Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 2014 — Delbert's dream [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Delbert's dream

By Lillian Harwood On Oct. 28, 2011, at 4:44 p.m., Delbert Ka'ahanui Wakinekona walked out of the Hālawa Correctional Facility a free man for the first time in 41 years. Delbert was granted parole under the state's eompassionate release program. He had been diagnosed with terminal liver disease and was only expected to live a few weeks. He beat the odds and lived 26 months and nine days. Delbert was a well-known prisoner because of his lifelong advocacy for more and better educational programs for inmates, and better prison conditions. As a result of his efforts, Delbert was branded a troublemaker and exiled to Folsom Prison for two decades. He pursued a lawsuit all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the right

of the state to send prisoners to the continent. Despite 40 years of exile, he never gave up his dreamof one day returning to Hawai'i and creating a pu 'uhonua or plaee of refuge where former prisoners could begin healing their spirits through ho'oponopono while learning a trade, going to school and connecting with the 'āina. He envisioned a hospice as part of the pu'uhonua, where terminally ill and dying prisoners like himself could reconcile with family and live out their last days in dignity and peaee. Delbert's release allowed himto bring elosure. He met his great-grandchildren, hugged his sons and daughter and married his childhood sweetheart. He was given the gift of 26 months and nine days to eat fish and poi, feel the oeean breeze and wiggle his toes in the sand. But, not all was a happy ending. On the eve of the second anniversary of his release, Delbert was watching the evening news on television and saw a story about a traffic aeeident in Maui in whieh a man was killed. It turned out that the man was the son Delbert

had never known, because he had been adopted when Delbert was sent to prison for life. Delbert had hoped to repair the broken bridge that separated him from knowing this son, who by this time had grown into an adult. He wanted to ho'oponopono for not being a good father, but it was too late. The reconciliation Delbert hoped for with this son was not to be. Those who attended his memorial service heard of his

love and loyalty for family, friends and homeland. They celebrated his dream for pu'uhonua, where people would prepare for productive lives and take responsibility to prevent their children's children from becoming statistics. We, as a people of Hawai'i, have a responsibility to mālama this dream for a better future for our families. We must not abandon a eom-

passionate release program and pu'uhonua for all people, not just released prisoners. I would like to thank the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. (NHLC) and NHLC board member Bob Merce for their efforts to obtain compassionate release for Delbert. ■

Lillian Harwood is Delbert's childhood sweetheart and widow.

Delbert Wakinekona looks oul at Ka'ala Farms and dreams of a pu'uhonua, a plaee of rehabilitation, restoration and reconciliation. ■ Courtesy photo