Revealing Hawaiian ‘secrets’, facilitating Hawaiian acquiescence

In July 2009, Chinook helicopters whisked a group of Kanaka Maoli leaders to Makua valley, purportedly to visit cultural sites and gain an understanding of the Army’s cultural preservation efforts. As the choppers descended on the valley from the sea, you could imagine Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries over the signature slow, dull thud of the Chinook rotors. When the Hawaiian leaders got off the chopper, however, they were mobbed by a flock of reporters who snapped photos and video to tout the Army’s outreach efforts to Native Hawaiians. The incident caused significant pilikia (trouble) in the Hawaiian community. The image of renowned leaders in the Hawaiian movement were used to sell the message that Kanaka Maoli support the Army’s return to training in Makua.

At the time, it was not known that this publicity stunt was part of an aggressive community relations campaign by the Army to win over Kanaka Maoli support for its training. In March 2008, the Army awarded a hefty two-year “Facilitation Services Contract” (W912CN08C0051) to Annelle Amaral, a former state legislator, long time women’s rights advocate and leader in the Hawaiian community. The first year award was $246,272 a year, up to a total of $492,544.

A half-million dollars ought to buy a lot of facilitation services. The question is what is the scope of work under the contract, and why did she, a civil rights leader in the community, accept a contract that in essence helps the military better control the Hawaiian community as they are being assaulted with desecration, environmental destruction and land grabbing. Over the past several years, Ms. Amaral facilitated a number of public meetings on military environmental impact statements, including the controversial Stryker brigade EIS hearings where some of us were arrested for bringing signs and visual displays into the meeting. Perhaps it was this willingness to be tough with activists that won her this half million dollar deal. But it was terribly sad and deeply troubling to have Kanaka Maoli facilitators doing the dirty work of shutting down their own people and shielding the military from the well-deserved wrath of the community.

It seems from the article below, the services also include “proactive” outreach where leaders in the Kanaka Maoli community build ties with military leaders. While teaching the military about Hawaiian culture can seem harmless enough, even beneficial in some instances, the problem arises when these activities are part of an orchestrated campaign to mask real conflicts and grievances and to blur the contradictions between the interests of the military versus the Kanaka Maoli community. It is also a way to identify and organize those individuals in the community who support the military’s position, and attempt to neutralize or marginalize potential opponents. In community organizing, this is called “counter organizing”. In military doctrine it is “counter insurgency”. The goal is to establish control of a population.

Whether or not Ms. Amaral truly believes that she is helping Hawaiians by sensitizing the military to Hawaiian concerns, at the end of the day, her services help the Army to divide the community and suppress opposition, in essence to deliver her own community to military control.

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http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/09/06/27035-way-of-the-warrior-native-hawaiian-lecture-series-reveals-ancient-secrets/

Way of the Warrior: Native Hawaiian lecture series reveals ancient secrets

Sep 6, 2009

By Bill Mossman, U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii Public Affairs

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii – The much-anticipated Native Hawaiian lecture series got off to a rousing start, Friday, as military leaders were introduced to one of Hawaii’s best-kept secrets: the ancient fighting art known as lua.

Practiced by the chiefs’ elite fighting forces in olden times, lua went underground for decades before resurfacing in recent years, thanks in part to event guest speaker Dr. Mitchell Eli.

An olohe (master) lua, Eli is a former student of Charles Kenn, the man credited with preserving the martial art for today’s generation of students.

“One thing about Hawaiians is that we are very good at keeping secrets,” explained emcee Annelle Amaral, Native Hawaiian liaison for U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii (USAG-HI), to about 120 guests as they dined at the Nehelani, Schofield Barracks. “We have had to keep secrets, under self-preservation and the need to protect that, which is sacred … for too many generations.

“But what we have learned in contemporary days,” she continued, “is that within the telling of secrets, in the sharing of the knowledge of our kupuna, we have made our young people proud of their kupuna, made them proud of who they are.”

When it was his turn to speak, Eli first thanked the U.S. Army for a forum in which to share the history of lua. Then, after briefly discussing his background and familiarity with the Wahiawa community, Eli informed the Army’s senior leadership that they would be treated to a 35-minute film that would best explain the Hawaiian martial art.

Hosted by Green Beret Terry Schappert, the action-packed film, which first aired back in May on the History Channel, featured Schappert’s introduction to lua – a complex fighting system specializing in bone-breaking and joint-dislocating strikes with the hands and feet, as well as mastery over a slew of ancient weapons.

For Eli, a chiropractor who rarely speaks about lua in public, the film was an opportunity to demonstrate that members of differing cultures could come together for a common cause. Or as he put it, the video production was made possible through “the combination of good works between our culture, the military and those who assisted us.”

Following the presentation, Col. Teresa Parsons admitted the film was an “eye-opening experience” for her.

“I’ve always seen replicas of the war instruments, but I never knew of the skill sets of the Hawaiian warrior,” explained Parsons, who’s in her third tour of duty in Hawaii and currently working out of Tripler Army Medical Center. “I’m in awe, and have a new respect for another aspect of the Hawaiian tradition.”

Parsons was particularly fascinated by the leiomano, a handheld weapon fashioned with serrated tiger shark teeth on one end and a spear on the other. In the film, lua warriors demonstrated how the weapon could be used for lethal blows that tear away at not only flesh and sinew, but even bone.

“They made some serious holes with that weapon,” she commented. “I don’t even know if today we could repair the injuries that they have the ability to cause.”

