Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 2, 1 February 2008 — Paʻahao in Arizona [ARTICLE]

Paʻahao in Arizona

I recently visited the forprofit prisons that operate under contract with the State of Hawai'i to house your incarcerated sons in Arizona. I saw a elean, secure facility. My complaint is not with the Corrections Corporation of America staff or the prison itself. My complaint is with the State and people of Hawai'i, who pay strangers to care for their troubled sons. These men are abandoned when they need their community the mo st. The Hawaiian people so esteemed the aloha spirit that you enshrined its definition in law. Hawaiians are still Hawaiians, even in prison, and aloha spirit of these men exists and is palpahle in their presence. Most are drawn to, and hunger for, their cultural roots. Yet by some twist of law the teaching of Native Hawaiian culture is deemed a "religion." If a man chooses "Hawaiian" as his religion, he must forgo church services. Recently the State of Hawai'i adopted the principle of ho'oponopono as part of a statewide healing program for ex-offenders and parolees. Statutes, resolutions, task forces and studies elaim the desire to inculcate criminal offenders with "self worth and pride in their culture by increasing their knowledge, providing a purpose for themselves, their families, for future generations of Hawai'i's

people," to quote Hawai'i Senate Resolution No. 118 SD1. The laws are in plaee, the desire is there, but the pa'ahao remain betrayed. Where are the stewards, the 'ohana advocates? Who's in charge? People of Hawai'i, I beg you on behalf of your ancestors, your forgotten sons, and the world waiting for the aloha that only you ean give. Take up their cause, for it is your cause. Mike Thompson Mesa, kiiona