Comment

Comment by Summer on April 9, 2009 at 8:54pm

letter to commanding officers.doc
Aloha everyone,

I am sending this email to ask that you consider signing on to this letter of concern addressed to the commanding officers of the armed services in Hawaii. We need support from individuals, ohanas, organizations, and neighborhood boards to get our message across to help curb off-roading activities at Ka'ena.

Attached you will find the draft of a letter that we'd like to send off with as many signatures of support as possible. Along with the commanding officers, I plan to submit the letter to local senators and representatives, as well as members of congress.

Please email me at kaimalia@yahoo.com if you are willing to sign on as an individual/group. Or call if you have additional questions or concerns 808-753-4221.

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone else you think may be interested in signing on to the letter.

Below you can find more information on why this letter is necessary:




As you may already know,the off-roading/mud-bogging problem at Ka'ena, O'ahu needs to be curtailed. Every week, and especially after the rain, off-road enthusiasts enter the area to challenge their modified vehicles.

We as cultural practitioners are concerned because this already sensitive eco-system, cultural resource and wahi pana continues to be damaged. It has been devastating to watch the lone sandy bay at Ka'ena become another one of the off-roaders mudpits, to see them driving up on the giant pohaku, or ripping apart vegetation on the sand dunes with their giant tires. Every time I go in there it seems they have made a new road to nowhere.

So I've decided enough is enough. We've been complaining about this issue for over 10 years now and so far there has been no success in curbing this destructive and insensitive behavior.

Because off-duty military personnel make up a large percentage of the off-roading population at Ka'ena, I have drafted a letter with the help of other concerned cultural practitioners in an effort to stop any further desecration of the area by off-road vehicles.

I realize that the military personnel are not the only abusers, but if we are able to curtail their destruction, we can continue working to educate local off-road enthusiasts, and eventually stop off-roading at Ka'ena.

I appreciate your support!

Aloha Aina.
Malama Pono.

Summer Nemeth
kaimalia@yahoo.com
808-753-4221

Comment by ku ching on March 27, 2009 at 3:18pm

King of the Mountain? - a pretty good Mauna Kea Article
http://www.thehawaiiindependent.com/hawaii/hawaii-island/2009/03/18/king-of-the-mountain/#more-1370
Posted March 18th, 2009 in Hawaii Island by Alan McNarie

Comment by Sharon Moraes on March 20, 2009 at 6:58pm

Seeking Stories of Hualalae and her craters

Comment by ʻOhukaniʻōhiʻa on March 15, 2009 at 10:08pm

Ku a me Kekuewa:
ʻAe, the whole pu`u, i kaʻu ʻike, is the mark of the kohe lele o Kapo, easily the match for the desires of Kama. I remember when Abe Piianaia used to teach Hawaiian History at UH, his lecture on place names included the story of Kapoʻs kohe lele, and how it came down and made a very accurate, if gigantic impression. He told all the young men in the class to go there and look, if they didnʻt know what a kohe looked like! The funny thing was that it was all in context. He never translated the word kohe, and so one wonders what was left to the imagination of the class...

Comment by ku ching on February 27, 2009 at 3:55pm

For Hokuokalani -

Kawa'a is on the Ka Lae (South Point) side of Punalu'u. There is a rough roadway when you pass Punalu'u (coming from Hilo side), on the left (makai) side of the road. One can maneuver it with a 2-wheel drive vehicle, but you have to have a bit of clearance. The house (the only one that you will run into if you have the right road) is on the left side of the road maybe 150 yards from the highway (after at least one big curve). The house has the yellow and green (Kamehemeha?) flag painted on the front of it.

Comment by ku ching on February 27, 2009 at 3:49pm

Re: Kohelepelepe

The story goes that the "kohe" landed on the pu'u and when it left, it left its mark there. I have no idea where a specific mark is. However, with a little imagination, one can speculate that the entire pu'u might have been the mark.

Comment by ku ching on February 27, 2009 at 3:46pm

Kanaka Maoli Scholars Against Desecration

Statement on Mauna Kea - February 17, 2009

We declare our opposition to SB 992/HB 1174 and SB 502/HB 1370 and any
other legislation bills that would transfer Mauna Kea to the University of
Hawai`i (UH). These current legislative proposals would give the UH
complete management authority over Mauna Kea and allow implementation of a
plan that has no limit on telescope construction, would close public
access to the summit, and exempt UH from public oversight in the name of
development.

Mauna Kea is a sacred summit, which is already being desecrated by the
existing science telescopes. The Hawai`i revised statute 711-1107 on
Desecration specifically states that no one may commit the offense of
desecrating “a place of worship or burial,” and the statute defines
“desecrate” as “defacing, damaging, polluting, or otherwise physically
mistreating in a way that the defendant knows will outrage the
sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the defendant's
action.” If this legislation passes, state legislators would be violating
their own state law.

