Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Ho’opae Pono supports the Yurok Tribe in restoration of the traditional name of Su-meg
With prayers for great healing.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Kauaʻi Report: Wailua and Wainiha
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| Wainiha |
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| Wailua |
These encampments have important common themes. Some of the most important include:
- Aloha ʻĀina: There is a common theme of caring for the land and for the relationship of the past and future generations connected to it. There is extensive cleaning, weed control, care of native species, and return to sustainable organic practices in both areas.
- Reconnection of ʻohana: In both areas, ʻohana who have been part of those ahupuaʻa, and whose ancestors probably lived, loved and connected to these specific places are being actively reconnected to these places. These include kupuna who know stories of the area and children who are capable of continuing place-specific practices into the future. Active cross-generational learning and teaching, community outreach, and ahupuaʻa research and revitalization are strong themes. Practical application of laau lapaau and other cultural elements are emphasized and shared according to cross-generational traditions.
- Ea: Sovereignty is a major theme for the puʻuhonua of both Wailua and Wainiha. Hawaiʻi's status as a neutral country under foreign occupation is asserted strongly. While the people of both areas are willing to dialogue with and educate those representing the City and State governments, they recognize the continued existence of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as the legitimate source of authority in Hawaiʻi. International solutions are emphasized.
- Land title assertion: the complex problems associated with the buying and selling of "real estate" in Hawaiʻi are featured in the assertion of claims to active presence and caretakership for these areas. These issues include cloudy or complicated title histories, boundary complexities, commercial exploitation of land and water, wealthy land-grabbing, government/business collusion or "rubber stamping", under-recognized konohiki rights, and the widespread history of kanaka displacement that has led to houselessness, forced emigration, suicide, imprisonment and many other problems. The assertion of legitimate titles that have not yet been recognized through mainstream systems has the potential to significantly disrupt the commercialization of land at its core.
- International accountability: Both encampments emphasize the need for international accountability in the human rights violations, abuse of power as an occupying system, war crimes, genocide, unaddressed historic wrongs, and other major problems in the current system. It should be noted that kanaka have been actively calling for such accountability at least since a panel of distinguished international experts convened in the 1993 People's International Tribunal held that the United States and its related entities were in fact guilty of the above violations.
- Kūʻē: The participants of both puʻuhonua are clear in their commitment to remain on the land, even if they encounter resistance, because of their certainty that what they are doing is both necessary and pono.
"We refuse to die." In both areas, young kāne are at the forefront. Faced with what they describe as the prospects of either jail, houselessness/drug addiction, joining a system that goes against their cultural lifestyles, insanity or death, they assert that they are actively building an alternative that aligns with the values of what it means to be young men in a pono sense that actively counters what they describe as the genocidal erasure of their culture. Women, elders and children are also involved; part of the efforts of these young kāne is to actively build respectful, empowering relationships across multiple generations, genders, and abilities. Allowing the skills of all participants to shine is a major feature of their work.
About the areas:
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| Some of the ʻohana revitalizing culture in Wailua |
The ʻāina being revitalized in Wailua lies mauka of the old Coco Palms hotel, which was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 (and ironically, featured in a South Park episode that made fun of the tourist takeover on Kauaʻi). Noa Mau-Espiritu, a young kalo planter who had studied ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi since childhood in Kauaʻi immersion schools, researched his genealogy and the land histories of the area, and found a strong link to the land in the area. He and a few others cleared the overgrown road by hand, and began to actively care for the burials and native species in the area. Noa planted a large garden with kalo, lau pele, rare bananas and other cultural plants, and began to monitor and guard native waterbirds and other fragile species. Kanaka of the ahupuaʻa, many of them formerly houseless, and descendants of Kauaʻi royalty such as the Kamualiʻi and Kapule lines, began to join in his work and caretakership. They came to live on their respective ancestral lands, cleaned out invasive grasses, hauled away tons of hotel trash and broken furniture, and began to work together as a community.
