Kaluapapa’s annual Night of Aloha is an evening of festivities fit for royalty. Patient residents Boogie and Ivy Kahilihiwa were king and queen of the ceremonies (pictured during their dance), joined by a full court in honor of Hawaiian tradition. The event, held last Wednesday, for the first time in the newly-renovated Paschoal Hall, also featured a full pa`ina feast and a host of entertainment.…
Community Contributed
By Lailani Kahn
`Aha Wahine Kuhinapapa, a two-day women’s conference held at Leeward Community College, is designed to “inspire, in quire, invest and invigorate each other with `ike, aloha and kuleana”. This year’s conference was held from Aug. 17 to 18, where 14 Molokai participants included kupuna, students, mothers, daughters, health professionals and community members. With the success of the ‘Aha Kane, the intent of this conference was to reconnect women to their Hawaiian heritage.
“Native Hawaiian women have been gathering in smaller groups around their particular practices, but [it is important] to have one on a grander scale that dealt with larger issues that all of us as native Hawaiian women deal with –social, economic, health, educational and so forth,” said Mehanaokala Hind, co-coordinator of this year’s conference.…
“It is dangerous to put public lands in private hands,” said Molokai resident Kauhane Adams. Yet it seems that this is exactly what legislature created the Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC) to do when they passed senate bill Act 55 in 2011 that established the corporation.
The PLDC’s intent to “generate additional revenues for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) by developing under-utilized or unused public land,” according to a written statement circulated by the PLDC.
Homesteader Adolph Helm claimed that the PLDC would allow “fast-track boondoggle projects that benefit the private developer and the pockets of the well-connected [while] stripping Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of trust lands.”…
By Todd Yamashita, Molokai Dispatch Publisher
I can remember the days when my family got the key to visit Mo`omomi. Driving down the bumpy, dusty road watching the ocean shimmer in the distance, my anticipation would grow as we neared the shoreline. Although I was just a kid, I remember feeling really lucky. It was a privilege to be there and I was grateful.
Since then, Mo`omomi has seen many changes – the latest being the reintroduction of a gate which has made many upset. Gates can be controversial because they are meant to keep people out. But if you look deeper, past the gate, this is really an issue of conservation.…
Molokai’s Native Hawaiian health care provider, Na Pu`uwai, recently received $1,696,281 in federal funding. The funding, part of an ongoing grant, enables the organization to continue current programs, according to Executive Director William Akutagawa.
The funding was part of $10,673,171 allocated to healthcare, education and wellness programs designed to address the needs of Native Hawaiians across the state. The money comes through a series of five grants administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funding was announced last week by Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Senator Daniel K. Akaka, U.S. Representative Mazie K. Hirono, and U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa.…
In an effort to prevent further overfishing, vandalism and overall neglect of natural resources of Mo`omomi Beach, a gate will be installed to restrict vehicle access to the area, according to Halealoha Ayau, Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) acting district supervisor for Molokai. DHHL hopes to have it installed by the end of the month, but because there is only one person on staff who has the skill to build the gate, it may take longer, according to Ayau
“We’re hoping the gate will help promote responsible behavior, because there has been such a high level of vandalism, cutting through fences and fence posts and really irresponsible behavior, at the pavilion especially,” said Ayau.…
In a large warehouse behind the Molokai Arts Center (MAC) at Coffees of Hawaii, visiting artist and California native Susan Evans crouches over one of the large panels of her mural, paintbrush in hand, blending white streaks into Hina’s long, flowing hair. Evans had originally painted the Hawaiian goddess, known in legends as the mother of Molokai, as a younger woman. But after local Hawaiians told her that Hina was an older, wiser entity, Evans altered the depiction to paint a culturally accurate representation.
It is this learning process that is the most rewarding part of any project, said Evans.…
After receiving opposition from residents as well as state and federal agencies, the U.S. Marine Corps says it won’t increase training activity in the Kalaupapa settlement. The proposed actions were part of an expansion of Marine Corps presence in Hawaii, which still includes a possible refueling station and training at the Ho`olehua Airport.
According to the Programmatic Agreement (PA) for Hawaii operations, activity in Kalaupapa will now remain at the current level of 112 operations annually, performed by H-1 helicopters. The originally-proposed action would have added training of MV-22 Osprey tiltorotar aircraft, which would have approximately doubled current activity.…
On summer nights, female green sea turtles, or honu, make their way to the beach they were born on about 30 years before. Plodding determinedly to a spot above the high tide line, they dig a hole in the sand with their flippers — sometimes they dig several pits before finding a location they deem satisfactory. There, they lay about 100 white eggs, then use their flippers to cover them with sand. They lumber back to the ocean and slip into the cool dark water, never to see their tiny young that will hatch about two months later and instinctively head for the sea.…
In order to bring more tangible data to ongoing efforts to better understand Hawaiian monk seals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has developed a research project that will attach Crittercams, or small video cameras, to the backs of the seals. Video footage would allow not only scientists to gather important data, but would also help community members better understand the seals’ diet, behavior and potential impacts in the main Hawaiian Islands.
There are currently approximately 200 seals living in the main Hawaiian Islands. Their presence has created some controversy and conflict with divers and fisherman near shore, who believe the seals are competing with them for fish.…
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