Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 10, 1 October 2009 — Sonny Kaniho...He opened the Gate and Paved a Road filled with Hope for our People [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Sonny Kaniho...He opened the Gate and Paved a Road filled with Hope for our People

t was Aug. 14, 2009, just a beautiful, sunny, see-forever, awesome morning on Moku O Keawe. I was at the 9-mile marker on Māmalahoa Highway driving to Kona for a meeting at our OHA office at the Hualālai Trade Center. Here on Hawai'i Island, to get from plaee to plaee takes time. From the intersection of Māmalahoa and Lindsey Road in South Kohala, its 50 minutes to Kailua-Kona; it's an hour 15 minutes to the "airplane" bridge in Hilo and just over two hours to Pāhala town. You get to spend a lot of time thinking about all kinds of stuff driving around our big beautiful island. The morning's silence was broken by the buzzing of my eell phone, whieh I promptly grabbed and in my best voice asked, "How may I help you?" A deep voice responded: "Bobby, Kaniala Kaniho. Unele Sonny died this morning. I know you were close friends and on behalf of the family I just wanted to let you know he passed away." And so I spent my moming drive reflecting on this man I had eome to know, admire and respect. I have heroes and they are all loeal heroes. None are movie stars, politicians or athletes. They are my parents, four teachers (Mr. Morikawa, Mr. īanaka, Mrs. Baird, Miss Powers) and Sonny Kaniho. Just folks from nearby who made our corner of the world a better plaee by living God-centered lives;

instilling in us good values (Aloha being front and center) and a strong work ethic; putting others and community first; the need to know right from wrong, honesty, trustworthiness; being courteous and kind to all we meet and who set the bar of success so high we were compelled to over achieve. I've spoken about my parents in past articles. Mr. Morikawa (Stanley) stands tall in my memory book of heroes. He was my algebra teacher in ninth grade at Waimea School. Until I had Mr. Morikawa as a teacher I hated math, but he made algebra and school fun, relevant, meaningful. There was Mr. īanaka (Joe). He was my history teacher in intermediate school. He made history eome alive, interesting, exciting. And there's Mrs. Baird (Dorothy). She told us of how she wanted to ride in the circus, but I am glad she heeame a teacher, an English teacher. She was warm and motherly, believed in us and brought out the best in us. And Miss Beth Powers. 1966, Honors English-Kamehameha. Because of her, I acquired a love for writing and Shakespeare. Because of her, I learned how to type. My handwriting was so bad she gave me F's. She was not going to lose her eyesight over my bad handwriting. And then there is Sonny Kaniho. It was in April 1974 when I met Sonny. I worked for the Third Circuit Court at the time. My home base was South Kohala. This handsome Hawaiian man with a smile as big as the brim on a Stetson and whom I had never met before eame into the courtroom. I assumed one of the Judges had sent him my way. I was expecting an appeal for leniency on behalf of a family member in some kind of humbug as this did happen from time to time, but my assumption was See LINDSEY ūū pags 15

Rūbert K. Lindsey, Jr. TrnstRR. Hawai'i

LINDSEY

Continued from page 13 wrong. Sonny stated his matter was personal not judicial. He said a mutual friend had told him if there was anybody in Waimea who could help him I could. That was rather flattering. It was lunchtime and he asked if I had time to "talk story" over luneh. That luneh was the beginning of a Great Adventure into Hawaiian activist politics. An Adventure whieh thankfully was based on Peaee, Goodwill, Gentle Disobedienee and Divine Guidance. And so we went to luneh at Kamuela Deli and over luneh he told me what was on his "mind." I was active with The Hawaiians back then. Pae Galdeira was our po'o (leader). Pae had told Sonny because his matter was a DHHL matter involving Waimea I was the one he should huddle with as Waimea was my Kuleana. Sonny "cut to the chase." HIS ISSUE. DHHL was leasing prime lands, thousands of acres to Parker Ranch and Anna Ranch, whieh should be leased to qualified homesteaders. HIS QUESTION. What were we going to do about this? MY ANSWER. Submit a formal appeal (letter) to the Department to rescind the General Leases at issue. HIS RESPONSE. 'A'ole, "been there and done that." He had made several appeals but gotten nowhere. In fact several had told him: "Let things be. No make noise. We dealing with some big people here." But he was not going to back down. He was on a Crusade. Sonny did not have a bad bone in his body. He had this kind spirit, this gentle aura about him. He was upset but never nasty. He never used an expletive in all the conversations we had and there were many since this iniīial "talk story" luneh. Though he laughed and smiled through luneh, I knew for him this was a serious matter. He told me he had thought things through and he hoped I would support him. HIS PLAN. He was going to occupy the Lands of Pauahi on the Kohala Mountain Road, 'āina leased to Parker Ranch for decades. HELP WANTED. He needed to take his case to the puhlie and he needed someone to craft letters, articles and press releases for him. He heard I could write. Who he heard this from I will never know as I never asked.

