I ka makahiki 2004 i ka mahina o Nowemapa, ua lo'a ke kuhewa ia ko'u tutu wahine. Aale makou i ike no kona ola ana no ka manawa he nui...ua hai na kauka ia makou, "elua mau mahina i koe no kona ola ana". Hu a'e ka hali'a, ke kaumaha a pela aku...Ma ka hale o kuu tutu, aia na kumulaau kukui - he nui. oia ko'u halia ana mai kuu wa liilii. I ka halia ana o kela hale, 'oia ke kumu kukui ka halia mua loa. Ua haku ia keia mele no kuu tutu, ua haawi aku ia ia no ke kalikimaka o ka makahiki 2004. Ua hala aku la i ka mahina o Iune - 2006. He wahi aloha aku ia kuu Tutu. akI Maka‘eha, he kukui i aloha ‘iaE alo ka ha i ka malu mānoa loaNoanoa ka malu no ke kauhihiE hihi ka malu hālau i ke alohaE mānu‘unu‘u nā lālā weu laniNā mana e lālau i nā kini a ka laniKa ‘olu o nā lālā e hi‘ilei, e hi‘ipoliE hi‘ilani ‘ia e nā kama, e nā laniNui ka uluwehi, nā lau naheleheleHelele‘i nā lau hie, nā lau hina uluUlu a a‘ea‘a mōhala, e kau i ka hanoHanohano no ‘oe, he kumu i aloha ‘iaHe kumu ola ‘oe e pō‘ai me ka weloE nā hanauna e pipili me ke kohu‘Ohu‘ohu a pohai me ka hanu hīnanoE hānai ‘ai me ka wai a ka puna laniE puana mai ka hā‘ina a i ‘ike ‘iaI Maka’eha, he kukui i aloha ‘iaHanohano no ‘oe ma nā lapa o KulaE kau i ka ni‘o i ka puaneane.
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Posted by Pono Kealoha on April 24, 2008 at 6:00pm
DUMPING OF TOXIC WASTE ON INDIGENOUS LANDS, DAMAGE FROM MINING, DEFORESTATION AMONG ISSUES, AS INDIGENOUS FORUM DISCUSSION FOCUSES ON PACIFIC REGIONhttp://media-newswire. com/release_1064832. htmlContinuing its seventh annual session with a half-day discussion on the Pacific, delegates to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues called for the Forum to take a more robust role in inducing other parts of the United Nations system to carry out mandates for securing the rights of the indigenous peoples in the region.Four expert panelists began the discussion with an overview of issues facing indigenous peoples in the Pacific, including the use of indigenous lands as toxic waste sites, or as production sites for industries causing major environmental damage, such as mining and forestry.Michael Dodson, Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues holding the human rights portfolio, said indigenous land and waters were being targeted by industrialized nations for dumping of toxic or radioactive wastes from industrial or military operations, often without informing residents of dangers. Ecosystems were also being destroyed in the search for natural resources, for example by the phosphate mines of Nauru, Banaba and Makatea Islands, and the copper and gold mines of Ok Tedi, Panguna, Freeport and Vatukoula.Mr. Dodson noted that indigenous peoples lived in zones sensitive to climate change, with the Pacific island countries being particularly susceptible to a rise in sea level. The worst-case scenario -- a one metre rise in sea level -- would affect tourism, fresh water availability, aquaculture, agriculture, human settlements and human health.Expert Tom Calma, Torres Strait Islanders Social Justice Commissioner, said such problems were compounded by the extremely limited focus on human rights in the Pacific region. It fell to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to advise the Economic and Social Council on the urgent need for human rights mechanisms in the islands. He also suggested, as echoed by others, that a special rapporteur specifically for the indigenous peoples of the region should be named, with a mandate that included visits.Malia Nobrega, of the Pacific Regional Caucus, highlighted the human rights situation of indigenous peoples residing in Non-Self-Governing Territories, calling the Organization’s Special Committee on Decolonization “ineffective” at best and, at worst, a systematic denial of the right of peoples to self-determination. She said the Forum should sponsor a seminar on the situation of those Territories, and reiterated the call for a special rapporteur on indigenous rights.To date, she said five Pacific island territories were still subject to colonization: American Samoa, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn and Tokelau.On the issue of climate change, which was a special focus of this year’s session of the Permanent Forum, panellist Collin D. Beck, Permanent Representative of the Solomon Islands, said the United Nations needed to move from policy to on-the-ground action, by urging approaches that focused on public investment, rather than market driven strategies. Rising sea levels were presently forcing people to leave low lying islands for larger ones, which meant climate change was responsible for urban drift and the social instability that sometimes followed.The Assistant Secretary of Australia’s Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, who also spoke today, said Australia’s total contribution to the Global Environment Facility, which had allocated over 30 per cent of its funds to mitigating climate change, stood at $A 240 million so far.He said Australia had endorsed the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change 2006-2015, which was currently identifying adaptation strategies. A further $A 50 million would be allocated to build the capacity of national meteorological services in the region, among other things. That money would also be used to offer practical assistance in increasing water storage capacity, diversifying crops and replanting mangroves. Some of the funding would be spent through the United Nations Least Developed Countries Fund. Australia also planned to engage in activities to help mitigate deforestation activities in Papua New Guinea, while researchers from the James Cook University would conduct a study on coastal erosion in Australia’s Torres Strait.As the discussion unfolded today, a representative of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus, North America Region said that data should be collected on the legal implications of States disappearing due to global climate change. She called for the establishment of an expert mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples.Participants also heard of positive steps some Governments were taking. Australia, for example, had just this year offered an apology to the aboriginal “disappeared people”. A formal apology was a start, said an official from the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, but much more was needed. The Forum should call on the Government to make reparations.A representative of New Zealand also spoke today, as did a representative of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research ( UNITAR ).Also speaking were delegates for the Global Indigenous Women’s Caucus and for Chamoru Nation and Affiliated Indigenous Chamoru Organizations; Society for Threatened Peoples International ( ECOSO ); CORE ( ECOSOC ); Western Shoshone Defense Project; Flying Eagle Woman Fund ( ECOSOC ); Mohawk Nation at Kahmawake; Cultural Development and Research Institute; Famoksaiyan; Organization of People for Indigenous Rights; Colonized Chamoru Coalition; Chamoru Landowners Associate; Chamoru Language Teachers Association; Guahan Indigenous Collective; Huroa, Inc.; Landowners United; Chamoru Veterans Association; and Fuetsan Famaloan.Also, Conseil National pour les droits de people Autochtone en Kanaky, New Caledonia; ALIFURU; West Papua Interest Association; Friends of the Earth ( Papua New Guinea ); HITI TAU, PU FENUA PU METUA; RAPANUI Parliament; New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council; the Indigenous ICT Task Force; the National Indigenous Higher Education Network; Faira, Australia; and Dewan Adat Papua ( Papua Customary Council ).A representative made a joint statement for Australian Aborigines.China’s representative spoke in exercise of the right of reply.The Forum will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 24 April, to continue its dialogue with Governments and to begin its discussion on the implementation of the recommendations on the six mandated areas of the Permanent Forum and on the Millennium Development Goals.BackgroundThe Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues met today for a half-day discussion on the Pacific, as part of its seventh annual session.PanellistsFour panellists addressing the Forum this afternoon included Michael Dodson, Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from Australia; Collin D. Beck, Permanent Representative of the Solomon Islands; Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Social Justice Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australia; and Malia Nobrega, Pacific Regional Caucus.Mr. DODSON noted that the Pacific islands were home to a diverse range of indigenous peoples still linked to their communal land and indigenous belief systems, which formed the social, economic and political basis for their existence. However, in some countries within the region, colonial settlement and immigrants had reduced the population to a minority in their own lands -- for example, the Kanaks of New Caledonia, who made up a mere 44 per cent of the population; the Kanaka Maoli of Hawaii, 18 per cent; the Maori of New Zealand, 15 per cent; the Chamorro of Guam, 14 per cent; and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, 2 per cent. The Rapa Nuia were becoming a minority in their own community, swamped by mainland migrants from Chile.He said indigenous land and waters were being targeted by industrialized nations for dumping of toxic or radioactive wastes from industrial or military operations, often without informing residents of dangers posed. Also, ecosystems were being destroyed in the search for natural resources, for example by the phosphate mines of Nauru, Banaba and Makatea Islands, and the copper and gold mines of Ok Tedi, Panguna, Freeport and Vatukoula. However, the testing of nuclear weapons was the starkest example of environmental colonialism.He said indigenous peoples lived in zones sensitive to climate change, with the Pacific island countries being particularly susceptible to a rise in sea levels. The worst-case scenario -- a one metre rise in sea level -- would affect tourism, fresh water availability, aquaculture, agriculture, human settlements and human health. Although weather and climate patterns had long been documented using western scientific techniques, little had been done to document observations by indigenous peoples themselves.Migration had grown in the Pacific over the past 30 years, he said, as urban migrants sought new employment opportunities and “fast money”, versus the slow money of cash crop sales. Better education and medical facilities, and even sports and bright lights, was a lure for some. Land pressures discouraged rural residence. He noted that remittances had been something of a safety valve for high population growth rates, and hence urban problems were less severe than they were in Melanesia and Micronesia.He said the problem posed by environmental refugees from the Pacific was a growing issue. As the Forum Chairwoman, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, said in April: “ Australia…was still considering whether they will accept these environmental refugees. It’s so inhumane that you have these people who are forced to go somewhere, and yet you don’t get countries to welcome them and support them”.He also noted that five territories still subject to colonization were in the Pacific region: American Samoa, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn and Tokelau, and called on United Nations Member States to redouble their efforts to achieve complete decolonization.Mr. BECK ( Solomon Islands ) said his region did not get much attention with the larger economy Asian countries casting it into the shadows, but it needed attention because climate change greatly affected the region. From time immemorial, the cultures and traditions of the islands had been connected to the elements. The people relied on forests and used all their natural resources to raise revenue, and global climate change had an enormous impact on that ability. For example, an increase in the temperature of the ocean water by a single degree had far-reaching impacts that undercut an island’s gross national product. A cyclone pushed back decades of development progress. Further, rising sea levels forced people to leave low lying islands for larger ones, which meant climate change was responsible for urban drift and for the social instability that accompanied the phenomenon.