Sponsored by USAG-HI through a $5,000 donation from the Kamehameha Schools, the event brought together the military community, including host Col. Matthew Margotta, commander, USAG-HI, and Hawaiian leaders from various Royal Hawaiian Societies charged with preserving Hawaiian culture

Societies in attendance included the Royal Order of Kamehameha, Hale O Na Alii, Ahahui Kaahumanu and the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, also known as Mamakakaua.

“We intentionally set up our tables so that there would be military and Hawaiians at them,” Amaral noted. “This will hopefully help when it comes to exchanging ideas with one another.”

The evening program began with Rev. William Kaina of Kawaihao Church offering the pule (prayer), in which he thanked the Soldiers in attendance for their dedicated service. Noted kumu hula Wayne Kahoonei Panoke followed. He offered a chant to introduce members of the Royal Order of Kamehameha, Chapter VIII, who were dressed in full regalia.

The members then offered a lei as hookupu (gift given in exchange for spiritual power, or mana) to a picture of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole – as did Col. Margotta, who honored the Hawaiian monarch with a maile lei.

According to Amaral, Prince Kuhio is not only credited with restoring the Royal Societies following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, but with also being olohe lua to Kenn

Amaral added that she’s hoping to have Nainoa Thompson speak in September, when the second of a four-part lecture series resumes. Thompson is a Native Hawaiian navigator famous for commanding two double-hulled canoes, the Hokulea and Hawaiiloa, on voyages from Hawaii through Polynesia. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Kamehameha Schools.

November 23, 2009

Judge Orders Army to Disclose Impacts on Sacred Hawaiian Valley

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2009/2009-11-22-091.asp

Judge Orders Army to Disclose Impacts on Sacred Hawaiian Valley

HONOLULU, Hawaii, November 22, 2009 (ENS) – A federal judge in Honolulu has ruled that the U.S. Army is obliged to give the community meaningful information on how military training at Makua Military Reservation on Oahu could damage native Hawaiian cultural sites and contaminate marine resources on which area residents rely for subsistence.

The community organization Malama Makua, represented by the public interest law firm Earthjustice, had asked the court in August to set aside the Army’s environmental impact statement for proposed military training at the military reservation 38 miles northwest of Honolulu until it completes key marine contamination studies and archaeological surveys.

“For years we’ve been insisting that the Army tell the community the truth about the threats that training at Makua poses to irreplaceable subsistence and cultural resources,” said Malama Makua president Sparky Rodrigues. “Now the court has told the Army that it can’t get away with junk science.”

Under two previous legal settlements with Malama Makua, the Army was required to conduct comprehensive studies to determine the potential for combat training activities to contaminate fish, shellfish, edible seaweed and other marine resources at Makua that Waianae Coast residents gather for subsistence purposes.

The Army was also required to prepare comprehensive subsurface archaeological surveys to identify cultural sites that could be damaged or destroyed by military training.

The Army agreed to take these actions in an October 2001 settlement of Malama Makua’s earlier lawsuit, which challenged the Army’s failure to prepare an environmental impact statement for training at the Makua Military Reservation, as well as a related settlement in January 2007.

The Army filed a motion seeking to dismiss Malama Makua’s August complaint, arguing that, regardless of the scientific adequacy of its studies, it had met all its responsibilities under the settlement agreements.

In denying the Army’s motion, U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway wrote, “The Army has not demonstrated that the settlement agreement provided it with the sole right to determine what was meant by [an archaeological] ‘survey.’ Taken to its logical conclusion, the Army’s argument would allow the Army to satisfy its burden by poking a stick into the ground and calling that action a ‘survey.'”

Judge Mollway also found that Malama Makua had a viable claim when it asserted that the Army had failed to meet its obligations under the settlement agreement in regard to studying the contamination of subsistence marine resources along the Waianae Coast on Oahu’s western shore.

“At the hearing on this motion, the Army argued that it was entitled to summary judgment because the settlement agreement only required it to do a study, which it did,” Judge Mollway wrote.

“The Army contended that what kind of study it did was in its sole discretion. At the hearing, the Army went so far as to argue that it could have satisfied the ‘study’ requirement by simply having a luau, serving food from the area, and seeing whether anyone got sick,” Judge Mollway wrote.

“The Army points to nothing in any agreement giving it the sole discretion to interpret what constitutes any ‘study’ required by any agreement,” Judge Mollway wrote.

The judge said she was not persuaded by the Army’s overall argument that, “as the settlement agreements required no particular methodology, any methodology sufficed.”

“To make a rational decision about whether to allow training at Makua, it’s vital that decision makers and the public have accurate information about the harm to public health and cultural sites that resuming training at Makua could cause,” said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin. “This ruling puts the Army on notice that the Court will not allow the Army to pass off woefully inadequate studies as meaningful.”

The primary use of Makua Military Reservation has been for company-level training exercises by the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, which is based at Schofield Barracks on Oahu.

During these exercises, the Army unit orchestrates the application of several military units, such as infantry, aviation, artillery, engineers, and others, to achieve a combined effect on the enemy greater than if each weapon system were used individually.

In addition, convoy live-fire exercises have been held at Makua Military Reservation, MMR.

In September 1998, the Army temporarily suspended training at MMR due to several wildfires that burned outside the south and north firebreak roads. “There are over 50 occurring or potentially occurring endangered plant and animal species in the MMR region of influence,” the Army states in its final environmental impact statement. “The proximity of these species to a fire hazard presents significant challenges.”

The Army consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, most recently in 2005. The Service advised that the training exercises would not likely jeopardize the continued existence of any species or adversely modify or destroy designated critical habitat.

A June 2008 amendment to the environmental impact statement identifies conservation measures to be implemented on private land but not on the MMR.

