Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 7, 1 July 2006 — Hawaiian cultural and natural resources exploited [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian cultural and natural resources exploited

Note: Ai this issue was going to print, the University of Hawai'i filed papers to give up ownership of the three crossbreeds of taro they had patented. These breeds ean now be used by the public without having to notify or pay royalties to the school. £ A no'ai kākou. On March 2, 2006, / 1 I wrote University of Hawai'i J. A.President David McClain to request that UH abandon its patents on three varieties of Hawaiian kalo (taro). I was disappointed that the University ignored Hawaiian cultural sensitivities by patenting a variety of kalo that was developed through centuries of selective breeding by our native ancestors. To make matters worse, the three patented kalo are now exclusively licensed by the university, whieh forces farmers to pay a two percent royalty on gross sales and prevents them from breeding or conducting research on the plants. I urged President McClain to develop a strong policy that will ensure that our unique Hawaiian cultural and natural resources are not exploited. According to media reports, the university is currently researching ways to gain an exemption to its policy of automatically patenting new strains of taro. UH's vice chancellor for research and graduate education, Gary Ostrander, said the university "has eome to both recognize and appreciate the unique plaee that taro occupies in the lives and culture of indigenous peoples and in particular our Native Hawaiian eommunity." Ostrander said that while the institution has not determined how it will do so, "we ean unequivocally state the intention of Mānoa to make an exception to the process relating to patenting and licensing surrounding taro." ( The Honolulu Advertiser, May 17, 2006) According to Ostrander, the issue is not a simple one for UH to resolve. The three patented kalo have been bred to be resistant to a fungal leaf blight and under UH union eontracts, it must be protected through a patent. He also said that if the university doesn't obtain a patent, a commercial entity could

easily obtain one and control the release of the hybrid. "Mānoa now must find a way to simultaneously be responsive to our faculty, their union, potential predatory conunercial patents, and of no less importance, our greater Native Hawaiian community," he said. While I understand that this issue will not be easy for the university to resolve, they must realize that time is critical and we can't let this drag-on endlessly. We must not allow Hawaiian intellectual properties to be left unprotected for even another day. One effective way to make this issue a priority within UH is to keep it in the public eye through protests. Respected Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte has taken the lead by helping to build a stone 'ahu on the UH Mānoa lawn as a reminder of the eonneehon between taro and Hawaiian culture. He also helped to ehain and loek the main entrances to the university's school of medicine in Kaka'ako, 15 minutes before the monthly UH Board of Regents meeting was scheduled to begin. He stationed men dressed in white and yellow malos at the entrances to symbolically plaee a kapu on the building. The protests shouldn't be limited to just UH. I sent letters to Senate President Robert Bunda and House Speaker Calvin Say in the last legislative session about this issue but, in the end, nothing happened. Proposals were introduced to limit laboratory research and growth of genetically modified taro and coffee until mid-2011, and ban all work on genetically modified Hawaiian varieties of taro. Unfortunately, these proposals went no-where. It is important to note that the University has consistently taken license to capture Hawaiian resources without compensation to Hawaiians. For example, the telescopes on Mauna Kea and the giving contracts to research companies to explore Hawaiian waters. We need to seek legislation next year to make it illegal for the university to continue doing this without regulation. With the eleehon season coming up in the next few months, we need to make the protection of Hawaiian intellectual property rights an important campaign issue. Our legislators need to know that we're not going to sit idly by as the last of our valuable resources are stolen and controlled by a selfish few. I mua e Hawai'i nei. . . For more information on important Hawaiian issues, eheek out my website at www.rowenaakana.org. ^

Rūwena Akana TrustEE, At-lsrgE