“Climate change is an old problem that needs new solutions,” he said. The solutions should be led by the United Nations, which should adopt a system-wide approach in devising strategies. Global climate change should be considered a question of international security, as well as economic and food security. It was also a rights issue.On all those levels, he said, the United Nations must move from policy to on-the-ground actions. It must increase its country presence in all Pacific countries and should urge approaches that focused on public investment, rather than market driven strategies. Clean energy was also a way forward for the islands, since access to energy was available only to 25 per cent of the population. The forests were a valuable asset and the technologies for making use of them were available and needed to be made accessible to small island developing States.In closing, he said it seemed that too much was coming out of Bali, with too many initiatives being put forward for dealing with climate change, but nothing concrete really being done. With food security now threatened, the time for action was now. Those living in the present must look to the past to find the path to the future. The people of Australia and New Zealand were to be thanked for their support of the Pacific islands and the Government of Australia deserved thanks for its apology to the victims of the Lost Generation.Mr. CALMA, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Social Justice Commissioner in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission of Australia, said there had been extremely limited focus on human rights in the Pacific region, particularly in areas that concerned minorities and women. Institutional mechanisms for monitoring and ensuring human rights were inadequate and for prisons there were none. The Forum should advise the Economic and Social Council on the urgent need for human rights mechanisms in the islands. Also, a special rapporteur specifically for the indigenous peoples of the region should be named, with a mandate that included visits. Also, much more progress must be made in advancing the decolonization process in some islands. The Forum should ask the Economic and Social Council to ask the General Assembly to provide help, in that regard.Continuing, he said the islands were vulnerable to one of two alternatives as a result of global climate change, either disappearing or becoming homes to environmental refugees. The human rights aspects of that situation needed to be considered. The new Australian Government’s commitment to implementing rights and to close the gap between the population at large and indigenous peoples was genuine. Benchmarks and targets were being developed, with an emphasis on health. A national indigenous health council was in the process of being established.Even so, he said problems remained. The primary one was an absence of formal mechanisms for ensuring indigenous participation in processes and mechanisms. While the Government was committed to rectifying that situation, in the meantime it happened that the solution to a rights violation often resulted in inadvertent violations of other rights. Also, safeguards often failed to work, because the fundamental problem was a lack of legislation to outlaw prejudice. The legislation must be rewritten to explicitly make prejudice illegal. The Forum should be the body that brought attention to any violations of rights in any location without prejudice.Ms. NOBREGA, Pacific Regional Caucus, said violations of the rights of Pacific indigenous peoples by foreign super-Powers, and even their own Governments, were mounting. For example, although nuclear testing in the Pacific had officially come to an end, problems of trans-shipment, storage and dumping of nuclear wastes was still ongoing. In many cases, indigenous peoples had been forced to leave their ancestral lands and territories as a result of nuclear testing, to live in foreign lands with where they did not identify. She issued a plea to those carrying out such human rights violations to allow indigenous peoples to “live as sovereign peoples”.She noted that indigenous peoples themselves held many of the solutions to the problems brought about by foreign actors, and urged the leaders of indigenous communities to be strong and influential in their campaign against actors, such as mining and extractive industries, for example, that operated with impunity on their territories.Turning to the effects of climate change on indigenous peoples, she said plants in the Pacific region were becoming vulnerable to heat stress and salt water incursion. Because of that, food security was fast becoming a concern. Meanwhile, hazardous wastes imported and used in their communities was proving to be hazardous to health, and had adverse effects on biodiversity, the availability of fresh water, and the sustainability of the marine environment. Groundwater was becoming polluted by pesticides, industrial chemicals, medical wastes, laboratory chemicals, timber treatment chemicals and oil.She noted that, over the last two decades, the Pacific Regional Caucus had worked with other indigenous groups in pushing for the creation of a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The lasting value of that Declaration would depend on the ability to translate it into sustainable action. Besides climate-change-related issues, other issues to be tackled included forced migration, which was already being seen in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.She said the human rights situation in the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories served as powerful challenges to the legitimacy of the United Nations. The Organization’s Special Committee on Decolonization remained, at best, “ineffective” and, at worst, a systemic denial of the right of peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories to self-determination. She called on the Forum to take the lead on that issue, and to sponsor a seminar on the situation of those Territories. She also suggested that the Forum request the Committee to designate a special rapporteur on the subject.She recommended that all United Nations agencies consider the idea of providing equal services to the Pacific subregion, as separate from Asia [the Asia Pacific is often considered as a single entity]. As a side note, she also said that indigenous peoples, such as those in Taiwan, should not be blocked from attending meetings at the United Nations.Her statement was followed by a traditional Pacific Island ceremony, in which Forum members were dressed with leis.StatementsGREG ROCHE, Assistant Secretary, Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, recalled that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) had projected a global average sea level rise of 19 to 58 centimetres by 2100. Air temperature in the South Pacific was estimated to be at least 2.5 degrees Celsius above 1990 levels. Since 2006, Australia had channelled a substantial amount of funding through the Global Environment Facility, which had allocated over 30 per cent of its funds to climate change. Australia’s total contribution to the Facility since 1991 stood at $A 240 million.He said the Climate Change Panel had highlighted that low-lying islands were especially vulnerable to the deteriorating coastal conditions, increased inundation and increased “water stress”. Pacific Island Forum members, including Australia, had endorsed the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change 2006-2015, which was currently identifying adaptation strategies. Also, Australia planned to increase its aid to various Pacific island States and East Timor by $A 150 million over the next three years, and would share scientific and technical expertise in monitoring climate change and its impacts.He said a further $A 50 million would be allocated to build the capacity of national meteorological services in the region, among other things. That money would also be used to offer practical assistance in increasing water storage capacity, diversifying crops and replanting mangroves. Some of the funding would be spent through the United Nations Least Developed Countries Fund. Australia also planned to engage in activities to help mitigate deforestation activities in Papua New Guinea, while researchers from the James Cook University would conduct a study on coastal erosion in Australia’s Torres Strait.KIRSTY GRAHAM ( New Zealand ) said the Pacific island region had many development challenges, notably in Melanesia, which was second only to sub-Saharan Africa in being the least likely region to meet the Millennium Development Goals. For example, only half of primary school children had access to formal schooling in the Solomon Islands and 20 per cent of the population in Vanuatu had no access to health-care services. Security crises and conflicts often compounded the challenges. New Zealand played an active role in assisting the islands respond to the challenges, including through aid programmes that focused on strengthening governance, encouraged broader-based economic growth and reduced environmental vulnerabilities, including those resulting from climate change.His country had a long-standing tradition of supporting local and indigenous solutions to political and development issues. It had drawn on its own domestic experience and had supported indigenous initiatives. The United Nations system should increase its attention to the region.TRISHA RIEDY, Manager, Programme in Peacemaking and Preventive Diplomacy of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research ( UNITAR ), reported on the results of a training programme her organization had conducted in response to a request presented after reports had indicated the Pacific region was among the least developed of areas. A broad range of actors had participated in the event held in February in Australia, from human rights advocates to peace managers and health advocates. To insure the relevance of the training to the region, the training was designed with the participation of indigenous representatives. Subjects covered all forms of negotiations, including with Governments and extractive industries. Participants had found the programme useful and asked that UNITAR continue the programme.DOUGLAS NAKSHIMA, Chief, Sciences for Society Section, Division of Science, Policy and Sustainable Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ), stressed the importance of raising the quality of education in the Pacific region through the use of mother tongues. He also pointed to the importance of producing educational material with locally relevant content, such as on customary resource-management practices. Such materials would go a long way towards promoting the recognition of traditional knowledge, while serving as an effective pedagogical tool in indigenous communities.He said UNESCO had helped produce an encyclopedia on reefs and rainforests in the Solomon Islands and Micronesia, containing over 1,200 terms relating to coral reefs, lagoons and other marine features prominent in the islands. That encyclopedia could be used as a management tool, while simultaneously forming the basis of a dialogue for resource managers. It was also being piloted in schools as a pedagogical tool, after having been translated into various indigenous languages. In fact, its introduction into classrooms had encouraged students to use their mother tongue for the first time, and teacher guides were now being produced to further encourage its use. Plans were afoot to experiment with an Internet version, so that rural schools could benefit.He went on to describe another educational product, a CD-ROM on marine navigation in the Pacific using “indigenous” methods gleaned from navigators and master canoe builders. It was being targeted to indigenous youth, to reinforce a sense of pride in their culture and to strengthen ties between elders and youth. It was hoped that the same CD-ROM could be produced in various Pacific island languages.He also invited interested indigenous groups to participate in an Internet forum sponsored by UNESCO, the Secretariats of the Permanent Forum, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Convention on Biodiversity, so that views could be exchanged on climate change adaptation strategies.CELESTE MCKAY, speaking on behalf of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus, North America Region, expressed concern regarding the rising ocean levels, which was causing States such as Tuvalu to sink. Areas in the northern United States and Canada were also being inundated by water. It was precipitating the forced relocation of island and seacoast peoples, which Forum members needed to address urgently. She called on the Forum to recommend that a new expert mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples collect data on the legal implications of the disappearances of States due to environmental reasons. The findings should be submitted to the Human Rights Council and other interested United Nations bodies.LILIKALA KAME, the Global Indigenous Women’s Caucus, said the United States military was planning to bring 20,000 more soldiers to Oahu as it withdrew from Okinawa. Oahu had already been made a first strike target by the United States military presence. The land and its people were threatened by a possible nuclear spill. And with all that military activity, indigenous women remained without rights.She said the situation in the Pacific had become one of an “extreme crisis”. Corral bleaching was occurring and “biological deserts”, known as dead zones, were being created. Dynamite and Clorox were being used as unorthodox ways of fishing. The Forum should call on States of the region to ensure health programmes were funded. The Forum should also urge the Australian Government to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples and should urge all States to protect their indigenous peoples, as a way to build sustainable societies rather than exploitative ones. Proper fishing practices and rules must be enforced and all the trends that were negatively affecting oceans must be reversed. A human rights visit should be conducted to see the effects of the military presence on the region.JULIAN AGUON spoke on behalf of the Chamoru Nation and Affiliated Indigenous Chamoru Organizations; Society for Threatened Peoples International ( ECOSO ); CORE ( ECOSOC ); Western Shoshone Defense Project; Flying Eagle Woman Fund ( ECOSOC ); Mohawk Nation at Kahmawake; Cultural Development and Research Institute; Famoksaiyan; Organization of People for Indigenous Rights; Colonized Chamoru Coalition; Chamoru Landowners Associate; Chamoru Language Teachers Association; Guahan Indigenous Collective; Huroa, Inc.; Landowners United; Chamoru Veterans Association; and Fuetsan Famaloan. He said the indigenous Chamoru people of Guam were braced for a storm of United States militarization, as that country realigned its forces in the Pacific-Asia region and sought to homeport 60 per cent of its Pacific fleet in and around the archipelago. Without input from the indigenous peoples and over deepening dissent, the United States planned to flood 50,000 people into Guam, its “Colony in Perpetuity”. That included 8,000 marines and their 9,000 dependents being ousted by Okinawa. It also included an outside labour force of more than 20,000 working on construction contracts. Six nuclear submarines would be added to the three already stationed in Guam, in addition to the adding of a Global Strike Force and a reconnaissance hub.He said the build-up only complemented the forces already occupying a third of the island and it was devastating to the Chamoru, who made up 37 per cent of Guam’s population and were already suffering the maladies of a colonial condition. Furthermore, the failure of the United States to honour its international obligations coupled with the United Nations non-responsiveness to the rapid deterioration of Guam’s people had elevated the human rights situation in Guam beyond a matter of decolonization to the level of ethnic cleansing. When future generations looked back, they would label Guam not just a United States colony, but a United Nations colony.The time had come for the Forum to take the matter out of the hands of the Special Committee on Decolonization. The Forum should sponsor an expert seminar to examine the situation. The Inter-Agency Support Group should be utilized to begin implementation of remedies and the Forum should convey its concerns to the United Nations Human Rights Council, so that a Special Rapporteur on the situation of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories could be named.MILILANI B. TRASK, Indigenous World Association, Global Intervention, speaking on behalf of the various Pacific and Caribbean groups, said that the peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories were being denied the most important of all human rights -- the right to self-governance. Under international law, States that were designated to administer the Non-Self-Governing Territories were supposed to assist them to attain full self-governance. Yet, since the end of the cold war, only one of them -– Timor-Leste -- had succeeded in doing so.She noted that the Forum had addressed the matter before, as documented in several reports submitted to the Economic and Social Council. But, because its recommendations seem to have been ignored, she suggested that the Forum take the lead in sponsoring an expert seminar, in conjunction with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Special Committee on Decolonization, on that subject. The seminar should take place under the auspices of the Permanent Forum, bypassing the Secretariat of the Special Committee. She specifically requested that Independent Expert Carlyle G. Corbin [an expert on Non-Self-Governing Territories] be included in the seminar, as well as the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples.THIHMANA HMEGEZIE, Conseil National pour les droits de people Autochtone en Kanaky, New Caledonia, asked the Forum to intervene in New Caledonia, so that the Special Rapporteur on human rights could visit the territory, in order to examine the living conditions of indigenous peoples there. In New Caledonia, the indigenous Kanak people were still living under the yoke of colonialism, even though an understanding had been reached in 2008 to give them some form of autonomy. It was also impossible to claim reparations for lands taken away by the Government. Mining on Kanak territory was also a problem, as was the slow de-militarization of indigenous lands. Indeed, military bases were supposed to have been dismantled, but military exercises were still being organized on Kanak territory with help of “neighbouring militaries”. He asked the Permanent Forum to call on Member States to approach the French Government, on behalf of New Caledonia, to facilitate the Special Rapporteur’s visit.LES MALEZER, Australian Aboriginal Joint Statement, said the Northern Territory Emergency Legislation must be withdrawn. Recent policies, including those of the new Government in Australia, were forcing indigenous peoples to live with violations of their human rights. Their free and prior informed consent with regard to lands was not obtained and laws did not apply equally to indigenous peoples and the general population alike.He said all oppressive laws must be withdrawn. The Forum should seek answers from the Government. The Chairperson should visit and sit in one meeting with indigenous and Government representatives. Special mechanisms, such as those related to human rights, should also be invited to look into the situation. Finally, the Forum Secretariat should send a letter to the Commonwealth urging it to adopt and implement the Declaration.PELPINA SAHUREKA, ALIFURU, said her people had been the original inhabitants of Maluku and areas of the deep seas until western colonialism entered and coerced the people into their artificial colonial system and forced them to give up their ancestral name of Alifuru, who were looked upon as cannibals. In 1950, Indonesian forces had brutally moved against the sovereign Maluku people and Dutch colonialism had been replaced by Indonesian neo-colonialism. Both were wrong, but even now the Indonesian occupying forces were using aggressive tactics against the Alifuru, as they tried to regain their independence and sovereignty. The forces did so with impunity and with no accountability to anyone.She said the Forum should ask the Human Rights Commissioner to investigate Indonesia’s treatment of its indigenous peoples. Indonesia had voted in favour of the Declaration on Rights of the Indigenous Peoples and should be induced to live up to its obligations. It should grant a speedy release to the Alifuru who had been imprisoned for expressing their traditional practices.RONALD WAROMI, West Papua Interest Association, said the people of West Papua continued to suffer discrimination, marginalization, extreme poverty, conflict and human rights abuses. The Indonesian Government’s bill of law regarding special autonomy to Papua had not done anything to guarantee the fundamental rights and freedoms of West Papuans. In fact, the 2003 decision to divide the Papua province into three provinces had the effect of turning the 1.5 million West Papuan indigenous peoples into a minority. In 2007, a presidential decree promoting the acceleration of development in Papua and West Papua province had meant that 11 ministers were sent from the central Indonesian Government to implement its provisions, which went against the spirit of the bill on the law on the special autonomy of Papua. He called on the United Nations to help realize the provisions contained in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within the context of West Papua.JETHRO TULIN, Friends of the Earth, Papua New Guinea, said problems caused by mining projects in Papua New Guinea included flooding and poisoning of food sources. It was the Government’s responsibility to ensure that mines did not violate people’s rights. It should work both individually and collectively, through the United Nations, to hold transnational corporations responsible for upholding human rights in places where they worked.He recalled President Morales’ statement to the Forum, in which he said that capitalism was destroying traditional cultures around the world. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples gave the Forum the moral authority it needed, as well as legal instruments of various kinds to ensure that human rights were respected. A 2005 resolution had called for funding to the Economic and Social Council to create a framework for controlling the aggressive practices of industries, such as mining and forestry. Also, non-governmental organizations needed to play their part in documenting the effects of such industries on the environment. Since it was believed that “colonialism” helped transnational companies perpetrate such crimes, he called for an expert panel to examine their activities in closer detail.MAREVA NETI DE MONTELUC, HITI TAU, PU FENUA PU METUA, said the French Pacific Treaty had allowed for 46 air tests over the southern Pacific archipelagos. The atolls had had their geological structures upset and radioactive material had been secretly hidden by the military under concrete slabs. How long before that seeped to the surface? Already, thyroid cancer had increased 30 per cent since the tests had begun. That cancer along with leukaemia were 30 per cent higher in the region than elsewhere. The Raritonga Treaty did not include a clause about the responsibilities of colonial Powers, but indigenous peoples’ rights had been set out in the Declaration. The nuclear Powers should shoulder responsibilities regardless of when they were assumed. The Forum should work with other relevant bodies to address the issues, including the provision of reparations.ERITY TEAVE, RAPANUI Parliament, said to overcome marginalization, her people must enforce every safeguard for ensuring their right to their sovereignty. A custodian should be appointed as her people exercised their right to manage their lands, resources and lives as they decided.TEANAU TUIONO, Indigenous ICT Task Force, said improving “connectivity” among indigenous peoples was an urgent issue. At the same time, he warned against a tendency to label the exercise of legitimate political dissent by indigenous peoples as a form of terrorism. Recently, the Government of New Zealand had seized the server hosting the website of the Indigenous ICT Task Force. The homes of writers were raided under the pretext of anti-terrorism. Others were arrested at gunpoint, including one who was incarcerated for as long as a month. Household members were pinned to the ground with guns to their heads, including a 12 year-old girl. He said he himself had been separated from his partner and children and was detained, and his laptop confiscated.He said the website was currently being hosted on a server run by indigenous people. Information and communication technology ( ICT ) was a powerful medium to support the work of indigenous peoples, and to facilitate the exchange of information. He recommended that the Forum speak out against Governments that used fear of terrorism as an excuse to prevent dissent over the Internet. In addition, the Forum should support indigenous ICT initiatives by allowing its logo to be used on his website. Indeed, ICT networks were a “necessity” for healthy societies.GARY THOMAS, National Indigenous Higher Education Network, said indigenous peoples’ access to education, as well as completion rates, was lower than the Australian national average, reflecting the appalling socio-economic status of indigenous peoples across the country. Training programmes for professionals contained insufficient indigenous content, affecting the delivery of services to those communities. Australia had yet to acknowledge the two knowledge systems that existed within its borders: indigenous and western. In areas where indigenous knowledge systems were indeed recognized, it was important to ensure indigenous control over it so that indigenous peoples remained the custodians of that knowledge and were not marginalized in its use.He said an advisory council was currently undertaking a study on that subject, which sought to promote a rights-based approach to education. The Forum should lend its assistance to the Higher Education Network in addressing that issue.NORMAN LAING, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, said the Council system was not the best in the world, but there were substantial challenges to be faced in the area. The Council’s advocacy on behalf of the indigenous peoples was targeted to relevant assistance agencies, especially for funding. Other focuses were education and training, in addition to providing security and support.He said the Northern Territory Intervention entailed discriminatory elements, but the other side of the spectrum was the lack of adequate policy measures, which left the indigenous peoples with having to rely on mainstream Government service providers. The Government’s lack of an adequate response to the needs and human rights of the indigenous peoples was an unforgivable lapse. A formal apology was a start, but much more was needed. The Forum should call on the Government to make reparations. All Governments should ensure the rights of their indigenous peoples, particularly across the Pacific region. Also, climate change should be a permanent consideration of the Forum.BARBARA SHAAW, Faira , Australia, said she was from central Australia and the Northern Territory Emergency Response Legislation that had been instituted in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples had been a land-grab that violated their rights. The Forum should urge the Government to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Government should rescind the 1975 Emergency Act and should also formally invite the Special Rapporteur on indigenous rights to visit the Northern Territory and assess the situation in person.YOAB YATFLE, Dewan Adat Papua ( Papua Customary Council ), said illegal logging of Papuan merbau timber was being fuelled by five giant international flooring companies, which were neglecting to acknowledge that they were selling illegal timber. An investigative study by Bogor-based and London-based agencies had revealed that to be the case. The Indonesian military and police were deeply involved in and profiting from illegal logging, as well as the conversion of forests into huge palm oil plantations. West Papua had one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Mining, too, had brought hunger, pollution and sickness to indigenous Papuan communities.He said Greenpeace had recently called on the Government to protect the forests of Papua by calling a logging moratorium. Papuan forests were one of seven of the largest remaining intact forests in the world. Alongside the Amazon and the Congo Basin forests, it was one of the few tropical forest areas left in the world. The Forum should call on the Indonesia Government to immediately implement the moratorium, and to respect the rights of indigenous peoples to free prior informed consent on the use of their lands. The international community was called on to ensure that West Papuan peoples were incorporated in all decision-making processes involving their peoples and lands.Rights of ReplyThe representative of China said she regretted the reference to Taiwan made by the representative of the Pacific Regional Caucus, saying that the “One China” policy was being observed by an overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States and the United Nations Secretariat.HASSAN ID BALKASSM, Member of the Permanent Forum from Morocco, asked the new Australian Government what it was doing differently from previous Governments? To the representative of the Government of New Zealand, whom he noted had spoken in the Maori language, he asked what practical measures had been taken to promote traditional indigenous languages in her country?The Chair encouraged the Governments of Australia and New Zealand to provide their answers to Mr. Hassan outside the Forum, since time had run out. Read more…
Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 24, 2008 at 5:30pm
WHAT - A Call to Prayer from Transformation Hawai`i and Aloha Ke Akua Hawaiian Restoration DayWHERE - Queen Lili`uokalani StatueBetween `Iolani Palace and the State Capitol BuildingWHEN - Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PMWHY - "A time to seek God’s face for healing and restoration from the offenses to Hawai`i and its people, stemming from the 1893 overthrow of Queen Lili`uokalani and the takeover of the government of the Hawaiian Islands."Show Your Support & Be There!Read more…
Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 23, 2008 at 5:53pm
Russia and Romania demanded on February 23, 2008, at a United Nations commission meeting in Geneva, Switzerland the United States restore self determination to Hawai`i.Meanwhile the so-called state of Hawai`i cannot sell or transfer the 1.8 million acres of former Hawaiian monarchy lands, known as ceded lands, until the claims of Native Hawaiians to the property have been resolved, the Hawai`i Supreme Court has ruled.This ruling means the Supreme Court doubts the state of Hawai`i is the legal owner of State controlled lands.Settling the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom has become an international issue.
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Posted by Pono Kealoha on April 23, 2008 at 12:52am
Moku O Keawe OhanaPosted by david on April 18, 2008 at 12:10am in PoliticsView DiscussionsI was down at Kawa`a yesterday, and Uncle Able was telling me that he was looking to start a Taro Festival for the Moku O Keawe Ohana to take place down at Kawa`a and Hilea. The First year would have to do mostly with planting and getting grounds ready to plant, but there are currently a couple good size patches down there to start with. It is still up in the air as to when and how, but Uncle's vision is that Hawaiians from all over would come to camp, to malama, to get to know the land, and share manao. Didn't know if I should have put this in future or politics, but Kawa`a is very political so I chose here. Recently the Mayor has visited Uncle at his house at Kawa`a five times, and asked him to make a deal to leave. Uncle has refused. attached is a video about Kawa`a and Uncle. The first part shows Kona, about a minute into it it shows Uncle.Aloha Kakouhttp://maoliworld.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2011971%3ATopic%3A56960http://maoliworld.ning.com/profile/davidRead more…
Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 22, 2008 at 7:00pm
FREEHAWAII.INFO PRESENTSFREE HAWAI`I TVTHE FREE HAWAI`I BROADCASTING NETWORK"YOU CHEATED!"A Superferry Audit Reveals Insider Cheating, While The Akaka Bill & OHA Want To Cheat You Out Of Plenty.What's The Answer?Watch & Find Out!
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Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 21, 2008 at 8:12pm
HOW ABOUT SEVERAL?StopAkakaBill.comFind Out Why The Akaka Bill Is So DangerousDiscover What Will Happen Should Federal Recognition Ever Become LawLearn What You Can Do To Help Stop The Akaka Bill!StopAkakaBill.comCheck It Out!
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"Fall in love or fall in hate. Get inspired or be depressed. Ace a test or flunk a class. Make babies or make art. Speak the truth or lie and cheat. Dance on tables or sit in the corner. Life is divine chaos. Embrace it. Forgive yourself. Breathe. And enjoy the ride..."Read more…
I thought I'd diverge and post song lyrics from one of my 80's favorites, The Motels. I remember taking a group of intermeidiate school kids from Kawananakoa to Kauai for a Spring trip. They got so sick of listening to my Motels tape All For One I thought they'd jump from my station wagon. I bet some of those kids who are adults today still have some residual psychological trauma!Only the LonelyWe walked the loneliest mileWe smiled without any styleWe kiss altogether wrongNo intentionWe lied about each others drinksWe lived without each other thinkin'What anyone would doWithout me and youIt's like I told youOnly the lonely can playSo hold on here we goHold on to nothin' we knowI feel so lonely way up hereYou mention the time we were togetherSo long ago, well I don't rememberAll I know is that it makes me feel good nowIt's like I told youOnly the lonely can playOnly the lonelyOnly the lonely can playOnly the lonelyOnly the lonely can playIt's like I told youOnly the lonely can playOnly the lonelyOnly the lonely can play
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Posted by Ikaika Hussey on April 21, 2008 at 11:00am
The state system of public charter schools is facing a possible budget cut next year. The leaders of the charter movement are asking that the current budget be preserved, so that programs and services can be maintained at present levels.
As part of a response to the anticipated budget cuts, the schools rallied at the capitol last Tuesday. I was there with my school (and employer), Halau Lokahi, based in the Kalihi ahupuaa.
It might not be too much of a digression to mention parenthetically that I am a student of peoples' social movements; and as such, I am a believer in the importance of people speaking out on issues which affect them. The planned budget cuts will affect our students. I suggested that we seek an audience with Senator Baker, chair of the powerful Ways & Means committee which controls the charter school budget.
With 30 students from four schools, we took a stairwell trip to the second floor. Our students were well-behaved, and were accompanied by equally courteous adults, including one set of parents. Senator Baker's staff told us that she was not available. However, a few minutes later Brook Baehr and a KGMB 9 cameraman were invited into Sen. Baker's inner office.
The students were talking among themselves, deciding on their own spokespeople and figuring out what they would say when the opportunity arose. A staffer suggested that we wait outside if we were planning to talk; we said that we would wait quietly inside.
After about 20 minutes, three men from the sergeant-at-arms office came up into the outer office, where we were waiting. There was no interaction between our contingent of students, faculty, and parents, and the sergeant-at-arms.
At 11:30, the time at which the Senate floor session was to begin, Sen. Baker emerged from her inner office, along with Brook Baehr and a cameraman. The cameraman followed Sen. Baker out into the waiting room, where I asked if she would wait a few moments to speak with the students. She replied that she didn't have the time. I responded by reminding her that we had been waiting patiently for 30 minutes; she interrupted me, saying that she was busy, that she knew that we wanted monies for the charter schools, and that we should talk to the governor's office.
She exited the room. We left as well.
The point in reciting this account of events is to respond to an unclaimed rumor that has been circulating, alleging that our group of students, faculty, and parents had 'harassed' Sen. Baker's office staff. Moreover, the rumor insists that security guards had come to escort us out of the room. This simply isn't true; there was no communication between us and security. In fact, they appeared to be there to escort Sen. Baker, though this is speculation on my part because, as I mentioned, they said nothing to us.
This particular rumor is troubling – and amusing – on several levels. One, it serves to mask the real problem with the events of the day: that Senator Baker was not willing to speak with our students, each of whom would be personally affected by her decisions. Clearly Sen. Baker had time to talk; but she chose to talk to the media, instead of her constituents. Secondly, the rumor plays on a familiar trope: the rowdy, trouble-making teenagers, and activist adults. Third, it is evidence of a problem in public service, which treats the public not as its source of power but rather its source of discomfort and irritation.
The spurious rumor which has been conjured up about this event is symptomatic of a greater societal ailment: forgetfulness. We have forgotten that the only thing which has ever moved us forward as a society is the naked voice of truth, speaking honestly (and in protest, when necessary). All of the prizes that we cherish have been won through struggle. The right to universal suffrage, earned by the first generation of feminists and by the civil rights movement; the right for fair labor practices, including the weekend, earned by the union movement; the right to safe food and a clean environment, earned by Saul Alinsky and the environmental movement; all these were the result of social movements and political struggle. Our charter schools, too, would never have been born, if not for the efforts for cultural rejuvenation, Hawaiian sovereignty, and indigenous rights.
I'm reminded of Frederick Douglas, the early abolitionist and ex-slave, who said that "if there is no struggle, there is no progress." He continues:
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
I know that Senator Baker is a good and just person. She was a key leader in the movement to extend the voting age to 18, which is an indication of the belief that I share with her that young people are important and should be involved in politics. I also have faith that she will choose to restore the charter school budget to its current levels.
But any rumors which condemn or vilify our good faith efforts to see her last week should be seen for what they are - mere rumor.