While MMR was used for limited training from 2001 to 2004, since the suspension of training there in September 1998, the 25th Infantry Division has attempted to meet its live-fire training requirements by sending its companies to other training locations.

The Army says that given the present number and types of units stationed in Hawaii requiring use of Army live-fire ranges, Hawaii needs the range capacity to support 32 company-level convoy live-fire exercises annually.

The topography of MMR, with steep valley walls enclosing the relatively flat company combined-arms assault course on three sides, and Makua’s isolation from population centers provide the necessary buffer areas that facilitate live-fire training at the reservation, the Army states.

On the other hand, Malama Makua says the valley is a sacred place to native Hawaiians, the mythic birthplace of the Hawaiian people.

Frequent brushfires that imperil the fragile native ecosystem and the potential destruction of Hawaiian artifacts in the valley are the organization’s concerns. Malama Makua also objects to military amphibious exercises conducted on the beach fronting the valley.

Over 100 Native Hawaiian cultural sites have been identified at MMR, including Hawaiian temples, altars, burials and petroglyphs, but the Army, claiming the danger of unexploded ordnance, has refused access to the community except at one cultural site.

“I’ve observed training at Makua and many times have seen mortar rounds missing their targets and landing in places we know are full of ahu [shrines], petroglyphs, imu [earthen ovens], and other cultural sites,” said Malama Makua member and cultural practitioner Leandra Wai. “If the Army doesn’t live up to its promises and do a comprehensive survey of Makua’s cultural sites, we’ll never know what we stand to lose if the Army returns to training.”

Malama Makua has criticized the State of Hawaii for leasing the lands to the military in 1964, at the rate of $1.00 for 65 years, until the year 2029.

November 21, 2009

Judge sustains Makua complaint

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20091120_Judge_sustains_Makua_complaint.html

Judge sustains Makua complaint

The ruling reveals doubt about whether Army environmental surveys were sufficient

By Gregg K. Kakesako

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 20, 2009

A federal judge has sided with Hawaiian activists who want the Army to stop training in Makua Military Reservation, putting the military on notice that it will have to show that maneuvers in the Leeward valley would not contaminate ocean resources or damage cultural sites.

U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway’s actions keep alive a request by the organization Malama Makua to have the court set aside the Army’s environmental impact statement until it completes more marine contamination studies and archaeological surveys.

The Army completed the EIS in June, and in August filed a motion seeking to dismiss Malama Makua’s complaint.

In denying the Army’s motion Wednesday, Mollway wrote that the Army does not have the sole right to determine what qualifies as a survey.

“Taken to its logical conclusion, the Army’s argument would allow the Army to satisfy its burden by poking a stick into the ground and calling that action a ‘survey,'” the judge wrote.

Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who has represented Malama Makua since 2000, said that he hopes that Mollway will act early next year to permanently bar further training in Makua before the Army resumes any operations using live ammunition.

The Army, which conducted both a survey of cultural sites and several scientific studies on possible water and soil contamination, has said it had met all terms of their October 2001 settlement agreement with Malama Makua.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Army was required to conduct studies to determine the potential for training activities to contaminate fish, shellfish, limu and other marine resources off Makua beach. The Army was also required to prepare subsurface archaeological surveys to identify cultural sites that could be damaged or destroyed by training.

“At the hearing on this motion, the Army argued that it was entitled to summary judgment because the settlement agreement only required it to do a study, which it did,” Mollway wrote. “The Army contended that what kind of study it did was in its sole discretion. At the hearing, the Army went so far as to argue that it could have satisfied the ‘study’ requirement by simply having a luau, serving food from the area and seeing whether anyone got sick.”

Malama Makua President Sparky Rodrigues said: “For years we’ve been insisting that the Army tell the community the truth about the threats that training at Makua poses to irreplaceable subsistence and cultural resources. Now the court has told the Army that it can’t get away with junk science.”

Said Earthjustice attorney Henkin: “To make a rational decision about whether to allow training at Makua, it’s vital that decision-makers and the public have accurate information about the harm to public health and cultural sites that resuming training at Makua could cause. This ruling puts the Army on notice that the court will not allow the Army to pass off woefully inadequate studies as meaningful.”

Dennis Drake, an Army spokesman, yesterday said it is Army policy not to comment on ongoing litigation: “We will abide with the dictates of the court.”

In August Col. Matthew Margotta, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said the Army hoped to resume live-fire training before the end of summer since it believed that the environmental statement completed in June fulfilled its legal obligations. However, no training with live-fire ammunition has taken place.

The Army has said that it needs to rebuild several dirt roads and firing ranges in the training area damaged by heavy rain last year. The Army stopped live-fire training in the 4,190-acre valley in 2004, pending completion of the EIS.

November 19, 2009

Hannemann says Inouye asked him to run for governor

In the last election, when Mayor Hannemann claimed victory in his reelection bid, Senator Inouye stood beside him on TV and publicly congratulated him. Many took this as a sign that Inouye had anointed Hannemann as his successor. There were already signs that Inouye and US Representative Abercrombie were divided on certain issues, of note the question of whether or not Makua valley should remain a military training area. Inouye came out in support of the Army training while Abercrombie questioned the Army’s need for Makua. Now in the race for Governor, with Hannemann and Abercrombie as the two Democratic Party frontrunners, Hannemann has leaked to the press that Inouye urged him to run for Governor. Sly move to tap into Inouye’s political clout. But it also brands Hannemann with the corrupt ‘old boy’s network’ political machine that has run roughshod over Hawai’i for the last fifty years.