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| Noa and Kupuna Liko Martin share stories while visiting Ka Lae o ka Manu Heiau. |
Not everyone was happy with this new, assertive revitalization of kanaka culture. Noa has been threatened, and told that his claims were worthless. While some police and government officials have strived for fairness, there is great pressure from corporate interests involved, such as the Hyatt. Local business interests -- some lawful and some otherwise -- have also expressed aggression in varying degrees. The County of Kauaʻi has contemplated the building of a bypass road next to the master auwai, which would pollute and destroy the ancient water flow. Most recently, Noa was charged with trespass -- on the lands of his kupuna. Nonetheless, he remains positive, and continues to gather support and to plant and care for the land.
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| Noa and Uncle Liko. This road was formerly overgrown, and needed to be cleared by hand. |
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| A dog, kitten and pig hold a friendly meeting on the newly-cleared road in Wailua. |
_____________________________________
Wainiha
Truly functional ahupuaʻa -- in which resources are shared, mauka to makai -- are rare in Hawaiʻi today. For every cultural program talking about the way an ahupuaʻa works, with neighbors helping each other and fishermen, planters, gatherers, hunters, medicine people, woodworkers and hale builders all sharing the work of their collective hands and their collective lands, the last remnants of an actual ahupuaʻa is being destroyed as traditional lifestyles are driven out of the communities in which they have been rooted for countless generations. The main force of displacement is real estate. Land prices have risen so high, due largely to speculation and militarization, that few local people -- much less Hawaiians, and much, much less traditional lifestyle adherents -- can afford to live in their own districts. High-priced vacation rentals and wealthy speculators and non-Hawaiʻi retirees are impossible to compete with.
The idea of driving daily into an urban workplace in order to pay a mortgage on a taro patch is beyond absurd to most people of the land -- if it were even possible, which it is generally not.
Wainiha is one of the few ahupuaʻa that has survived into the millennium at all. Barely. Its lands are being sold for vacation rentals at an alarming rate, and people are feeling the pressure. But it still has its traditional fishermen, its farms, its sharing neighbors who support one another. It still has keiki who carry on the traditions of the area, and grow up to practice culture there.
Kaʻimi Hermosura is one of those homegrown kanaka of the ahupuaʻa. On one of our visits, we find him and the other Protectors building a hale out of the bamboo Kaʻimi and his grandfather planted on that land -- the same land under dispute -- when he was a child.
Kaʻimi is the recognized konohiki of the area. He knows the waterways, the land characteristics, the burials, the ancient pohaku features, and the history of this land, where his family has resided since time immemorial. He is the recognized Tribal Historic Officer for the area under the federal Section 106 mandate. He can speak federal, county and international terminology fluidly. He is a professional musician, and (like many of the camp's Protectors) an integral part of the building crew of Kauaʻiʻs voyaging waʻa, Nāmāhoe.
Jesse Steele is also part of that crew. After a tour of the important stonnework and auwai system of the area, he runs back chasing a pack of neighbor boys. "What you boys like do," he asks, "you like pull weeds?" "Yeah!" one of them enthusiastically replies, and they all set about weeding, watering, and practicing their pū blowing (see video here).
In what universe does this happen? Children living and learning real culture, not in a "cattle herding" one-day program, but in a real garden where they will actually eat the kalo they planted, the bananas they weeded, the sweet potatoes they thinned, under the tutelage of a sturdy, patient uncle who helps them fix their bike by lantern light when they ride home tired enough to really sleep well at the end of the day?
There is one answer: in the universe of kūʻē. Without resistance, this garden would not be here. Without resistance, the entire ahupuaʻa would eventually be nothing but vacation rentals and U.S. retiree homes, and these children or others like them would probably be gone. Statistically speaking, in jail. On drugs. Homeless. Hopeless. But they are not hopeless, because they are learning something just as important as how to weed and plant and mulch kalo: they are learning how to defend that kalo.