These legislative proposals also interfere with on-going litigation on the
current regulations governing Mauna Kea. We would also like to remind
state representatives and the general public that in the recent Third
Circuit Court case regarding the management of Mauna Kea, the court ruled
in favor of the Plaintiffs—Kealoha Pisciotta, President of Mauna Kea
Anaina Hou; Debbie Ward and Nelson Ho, Co-Chairs of Mauna Kea Issues
Committees, Sierra Club Hawai`i Island Chapter; Ali`i `Ai Moku, Paul K.
Neves of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Moku of Mamalahoa Heiau Helu
`Elua; and Clarence Ku Ching, individual Native Hawaiian Practitioner—and
against the UH and the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR)
for violation of the regulations protecting Mauna Kea as a conservation
district. This lawsuit is currently on review before the Intermediate
Court of Appeals (ICA) after the University appealed the lower court
ruling against them. Though the University only recently withdrew its
appeal from the ICA, counterclaims that go to the fundamental merits of
this issue remain before the ICA.

Besides blatant desecration, and interference in on-going litigation, the
negative environmental effects are numerous. As noted in the Testimony of
the Plaintiffs regarding this legislation, two reports by the State
Auditor have found that UH’s misuse and the BLNR’s failed oversight is
“inadequate to ensure the protection of natural resources, and neglected
...the cultural value of Mauna Kea." Their report further stated that the
University's Institute for Astronomy “focused primarily on the development
of Mauna Kea and tied the benefits gained to its research program,” and
that its focus on telescope construction has been “at the expense of
neglecting the site’s natural resources.” Also, in 2005, an Environmental
Impact Statement required by federal court order found that the cumulative
impact of telescope activities on Mauna Kea has had a “substantial,
adverse, and significant” impact.

The current proposals also violate the land claims of the Hawaiian nation.
These legislative attempts to transfer a portion of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Crown and Government Lands of which Mauna Kea is a part, is in direct
contravention of the Hawai`i State Supreme Court’s holding in OHA v.
Housing and Community Development Cororation of Hawai`i, 2008. The Hawaii
Supreme Court barred the transfer of this land base by the state. If this
legislation passes, state legislators would be violating the state Supreme
Court ruling.

This exploitative venture proposed by this legislation must be stopped
because the entire scheme promotes the ongoing violation of the sacred
summit of Mauna Kea; it would be irresponsible and bad public policy, as
well as a continued abuse of state power.


J. Leilani Basham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Hawaiian Studies,
University of Hawai`i at West O`ahu

Kamanamaikalani Beamer, Ph.D., Mellon-Hawai`i Postdoctoral Fellow, Kohala
Center

Maenette K.P. Ah Nee-Benham, Ed.D., Dean of Hawai`inuiakea School of
Hawaiian Knowledge, University of Hawai`i, Mānoa

Kealani Robinson Cook, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, University
of Michigan

J. Noelani Goodyear-Ka`ōpua, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political
Science, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Lisa Kahaleole Hall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies, Wells
College

Sydney Lehua Iaukea, Ph.D., Mellon-Hawai`i Postdoctoral Fellow, Kohala Center

Kū Kahakalau, Ph.D., founder and director of Kanu o ka ‘Āina New Century
Public Charter School

Lilikalā Kame`eleihiwa, Ph.D., Professor, Kamakakūokalani Center for
Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Val Kalei Kanuha, Ph.D., M.S.W., Associate Professor of Sociology,
University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anthropology and
American Studies, Wesleyan University

Brandy Nalani McDougall, Ph.D. Candidate, English, University of Hawai`i,
Mānoa

Noenoe K. Silva, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Political Science, University
of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Ty Kawika Tengan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anthropology and Ethnic
Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Lani Teves, Ph.D. Candidate, Program in American Culture, University of
Michigan

Haunani-Kay Trask, Ph.D., Professor, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian
Studies, University of Hawai`i, Mānoa

Liza Keanuenueokalani Williams, Ph.D. student, New York University

Comment by ku ching on February 19, 2009 at 11:06am

My response to this morning's (Feb. 19) article in the Advertiser - on Mauna Kea legislation -

"Mauna Kea (MK) is a conservation zone - but one that a special interest (astronomy) values. However, the major entity - University of Hawaii/Institute for Astronomy (u.h./IfA) - has been remiss in malama-ing MK - and, in the recent NASA EIS - u.h./IfA has been found to be guilty of allowing the cumulative impact of telescope activities on Mauna Kea to have "substantial, adverse, and significant" impacts. Additionally, u.h./IfA has been found guilty of violations of its lease and has had to pay fines for its different feasances.

Should the fox be given the chicken coop?

BLNR, in violation of Section 17l of Hawaii Revised Statutes, allows the commercialization of MK by international entities who are subsidized by the Kingdom of Hawaii - whose stolen land it is.

Should the National Telescope of Japan - and scopes of many other nations - get a free ride (even though they may be "for profit" entities)? $Millions of ignored rents could make a difference in DOEd's budget plight."

Comment by Braddah O. on November 8, 2008 at 12:24pm

I had trouble with my first site... this is the good one.
Mahalo

Comment by Braddah Owen on October 26, 2008 at 8:34pm

I have worked in the field of cultural management for many years. I look forward to the works to be discussed and done here at this site.
Mahalo

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