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http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091119/BREAKING01/91119053/Hannemann+says+Inouye+asked+him+to+run+for+governor

Updated at 12:50 p.m., Thursday, November 19, 2009

Hannemann says Inouye asked him to run for governor

Advertiser Staff

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye has not endorsed a candidate for governor in 2010, but his staff does not dispute Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s claim that the senator has urged him to run.

Hannemann, who has not officially declared his candidacy but is raising money for a possible campaign, said at a fundraiser in Waikiki last night that Inouye had encouraged him to run in the Democratic primary.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, has declared his candidacy and his aides have been working behind-the-scenes to tamp down speculation that Inouye, the state’s top Democrat, was backing Hannemann.

“The senator encourages lots of candidates to run for office,” Inouye’s spokesman, Peter Boylan, said today from Washington, D.C. “Encouraging people to participate in the Democratic process is critical to ensuring healthy competition and healthy competition is good for the Democratic Party. It strengthens the party’s ranks and adds depth to the party’s bench.

“The senator has not officially endorsed any candidate for governor.”

The Democratic Party typically does not endorse in primary campaigns and top Democrats often straddle the line of an official endorsement even when clearly favoring a particular primary candidate.

Hannemann’s comments, first reported today by the Star-Bulletin, could have an influence on potential donors swayed by the perception that Inouye is supporting the mayor.

“Senator Inouye’s statement that he is not endorsing any candidate for governor speaks for itself,” said Laurie Au, campaign spokeswoman for Abercrombie. “We respect the senator’s decision to remain neutral.”

November 11, 2009

New Law Limits Military use of Open Burn Pits

Doug from Seacoast Anti-Pollution League in Portsmouth, New Hampshire sent a post to the Military Toxics Project listserve about a new law to limit the military use of open burn pits overseas. However, as Doug notes the law “Doesn’t cover domestic bases, nor everything we’d want left unburned, but DoD has to develop a plan to eliminate burning so it’s a start!”

Open Burn/Open Detonation (OB/OD) pits have been a commonly used method for the military to dispose of old munitions and other waste. OB/OD was used in Makua valley as recently as 1994. The Wai’anae community organized with leadership from Malama Makua to oppose the Army’s permit application to the EPA to conduct routine OB/OD disposal in Makua. (Up to that point, unpermitted OB/OD disposal was conducted under the auspices of “training”.) The Army was forced to abandon its OB/OD plans and close the disposal site, which has not been decontaminated.

Here’s the article on the Newsweek blog about this new law:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/10/28/obama-to-sign-law-protecting-troops-from-toxic-fumes.aspx

Posted Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:30 AM

Obama to Sign Law Protecting Troops From Toxic Fumes

Katie Connolly

A few months ago I wrote a short piece about the startling practice of using open-air burn pits to incinerate waste on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. The toxic fumes from these pits have been linked to a host of debilitating illnesses in troops and contractors who worked near them. Here’s an excerpt from my original piece:

Josh Eller, a military contractor stationed in Iraq in 2006, was driving through Balad Air Base when he spotted the wild dog. He wasn’t sure what was in its mouth—but when Eller saw two bones, he knew he was looking at a human arm. The dog had pulled the limb from an open-air “burn pit” on the base used to incinerate waste. Eller says it’s “one of the worst things I have seen.”

Since hearing Eller’s story, lawyer Elizabeth Burke has signed on 190 additional clients with complaints about burn pits at 18 military sites in Iraq and Afghanistan. By now, she says, all pits should have been replaced by pollution-controlled incinerators. She’s filed suits in 17 states against KBR, the company contracted to provide waste-disposal services at these bases, accusing it of negligence and harm. Burke was shocked to learn what her clients saw incinerated: Humvees, batteries, unexploded ordnance, gas cans, mattresses, rocket pods, and plastic and medical waste (including body parts, which may explain the arm). Fumes containing carcinogenic dioxins, heavy metals, and particulates, according to an Army–Air Force risk assessment, waft freely across bases.

Burke’s plaintiffs mostly suffer from chronic or unusual medical complications that they believe were caused by burn-pit exposure. Shawn Sheridan, who served two tours at Balad, says black smoke from the pit was so thick at times he couldn’t see through it with night-vision goggles. Sheridan, 26, was healthy when he enlisted six years ago. Now he has a kidney disease, chronic bronchitis, and a painful skin condition. (Read the full story here.)

Today Eller, Sheridan, and the many others affected by these pits are getting some good news, thanks in part to the work of Rep. Tim Bishop, Democrat of New York, and Rep. Carol Shea Porter, Democrat of New Hampshire, who have championed their cause for months. They successfully lobbied for the inclusion of provisions to limit the use of these toxic pits in the National Defense Authorization Act, which the president will sign into law this afternoon. Under this new law, open-air burning of medical and hazardous waste will be prohibited except where the Defense secretary deems there is no alternative, the DoD must justify the use of burn pits to Congress, and it will develop a plan to eliminate the use of burn pits entirely.

The legislation won’t repair Sheridan’s lungs or kidneys, but it will force the DoD to limit troop exposure to potentially hazardous fumes in the future. That really shouldn’t be so hard. According to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, only about half the incinerators the military purchased four years ago to help eliminate the use of burn pits are currently in operation. The public would never stand for having burn pits operate in a residential area in the U.S. Now, eight years into the war in Afghanistan, U.S. service members might start receiving that same courtesy.

(You can read more about burn pits in Kelly Kennedy’s excellent reports for Military Times.)