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Posted by Pono Kealoha on April 20, 2008 at 9:10pm
"Second Rally to support Charter Schools"on April 21, 2008 from 4pm to 7pm. Aloha kakou e na hoa ---the charter schools are facing a massive budget cut in the next year, as much as 12%. Please come support our schools at a rally Monday 4-7 pm at the capitol. If you can't make it, please call the key decisionmakers and ask them to support charter schools. Who to call?Sen. Rosalyn Baker (Ways & Means Chair) 586-6070Rep. Marcus Oshiro (Finance Chair) 586-6200 Event: Second Rally to support Charter SchoolsTime: April 21, 2008 from 4pm to 7pmLocation: State CapitolEvent Type: RallyOrganized By: Ikaika HusseyDescription: The legislature will be voting Monday night or early this week on the charter school budget. We're asking for support from the Maoliworld community to ask legislators to not cut our budget. Please join us in a rally on Monday from 4-7 pm. Our message is very positive: "Support Charter Schools!" Click here toRSVP:http://www.maoliworld.com/events/event/show?id=2011971%3AEvent%3A59476&xgi=a258ynwThanks,Ikaika Hussey
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Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 20, 2008 at 9:00pm
Yes - someone did steal my future!The U.S. Army - took my nephew - lied to him, made him feel guilty for not wanting to go back to Iraq - made him feel shame - and then brainwashed him - lies lies and more lies from beginning to end.I told Ikaika - my darling boy - if you don't want to go you don't have to - you went TWICE already - you're an only son.He said it's "bigger than him and a numbers game."OMG - NOTHING IS BIGGER THAN YOU - IKAIKA! Who told you that lie?And since his heart tells him it's wrong to go and kill Iraqis - to bring "freedom and democracy" to their country - to "civilize" them like they did to our Hawai`i - then if a bullet doesn't get him, his broken heart will - because he will go against his heart and come back a broken soul.Anybody remember the movie, "The Green Mile?" Recall this line, "...they kills you with your love."Yes - someone just stole my future.Leina`alaKailua, Hawai`iRead more…
Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 20, 2008 at 7:00am
Mahalo nui loa to all who took time over the past few weeks to protest wrongdoings of both the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Superferry.You told us you contacted the legislature to express your outrage and it’s paid off big time.Auditor Marion Higa released a report on Thursday saying the state may have compromised its environmental policy under pressure from Hawai`i Superferry executives concerned about financing for the interisland ferry project.The auditor found an internal deadline by the Superferry for financing for ship construction "drove the process" and led the state Department of Transportation to bypass an environmental review.Big surprise, huh?Who did your elected representatives put first? People or profits?Whose future did they consider the most important – yours or their own?Consider this – people who love their land don’t do these kinds of things. People who love only money do.A Free Hawai`i based on Kanaka Maoli values would not allow this to occur.Citizens of a Free Hawai`i know the importance of putting the `aina first.So keep the pressure up. The Office Of Hawaiian Affairs is next and they’re hiding plenty.And be sure to check out Free Hawai`i TV this week for all the late breaking news.If you support our issues on the Free Hawai`i Broadcasting Network, please email this to a friend and see below how you can help us continue our work.Want to know more how you can kokua a Free Hawai`i?Well, we’ve got three superb role models for you. See for yourself this week right here on Voices Of Truth – One-On-One With Hawai`i’s Future.MONDAY, April 21st At 7:00 PM & FRIDAY, April 25th At 5:30 PM – Hawai`i Island – Na Leo, Channel 53TUESDAY, April 22nd At 6:30 PM & WEDNESDAY, April 23rd At 6:30 AM – Maui – Akaku, Channel 53“Hale Halawai – Monument To Activists – A Visit With Soli Papakihei Niheu”People were concerned about longtime Hawaiian political activist Soli Papakihei Niheu.In poor health and living in an old one-room structure in Waimea, his friends knew he needed something better.So they decided to act. They collected contributions, both money and materials, and soon had enough resources to build him a new house.That’s when Soli stepped forward to let them know he didn’t want a house.Instead he wanted the one thing missing in Hawai`i that’s common throughout most other islands in the Pacific - a hale halawai.Similar to the Maori marae in Aotearoa, hale halawai is a formal meeting place to receive and host visitors from far and wide, through Hawaiian protocol and hospitality.Soli saw his hale halawai as a place to host sovereignty movement activists from all over Te Moana Nui – The Polynesian Triangle.Because Soli had dedicated his life to serving others, they knew they now had to do the same thing for him.So they built it for him.In our moving and highly inspirational visit with Soli, you’ll hear him tell his story and see the pictures for yourself of how his hale halawai became reality. Surviving two earthquakes and many other challenges, Soli persevered in his vision of having both a monument to his heroes, the early pioneers of the sovereignty movement, as well as a place for today to teach the young.THURSDAY, April 24th At 8:30 PM & FRIDAY, April 25th At 8:30 AM – Kaua`i – Ho`ike, Channel 52“Modern Konohiki – A Visit With Ke`eaumoku Kapu”“What is the destiny in your life?“What is the history of this place and is there a place suitable for me?”These are questions that drive the spirit of Ke`eaumoku Kapu, modern day warrior and protector of the `aina.A former construction worker building houses and highways, Ke`eaumoku’s first awakening came during the 1993 Onipa`a March in Honolulu.The second occurred when he found himself actually making concrete parts for the H-3 freeway, which eventually caused the desecration of ancient sites in Halawa Valley on O`ahu.Needing to earn money to feed his family, he kept asking himself, “Is what I’m doing pono, is it just? Is the knowledge I’m acquiring through the corporate system legitimate, based on my life as an island person and Kanaka Maoli?”Soon thereafter he walked in, quit his job and dedicated the rest of his life to answering the question, “Is there a way to create just with the unjust?”Today he and his wife run no less than five associations dedicated to serving those threatened with losing their family land to corporate development.Don’t miss Ke`eaumoku as he leads us through his own awakening that took him from someone whose life was run by US corporations to the warrior he is today who sits on the County of Maui Cultural Resources Commission and the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council. See for yourself how he realized the “contemporary management system has nothing to do with our upbringing as Kanaka Maoli,” and the words he lives by – “we must do whatever we can because our land is at stake.”SATURDAY, April 26th At 8:00 PM – O`ahu - `Olelo, Channel 53“Carrier Of The Culture – A Visit With Sabra Kauka”Since Sabra lasted visited us on Voices Of Truth, she hasn’t stopped for a minute, doing what she does best – preserving the culture.She shares with us in telling and pictures about her participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. as the leader of the Hawaiian weavers delegation for Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions.Then Sabra gives us a tantalizing review and much background information on the phenomenal Ho`okahi Kapa - the contemporary kapa exhibit at Bishop Museum with more incredible photos.And finally if all that isn’t enough, she goes on to describe what very few have ever gotten to see firsthand on her own island - Nu`alolo Kai, an ancient Kaua`i valley left untouched for hundreds of years the way the people of old left it.Don’t miss this incredible segment as Sabra describes her involvement in the caretaking of this amazing site on the Na Pali Coast. The entire show is filled with stories and photos you’ll long remember of all three events.Voices Of Truth interviews those creating a better future for Hawai`i to discover what made them go from armchair observers to active participants in the hopes of inspiring viewers to do the same.Please consider a donation today to help further our work. Every single penny counts.You may donate via PayPal at VoicesOfTruthTV.com or by mail –The Koani FoundationPO Box 1878Lihu`e, Kaua`i 96766If you missed a show, want you see your favorites again or you don’t live in Hawai`i, here’s how to view our shows anytime – visit VoicesOfTruthTV.com and simply click on the episodes you wish to view.And for news on issues that affect you, watch FreeHawaiiTV.com.It’s all part of the Free Hawai`i Broadcasting Network.
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Aloha Kākou,On Tuesday, April 15, 2008 charter schools organized at the State Capitol to make a stand for the future of Hawaii by asking the legislature to prioritize education in our state. As usual, charter schools are fighting for funding and for the right to be on equal footing funding wise with regular D.O.E. schools. With charter school enrollment expected to increase across the state next year, the state currently has budgeted money for charter schools that would lower the instructional money alloted per student. This could mean a threat to programs, staff members, and other valuable components of charter school curriculum.Our Hawaiian charter schools have provided an opportunity for the community to choose an education that supports Hawaiian identity and perpetuation of ʻike Hawaiʻi. Please help support our keiki and lāhui by contacting the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the House Finance Committee, or the Governors Office and help them understand that funding is the best way to show that they truly believe the education of our keiki at charter schools is valuable.I have included web addresses to two letters that were published in the local newpapers written by my E.A. and one of my students at Hakipuʻu Learning Center . They really explain our experiences at the Capitol and what we are fighting for. Mahalo!http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/19/editorial/letters.htmlhttp://honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080419/OPINION02/804190309/1108#pluckcommentsCheck it out!
