana where the proposed launchings would proceed, next to and over our kupuna iwi.

The last week in July, the Sierra Club Defense Fund and Kauai's One Thousand Friends filed suit to stop the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) from entering into a memorandum of agreement with the federal government that would allow the use of DHHL and ceded lands on Kaua'i for the Star Wars test.

Though the federal EIS said "the Star Wars test will not harm Kauai's people, wildlife, environment in general, nor ancestral resting plaee," OHA, the Sierra Defense Fund, Thousand Friends, and many Hawaiians and residents felt the EIS "was not objective or comprehensive," (Honolulu Advertiser, July). The suit called for the DLNR to do its own EIS. Failure to do so would be a violation of the State Environmental Protection Act. The state is being negligent by shirking its responsibility as steward and protector of our lands by going along with the federal "no impact" EIS.

OHA had also taken the position the state should do their own EIS. The state has this obligation because the hazardous buffer zone will expand and impact lands that could be utilized for Hawaiian use. PMRF has been in existence for almost 30 years and employs several hundred civilians, including many Hawaiians. There has been some tension in the area since PMRF is one of sever^ employers in this rural eommunity. There has been conflict about this issue of economics versus tradi-

tional cultural values, jobs versus kupuna burial grounds, the environment versus Star Wars and eoneem for the impact to our Hawaiian homestead and ceded lands, shoreline, and coastal waters. It must be remembered that the laek of expansion for Star Wars will not impact the extant jobs of Hawaiians who have worked for years at PMRF. These families need not fear losing their jobs because PMRF is not planning on closing down even if Star Wars tests are halted. The purpose for the Star Wars missile program was protection against

the threat of the Soviet Union, whieh has now dissolved. The Cold War is over. There is no need for SDI! U.S. District Court Judge Harold M. Fong in early August ruled against the state, including the federal government as defendant along with DLNR, since they also wanted the suit to be heard in federal court. Fong ruled that "These are state lands and issues and should be heard in state courts."

Shortly after Judge Fong's mling, State Circuit Court Judge Marie N. Milks granted a restraining order, "blocking the State from signing an agreement that would permit the use of State lands on Kaua'i for rocket launchings."

An attomey for the Sierra Defense Fund insists the state do a viable EIS and not rehash and mimie the Federal EIS as the state has intimated. DLNR has a fiduciary and moral responsibility to protect this land and its people. The legal battle continues in the courts as the Star Wars test launches are halted for the time being. The attorneys say that unless the State comes back with a viable EIS, they will be back in court.

So the beat goes on, but it is important for PMRF employees to realize they will not lose their jobs if Star Wars is killed at Nohili Sand Dunes — resting plaee of the kupuna. This is a golden opportunity for environmentally appropriate free enterprise and cooperative eeonomie ventures that would make us less dependent on the military-industrial complex. In the spirit of peaee, aloha, aloha 'aina, Hawaiian use of Hawaiian lands — no Star Wars on our kupuna burial grounds! Malama pono. Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono.