Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 2, 1 February 1991 — A seabird that nests in the cliffs [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A seabird that nests in the cliffs

Xalitrally llawaiian

By Patrick Ching artist/environmentalist

The koa'e kea or white-tailed tropicbird holds a special plaee in my heart. Whenever I see one I recall the first impressions it left upon me so many years ago . . . ... I had been hiking for hours and had finally

reached the headwalls of Ka mana nui (valley) in the ahupua'a of Moanalua. Dripping with sweat and fairly winded I sat to rest on a fallen hapu'u stump and gazed out across the valley. It was a windless day and the stillness of the scene had a tranquilizing effect on me. I could almost hear the haunting melody of ancient noseflutes as my mind began to drift.

From the distance a pair of white birds entered my peripheral vision and as they approached I focused on their long, streamer-like tail feathers whieh trailed behind them. I enjoyed watching these birds as they soared gracefully along the cliffs occasionally calling play^ fully to one another. For several minutes I watched them fly as they circled the head of the valley and then slowly drifted out of sight. It saddened me a little to see them go. After all, they were the only animated objects in this otherwise motionless setting.

Upon returning home from my long and enjoyable hike I opened my bird books to find that the birds I had seen were white-tailed tropicbirds, known to Hawaiians as koa'e kea. It amazed me to

leam that these were actually seabirds that nested in the mountains. White-tailed tropicbirds ean be seen on all the main Hawaiian islands and occasionally on the tiny northwest Hawaiian islands. They are especially plentiful in Kilauea Crater on the island of Hawai'i and in Waimea Canyon on Kaua'i.

Another kind of tropicbird that lives in Hawai'i is the red-tailed tropicbird known as koa'e 'ula. This bird is no more eommon on the northwest end of the Hawaiian ehain but ean sometimes be seen along the southwest shores of O'ahu or at Kilauea Point on Kaua'i.

Red-tailed tropicbirds Ieave the Hawaiian islands during their non-breeding months, from November through Apnl. White-tails on the other hand stay close to the islands throughout the year. Both species feed exclusively on seafood like flying fish and squid whieh they catch by diving into the water, often from great heights.

Hawaiians and other Polynesian islanders eollected the feathers of both species and used them to decorate headdresses and other feathered ornaments. The birds were also important to Polynesian navigators who were well aware of the birds' feeding habits and migration patterns.

Health horizons

from page 18 Hawaiian health problems.

• An umbrella agency consisting of Native Hawaiians involved in health care should be established to monitor Native Hawaiian health needs, plan health programs, and implement the recommendations of this project.

• Scholarship programs and academic support measures are needed to educate and train Native Hawaiians in all levels of health professions. • A system of Native Hawaiian community health workers should be developed to provide active outreach services, including health education, screening, referral, and follow-up care, on behalf of health programs serving Native Hawaiians.

• Health-related organizations serving Native Hawaiian communities, especially in rural areas should develop programs whieh integrate Western and traditional Hawaiian approaches to health care and medical treatment. • Health promotion and screening programs should develop, with state support, to focus on lifestyle changes within the supportive framework of traditional Hawaiian culture and peer groups to address the problems of aleohol abuse, tobacco and drug abuse, obesity, nutrition, cancer, diabetes and hypertension, and pre-natal care.

• A fund should be established by the state to provide medical care for indigent persons who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid programs. • A cultural sensitivity training program should be developed for physicians and health providers working in Hawai'i on traditional Hawaiian beliefs, attitudes and practices of health care. • Cooperation should be fostered between traditional Hawaiian healers and physicians, perhaps using community health workers as a bridge, so the health needs of Hawaiians ean be more effectively served by both; and that

traditional Hawaiian remedies be incorporated into the care of Native Hawaiians whenever medically feasible. The report further recommended research to: investigate the causes of higher rates of birth abnormalities, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer among Native Hawaiians; assess the prevalence and incidence of socio-

environmental health problems among Native Hawaiians, including possibly greater exposure to pesticides, oeeupahonal hazards, social stress, and other noxious social and physical conditions; and to collect continuing data on the extent to whieh Native Hawaiians are receiving health services.

Conclusion The report concludes that there are many critical health needs among Native Hawaiians whieh are not adequately addressed by the current health programs in Hawai'i. In order to remedy this situation, recommendations are directed towards many different audiences, including the federal government, agencies of the

state government, health care providers, and the community of Native Hawaiians. New resources are required — to believe otherwise is only wishful thinking. However, new resources in themselves are not the answer.

The recommendations of this report focus on the need to change the mode of health delivery in order to improve its accessibility and its acceptability to Native Hawaiians. Change will only be possible with a sincere commitment to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and flexibility on the part of the many involved parties, including Native Hawaiians themselves. Next: Report of the Nutritional/Dental Task Force