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It will be a few more weeks until the cd is search-able, BUT, it is, non the less, there on iTunes. Just type "Mana Kaleilani Caceres" in the search bar and there you go! Mahalo for the support and i hope you enjoy the music. Much love and Akua bless.Mana
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Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 18, 2008 at 7:00pm
The confluence of two forces, a massive military expansion in Hawai`i and Congressional legislation that will stymie the Kanaka Maoli [Native Hawaiian] sovereignty movement, will expand and consolidate the use of Hawai`i for US empire.We are calling on the US left to join our movement opposing these threats and to add our quest for independence as a plank of the broad US left strategy for a nonimperialist America.If you support peace and justice for the United States and the world, please support demilitarization and independence for Hawai`i.Since 1893, the United States has malformed Hawai`i into the command and control center for US imperialism in Oceania and Asia.From the hills of the Ewa district of O`ahu, the US Pacific Command--the largest of the unified military commands--directs troops and hardware throughout literally half the planet.Since the late nineteenth century, the US military has multiplied in our islands, taking 150,000 acres for its use, including one-quarter of the metropolitan island of O`ahu.Moreover, the National Security Administration is building a new surveillance facility nearby, not far from where urban assault brigades, called Strykers, will train for deployment throughout the world...Read More HereRead more…
Hey folks I haven't done much art of late, as it has come to my obvious attention that i need glasses - hahahaha! Glasses are being made as i type! But for now my shop is up and running here >>>”SUNSETSHOP“<<< theres a little tweaking needed here and there but overall is rock solid and working. linked up to redbubble and easy to navigate, I hope you dig what is available so far as there is much more to come!MAHALO for dropping by!MIKE
Hanohano Waileana Kīhei de Silva.I composed "Hanohano Wailea" in 1984 after a walk to the beach. I went there to cool off after a day of yard work, but I came home quickly, far from cooled-off, with a mele stewing in my head. I’ve said elsewhere that I was inspired by the beauty of what I saw, but I was, in fact, aggravated by the palaualelo of what I’d heard. I wrote "Hanohano Wailea" in response to a self-styled keiki o ka ‘āina who had been giving his house guests a quick lesson in Lanikai landmarks. "That over there," he said, "is Smith’s Point. Behind us is Pillbox Hill and to the north is Mid-Pac Knoll. And those twin islands out there are the Mokes." [1]Usually it takes me a long time to write a mele. I can spend a whole day worrying over a single phrase. But "Hanohano Wailea" took less than an hour. My mind was already full of Sites of O‘ahu research and Jiro Tanabe stories, so I had pretty much figured out what to write before I even got back to the house. [2]My purpose was simple: name the old names of Ka‘ōhao. Put them back in our mouths and ears where they belonged. Ka‘ōhao itself was a lost name, long out of everyday use. It had been swallowed up since 1925 by "Lanikai," a name that -- like Smith’s, Pillbox, Mid-Pac, and Mokes -- was no name at all. "I’ll never leave / Can’t say goodbye / I love you so / My Lanikai" is what the neighborhood kids, my oldest daughter included, had been singing for years at Lanikai Elementary. Thanks to Mr. Palaualelo, I’d finally had my fill of this kai pāpa‘u, this shallow-sea ignorance; it was time to respond.I patterned my song after the travelogue mele of the late 19th century: place name plus description, place name plus description, place name plus description, all on a metaphorical path to affirmation and enlightenment. My roll call of names included Wailea, Pūnāwai, and Ka‘iwa, and I moved along the Ka‘ōhao ridgeline in an easy east-to-west sequence that was meant to encompass the land below in understanding’s warm embrace. I wanted a short song, one that that would improve the ‘ike not overwhelm it. One that could easily be sung and remembered by the children for whom it was intended, my own daughters most of all. So I didn’t use all the land names that I knew, and I left the ocean names completely out of the four-verse mele. I thought I’d wait a bit, work some of those names in later, and eventually wrap the whole thing up with a tidy ha‘ina.It has taken me two decades to get back to "Hanohano Wailea." To balance it off and finish it up. In the meantime, the song has taken on a life of its own. It began as a mele hula kālā‘au, but my friend Wilfred Keale got hold of the words and made Moe-magic out of it. Kawai Cockett later poured all of his heart into it, as did Johnny Lum Ho in turn. Today it is sung beautifully by Keawe Lopez, ‘Ale‘a, Holunape, Moana Chang, and Nā Palapalai. It is sung, as well, by the children of what is now Lanikai Charter School; it is their school song. They go to Lanikai, but they will tell you right away, "the real name is Ka‘ōhao."The song’s four new verses, composed twenty-one years after the original, are not aggravation-inspired, nor are they meant as poetic counter-revolution. [3] Their purpose is to complete, bind, and adorn. One meaning of Ka‘ōhao is "the tying-end, as of a lei." "Hanohano Wailea," in its original four-verse form is a half-circle, a cupped hand, a one-armed hug, an incomplete lei. The new verses for Alāla, Nā Mokulua, and Kai‘ōlena supply the missing half and tie the whole together in a lei aloha ‘āina with which I honor my Ka‘ōhao family.My wife Māpuana has lived in Ka‘ōhao for fifty-seven years. Her mother descends from the chief Kūali‘i whose piko-cutting ceremony was conducted at Alāla Heiau. Both of Māpu’s parents, like Nā Mokulua, are now at rest, at watch, in the sea of Kai‘ōlena. Māpu and I have lived here together since 1973. And our daughters, Kahikina and Kapalai, now and 31 and 24, have lived here all their lives.Ultimately, the new version of the song is meant for the two girls, now women, who grew up with "Hanohano Wailea" and whose lives were shaped by its determination to name and remember. It returns to them now as a celebration of the people and places that watch over them and define them as ēwe hānau hou o ka ‘āina. Real natives, not the self-appointed pālaualelo variety. May there be determined, resilient generations to follow. May this song live to dignify them, to give them their ho‘ohanohono due. ‘Ewalu paukū, ‘elua nō pua, lawa ku‘u lei.Hanohano Wailea i ka‘u ‘ike lāKa wahine kia‘i ‘au i ke kaiPūnāwai ‘ili‘ili nehe i ke kai lā‘Auana ka wai ‘olu i ka ulu halaHalakau ‘o Ka‘iwa i luna lilo lāNe‘e mai ‘o Ahiki i ke kualonoKualena ‘o Alāla i ke ao ‘ōpuku lāKolo mai ka ‘iewe a‘o Kūali‘iKua‘au kai ‘ōlena ka‘u i aloha lāKau aku ka hali‘a i nā MokuluaPilikua pilialo i ke awe ‘ula lāE nānā mai ka maka, ‘ike pū ka ponoHo‘olono Ka‘ōhao i kēia mele lāO ku‘u ‘āina nani e waiho neiHa‘ina ‘ia mai ana ka puana lāHanohano Wailea i ka‘u ‘ike.I hold Wailea in high regardShe is the guardian-woman who reaches into the seaThe pebbles of Pūnāwai clatter in the tideWhere cool waters wander through the hala grove.Ka‘iwa rests high aboveAhiki moves closer to herAlāla stretches taut the skin of ‘ōpuku cloudsThe descendants of Kūali‘i draw nearThe sheltered sea of Kai‘ōlena is what I loveFond memories come to rest at MokuluaThey are husband and wife in the red rays of sunriseMay the eyes observe and understandKa‘ōhao attends to this meleOf my beautiful land spread out belowTell the song’s refrainGlorious is Wailea in my sight.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. The correct names are Wailea, Ka‘iwa, Alāla, and Nā Mokulua. "Smith’s Point" (Wailea) gets its inoa haole from Alvin Smith who built an estate there in the 1930s (Jiro Tanabe, personal communication, 1983); the other misnomers are self-explanatory.2. Jiro Tanabe grew up in Ka‘ōhao when it was still ranch land and watermelon farm. He is in his late 80s and still lives down the street from us.3. Well, maybe a little bit. The fortified estates of Mokulua Drive and the absentee land-barons who own them are the antithesis of aloha ‘āina and therefore a target of "Hanohano Wailea" in both old and new forms.Notes to the MeleWailea is the point that divides Ka‘ōhao from Waimānalo. It was a place for fish-spotting, and offerings to a stone god of the same name were once made here (Sterling and Summers, Sites of O‘ahu, 239). Pukui tells us that Wailea means "water of Lea" (Place Names, 224) and that it refers to the goddess of canoe-makers (Hawaiian Dictionary, 239). Lea is known in other traditions as Hinaulu‘ōhi‘a, a guardian goddess of po‘e hula (Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology, 563).Pūnāwai is now a cement drainage ditch that runs from cliff to beach at the far end of Ka‘ōhao. In older days it was a meandering stream noted for the hala groves on its banks and the ‘ili‘ili at its mouth. Women were quartered here near the beach while