Jesse, Kaʻimi, Noa (who came from Wailua to stand in solidarity) and Kapana Thronas-Kahoonei were all arrested for standing up for Wainiha. They were all charged with "disorderly conduct" -- a charge that the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court had just months ago found totally unconstitutional specifically when applied to non-violent activism -- and all were manhandled seriously. Wainiha neighbors were outraged by the way they were treated. Police released body cam footage of Noa's arrest in Wainiha -- but edited out the actual arrest -- that is, their own actions. And left out the fact that they had no basis for the charge whatsoever.
The County of Kauaʻi -- in what was probably meant as a genuine gesture -- offered the Protectors a 5-acre "vacant" parcel as a "place to do (their) culture." It didn't work. Ironically, this was the same land that the Haumea family was kicked off in 2010, when their home was bulldozed by the County -- a painful struggle that Kaʻimi and some of the others were actively involved in. Apparently, after destroying the family's home, the County left the area unused, and then offered this same land as a pacification measure, to quell other reclamation actions. Many participants expressed that they do not feel that this is okay.
The process of peace does require ensuring, to the greatest degree possible, that everyone is okay. Injustice on any side needs to be addressed. From our assessment, there is a general willingness on the part of everyone we spoke to to work toward a situation that is ultimately good for everyone involved, without compromising the basic principles of survival and cultural integrity required to meet the central objectives for which their work is being done, and for which they are willing to put their bodies on the line against the violent forces that have been coming against them. Real peace can only happen when genocide and cultural displacement are stopped -- or better yet, turned into something thriving and beautiful.
All of the problems for which there are "no solution", according to the government -- houselessness, despondency, terrible health statistics, youth problems, sustainability, displacement, and so much more -- can be solved by one thing: kūʻē. Without kūʻē, the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world will certainly displace kanaka from their lands and cultural lifestyles at a rate that would mean the discontinuation of what it means to be everyday kanaka, from the viewpoint of many practitioners of aloha ʻāina. Without kūʻē, there may soon be no future on this planet at all. But that is not going to happen, because there is a young, peace-focused generation that is ready to fight back and begin the difficult process of true healing.
We refuse to die.
Donations for wailua Ohana contact kamu hepa ...at ...chepdog@gmail.com or 808-635-5577.
Wainiha Ohana contact kaimi ..at kauaiboy202@gmail.com or 808- 278-8979 mahalo
Laulani Teale, MPH is the Coordinator of Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project, an Affilliate of Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. She can be reached at laulani@gmail.com. We would like to thank all who hosted and spoke to us while on Kauaʻi, and who continue the work of aloha ʻāina. We would also like to thank HAPA for supporting our visit, along with Lehua Designs, KKCR and many others. Aloha!!
More Reading/viewing:
Pinky Show: Part 3: Hawaii vs. U.S. Imperialism (Hawaiʻiʻs history and situation in a 20-minute nutshell by a cartoon cat)
Unko Liko Martin's Documents Page
Articulating secession: self-determination, decolonization and stateless independence amongst the Kanaka Maoli. Alexander Keller Hirsch Pages 102-116
Mauli Ola: Pathways to Optimal Kanaka 'Ōiwi Health
JK Kaholokula
Aloha Aina: Notes From The Struggle in Hawai’i. Noura Erakat
I am a colonial settler: On the awareness and responsibilities required of settling in Hawaiʻi. Hawaii Independent article by Tyler Greenhill
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| A young descendant of one of the families in the Wainiha community blows a pū while another young neighbor helps Jesse Steele pull weeds in the loʻi kalo. Neighborhood families know that their keiki have a safe, supervised area to play, learn culture, and be valued as young kanaka. |
The idea of driving daily into an urban workplace in order to pay a mortgage on a taro patch is beyond absurd to most people of the land -- if it were even possible, which it is generally not.
Wainiha is one of the few ahupuaʻa that has survived into the millennium at all. Barely. Its lands are being sold for vacation rentals at an alarming rate, and people are feeling the pressure. But it still has its traditional fishermen, its farms, its sharing neighbors who support one another. It still has keiki who carry on the traditions of the area, and grow up to practice culture there.
 |
| Kaʻimi and Keʻala place the centerpost for a new hale for the Puʻuhonua. Kaʻimi planted this very ʻohe as a child, with his grandfather. |
Kaʻimi Hermosura is one of those homegrown kanaka of the ahupuaʻa. On one of our visits, we find him and the other Protectors building a hale out of the bamboo Kaʻimi and his grandfather planted on that land -- the same land under dispute -- when he was a child.
