Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 5, 1 May 1994 — Maui ceremony to herald return of Kahoʻolawe [ARTICLE]

Maui ceremony to herald return of Kahoʻolawe

bv Jeff Clark E ho'iho'i 'ia mai 'o Kaho'olawe - title to Kaho'olawe comes back this month, and its retum will be heralded with chant, hula, and the blowing of the pū. The south shore of Maui, from whieh Kaho'olawe ean be clearly seen, will be the site of a ceremony being planned to celebrate the retum of the island from the federal government to the State of Hawai'i. Under federal law, Kaho'olawe will be retumed and will be under the jurisdiction of the state until such time as it ean be transferred to a sovereign Hawaiian entity. The ceremony will take plaee Saturday, May 7 at Palauea Bay beginning at 1 1 a.m. The public is invited.

The Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation will coordinate the ceremony, whieh will include chant and performances by hālau hula, on behalf of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC). The proceedings will begin with 100 sounds of the pū on Maui and Molokini, followed by 50 beats of the pahu dmm and a recitation of the "Nā Aumakua" chant. KIRC executive director Keoni Fairbanks said the participants will aU be holding onto a long line of sennit that will extend into the kai, emphasizing our connection to the oeean, in what is known as a kaula ceremony. Chanting of the genealogy of Kaho'olawe will follow and ho'okupu will be presented: Maui County Mayor Linda Crockett Lingle will present 'uala (sweet potato), Gov. John Waihe'e will present koa, Sen. Daniel Inouye and the assistant secretary of the Navy will offer 'awa, the KIRC

will give 'ulu, and the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana will give kalo. Then documents will be formally signed: one set of palapala will convey the island to the state, and another, the Memorandum of Understanding, will outline the Navy's eleanup efforts and spell out the duties and responsibilities of the Navy, the state and the KIRC over the 10-year eleanup period. The Navy is responsible for making parts of the island safe for humans and will remain liable for injury during its eleanup mission; it therefore must retain eontrol of access and use during its eleanup, according to Fairbanks. The ceremony, whieh will also include food as well as hula by three hālau (those of Keali'i Reichel, Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla, and Cliff Ahue), is being paid for by the KIRC.

The next day, at dawn, there will be another ceremony. This one will take plaee on Kaho'olawe itself, and no spectators are allowed: those who want to be there must actively take part and be prepared to chant themselves into the ceremony, Fairbanks said. The Hakioawa Bay event will include an 'awa ceremony on the mua dedicated in August 1992. In recent months the commission worked out mles regulating boating and oeean recreation in the waters surrounding the island. Emergency rales will be in effect for the four months following May 7, during whieh regular mles will go through the public hearing process. The commission has adopted the motto "Kūkulu Ke Ea Kanaloa," whieh means "to lay a foundation for the life force of Kanaloa."