FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 10, 2011
From: Laulani Teale, Law of the Splintered Paddle
Contact: Laulani Teale
Phone: (808)256-6637
Email: laulani@gmail.com
HAWAIIAN ANCESTRAL LAW VERSUS PARK RULES
Can one Hawaiian woman stand up against the entire State of Hawaii's laws criminalizing homelessness?
Laulani Teale is a Hawaiian woman, a mother and educator, and her political activism is motivated by her spiritual and cultural knowledge, experience and inheritance. The spiritual context of heraction is in her estimation as important as the act itself. "I am here," she says," for cultural survival, for the houseless people and because of APEC."
Teale is standing for human rights and Hawaiian rights during this week of APEC. While nearly every political group in Hawaii is staging some form of public protest, panel or conference type of gathering in the shadow of the APEC events, Teale sits quietly with her daughter, Li'a, playing nearby, and anyone who cares to stop by and talk-story beneath her bamboo canopy near the end Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki in front of the Honolulu Zoo and the statue of Ghandi is welcome. And she's been there since Monday afternoon, despite the fact that every "homeless"
or "houseless" person in Waikiki has been swept out and away by law enforcement.
"This is a pu'u honua (refuge) until Sunday," she says, as Li'a rolls by on her scooter. When asked about the police she says, "Most police have been helpful. But the larger picture is that
the police work for the system which is doing hewa with APEC, perpetuating hewa." Hewa is the Hawaiian word for "wrong." "The higher law is our ancestral law," she says." “They are trying to enforce park rules, that conflict with their own constitutional laws and values.” But King Kamehameha the Great decreed 'Moe i Ke'ala,' meaning people can sleep on the road without threat of harm."
What Teale is putting to the test is called "Kanawai Mamalahoe," which translates to mean "The Law of the Splintered Paddle." It dates back to the days of Kamehameha, but it was adopted as part of the Hawaii State Constitution in 1978, Article 9, section 10. In part, it reads: "The law of the splintered paddle, mamala-hoe kanawai, decreed by Kamehameha I – “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety-- shall be a unique and living symbol of the
State's concern for public safety."
In fact, the symbol of The Law of Splintered Paddle appears as two crossed paddles and a triangular flag on every badge worn by a Honolulu police officer.
"It is the law of the land and it has never been repealed," says Teale. "The law of our land is human rights or bust. If a government cannot respect that, it has to come down."
When asked what the difference is between what she is doing and what homeless people do in Waikiki and other places in Hawaii every day, she answers, "There is very little difference. I don't want to get arrested, but I won't give up my rights."
So far, Teale has been able to stand her ground without being arrested and physically removed by law enforcement from her encampment by the statue of Ghandi, a man whose life was devoted to peaceful resistance against a foreign power in his homeland. "I respect people who have stood for pono (righteousness), taken a risk and worked at a level of a higher law."
Laulani Teale can be reached at 808-256-6637. Information about The Law of the Splintered Paddle can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81n%C4%81wai_M%C4%81malahoe