Kaʻimi is the recognized konohiki of the area. He knows the waterways, the land characteristics, the burials, the ancient pohaku features, and the history of this land, where his family has resided since time immemorial. He is the recognized Tribal Historic Officer for the area under the federal Section 106 mandate. He can speak federal, county and international terminology fluidly. He is a professional musician, and (like many of the camp's Protectors) an integral part of the building crew of Kauaʻiʻs voyaging waʻa, Nāmāhoe.
Jesse Steele is also part of that crew. After a tour of the important stonnework and auwai system of the area, he runs back chasing a pack of neighbor boys. "What you boys like do," he asks, "you like pull weeds?" "Yeah!" one of them enthusiastically replies, and they all set about weeding, watering, and practicing their pū blowing (see video here).
In what universe does this happen? Children living and learning real culture, not in a "cattle herding" one-day program, but in a real garden where they will actually eat the kalo they planted, the bananas they weeded, the sweet potatoes they thinned, under the tutelage of a sturdy, patient uncle who helps them fix their bike by lantern light when they ride home tired enough to really sleep well at the end of the day?
There is one answer: in the universe of kūʻē. Without resistance, this garden would not be here. Without resistance, the entire ahupuaʻa would eventually be nothing but vacation rentals and U.S. retiree homes, and these children or others like them would probably be gone. Statistically speaking, in jail. On drugs. Homeless. Hopeless. But they are not hopeless, because they are learning something just as important as how to weed and plant and mulch kalo: they are learning how to defend that kalo.
Jesse, Kaʻimi, Noa (who came from Wailua to stand in solidarity) and Kapana Thronas-Kahoonei were all arrested for standing up for Wainiha. They were all charged with "disorderly conduct" -- a charge that the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court had just months ago found totally unconstitutional specifically when applied to non-violent activism -- and all were manhandled seriously. Wainiha neighbors were outraged by the way they were treated. Police released body cam footage of Noa's arrest in Wainiha -- but edited out the actual arrest -- that is, their own actions. And left out the fact that they had no basis for the charge whatsoever.
The County of Kauaʻi -- in what was probably meant as a genuine gesture -- offered the Protectors a 5-acre "vacant" parcel as a "place to do (their) culture." It didn't work. Ironically, this was the same land that the Haumea family was kicked off in 2010, when their home was bulldozed by the County -- a painful struggle that Kaʻimi and some of the others were actively involved in. Apparently, after destroying the family's home, the County left the area unused, and then offered this same land as a pacification measure, to quell other reclamation actions. Many participants expressed that they do not feel that this is okay.
At their essence, these are struggles that are about setting a wrong to right. Sure, it may be like setting a broken bone right with no anesthesia -- some people will scream and possibly fight the treatment, but if the bone is broken, what other choice is there?
The process of peace does require ensuring, to the greatest degree possible, that everyone is okay. Injustice on any side needs to be addressed. From our assessment, there is a general willingness on the part of everyone we spoke to to work toward a situation that is ultimately good for everyone involved, without compromising the basic principles of survival and cultural integrity required to meet the central objectives for which their work is being done, and for which they are willing to put their bodies on the line against the violent forces that have been coming against them. Real peace can only happen when genocide and cultural displacement are stopped -- or better yet, turned into something thriving and beautiful.
All of the problems for which there are "no solution", according to the government -- houselessness, despondency, terrible health statistics, youth problems, sustainability, displacement, and so much more -- can be solved by one thing: kūʻē. Without kūʻē, the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world will certainly displace kanaka from their lands and cultural lifestyles at a rate that would mean the discontinuation of what it means to be everyday kanaka, from the viewpoint of many practitioners of aloha ʻāina. Without kūʻē, there may soon be no future on this planet at all. But that is not going to happen, because there is a young, peace-focused generation that is ready to fight back and begin the difficult process of true healing.
