Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 11, 1 November 1990 — Trustee's Views [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Trustee's Views

(This eolumn is open to all OHA Trustees as a uehiele for them to express their mana'o. Opinions expressed are those of the individual Trustees and do not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA Board of Trustees.)

Stop the bombinq onee and for all!

by Moanikeala Akaka Trustee, Hawai'i

It is interesting anel welcomed news that our Federal-elected officials are desiring the cessation of hostilities against our sacred 'aina of Kaho'olawe. After all these years of struggle to stop the bombings, there is finally aeknow-

ledgement from our congress men and women that enough is enough, that the desecration of this federally-designated nahonal historic site must stop. To eonhnue is akin to bombing Plymouth Rock. The Sunday Honolulu Advertiser editorial of Sept. 30, stated, "Chalk it up to changing world order — or maybe to eleehon vear politics — but Hawaii's congressional delegation is strongly pushing the return of Kaho'olawe." Last spring, Congresswoman Pat Saiki mentioned Kaho'olawe to George Bush who was "surprised the U.S. Navy was bombing a Hawaiian island." So now the secret is out; everybody knows and everybody wants to end it! Sen. Daniel Akaka recently introduced a bill to establish a "commission to study and recommend terms and conditions for returning Kaho'olawe to the state and to prohibit its use as a bombing range » This commission was first proposed to be made up of two Navy appointees, two by the Governor,

one designated bv the OHA chairman and finally a member of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana was added — the Navy then upped their selections to three members. The addition of the PKO was an afh rthought! Let us not forget it was the PKO who has shouldered the burden of protecfng Kaho'olawe, one of our main Hawaiian islands The 'Ohana should have equa! representation with the Navy — automatically. For it has been the PKO that has for all these years truly worked to protect that'aina trom harm. For almost 15 years this grassroots island-wide group, made up of a broad racial cross-section of our populaee — young and old, taro farmer, fisherman, attorney, doctors, ar'ists, educators, hotel and airline workers, computer specialists, and others, Hawaiian and Hawaiian-at-heart — have struggled and persevered to end the desecration of this 'aina. This nationally designated historical area has over 5,000 archaeological and cultural sites, many of whieh today are mueh the same as they were when our ancestors lived there in the 1700's. Being on the island is like stepping back in time. To protect Kaho'olawe, we of the 'Ohana used whatever nonviolent means necessary including illegal occupation: we brought lawsuits that forced the military to register the archaeoiogical sites and allow legal monthly access so that we might bring life back to and feel the 'mana' of the special 'aina, as well as to increase the awareness of the people of these islands of the importance of Kaho'olawe as an essential like to our heritage. As result of

the lawsuit the Navy instructed to reduce the goat population and was required to work with the PKO to plant trees and protect our historical sites The Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana deserves representa tion equal to the Navy because we represent the opposite pole of interest To the Navy. theisland is a target. To us, it is a living. sacred member of our archipelago. history, cultural continuity and na tiona! integrity. It is a Hawaiian contribution to the national historical monuments, and we insist they m intain it with the same degree of respect showr. to other national monuments. Congratulations then. to all congressional delegates. Democrat and Republican alike, for agreeing on what the PKO has been struggling to impress all this time: stop the bombing of Kaho'olawe and retum it to its rightful plaee of respect. Sen. Daniel Inouye in support of Sen. Akaka's bill stated that he "intends to use every resource available to return Kaho'o lawe to the people of Hawai'i," including his chair manship of the Senate Defense Appropriation Committee. The Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana deserve and have earned the right to be the designated stewards and caretakers of the island of Kaho'olawe. We would like to thankall people in the state. nation and worldwide, who have been supportive of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana. Countless hours of sacrifice and dedicatior have gone into bringing this situation near to a happy conclusion — cessation of the bombing Hopefuliy, we're getting some genuine movement from our federal representatives. George Helm and Kimo Mitchell paid the supreme pnee for the integrity of all our Hawaiian Islands.

Malama pono. Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono