Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 3, 1 April 2002 — Exploitation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Exploitation

My iwi kupuna (bones of the elders) give me the courage to eomment on this crucial issue ... I was born and raised here on Moku o Keawe with 50 percent blood quantum native Hawaiian. Heartbroken that three immediate family members and many of my cousins are incarcerated, I feel compelled to write this letter lamenting the plight of fellow Hawaiians. The proposal of a prison built on Hawaiian Home Lands, where a pharmaceutical company will develop new drugs, saving millions by using Hawaiian inmates as guinea pigs, is immoral. Prostitution of 'Aloha' for eommercial pursuit while Hawaiian people die on the waiting list for a See LETTERS on page 3

LETTERS from page 2 pieee of land whieh is brokered by non-Hawaiians or a eouple of 'Unele Toms' adds to the immutable grief, The combination of high rates of incarceration together with indicators of heart disease, breast eancer and diabetes makes Hawaiians a commodity for commercial exploitation, īt is extremely disconcerting that Hawaiians are strangers and prisoners in their beloved homeland, The Justice Policy īnstitute, a nonprofit research and public policy organization, has brought to light that diverting non-violent offenders from prison in Arkansas, Connecticut, Utah and North Dakota has saved millions of dollars, The Honolulu Advertiser reports that other states closed prisons last year as cost-saving measures (2/25/02). Something is gravely wrong in paradise when the host people are enslaved for continued exploitation, Mahalo plenty, Hokulele'ehikuali'inui Keana'aina 'Ōla'a

Ka I FO Kaiāui u