September 17, 2009

Women’s Vigil for Peace and Solidarity

In Solidarity with the 7th International Network of Women against Militarism (INWAM) Meeting: Guahan

Hafa Adai, my name is Angela T. Hoppe-Cruz. I am a Chamoru woman born and raised on the island of Guahan, now residing in Makaha. The INWAM formed in the mid 1990’s in response to the rape of a young Okinawan woman by a U.S. Marine. In 2004 women from Hawaii represented DMZ Hawaii Aloha Aina at th 5th INWAM Meeting held in the Phillipies. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is part of the alliance that makes up DMZ. Hawaii’s participation continued, followed by the 2007 delegation in San Francisco, and this year Guahan. This year Hawaii is represented at the Guahan conference by Auntie Terri and Melanie Medalle. The meeting location is strategically selected based on the current militarism efforts against the people. In 2006 the U.S. military announced the transfer of U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa to Guahan. The influx will result in 50,000 more people and immense development of the land for military use.

The 7th INWAM Meeting kicked off early this week, as I followed in spirit and prayer our sisters and brothers, there is an ache to be part of such a historic event, especially at this moment in time. Many sisters from the Micronesian region, here on Oahu have expressed that same ache and desire. I was moved and inspired by them to organize a gathering for our sisters living on Oahu, who cannot be in attendance at the INMW. On the final day of the conference there will be a community vigil to “honor the past and heal for the future “Fuetsan I Lina’la’: Famalao’an I Tano’ Strength of Life: Women of the Land”. Detailed information regarding the conference is at this site: http://genuinesecurity.blogspot.com/.

In solidarity with the INWM Guahan conference, we ask that you join us for a community vigil to be held on Oahu, to honor the past and heal for the future. This is a call for solidarity and sisterhood and that our connection brings hopeful collectivity. Militarism and empire building has wrought upon indigenous peoples’ across the globe a deep trauma and loss. The INWM is a collective of women standing up against the continued injustices and desecration of our lands, and communities. This is the thrust of the Gathering, women collectively overcoming militarism and putting forth a new vision of security. We ask for your full participation, this is not a performance. It is a space for us to gather, to re-member. Please call with questions Angela at 366-5777 or e-mail atacruz@gmail.com.

When: Sunday, September 20th at 4:00p.m.

Where: Makua Beach, Ku la`i la`i

Hi`uwai (water cleansing ceremony). Procession to Papa Wai Ola cared for by Auntie Leandra.

Oli by Auntie Leandra

Song from our Sisters’ (open to all)
- Chamoru, Chuukese, Palauan

Resilience and Healing across Oceania
- Sharing our stories of struggle and hope

Potluck and drinks

**Please bring a potluck dish and drink to share. Also, please bring kukui nuts they will be used to represent the hurt you wish to be transformed.

The following is a timeline of military rule and impact in the Micronesian Islands and Hawaii. There are not words to describe the history of oppression and hurt that connects us. Nor are there words to describe our inherent power to heal and move beyond. We take with us not spears, but the power of our voice, love and ancestors collectively to challenge and resist the continued rape of our tano/aina.

The Transgressions: A timeline of militarism in our islands. (this is not a comprehensive list)

1893: The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown and placed under U.S. rule, annexed as a territory.
1898: The islands of Micronesia, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Isalnds and the Republic of Palau were divvied up as spoils of war after the Spanish American war.
Guam was ceded to the United States of America while the rest of the islands were awarded to Germany.
1919: The Japanese through the Treaty of Versailles took control of the islands, except for Guam, which continued to be ruled by the U.S.A.
1920: Guam is forced to follow: English Only Law.
1941: Guam was under U.S. rule, until the Japanese Occupation, which lasted until 1944
1944: Guam was ‘liberated’ from Japanese Occupation by the United States of America.
1944: Following WWII the FSM, RMI, ROP and CNMI became Trust Territories of the Pacific, through the UN administered by the USA.
1950: Through the Organic Act of 1950, Guam became a United States Territory.
1954: In the name of Humanity, Marshall Islands are used as testing site of BRAVO an HBOMB, the equivalent of 10000 Hiroshima bombs.
1959: Hawai`i nei annexed into statehood.
1979: Four of the trust territory islands ratified the constitution to become the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Ponepei, Kosrae, Yap). RMI, ROP and CNMI chose not to participate.
1986: Compact of Free Association took effect, for the FSM and RMI entities.
1993: President Clinton issued an apology to the Kanaka Maoli for the overthrow of their Kingdom.
1996: Compact of Free Association took effect. The conflict which this contract brought to the people of Palau was devastating. Their first President was assassinated and the 2nd committed suicide as a result of the pressure to get the people to agree to this. From the perspective of an elder, the third President gave in.
1996: Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act, distinguishes Micronesians as aliens and ineligible for Medquest, based on “alienage” Sect 412, 431.
2006: US announced transfer of Okinawan base to Guam, influx of 50,000 people and development as result. No community consultation.
2009: Linda Lingle attempts to alter healthcare coverage to migrants from Micronesia, possibly endangering lives of individuals in need of chemo and dialysis.

As I write this my heart is heavy…the connections that have severed us are many and have been brutal. I ask you to join us; sisters in solidarity, to relieve ourselves of the cultural historical trauma…if not relieve, to ask for the strength to continue fighting for our people, our land. What we shed will flow out into the ocean and become one with the current.

August 22, 2009August 26, 2009

Marchers take to the streets to protest ‘Fake Statehood’ and demand independence

Photo: Kyle Kajihiro

Today, the 50th anniversary of Hawai’i’s ‘admission’ to the United States was marked by protests on nearly every island and several cities around the world. In Honolulu, around 400 people marched from Ala Moana Park to the Convention Center, where the “official” statehood commemoration conference was taking place. Although the overall tone of the commemoration was more reflective than celebratory, the mood of the marchers was colorful and spirited, a celebration of resistance. There were protesters from kupuna in their wheelchairs to infants. And marching with us were the ancestors.

A centerpiece of the event was a towering puppet of Uncle Sam, riding on a camouflaged Stryker armored assault vehicle that was decorated with bombs bearing the names of places the U.S. military has bombed: Kaho’olawe, Vieques, Bikini, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Makua. Walking behind the puppet, Andre Perez on the bullhorn delivered comic commentary: “Why we going so slow? Uncle Scam! What’s holding us back? Uncle Scam! Who’s blocking our way? Uncle Scam! Somebody, kick him in the ass! Kanaka’s on the move!”

Photo: Kyle Kajihiro

Uncle Sam carried M-16 assault rifles in each hand inscribed with “imperialist”, “genocide”, “military”. Photo: Jon Shishido

While the overriding message was independence for Hawai’i, the demonstration also addressed American imperialism as a a global threat. On his red-white-and-blue stovetop hat he had stuck “feathers” of his conquests: First Nations, Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines. Photo: Jon Shishido

At the end of the march, Uncle Sam’s hat was knocked off…

…and the feather trophies representing the colonized nations were “liberated” from the hat. Photos: Kyle Kajihiro and Jon Shishido

Photo: Jon Shishido

Photo: Hawaii Independent

An American flag was taken out of the fallen hat and the 5oth star was cut out and burned. An exorcism to break the spell.

On Kaua’i, there were demonstrators at the entrance to the airport.

Kaua’i photos: Cairene

August 13, 2009

Army Makua study opposed

Wai’anae group asks court to order new one, delay live-fire training

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer

A Wai’anae community group yesterday asked the federal court here to reject an environmental study prepared by the Army and require it to do a new one before soldiers are allowed to resume live-fire training at Makua Military Reservation.

Malama Makua, represented by Earthjustice attorney David Hen-kin, said the Army failed to adequately prepare contamination studies and archaeological surveys that are part of a settlement agreement between the group and the Army.

Malama Makua made its request to the U.S. District Court in Honolulu. The group is asking the court to set aside, or annul, an environmental impact statement prepared by the Army for training at Makua.

The military has not conducted live-munitions training in the 4,190-acre valley since 2004 while the Army addressed community demands that the training not harm archaeological and cultural sites, and the environment. The Army has been hoping to return to combined-arms, live-fire exercises involving helicopters, artillery and mortars.

The Army yesterday issued a statement saying it “has satisfied its obligations required in the previous settlement agreements.” The statement, issued by U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said the public has the right to challenge the process and that “it is standard Army policy not to comment on potential or ongoing litigation, and to allow the courts to reach a decision before responding.”

U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii spokesman Loran Doane said the Army has not set a date to resume live-fire training at Makua. He said any such training would not begin until the appropriate mitigation measures and conditions identified in the final environmental impact statement have been implemented.

Last month, Col. Matthew Margotta, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said he was confident that the Army would be able to balance cultural and biological resource protection in Makua with its training needs for soldiers.

Henkin said the Army has not complied with its end of the settlement agreement, even as Malama Makua agreed to permit limited Army training in Makua while the environmental impact statement was being prepared.

“We put on the table that we wanted to make sure that the Army would tell people if the food they put on the table is being poisoned by the military training,” Henkin said. “And we wanted complete information about the archaeological and cultural resources that could be lost forever if the Army returned to training at Makua.

“The Army promised to give those to us as part of the bargain. We didn’t get it. We’re back in court.”

Henkin said the Army was required to indicate the likelihood of past military training in the valley contaminating fish, shellfish, limu and other sea life area residents gather and eat.

Instead, he said, the Army conducted two questionable studies on fish and shellfish, only studied limu (seaweeds) that are not eaten by people, and did not study other sea life in the area at all.

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Source: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090813/NEWS01/908130335/Army+Makua+study+opposed

August 13, 2009

Group calls on judge to reject report on Makua

Army surveys lack critical valley data, Malama Makua says

By Gregg K. Kakesako

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 13, 2009

As expected, Malama Makua asked a federal court judge yesterday to set aside the Army’s environmental impact statement justifying the continued use of the Makua Valley on the Waianae Coast for live-ammunition training.

Earthjustice, which has been representing Malama Makua since 2000, said the Army failed to prepare contamination studies and archaeological surveys of Makua Valley.

“The only studies of subsurface archaeology and marine contamination the Army did were so poorly designed that even the Army admitted they didn’t provide any meaningful information,” said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin. “This wasn’t what we agreed.”

Schofield Barracks officials declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, adding in a written statement that the Army “has satisfied its obligations required in the previous settlement agreements.”

At a briefing in Makua Valley last month, Col. Matthew Margotta, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said the Army hoped to resume live-fire training at the end of August. However, the Army would not say yesterday whether it is still looking at the end of the month as a start-up date, noting that the range and its roads need to be repaired since they were heavily damaged during storms in December.

Once training resumes, the military will not be using ammunition like tracer bullets and rockets, which were major causes of brush fires that initiated lawsuits from Malama Makua a decade ago.

The Army stopped live-fire training in the 4,190-acre valley in 2004, pending completion of an environmental impact statement. In June the Army completed the final version of the environmental statement.

But the advocacy group says the report falls short.

“The Army’s decision to resume training before completing the studies that are needed to find out the true cost of training at Makua is putting the cart before the horse,” Henkin said.

In a written news release, Malama Makua member Leandra Wai said: “I’ve observed training at Makua and many times have seen mortar rounds missing their targets and landing in places we know are full of ahu (shrines), petroglyphs, imu (earthen ovens), and other cultural sites. If the Army doesn’t live up to its promises and do a comprehensive survey of Makua’s cultural sites, we’ll never know what we stand to lose if the Army returns to training.”

However, last month Laurie Lucking, U.S. Army Hawaii cultural resource manager, said Army historians have identified 121 archaeological sites in the valley, including heiau, house platforms, agricultural terraces, enclosures and walls. There are also more than 40 endangered plants and animals that live there, mainly on the ridges of the Waianae Mountains.

“There is a continuous effort to find more sites so they can be identified,” she added.

August 5, 2009August 5, 2010

Mākua range re-opening cause for legal conflict and military outreach

http://www.oha.org/kwo/loa/2009/08/story07.php

NŪHOU / NEWS

Since World War II, soldiers, marines, reservists and members of the National Guard have trained for combat at Mākua. KWO archive photo.

Mākua range re-opening cause for legal conflict and military outreach

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola Loa

The U.S. Army is set to resume live-ammunition training in O’ahu’s Mākua Valley under a plan that military officials say scales back operations and decreases the risk of hazardous impacts. The claim is being disputed by community opponents who vow to continue their legal challenge that resulted in a 2001 court ban on combat exercises in the valley pending a complete environmental examination of the 4,190-acre Wai’anae Coast site.

Eight years after the ban was put in place as part of the Army’s legal settlement with community group Mālama Mākua, the Army in June released the court-ordered final environmental impact study. In a subsequent “record of decision” made public on July 24, Army officials said the EIS provides information that shows the military can effectively balance training needs with stewardship at Mākua by following a plan that it says rolls back the scale of an earlier “preferred alternative,” which called for an annual 200 Convoy Live Fire Exercises (LFX) and 50 Combined Arms Live Fire Exercises (CALFEXES).

“Rather, the Army has decided on a greatly reduced option to 32 CALFEXs and 150 convoy-live fire exercises per year without the use of tracer ammunition, anti-aircraft Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided- or TWO missiles, 2.75-caliber rockets, or illumination munitions of any kind,” said Loran Doane of the Army Garrison Media Relations in an email response to Ka Wai Ola Loa. “The elimination of these weapons systems greatly reduces the risk of range fires and environmental threats to endangered species and cultural sites, yet allows small units to train locally without the costly burden of additional deployments to Pōhakuloa (Hawai’i Island) or elsewhere,” Doane added.

At Mākua, a series of brushfires started by munitions explosions has spurred legal action to stop the Army from training in the valley. KWO archive photo

Doane also stressed that the Army followed guidelines of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in involving the local community in finalizing the Mākua Environment Impact Statement, or EIS. He said Native Hawaiians and their organizations participated in eight public meetings and gave oral and written comments, which were incorporated into the EIS. “(This) allowed for a full and fair discussion of significant environmental impacts. By providing means for open communication between the Army and the public, the procedural aspects of NEPA promote better decision-making,” Doane wrote.

But Wai’anae Harbor Master William Ailā Jr., a member of Hui Mālama O Mākua – an organization for cultural stewardship of Mākua Valley (and a supporter of Mālama Mākua, the group that filed the Mākua lawsuit) – said the EIS and decision to restart live-fire operations at the Mākua Military Reservation are flawed. “Based on my observations, the (soldiers) overshoot mortars beyond target areas. (Mistakes) are the nature of training exercises, but these adjacent areas have not been surveyed for either cultural sites or endangered species, so the EIS has no directions for mitigating those occurrences or any associated damage,” said Ailā.

As one of four Army training areas in Hawai’i, the military says Mākua offers unique topographical features and a perfect size that is strategically important for coordinated maneuvers of all military branches in Hawai’i.

Ailā argues that the fact that military has functioned efficiently for the last several years without Mākua is the “best indicator” that the Mākua Military Reservation is not so strategic. Ailā said the military should fulfill a promise it made to withdraw from the valley. The military facility is comprised of ceded lands classified by the state as a conservation district, and was set aside in World War II by the then-territorial government for military training purposes until 2025.

Once a thriving agricultural boon for Native Hawaiians, Mākua Valley is now littered with unexploded munitions. KWO archives photo

Terms of the 2001 legal settlement required the Army to cease firing mortars and artillery in Mākua until completing surveys of more than 50 endangered plant and animal species and 100 archeological sites in the valley. A history of accidental wildfires sparked by the combat training was one of the main drivers in keeping the court decision in place. A 2003 brush fire destroyed several thousand acres of valley vegetation. A fire associated with Mākua Army training in 1994 got out of control and jumped Farrington Highway, burning down makeshift beach encampments that were home to several Wai’anae families.

The final EIS evaluated fire and other hazards of military training pertaining to four alternative plans, each one varying in intensity and scope of proposed weaponry uses and number of exercises. Along with an assessment of impacts, each alternative was appraised for the capacity to provide the most realistic training and preparation for the types of threats that soldiers in Hawai’i would expect to encounter in combat situations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Three of the four alternatives describe different training levels based in Mākua; the fourth is situated in Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawai’i Island. The EIS also analyzes the cost and logistics of mitigating impacts of training that violate state and federal laws protecting endangered species, archeological sites and human health.

But the EIS information does not satisfy Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who has represented Mālama Mākua in the nine-year-old lawsuit against the Army at Mākua. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been allowed access to the training area and has concluded that there will be destruction to the native forest (with the resumption of training), but it is their kuleana to make sure there is no extinction and they have concluded they have proper measures to achieve this, but this is not the same thing as avoiding damage to irreplaceable cultural and environmental treasures, which is too high a price to pay for military training at Mākua,” said Henkin, who also disputes that the Army’s newly announced plan for Mākua marks a decrease in training. “The proposal is to use the same company level of training that existed when litigation started up in 1998.” Henkin said the Army played a “common trick” on the public by first selecting an alternative using weapons systems banned for decades. “Then they ratcheted back from the horrendous to the awful and expected the public to see this as responsive.”