We refuse to die.
Donations for wailua Ohana contact kamu hepa ...at ...chepdog@gmail.com or 808-635-5577.
Wainiha Ohana contact kaimi ..at kauaiboy202@gmail.com or 808- 278-8979 mahalo
Laulani Teale, MPH is the Coordinator of Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project, an Affilliate of Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. She can be reached at laulani@gmail.com. We would like to thank all who hosted and spoke to us while on Kauaʻi, and who continue the work of aloha ʻāina. We would also like to thank HAPA for supporting our visit, along with Lehua Designs, KKCR and many others. Aloha!!
More Reading/viewing:
Pinky Show: Part 3: Hawaii vs. U.S. Imperialism (Hawaiʻiʻs history and situation in a 20-minute nutshell by a cartoon cat)
Unko Liko Martin's Documents Page
Articulating secession: self-determination, decolonization and stateless independence amongst the Kanaka Maoli. Alexander Keller Hirsch Pages 102-116
Mauli Ola: Pathways to Optimal Kanaka 'Ōiwi Health
JK Kaholokula
Aloha Aina: Notes From The Struggle in Hawai’i. Noura Erakat
I am a colonial settler: On the awareness and responsibilities required of settling in Hawaiʻi. Hawaii Independent article by Tyler Greenhill
Naomi Klein: How science is telling us all to revolt - New Statesman
MALAMA `AINA:Hawaiian Independence and a Sustainable Future. Nation of Hawaiʻi Essay.
Honest Government Advert - Visit Hawai'i - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfAiB2ZoRhM Juice Media spoof commercial about Hawaiʻi. Warning: lots of swearing.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
UN Security Council Resolution 2347 (2017)
This is clearly aimed at terrorism in the Middle East....but could apply to SO much more.
UN Security Council Resolution 2347 (2017)
24 March 2017
"Maintenance of international peace and security"
Relating to the destruction and theft of cultural property, presumably by "terrorists"
Some excerpts:
Notes that "unlawful destruction of cultural heritage, and the looting and smuggling of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts, notably by terrorist groups, and the attempt to deny historical roots and cultural diversity in this context...can fuel and exacerbate conflict and hamper post-conflict national reconciliation..."
Speaks with great vehemence against terroristic actions involving "the destruction of cultural heritage and the trafficking in cultural property and related offences"
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| Ilio Point, Molokaʻi |
"Strongly concerned about the links between the activities of terrorists and organized criminal groups that, in some cases, facilitate criminal activities, including trafficking in cultural property, illegal revenues and financial flows as well as money-laundering, bribery and corruption, "
"Recalling the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 14 May 1954 and its Protocols of 14 May 1954 and 26 March 1999, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of 14 November 1970, the Convention concerning the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 16 November 1972, the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, noting the ongoing efforts of the Council of Europe Committee on Offences relating to Cultural Property concerning a legal framework to address illicit trafficking in cultural property,"
"taking note of the Declaration issued by Ministers of Culture participating in the International Conference “Culture as an Instrument of Dialogue among Peoples”, held in Milan on 31 July-1 August 2015....(and the) Conference on Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage held in Abu Dhabi on 3 December 2016 and its declaration"
#Unite4Heritage campaign, and the central role of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and INTERPOL in preventing and countering all forms and aspects of trafficking in cultural property and related offences, including through fostering broad law enforcement and judicial cooperation, and in raising awareness on such trafficking,"
"Noting the recent decision by the International Criminal Court, which for the first time convicted a defendant for the war crimes of intentionally directing attacks against religious buildings and historic monuments and buildings,"
"Deplores and condemns the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage, inter alia destruction of religious sites and artefacts, as well as the looting and smuggling of cultural property from archaeological sites, museums, libraries, archives, and other sites, in the context of armed conflicts, notably by terrorist groups;"
"Affirms that directing unlawful attacks against sites and buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, or historic monuments may constitute, under certain circumstances and pursuant to international law a war crime and that perpetrators of such attacks must be brought to justice;"
