Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 10, 1 October 1997 — Mākua beach landing halted as a result of unified community [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mākua beach landing halted as a result of unified community

By Manu Boyd FOR MORE Than three decades, Mākua valley, on the northern end of 0'ahu's leeward coastline, has been the subject of debates ranging from the military's periodic live-fire maneuvers in Ihe valley to last year's forced eviction of Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians from their pu'uhonua (refuge) on the beach. In July, ;ittention again tumed to Mākua with Ihe funeral services of entertainer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Less than a month later, the military announced that it would engage in a four- : day training mission at Mākua beginning with an amphibious landing planned to rip ! the shore with 17 light amphibious crafts, 12 j tive-ton trucks, 35 Humvees and 12 amphibious assault vehicles. Almost imme- j diately, the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood ! Board registered its unanimous disapproval. j On Aug. 27, Wai'anae community repre- ! sentatives met with U.S. militaiy leaders at ! Camp Smith in Hālawa Heights in an ! unprecedented, face-to-face exchange whieh ! ultimately led to the cancellation of the eon- ! troversial Mākua exercises originally sched- ! uled for early September. Of this, OHA Trustee and Wai'anae resident Frenchy DeS- ! oto said, "I have lived to see the day where ! the highest ranking officer in the Pacific has ! invited me to eome and talk story. That's an amazing first step." ! Adm. Joseph Prueher. comntander in chief ! of the Pacific Command, conducted the two- ! hour meeting attended by Govemor Ben Cayetano. DeSoto, Mike Wilson, ehaiiman ! of the Department of Land and Natural ! Resources, former DLNR chair Bill Paty, !

and more than 50 Wai'anae coast eommunity members and military personnel. At the outset, Prueher, who wanted the community to understand the military, said "We don't want this to be adversarial. The bottom line is we need to train our men and women. We ask them to risk their lives for us all." The Wai'anae community members had ample opportunity to share their views on the cultural, spiritual and historical significance of Mākua valley and beach. Glenn Kila, a descendant of Kahale'ula, a kahuna in the

Mākua area, spoke of the oral history and traditions ffom Ka'ena to Ko'olina. Mākua, literally meaning 'parents,' refers to La'ila'i and Ki'i, the first woman and man who trace back to the kumulipo, a creation genealogy associated with high chief Lonoikamakahiki. Kila added that the Wai'anae coast is home to the largest Hawaiian population in the world. On Aug. 17, 1964, the state of Hawai'i granted a 65-year lease to the federal government for use of the valley mauka of Farrington Highway for military

training. Since then, the | community eoneem has esca- | lated because of activities I detrimental to the landscape, I including periodic detonation I ofexplosiveordnance. CYNTH1A REZENTES, chair of the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board, pointI ed out that when the military I engaged in the lease in the I '60s, the social structure of | the coast was very different. | Fewer than 4,000 residents | lived on the coast then, and | there were no schools along | the Farrington Highway. || Today, Wai'anae coast resi- | dents number 40,000, and I several elementary schools I line the highway. The transI port of unexploded ordnance I on that busy thoroughfare ean I threaten the safety of the 1 entire community.

"We (Hawaiians) are constantly the mōhai (sacrifices) to the

military. This is an example of the military flexing its muscle. We're made to feel guilty about not supporting you, but our own children -

! and grandchildren have served in your ! wars," said DeSoto. She suggested, "Why ! don't you land at Hawai'i Kai, or Fort DeRussy in Waikīkī?" Area resident Sparky Rodriques raised sevi eral environmental concems including pollu- ! tion run-off from the valley resulting from : bombing and its adverse effect on the food ! ehain, all the way down to the limu (sea- ! weed) that both fish and kānaka (man) eon- ! sume. " Spinner dolphins aie spawning in ! thearea. Fish like the 'oama(young weke), ! halalū (young akule) are running, and monk ! seals eome ashore. And most importantly, i iwi (human remains) buried in the sand dunes ( ! will be desecrated," he iemarked. j Mākua beach, extending to Farrington ! Highway, is a 723-acre parcel under the juris- ! diction of the DLNR. When Rodrigues and ! a number of Hawaiian groups spioke of building an ahu (stone shrine) in tlie aiea, the ! DLNRthreatenedtostopthem. "Youcould ! close Waikīkī Beach for a convention, have ! baptisms or whatever. But Hawaiians want ! to build an ahu, and they'ie threatened," said ! Rodrigues. As a temporary compromise, the mililary relocated its amphibious landing to Bellows ! beach in Waimānalo. However, some 590 ! Marines from the 13th Marine expeditionary ! unit were transported by huek and helicopter ! to Mākua after the water landing for training j exercises. While this gesture spared the ! fragile Mākua beach ftom the landing, the ! victory was described as "bitter sweet" as the ! Waimānalo community absorbed mueh of ! the impact. ■