Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 3, 1 March 2004 — Hawaiian inmates struggle to practice tradi- [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian inmates struggle to practice tradi-

By Naomi Sodetani With Native Hawaiians comprising a disproportionately high percentage of state prison popuIations — and a Iarge number of inmates now being shipped ojf to mainland faciUties to alleviate overcrowding problems — Hawaiian prisoners have been struggUng for the right to practice their culture behind bars. This first instaUment of a two-part series examines the cultural strengths — and chaUenges

— ex perienced by incarcerated Hawaiians. "We the evidence, we not the crime." — Skippv Ioane Big Island Conspiracy In the ehill desert pre-dawn, 10 men gather to form a circle. Some are bare-chested, with lavalava draped around their waists; the rest wear prison issue-drabs. One kicks biting ants away, the only life apparent in this dusty 'āina so foreign to his Kanaka Maoli feet. "E hō mai..." the men chant softly in unison, their heads bowed. Unmoved by their rev-

erence, harsh yellow lights glare down from high, barbed-wire-topped walls that blot out the horizon and the inmates' thoughts of freedom. Although scenes like this Kūhiō Day commemoration at an Arizona prison are becoming more eommon in facilities where Native Hawaiian pa'ahao (prisoners) are incarcerated, winning the right to practice Native Hawaiian culture behind bars has been a long and difficult struggle. Inmate Harold Medeiros was one of the lead organizers of a Makahiki ceremony held last month at Diamondback Correctional Facility in Oklahoma, where hundreds of See PRISONS on page 4

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