Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 2, 1 February 2007 — Healing an island healing a people [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Healing an island healing a people

Hawaiian physicians gather for a therapeutic sojourn on Kaho'olawe

Stūry and phūtūs by Derek Ferrar Puhlie lūformatioū Specialist In surf shorts and a T-shirt stained with three days' worth of reddish-brown Kaho'olawe grit, psychiatrist Ieff Akaka stands before a group of 20 or so Native Hawaiian health professionals assembled at pienie tables under an enormous tarp at the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana's access eamp at Hakioawa. "The last time I spoke at a medieal conference," Akaka quips as he launches into a presentation on the medical effects of "iee" addiction, "I was wearing a three-piece suit." Akaka's presentation is part of an annual huaka'i, or excursion, held by the 'Ahahui o nā

Kauka, the association of Native Hawaiian physicians. Eaeh year, the 'Ahahui offers its hundred or so members the opportunity to visit a significant Hawaiian site, whieh the organization couples with Hawaiian-themed medical discussions that count toward the continuing education credits that every doctor must accumulate eaeh year to keep their license current. This year, the members, along with many of their families, have gathered for their third huaka'i to Kaho'olawe, this time with the theme of "Healing a People, Healing a Nation." "We know our history, we know the land, and we know that the heahh of our own people will lead to the healing of the land," says Dr. Noa Emmett

Aluli, a Moloka'i physician who serves a dual role on this trip as both a founder of the kauka hui and one of the leaders of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, whose dedicated struggle helped bring an end to the bombing of the island in 1990. Today, the PKO is designated as the offieial stewardship group for the island, working in partnership with the state's Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission, whieh assumed control after the Navy made its final exit from the island in 2003. PKO leads regular cultural accesses to Kaho'olawe that allow groups and individuals to experience the island's power for themselves by participating in cultural protocols and working to bring life back to the parched and eroded 'āina. "Kaho'olawe plays a very important role in the healing of our land," Emmett tells the

kauka during a talk-story session. "But even more important is the healing of our own people. For us in the heahh field, that is our kuleana. At one time, our people dropped like flies from introduced diseases, now it's from things like 'iee' and poverty. The outside forces are so powerful, and we really need to try to address all that trauma." In 1998, Emmett, Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell and a handful of other Hawaiian doctors made good on a longtime dream by joining together to establish the 'Ahahui o nā Kauka, with the goal of helping to address Native Hawaiians' dire health statistics through educational, scientific and charitable activities. Over the course of their long weekend on Kaho'olawe, whieh was partly made made possible

by an OHA grant, the kauka gather under the big tarp to give and listen to presentations on such topics as culture-based treatment for substance abuse and domestic violence, the health effects of "cultural trauma" and the factors that prevent many Native Hawaiians from receiving adequate health care. During one session, medical students who are along on the trip as part of the 'ahahui's mentoring activities are asked to share their reflections on the experience. "I eame here to listen and ask questions about medicine," one student says, "but instead I've mainly just been feeling the mana of the island; it's so tangible here." At the back end of the tent, several traditional healing practitioners offer lomilomi to the participants as they listen to the presentations. One of the practitioners, Keola Chan, admits

HUAKA'I • JŪURNEYS

Left: Psychiatrist Jeff Akaka gives ū presentation on the ravages of "iee" addiction under the big tarp. Below: Traditional healing practitioners AIvū Andrews and Leina'ala Bright give 'Ahahui o nō Kauka founder and Protect Kūho'olawe 'Ohana veteran Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli ū good dose of old-fashioned lomilomi.

that he was initially hesitant to join the huaka'i because of the tension that often exists between medical doctors and traditional healers. "But since we've been here, I feel like I've gotten a better appreciation for their mana'o," he says. "I think we're starting to see more eommon ground when it comes to dealing with the heakh issues of Hawaiians." Between the presentation sessions, the kauka and their families hike to the top of the island and the cultural sites surrounding the Hakioawa eamp on narrow trails between the ubiquitous orange "warning!" posts that mark the boundaries of the areas deemed secure after the Navy's munitions eleanup, whieh cost $400 million and took 10 years but still left the mueh of the island unsafe to traverse. At one site, whose stone walls stretch down a series of terraces on a rock face next to the eamp,

Aluli and fellow PKO veteran Davianna McGregor talk about the annual makahiki observances that the 'ohana celebrates on the island. "They're not just makahiki games to be taken lightly," McGregor says, "but a serious appeal to Lono to bring his rains back to this island and raise the water table." At one point, the men and women gather separately at the stone remains of what are believed to be a hale mua (men's eating house) and hale o Papa (women's worship house). In the men's gathering, many of the doctors share similar stories of how they ignored or even suppressed their Hawaiian heritage during their years of pursuing their Western medical education, then experienced an awakening of desire to use their skills to serve their people after seeing firsthand the wrenching struggles with disease that so many of their Hawaiian

patients face. One of the kauka recounts bringing his teenage son to a similar kūkākūkā session during one of the 'ahahui's earlier trips to Kaho'olawe, and his son had talked about how hard it was to have his father spend so mueh time away working. "I had never realized before how mueh I had sacrificed personally in pursuing my values as a physician," the doctor confides with a quavering voice. "So now I try to make sure to also make time for my values as a Hawaiian father." At night, the group gathers for lavish eommunal meals, kanikapila and still more talk-story. "At this point, Kaho'olawe is like a baby; it needs time to mature and heal," Emmett says during one of the sharing sessions. "And we have the opportunity to try to help it heal with both the best in our culture and the best in modern technology."

He adds passionately: "Perhaps the proudest thing is that this is the first ceded land and the first military land to be returned to us." From a dark corner of the tent, someone calls out: "One island down, seven to go!" It's past midnight when everyone finally stumbles to their tents and sleeping bags under a sky filled with shooting stars. The lights of Maui's condos twinkle just a few miles away across the ehannel, but somehow Kaho'olawe still feels a world away. On the final day of the huaka'i, a big Trilogy Excursions catamaran arrives to provide the kauka with a rare treat - a deluxe circumnavigation around the island. After all the gear is passed hand-to-hand through the shorebreak, everyone climbs aboard and the boat cruises south past the island's desolate cliffs and swirl-

ing offshore currents. The captain, a student of coastal geology, points out the fractured spot in the cliffs that was onee the fiery heart of the island's voleano, while Emmett and Davianna identify caves and coves associated with shark spirits and other mo 'olelo of the ancient days when the island was known as Kanaloa after the god of the sea. Finally, the boat anchors for a while at Honokanai'a beach, formerly the Navy's headquarters on the island and now the base of operations for the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Conmiission's restoration efforts. Spent but happy, the kauka gather for a group photo on the crescent of golden sand. "I think Kaho'olawe is definitely the most powerful of the places we've visited," reflects Dee-Ann Carpenter-Yoshino, an internal medicine specialist who serves as the current president of 'Ahahui o nā Kauka. "The island has so mueh to teach us." S

HUAKA'I • J0URNEYS

Left: Colorful PKO Zodiac skipper Atwood "Makū" Mokononi lounches into one of his signature 'ōlelo-raps to instruct huaka'i participants in the traditional techniques being used to reconstruct the 'ohana's hale halawai (meeting house) on the island. Above: The coastal view southward from Hūkioawū.