Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 8, 1 August 1985 — 12 Sign Phase I Leases [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

12 Sign Phase I Leases

Home at Last for Ho'opuloa Refugees

It was 5:15 a.m., Apr. 18, 1926, and the villagers watched with fear and helplessness as red hot molten lava rolled down the steep slopes of Mauna Loa toward the sea, destroying everything in its path. By 6:30, the little South Kona fishing village of Ho'opuloa was completely wiped out, its people forced to flee before Pele's wrath. They lost their homes, their household goods . . . and more importantly their land. The village of Ho'opuloa was no more. People throughout the T erritory responded with contributions for the Ho'opuloa refugees. Governor Lawrence Judd later issued an executive order establishing a Hawaiian village park on nearly 57 acres of Territorial land at Ho'opuloa and neighboring Miloli'i. However, it wasn't until 1941 that the County of Hawaii mapped out a subdivision consisting of 24 lots at the southem end of Ho'opuloa for the refugees. These lots were awarded verbally by county officials, but apparently the legal work was never completed. People moved to the new site, bui!t houses and raised families, but never were given title or leases to the property. As time went on, the residents found they were unable to qualify for permits or loans to build or improve their homes because they had no lega! right to the iand. All efforts to secure long term leases failed.

In 1980, descendants, relatives and 'ohana of the original refugees formed Pa'a Pono Miloli'i. Its president, Gil Kahele, says the name means "hold firm, be steadfast for what we believe is right." Working closely with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Legal Aid, Alu Like, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the State administration, county officials and individual legislators, Pa'a Pono prepared a bill for consideration by the 1982 Legislature. Initially nobody gave it mueh ehanee, but the measure, whieh granted long term leases to the Miloli'i residents, was approved and signed into law. A great many people and agencies participated in the effort, but it is clear that the real credit goes to the people of Miloli'i themselves. As Pa'a Pono president Kahele says: "The 'ohana system is alive here. That's what makes Miloli'i special. We work together, we pray together and we cry together." Additional fine tuning of the legislation and the development of a master plan for Miloli'i delayed actual signing of the

first leases until last month. That ceremony, whieh took plaee on July 12, was the occasion for one of the biggest pa'inas in Milnli'i's historu

Governor George R. Ariyoshi was there to sign eaeh of the 12 leases. Other dignitaries included Big Island Mayor Dante Carpenter; OHA Trustees Moanikeala Akaka, Moses Keale and Gard Kealoha; Land Board Chairman Susumu Ono and members Roland Higashi, Douglas Ing, Moses Kealoha and Leonard Zalopany; State Sen. Malama Solomon and other State and County officials. The real celebrities, though, were the 12 men and women who eame forward one by one to sign the documents whieh gave them the legal right to live on their land. Eaeh received a 65-year lease fixed at $132 a year for the first 25 years.

Those first 12 leases are referred to as "Phase I". Phase II will make available an additional 50 homesites to those who qualify. Applicants must be Ho'opuloa refugees ortheir descendants and must intend to live on the land. Individual lots will be awarded by lottery. The day after the Phase I leases were signed, Kahele summed it up for the whole village: "Its like a burden has been lifted from our shoulders. When we woke up this morning I felt that fina!!y this is ours. When you look at your children, you know they have a plaee they ean eome home to. We're no longer homeless refugees. We ean dream now. "Its an ending, but more importantly its the beginning of a lot of good things."

Residents and state and county dignitaries stand ready to untie maile lei marking the opening of Miloli'i Phase I lots. From left to right are Eugene Chang, Abel Kahele, Governor George R. Ariyoshi, Dora Halena, Amoe Casuga, Delfrado Llanes, Stephen Kepano Kuahuia, Hawaii Mayor Dante Carpenter, Tony Akiu and Myra Kamaka. Not pictured are other lessees Pacita Billings, Leilani Kahele, Roberto Kalei Martines and Raymond Kuahuia.

This is what remains today of that 1926 f)ow, a stark reminder of that incident 59 years ago.