I told him at the end of our meal to give me time to think things through and promised to get back to him within a day or so. We shook hands and went our different ways. This meeting with Sonny changed my life (and my family's). One ean skate through life and say I support this cause or that cause. Throw money at a cause and feel good about it, go home at night, have a cocktail, wake up to another day, continue merrily down life's byway. When I left Sonny that day mueh of what he said at our leaving was, "It's times like this when you know who is real and who is not real, who believes in the people and justice and who does not." I knew full well what he was talking about. He was taking on the Comerstones of our Community. He was asking me to do the same. People with power, inHuenee, deep ties, long history, affluence. My wife and I were a young eouple and Parker Ranch had embraced us, been good to us. We had been living at Pu'u 'Ōpelu, the Parker Compound for four years. My grandfather worked for Parker for almost 50 years. So had many uncles and cousins. Mr. Smart was our landlord and he was a great landlord. We lived in the "Garden of Eden." My Aunty was Anna Lindsey. What to do? Well I called Sonny as I promised and said I would help him because he was "doing the right thing for our people." He put me to work writing articles, press releases, letters. He wanted as many folks to know what he was planning, intending, looking to do. He was fighting to get lands out of the hands of the big companies and into the hands of our people. And so the occupation of the Lands of Pauahi happened on a beautiful Waimea Saturday moming in May 1974 at the 3-mile marker on the Kohala Road. Sonny and several others unhinged a gate with Parker's No Trespass sign on it and took possession of the plaee in the name of the Hawaiian people. Sonny got his wish. He was arrested by his cousin Leningrad Elarionoff along with several others for Simple Trespass. The morning the protest happened, Sonny cooked breakfast for Leningrad. Over breakfast Sonny shared with Leningrad his entire plan. I am inclined to believe it's only in Hawai'i where this kind of honesty is possible. The world heeame Sonny's stage and his bully pulpit. DHHL had a duty to lease land to qualified Hawaiians not the "landed rich." That was its

Mandate, its Mission, its Charter. The Department held its ground and said it would continue to honor the lease it had with Parker (and all the others). A trial date was set before District Judge Norman 01ds in Waimea in October of that year. I was asked to ask Richard Smart to "drop the case." His exact words still resonate in my ears to this very day. "I want to teach these hoodlums a lesson. They need to be taught a lesson." The night before trial, our dear friend Legal Aid Attorney Gil Johnston said we could not beat the case. But we were so lucky. Akua was watching over Sonny and all who got busted for "doing the right thing." The State put on its Case first and the only exhibit introduced as evidence that day by the Prosecutor was the lease Parker held to the land. Gil asked to see the lease. He went directly to the last page. As Fate would have it, the lease to Parker had expired five years before and Gil called this to the Court's attention. Judge 01ds wasted no time throwing the case out of court. Everyone was acquitted. Sonny got more publicity than he was counting on. And in time what he set out to do was accomplished. DHHL took the lands back and awarded them to qualified homesteaders. Justice prevailed. It was my honor to know Sonny Kaniho on a personal basis 35 years ago. He stood for what was right and he was willing to go to jail for what he believed. It was he who told me on the moming of the protest in a phone eall to stay away. He said to the effect: "You and your family already got kicked out of the Parker Ranch House for helping me. You work for the court. You have a family to take care of. I don't want you to lose your job next. I need you to write for me. Stay home. Everything will be okay." I went to Sonny's Memorial Service along with many others at Kūhiō Hale on Sept. 7 here in Waimea. We are born and then we die, but in our leaving we Leave behind us a long Trail of Memories and sometimes Tears. I remember Sonny's love for his family, his "sunflower" smile, his deep sense of justice, his aloha for all who eame his way, his love for Waimea (both the plaee and the people). I will remember his kind spirit, his gentle manner, his laughter. When Sonny opened up that wooden gate on the Kohala Road in May 1974, he opened up a Gate of Hope to so many of us. "Sonny Kaniho, 1922-2009, KekoaoWaimea. ■