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With 17 crews on the water, Molokai was well-represented this year in the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association (HCRA) state championship, held at Hanakaoo (Canoe) Beach Park on Maui last Saturday. Wa`akapaemua Canoe Club brought 12 crews, while Kukui O Molokai and Molokai Canoe Club had two and three, respectively.
“We’re going against the best in the state – all you can do is try your best,” said Molokai Canoe Club President Liko Wallace.
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It’s not unusual to see families camping on Molokai. But it is unusual to see eight ohana spending a week at a fishpond, learning ancient skills, proper diet and Olelo Hawaii from their kupuna. It’s Lawaia Ohana Camp, a week-long program held at Ali`i Fishpond by Ka Honua Momona (KHM) and called the first of its kind by its organizers.
The camp is unique, said program director Kilia Purdy-Avalino, because of its focus on ohana. Many other similar camps on Molokai are specific to a certain age group, but at Lawaia Ohana, babies to kupuna learn together.
“If ohana stays strong, the island stays strong,” said Kanoe Davis, participant and site coordinator. “This is so different from other projects I’ve been on.”
Lawaia Ohana was made possible through a Conservation International grant that supported five similar camps in communities around the state. One of the organization’s goals is to teach sustainable fishing, regulations and protocols, said Purdy-Avalino. To this end, each participating ohana received fishing gear such as dive bags and snorkel, as well as the resources to continue those skills after the camp. Participants made their own bamboo fishing poles, nets and much more.
“I learned how to make a dry box, throw net and how to work in groups,” said student participant Iokepa Kaupu. His favorite part, he said, was having fun with friends and diving.
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On March 13, 1999, a group of Kanaka Maoli reinstated the former Hawaiian government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Since the overthrow of the government in 1893 by a group of European and American landowners, the Kingdom and its citizens have been living under the laws of the United States. Now, the reinstated Hawaiian nation boasts nearly 400 “nationals” in Hawaii and nine on Molokai, according to Prime Minister Henry Noa.
Noa visited Molokai earlier this month to discuss the nation and the progress it has made. Since 1999,the reinstated Hawaiian nation has reconstructed its government, with executive, legislative and executive branches and offices of the House of Nobles and Representatives; conducted elections for the nation; passed laws, including amending its constitution in 2000; and developed government departments, such as the Dept. of Health and the Dept. of Transportation, and more.
“It’s you that can make the difference now to make this sovereignty stand up – all you have to do is participate,” said Noa.
“[The U.S. government is] taking everything from us – culture, identity, lands, everything,” said Duke Kalipi, representative for the Molokai district – one of 24 districts in the reinstated nation. “We all can make this work if we unify – we can get the recognition we deserve.”
Following the Law
The goal, Noa said, is to “reclaim the inherent sovereign right of absolute political authority and jurisdiction in Hawaii.” These rights, he explained, are possible under international law. The international law of perfect right, according to Noa, states that every sovereign nation does not have to ask another sovereign nation what it can or cannot do.” The former Hawaiian nation was recognized as a sovereign nation, and the perfect right was never relinquished.
“As long as there was no Hawaiian government, there was no one to give the land back to,” said Noa.
On the day of the overthrow, Queen Lili`uokalani sent a letter of protest of the U.S. president, invoking international law by stating her objection to the overthrow. One hundred years later, in 1993, President Bill Clinton signed a resolution acknowledging the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and apologizing to Native Hawaiians for the United States’ participation in the overthrow.
Noa marked a distinct difference between his goals and the Akaka Bill. Under the Akaka Bill, Noa said, Hawaiians will still be subject to U.S. laws, whereas the sovereign nation is only subject to their own laws. Noa also placed the Akaka Bill as an example of “imperfect” international law, as opposed to perfect right. The bill, he said, asks permission of the occupying government to return to sovereignty, rather than “reinstating their inherent right to sovereignty on their own.”
The group’s ultimate goal, said French, is to become a sovereign nation, rather than a state under the U.S.
Citizenship
In order to become a citizen, Kanaka Maoli and others who wish to support the cause must take classes to understand the government, process and rights. They must pass a citizenship test, give up their U.S. citizenship and swear an oath of allegiance. As citizens, they will be given a Hawaiian Kingdom ID, certificate of citizenship, birth/marriage certificates, driver’s license, vehicle registration and license plates and other documents.
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Squeals of delight were mixed with sea spray as Molokai kids experienced the ancient art of Hawaiian sailing canoes last Friday. The Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Association (HSCA) held its third annual “Mahalo Molokai” event at Hale O Lono to thank the community for supporting them during their race season. The association, with teams on almost every island, races around the state every summer, sharing their love of the sport that carried their ancestors.
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Anakala Pilipo Solatorio of Halawa Valley and his brother, Daniel Flores, lost all contact with each other for 32 years. It was a joyous reunion when they finally reconnected about two decades ago. Now, Flores and his family returned to Molokai for a family wedding in the valley where he was born.
“It feels strange but great,” Flores said of being back on Molokai – his last visit to the island was eight years ago. He moved from Molokai 52 years ago, when he joined the Air Force. He was stationed in England, met his wife, June, and has been living there ever since.
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It was only by an unusual twist of fate that Solatorio and Flores were reconnected. Their parents died when they were young, and the children were adopted by several local families, according to older brother Solatorio (which is why they hold different last names). After his brother left for the Air Force, Solatorio said he lost contact for years, never knowing where Flores lived. Solatorio worked for Molokai Ranch at the wildlife park, and one day, a couple from England visited the park.