"Requests Member States to take appropriate steps to prevent and counter the illicit trade and trafficking in cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance originating from a context of armed conflict"
"Welcomes the actions undertaken by UNESCO within its mandate to safeguard and preserve cultural heritage in peril and actions for the protection of culture and the promotion of cultural pluralism in the event of armed conflict"
" take preventive measures to safeguard their nationally owned cultural property and their other cultural property of national importance in the context of armed conflicts, including as appropriate through documentation and consolidation of their cultural property in a network of “safe havens” in their own territories to protect their property, while taking into account the cultural, geographic, and historic specificities of the cultural heritage in need of protection, and notes the draft UNESCO Action Plan, which contains several suggestions to facilitate these activities" (I read: Puʻuhonua)
"Creating educational programmes at all levels on the protection of cultural heritage as well as raising public awareness about illicit trafficking of cultural property and its prevention; "
"Also requests the Secretary-General, with the support of UNODC, UNESCO and the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, as well as other relevant United Nations bodies, to submit to the Council a report on the implementation of the present resolution before the end of the year;"
"Decides to remain actively seized of the matter. (meaning in action mode)
Ok so yeah, obviously, this is directed toward terrorism, specifically in Iraq etc. However, the principles have other applications, and I think that once broadened just a little, we fit right in.
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| Wainiha, Kauaʻi |
Resolution text: https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/2347(2017)
Laulani Teale, MPH is the Coordinator of Hoʻopae Pono Peace Project, an Affilliate of Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. She can be reached at laulani@gmail.com.
#peacecookie #unhi #warcrimes #hawaii #aloha
#aina
#hawaiian
#aina
#hawaiian
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Red Ribbons Journey Report
Here is the report, with pictures, of our Red Ribbons Journey 2016, a revisitation of the Queen's train journey in 1897, which culminated in the re-filing of Queen Liliʻuokalani's letter of protest against US Annexation of Hawaiʻi at the US Department of State.
RED RIBBONS JOURNEY REPORT (PDF)
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Just say no to US National "SPAM Week" (Joint resolution, equally legitimate as Annexation)
Aloha Senators Schatz and Hirono,
We, the undersigned, strongly object to Senate Resolution 416of the 2nd Session of the 114th Congress, Recognizing the contributions of Hawaii to the culinary heritage of the United States and designating the week beginning on June 12, 2016, as “National Hawaiian Food Week”. We want full restoration of Hawaiʻi's freedom, which is the only way our true "National Hawaiian Foods" can be truly protected.
We, the undersigned, strongly object to Senate Resolution 416of the 2nd Session of the 114th Congress, Recognizing the contributions of Hawaii to the culinary heritage of the United States and designating the week beginning on June 12, 2016, as “National Hawaiian Food Week”. We want full restoration of Hawaiʻi's freedom, which is the only way our true "National Hawaiian Foods" can be truly protected.
Practically every line in this resolution is highly problematic. This resolution clearly glorifies displacement of Nā Kānaka Maoli, celebrates corporate interests that have caused major health problems for Nā Kānaka Maoli and many others in Hawaiʻi and around the world, and exploits the image of Hawaiʻi as a tourist-friendly “melting pot” – an image that has historically harmed Kānaka Maoli and all of Hawaiʻi greatly. It contains erroneous information and harmful presumptions.
This Senate Resolution – like the unlawful Joint Resolution that purportedly annexed Hawaiʻi to the United States in 1898 – does not reflect the will of the people of Hawaiʻi, and does grievous harm to us.
Our request is that this Resolution be withdrawn. Instead, please initiate a Joint Resolution to free Hawaiʻi from United States rule, and restore our full independence. If Hawaiʻi could be wrongfully taken against the will of the people (as acknowledged in US PL 103-150, 1993) by the highly irregular use of a Joint Resolution (generally used to designate matters of minor importance, as this “National Hawaiian Food Week” measure exemplifies), then a Joint Resolution could similarly be used to set us free, as we should be.
