Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 7, 1 July 1994 — Makapu ʻu occupation ends [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Makapu ʻu occupation ends

by Patrick Johnston Just over a year ago, several members of the 'Ohana Council walked onto windswept Makapu'u and claimed the land. The settlers have now left. But not after the settlement had grown to include more than 130 people, a number of other sovereignty groups, and after the failure of an agreement to relocate the oeeupiers had forced a lengthy standoff between the group and the state. The last structures of the occupying group eame down June 14 and, after a peaceful arrest of a small group of wahine protesters the following day and a last minute elean-up by law-enforcement officials, the park was opened to the public. It was a tidy conclusion to a protest that brought to the fore many of the concems of the sovereignty movement and a situation thut could have easily tumed violent. Ohana Council members said they occupied Makapu'u as an

attempt to assert what they saw as their sovereign elaim to the land. With a strong tent and some eooking supplies, it was also a good, eheap plaee to live. However, under the laws of the state of Hawai'i, the occupation was illegal, and it prevented access to an area whieh, while technically DHHL land, was run by the city as a public park. When it appeared the occupants were not going to leave, in September 1 993, the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the 'Ohana Council, under the leadership of Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele, worked out an agreement that would have provided 69 acres of residential and agricultural land for Makapu'u occupants - who the state considered homeless - in Waimānalo. The plan was to make the new site an agricultural village for native Hawaiians to live and practice their culture. Thirty-five acres would be used for the village and another 34 for taro cultivation. In the eyes of 'Ohana Council mem-

bers, the move was justified because it would, like the Makapu'u site, provide homes for Hawaiians, allow them to pursue their culture, and provide an area of "healing" and "development." Because the initial site was on the fringe area of a flood zone, the Board offered a second site for "transitional housing" on Hihimanu St., also in Waimānalo. Last December, after making the environmental assessment required to issue building permits for the site, the state contends the 'Ohana Council changed its management plans, saying it wanted the buildings to be open to qualified low-ineome renters, not only Makapu'u occupants. A rental housing project would have required another time-con-suming environmental assessment. Even if one was undertaken, the Land Board, concerned that the 'Ohana Council had not worked closely enough with the Waimānalo Neighborhood Board, was not prepared to approve the continued on page 4

The 'Ohana Oouneil occupation site at Makapu'u before it was removed last month. Photo by Patrick Johnston

Makapu'u occupation from page 1

project. Negotiations continued but !ittle progress was made. In May, the 'Ohana Council, frustrated by the delay, started building houses and eoncession stands in Makapu'u without permits. The state issued an ultimatum: pull them down or forget the deal. The buildings did not eome down and the deal, the state said. was off. The unraveling of the resettlement deal led to a lot of finger pointing and no solution. The 'Ohana Council contended the state never provided a satisfactory lease agreement for the Waimānalo site, buried the process in an unwieldy bureaucracy, and was not working in good faith. Says Kanahele, "It sounded good, it felt good, but they never had any intention of giving us anything." The BLNR, for its part, says they had been conducting negotiations with the "Ohana Council, but as soon as the group began building concession stands and illegal structures they were forced to issue the ultimatum. Despite the war of words, negotiations did start up again. After an eviction notice seemed to indicate a "no compromise" attitude on the part of the state, bulldozers began clearing agricultural land at a second Waimānalo site for

the Makapu'u occupiers. While initially rejecting the state's relocation offer, the 'Ohana Council, agreed that, for the men at least, it was better to avoid a possible confrontation and accept the state's offer. According to Council spokesperson Kekula Bray, the group did not initially accept the state's offer — whieh was the same as the original one ironed out in September - because, after a year of what they saw as stonewalling on the part of the state, they did not believe it would eome through. "Basically, we didn't trust them. And we still don't trust them." State officials say the 69-acre pieee of land in Waimānalo is zoned for agricultural use and is part of a planned state agricultural park. The Department of Land and Natural Resources will be paying for a portion of the infrastructure costs and the residents who lease the land will pay a still undetermined amount of money. There are no details on the number of people the site ean hold, but according to a statement released by the BLNR, "the Board's intent is to accommodate as many homeless people camping at Makapu'u as possible."