their men trained at spear-throwing on the Ka‘ōhao plain (Sites of O‘ahu, 239). Pūnāwai also is the name of our home in Ka‘ōhao; we have a seven-tree hala grove in our yard, and our students -- we like to say -- are the ‘ili‘ili that still dance in the tide.Ka‘iwa is the ridge that divides Ka‘ōhao from Ka‘elepulu (commonly called "Enchanted Lakes"). Sterling and Summers report that the ridge was named for a chiefess who made her home here (Sites of O‘ahu, 239).Ahiki is the Waimānalo-most peak of the Olomanas. In ancient times, Ahiki was also the konohiki of the Kawainui and Ka‘elepulu fishponds. A legend recorded by Sterling and Summers explains Ahiki’s geographic separation from the other Olomana peaks: he was so taken with the chiefess Ka‘iwa that he rose up and pulled himself away from his brother peaks in order to be closer to her (Sites of O‘ahu, 239). The story of Ka‘iwa and Ahiki makes for a bit of de Silva kaona. I lived with my family in Maunawili (the land of Ahiki) until I married Māpu and moved to Ka‘ōhao. Like Ahiki, I was drawn here by love for Ka‘iwa.Alāla (Awakening) is the ridge and point that divides Ka‘ōhao from Kawailoa (the southern end of what is now Kailua Beach Park). The 17th century chief Kūali‘i was born at Kalapawai (now at the northern end of the same beach park); his piko-cutting ceremony was conducted at Alāla Heiau and accompanied by the drumming of two sacred pahu: ‘Ōpuku and Hāwea (Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race, II:278).My wife Māpuana is a descendant of Kailewa, the name given to Kūali‘i in his later years (Sally Wood Naluai, personal communication, 1991). The proverb "Kolo ke ēwe i ka ‘iewe" is expressive of the bond felt by people who share a common ancestry: they creep and crawl to each other; they seek each other out (Pukui, ‘Ōlelo No‘eau, 322; Dictionary, 43, 94).Kai‘ōlena is sea-water mixed with ‘ōlena and used for ceremonial purification. The name belongs to the section of beach and ocean ma kai of Lanikai Park and accessible from the Kai‘ōlena St. right-of-way. The name may refer, in part, to the ‘ōlena-colored sand and water of our reef-protected strand and to the healing properties that some of the old-timers attributed to the ocean here (Jiro Tanabe, personal communication, 1983). Kai‘ōlena has particularly strong family connections because it encompasses the points of departure, destination, and return for the canoes that scattered the ashes of Māpu’s parents.Nā Mokulua are the "twin" islands at the outer edge of the ‘A‘alapapa reef. The two are further identified as Mokunui and Mokuiki, but their older names are no longer remembered (Tanabe, 1983).Pilikua (guarding-the-back) and Pilialo (clinging-to-the-front) are poetic expressions for husband and wife (Pukui, ‘Ōlelo No‘eau, 893, The Polynesian Family System in Ka‘ū, 163). The Kua/Keawe references hint at the interweaving of my wife’s Kūali‘i line and my own Kua (of Ka‘ū) and Keawe‘īkekahiali‘iokamoku lines in our daughters Kahikina and Kapalai‘ula -- the mamo for whom these new verses have been composed.Ka‘ōhao means "the tying" and takes its name from the tying of two women by Hāuna, kahu to high chief Lonoikamakahiki of Hawai‘i Island, after the women were beaten at a game of kōnane. The women were led to Hāuna’s canoes, released, and -- against all expectation -- rewarded with the feather wealth that the wa‘a contained. That place was named Ka‘ōhao in commemoration of the incident. (The complete story is told in Fornander’s Collection, IV:314-315.) "Lanikai" is the 1920s concoction of Charles Frazier, the district’s developer who was under the mistaken impression that he was naming the place ‘heavenly sea’ (Honolulu Advertiser, 8-15-1948). His word order, however, was hemahema; "in Hawaiian the modifier commonly follows the noun; hence Lanikai means ‘sea heaven, marine heaven’" (Pukui, Place Names of Hawai‘i, 129).In 1926, Frazier and the Trent Trust Co. subdivided the 100-plus acres that he had bought from Maunawili Ranch, put up the lighthouse-shaped monument at Alāla Point, and announced the sale of thirty-two vacation home lots. Ka‘ōhao was actually the name of the northernmost of two land divisions bordered by Alāla and Wailea points; the second of these is identified on the old maps as Mokulua. Frazier and Trent bought Mokulua shortly after their initial purchase of Ka‘ōhao, and both old names were swallowed up by the misnomer Lanikai. (John Clark, Beaches of O‘ahu, 175; Jiro Tanabe, personal communication, 1983.)Ha‘ina. I’m calling this verse "newly composed," but Nā Palapalai actually came up with it in 2002 when they sang "Hanohano Wailea" for Leina‘ala Kalama Heine’s Hālau Nā Pualei at the King Kamehameha Competition. ‘Ala had asked permission to dance the "old" mele with the added ha‘ina, and I happily approved."Hanohano Wailea" DiscographyMoe Keale, Aloha Is . . . A Part Of Me, A Part Of You, MDL6408.Kawai Cockett, ‘O Ka‘ōhao Ku‘u ‘Āina Nani, Ho‘olokahi Productions, HPC-203.Anuhea, Kahiau ‘ia ke Aloha, Mana Pa‘i Records, AK47-1CD.Hawaiian Time, Island Dream, Lāna‘i Boyz 0002.Ray Sowders, Ho‘omālie, RS 2000.Nā Palapalai, Ka Pua Hae Hawaiʻi, Koops KPSE 1004A Note on the Tune"Hanohano Wailea" began as a mele hula kālā‘au, but Moe Keale got hold of the words and made a song out of it. His "Aloha is ..." recording of the song still confuses people: "What happened to the tune; how come he sings it so differently from the way it’s done today?" The fact is, Moe came up with two tunes for the mele: the "hula" version that everyone sings now, and what he called the "Hi‘ilawe" version for his LP. What happened was this: Moe recorded the song just before our hālau was going to present it for the first time at Merrie Monarch. He didn’t want the hula tune to be heard until that night, so he recorded it the other way -- as a disguise. "We go fool ‘em," he said. And he did.
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Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 17, 2008 at 7:05pm
Honolulu Star-Bulletin Thursday, April 17, 2008Hawaii's government caved in to pressure from the Hawai`i Superferry, allowing it to bypass an environmental review by the state, according to an audit to be released today.The report finds that the Department of Transportation exempted the Superferry from an environmental study after the interisland ship threatened not to come to Hawai`i unless it was given the go-ahead by June 30, 2005."In the end, the state may have compromised its environmental policy in favor of a private company's internal deadline," according to the audit, ordered by the Legislature and prepared by Auditor Marion Higa.The Transportation Department's exemption set in motion a series of events including ocean protests off Kaua`i, court rulings that stopped the ferry and emergency legislation overriding the courts.Since then the Superferry has been carrying small loads of passengers and cars from Honolulu to Maui when it has not needed repairs, as it did from Feb. 13 to April 7. The ferry still has not resumed voyages to Kaua`i.Read More HereRead more…
Posted by Free Hawai`i on April 16, 2008 at 7:22pm
Voices Of Truth – One-On-One With Hawai`i’s Future Now On The WebThat's right!You can now watch Voices Of Truth - One-On-One With Hawai`i's Future whether you live in Hawai`i or not.Simply visit VoicesOfTruthTV.comThere you’ll find over forty of our most popular episodes.From our three-part series at `Iolani Palace, to our show with Liko Martin, Hawai`i’s Superman, Kanalu Young, to the amazing segment we did with Manu Meyer, it’s all there for your viewing enjoyment.But that’s just for starters.We’ll soon be adding more of our shows until we have them all online.So now if you missed one, want to see favorites again, or tell your friends who live outside of Hawai`i to watch, go to VoicesOfTruthTV.comOf course it’s all part of the Free Hawai`i Broadcasting Network.It’s our way of giving you what you want, when you want it.Watch it on TV throughout out Hawai`i or now on the web 24/7, you can always count on Voices Of Truth – One-On-One With Hawai`i’s Future.Read more…
"Second Rally to support Charter Schools"on April 21, 2008 from 4pm to 7pm. Aloha kakou e na hoa ---the charter schools are facing a massive budget cut in the next year, as much as 12%. Please come support our schools at a rally Monday 4-7 pm at the capitol. If you can't make it, please call the key decisionmakers and ask them to support charter schools. Who to call?Sen. Rosalyn Baker (Ways & Means Chair) 586-6070Rep. Marcus Oshiro (Finance Chair) 586-6200 Event: Second Rally to support Charter SchoolsTime: April 21, 2008 from 4pm to 7pmLocation: State CapitolEvent Type: RallyOrganized By: Ikaika HusseyDescription: The legislature will be voting Monday night or early this week on the charter school budget. We're asking for support from the Maoliworld community to ask legislators to not cut our budget. Please join us in a rally on Monday from 4-7 pm. Our message is very positive: "Support Charter Schools!" Click here toRSVP:http://www.maoliworld.com/events/event/show?id=2011971%3AEvent%3A59476&xgi=a258ynwThanks,Ikaika Hussey