Full independence is the only means by which we can control our land, water, and ocean, and thereby our real "national foods" foods (taro etc., not SPAM) and thereby our health. It is the only means by which the true foods of Hawaiʻi, along with its people, can ever hope to thrive.
This Senate Resolution – like the unlawful Joint Resolution that purportedly annexed Hawaiʻi to the United States in 1898 – does not reflect the will of the people of Hawaiʻi, and does grievous harm to us.
Our request is that this Resolution be withdrawn. Instead, please initiate a Joint Resolution to free Hawaiʻi from United States rule, and restore our full independence. If Hawaiʻi could be wrongfully taken against the will of the people (as acknowledged in US PL 103-150, 1993) by the highly irregular use of a Joint Resolution (generally used to designate matters of minor importance, as this “National Hawaiian Food Week” measure exemplifies), then a Joint Resolution could similarly be used to set us free, as we should be.
Full independence is the only means by which we can control our land, water, and ocean, and thereby our real "national foods" foods (taro etc., not SPAM) and thereby our health. It is the only means by which the true foods of Hawaiʻi, along with its people, can ever hope to thrive.
Below are some specific line-by-line problems with Senate Resolution 416:
“there was little to eat other than birds and a few species of ferns” is highly offensive. First, there is no evidence that this was the diet of the original ʻoiwi o Hawaiʻi. Furthermore, ferns are far more nutritious than any of the food products referenced (with high levels of B & C vitamins, minerals, omega-6 fatty acids, and micronutrients). Worst of all, this statement flies dangerously close to the classically racist anthropological assumption that “flightless birds” were a major food source for Polynesians, who allegedly hunted them to extinction (a theory that has been repeatedly debunked, but is persistently used to stereotype native peoples as destroyers of their environment, in justification of colonialism).
The emphasis on “the agricultural and ranching potential of the land of Hawaii” is offensive and misleading, considering the exploitation and destruction that has come with these things.
“The readily available seafood from the ocean and coasts of Hawaii” is no longer readily available, due to extensive contamination, destruction, exploitation, and lack of ability for true kanaka lawaiʻa to manage the ocean.
A statement such as “Whereas the food cultures initially brought to Hawaii came from places including French Polynesia, China, Japan, Portugal, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Samoa” is so insulting to and dismissive of Kanaka Maoli that it is unbelievable that it was included at all.
A statement such as, “Whereas the foods first brought to Hawaii were simple, hearty fare of working men and women that reminded the men and women of their distant homes” is even worse. It glorifies displacement and erases Kanaka Maoli existence.
The repeated use of the word “Hawaiian” to include foreigners, as in “Whereas the blend of styles in Hawaiian cooking evolves as new groups of individuals make Hawaii their home”, and also glorifies displacement and erases Kanaka Maoli existence, removing traditional methods such as imu and paʻiʻai from the image of “Hawaiian cooking”, and replacing them with SPAM and other problematic images.
“Whereas the fusion of dishes from around the world creates a unique cuisine for Hawaii that is as much a part of a visit to Hawaii as the welcoming climate, friendly individuals, and beautiful beaches in Hawaii” is absolutely harmful and enraging to Kanaka Maoli on many levels. Please try your best to count them, so that we do not have to count them for you.
“Whereas the food of Hawaii is appealing because it came from hard-working communities of individuals that farmed, fished, or ranched for their livelihoods, which are core experiences of individuals throughout the United States” is similarly insulting.
“Whereas the growing appreciation for the food of Hawaii comes from hard-working and ingenious farmers, fishers, educators, ranchers, chefs, and businesses that innovate and export the taste of Hawaii all over the world” is similarly insulting as well. Furthermore, it emphasizes exportation. Hawaii imports nearly 90% of its food and exports nearly 80% of its agricultural production. We have enough food to last 10 days, should ships stop coming for any reason. Glorification of massive exportation is essentially a celebration of our collective lack of sustainability, and threats to our very survival. This goes for every person in Hawaii. It is not something to be taken lightly.