They said they knew his brother. “And that’s how I found him,” he said.
After they got back in touch, Solatorio traveled to England for Flores’ 50th birthday –the first time they had reunited in 32 years. They made a pact that Flores would visit Molokai the next year to celebrate Solatorio’s 50th birthday, which marked his first trip home since leaving the island.
Solatorio called his family’s visit “beautiful.”
Many of the grandchildren have visited Molokai already, though for their grandson Stuart Goldsmith, this was his first trip.
“I’m learning a lot about the culture,” he said.
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It’s wildfire season and in Kalaupapa, the National Park Service (NPS) is doing everything it can to prevent them. They plan to clear about 20 acres of highly flammable brush in August, targeting invasive species like Christmas berry, lantana and java plum within 100 feet of structures. Native plants and other historical trees will be preserved. The project marks the first brush removal from the settlement in 100 years.
Kalaupapa National Historical Park (KNHP) Superintendent Steve Prokop, Terrestrial Ecologist Paul Hosten and Recycling Supervisor Arthur Ainoa announced the project during the monthly Kalaupapa settlement community meeting last week. Residents responded positively to the proposal, and NPS green-lighted money in its budget for it to move forward, Hosten said.
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Logistics
A vegetation management crew of about 10 to 14 members flew in from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will work alongside KNHP staff to remove the plants with chainsaws, Hosten said. Brush will be chipped on site and used for various purposes throughout the settlement.
Hosten said he expects work to run from August 8 to 19. While he estimates about 20 acres will be cleared, that number could fluctuate and will help determine the total cost of the project.
The need for wildfire prevention activities comes from “a realization that the fuels have just accumulated tremendously across the peninsula and across the settlement” during the past 100 years, Hosten said.
Growth was particularly rapid in the past 20 years, he added. Cattle previously snapped branches and flattened vegetation with their large bodies and heavy hooves. But after a 1980s outbreak of the bacterial disease brucellosis forced an island-wide cattle culling, the animals were never reinstated in Kalaupapa, allowing the plants’ unchecked growth.
The invasive species were mostly brought to Hawaii during territorial times in the early 1900s, according to Garnett. They have no natural enemies here, which further accelerates their takeover.
Preserving the Native and Historical
In addition to NPS’s top priority of protecting residents, Hosten said NPS also wants to prevent fire from destroying the settlement’s historic structures and graves, and protect native plants from being overtaken by the invasive species.
“Not only do these shrubs and trees threaten the lives of residents, they’re also crowding out old plantings of fruit trees and ornamental shrubs, and those help tell the history of … the settlement,” he said.
Marks stressed that it’s important to make sure valued trees are not cut down. NPS staff will work with community members in the field to tag trees with blue trees for removal and orange trees to remain untouched, Hosten said.
Marks added she hopes NPS will adopt the Polynesian tradition of planting new trees in place of ones they remove – something that Hosten said NPS plans to do. To choose the trees, staff consider environmental conditions like rainfall and elevation, availability of irrigation, and maintenance needed for the area, Hosten said; he’s already suggested native species like ohe makai and wili wili because of their ability to thrive in dry places.
Garnett said working toward preventing wildfires is an important step in the right direction, but said he hopes KNHP will look into additional safety procedures like a seawater pump in case a fire starts regardless of these measures. While Kalaupapa has 12 certified wildland fire fighters and maintains a water sprinkler system around the settlement, if they’re forced to use their fire hydrants, “it will be minutes, not hours” before they run out of water, he said.
For now, though, KNHP is focusing on creating the defensible spaces. Hosten said the project, which will include collaboration by several divisions within KNHP, should provide long-term benefits for Kalaupapa, including the creation of several jobs. NPS has been advertising for positions via USAJOBS and throughout top-side to train people alongside Volcanoes National Park workers so they can maintain the low-fuel areas.
“Everybody in the park is really working together on this,” he said.
Hui, hui to all! This is a kahea to all residents of Molokai Nui a Hina. There will be a general meeting for anyone and everyone wanting to gain information and enlightenment about ea, or sovereignty, on July 9 at the QLCC conference room, 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The focus will be about the Reinstated Hawaiian Government (RHG), and the speaker, Henry Noa, will present background information. RHG was incorporated in March 1999, and Noa will share some of the progressive steps and evens that have since occurred, and present plans for the immediate future. Citizens of RHG will be present to answer and share their experiences.
State Senate News Release
A 118-year-old deep-rooted obligation to formally recognize Native Hawaiians as “the only indigenous, aboriginal, maoli people of Hawaii” will take a major step forward when Gov. Neil Abercrombie signs Senate Bill 1520 into law on Wednesday, July 6, 2011.
The law will significantly improve protection of cultural rights, ceded lands and other entitlements, advance self-governance and heal the “kaumaha” – the heaviness or sorrow. When signed into law, the measure adds a new chapter to the Hawaii Revised Statutes, which would establish a process for Native Hawaiians to organize themselves.
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Community Contributed
Na `Opio O Molokai Hawaiian Homesteaders ame Na Auamo A Hina O Ke Au Hou want to mahalo Ahupua`a o Molokai, All Hawaiian Homestead Association, Ankala Phillipo, Friendly Isle United Funds, and all participants who participated in our Local Camping Retreat in Halawa on Feb. 25-27, 2011 which brought inspiration and motivation.
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Na `Opio O Molokai Hawaiian Homesteaders
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