“National Hawaiian Food Week” should rightfully only refer to Hawaiʻi as an independent nation, not to the United States of America, which has no legitimate claim to Hawaiʻi at all. This assumption and legitimization of inclusion within the U.S. ignores 123 years of brutal governance at gunpoint, and the impacts of this repressive dominance on Kanaka Maoli. These impacts have already been recognized by the United States in US Public Law 103-150 (1993). They are, however, totally ignored and dismissed here.
Food impacts are a huge part of this repression. It is well-known that Kanaka Maoli are rapidly dying because of diet-related illnesses stemming from the very diet glorified by “National Hawaiian Food Week”, as well as lack of access to the resources necessary to sustain health. Diet-related diseases include heart disease, diabetes, stroke, many types of cancer, and other deadly ailments that are taking lives daily in Hawaiʻi.
Lack of access to land and water; displacement; pollution and destruction of land, water, reefs and other resources; an imposed foreign economy that forces assimilation to non-native ways in order to survive; and direct forced food assimilation (e.g. school lunches, WIC) similarly contribute to these deadly dietary health impacts, all of which are ignored by this resolution. The magnitude of these known impacts truly equate to genocide. This is not a trivial matter.
Corporate participants in “Hawaiian Foods Week”, per , include SPAM, Dole, King’s Hawaiian Bread, and others. These are problematic entities who have not historically been helpful to Kānaka Maoli, to put it lightly. SPAM is currently featuring a large “Aloha to Musubi” ad on its website and elsewhere. This is an abuse of a sacred word, and wrong on many levels.
Lack of access to land and water; displacement; pollution and destruction of land, water, reefs and other resources; an imposed foreign economy that forces assimilation to non-native ways in order to survive; and direct forced food assimilation (e.g. school lunches, WIC) similarly contribute to these deadly dietary health impacts, all of which are ignored by this resolution. The magnitude of these known impacts truly equate to genocide. This is not a trivial matter.
Corporate participants in “Hawaiian Foods Week”, per , include SPAM, Dole, King’s Hawaiian Bread, and others. These are problematic entities who have not historically been helpful to Kānaka Maoli, to put it lightly. SPAM is currently featuring a large “Aloha to Musubi” ad on its website and elsewhere. This is an abuse of a sacred word, and wrong on many levels.
This resolution is essentially the same instrument improperly utilized to annex Hawaiʻi in 1898. It could not be clearer: Annexation to the U.S. is equally as legitimate as “SPAM Week”.
The chosen week itself (starting June 12th) is insulting. It begins on Kamehameha Day. Also, many of us have been following the Red Ribbons Journey that Liko Martin and Laulani Teale are now on, and the ʻAha Aloha ʻĀina efforts, including an ʻĀha Aloha ʻĀina convened in Washington, D.C. by Dr. Kalamaokaʻaina Niheu, M.D. on June 12th. We are aware that Dr. Niheu, Liko Martin and Laulani Teale -- all of whom are also intensively involved in community health issues -- have all been contacting your offices to request meetings during the exact week in question, with no response. To celebrate pseudo-Hawaiian foods while ignoring the real Hawaiian people is totally unacceptable.
We ask that you stop this course of action immediately, and work with us instead on the only solution that is truly pono for Hawaiʻi: full restoration of our independence.
Mahalo and Aloha!
Mahalo and Aloha!
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Links:
Article about Hawaiian Foods Week
SPAM website featuring "Say Aloha to SPAM Musubi" ad.
SPAM Musubi ad "Say "aloha" to SPAM® Musubi. This Hawaiian take on surf and turf is sure to be a hit at your next luau! Your taste buds will be so pleased by the delicious flavor that they'll throw on a leigh and start dancing the hula."
SPAM website featuring "Say Aloha to SPAM Musubi" ad.
SPAM Musubi ad "Say "aloha" to SPAM® Musubi. This Hawaiian take on surf and turf is sure to be a hit at your next luau! Your taste buds will be so pleased by the delicious flavor that they'll throw on a leigh and start dancing the hula."
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