Henkin called the Army’s “record of decision” a violation of the 2001 legal settlement and said he will represent Mālama Mākua in federal district court as early as this month in asking Judge Susan Oki Mollway to set aside the EIS and continue the injunction against live-fire training in the valley on O’ahu’s Leeward Coast. He says that the Army did not give serious consideration to alternative plan four, which would have moved the training maneuvers to the roomier and more remote Pōhakuloa Training Area. Army claims that this would incur cost and impose the hardship of extended separation on military families are exaggerated, Henkin said.

The Army said it would not comment on the proposed litigation. Army spokesperson Doane said that the lead expert in mitigation measures at Mākua could not be reached for comment in time for Ka Wai Ola Loa publication. The final Mākua EIS summarizes regulatory and administrative steps for mitigating risks associated with the live-fire activities; this includes the conservation recommendations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has authority to enforce regulations under the Endangered Species Act. In addition, Army officials have said they have plans to spend $6 million in Mākua on cultural and environmental site management.

The fact is that the Army is dedicating resources to staying at Mākua stems from fear of giving up property in Hawai’i, according to Ailā. “That was their foregone conclusion going into the EIS and that has swayed the results,” said Ailā, who traces his Native Hawaiian roots back several generations in the valley.

A live fire training area since World War II, Mākua is the preferred site for simulated combat maneuvers before deployment to the Middle East. KWO archive photo

“It has concerned me that the largest pieces of land were taken from and/or are near the largest population centers of Native Hawaiians,” said Ailā, referring to the demographic makeup of O’ahu’s Leeward Coast. “The ongoing conflict over Mākua is an environmental justice issue,” Ailā added.

Ailā said he agrees with a conclusion shared by the Earthjustice attorney Henkin that the EIS does not contain adequate information on below-ground testing for archeological sites and did not finish a marine resources study to meet the community’s satisfaction. Ailā said the question of whether the military activities are resulting in harm to limu and fish from watershed runoff from Mākua Valley was never determined, because the EIS investigators “gathered the wrong species of limu from near beaches.” In addition, he said the EIS study identified arsenic and an estimated 40 other contaminants in fish from the Wai’anae Coast but did not determine if the elements were from a natural source or associated with the live-fire exercises.

Meanwhile, Nānākuli resident Bill Punini Prescott, a retired sergeant first class, said the legal challenge and opposition to Mākua military presence does not have widespread support from Native Hawaiians, including himself. “My main concern is that our soldiers are adequately trained so that they are not in harm’s way when they are fighting for our country,” said Prescott. “My neighbor just spent one year away from his family in Iraq. Now he is being sent to Fort Hood for training, when he could have gone right down the road to Mākua,” said Prescott.

Prescott said he is also has concerns about the taxpayers money that Congress is giving to rebuild and make accessible Mākua cultural or environment sites. Heiau, stone terraces and water springs are found elsewhere on the Leeward coast, he said. “Practitioners are giving many different opinions on what is sacred. It does not sound like Mākua is the only place that they can observe their traditions,” he said.

Prescott said he believes a majority of Native Hawaiians are more concerned about loved ones who have gone on active duty deployment in the Middle East wars than with the task of making Mākua safe for public use again. “The cost is prohibitive. During World War II, the valley was the central training area for troops landing on (O’ahu’s) beaches. In support of these operations, there were preparatory landings from ships, and bombing by air and land artillery. As a consequence, there are unexploded munitions not only in the valley but on the mountain sides, as evidenced after heavy rains. Additional live firings during the Korean and Vietnam wars also added more unexploded weaponry, thereby adding to the cost for clean-up,” he said.

The 2001 court settlement has allowed for 26 non low intensity training events in five years on the condition that the Army would continue to work on the EIS, but last December’s heavy rains wrecked valley roads that function as legally required firebreaks. No training has taken place since then. This prompts Earthjustice attorney Henkin to suggest that the lack of effective fire suppression coupled with current dry weather conditions raises the risk for brushfires and will prevent the Army from immediately implementing its “record of decision.”

But Army spokesperson Doane said road repairs will move along quickly with a recent infusion of $6 million in federal aid. While acknowledging that firebreak road repairs must be done before live fire training starts up again, Doane said other types of combat-readiness exercises may begin immediately.

The resumption of flying bullets and exploding ordnance at Mākua coincides with a major Army outreach campaign to Native Hawaiians. The Army has briefed the Council on Native Hawaiian Advancement and Alu Like Inc. on the military in local economic development and employment issues, said Doane.

Earlier this year, Army Col. Matthew Margotta hired Annelle Amaral as the Army’s new Native Hawaiian liaison. Amaral, who said she has served as a mediator at oft-times contentious public meetings on the military’s plan for the Stryker Brigade in Hawai’i, said that Margotta epitomizes a new generation of military leaders who value cultural sensitivity. “He has said many times that ‘this is not your father’s Army,'” said Amaral, a former member of the Honolulu Police Department and a former elected official. She added that the new command this year has poured $1 million into ensuring that Mākua valley’s Hawaiian cultural sites are accessible

At the Army’s request, Amaral last month organized a helicopter tour of the Mākua range for Hawaiian leaders. “The idea was to invite those with large constituencies so they can inform others about the work that has been going on in the valley,” said Amaral, adding that the invitees asked many probing questions. “I was proud that they took this tack.”

Those who made the trip included Hawaiian business executive Chris Dawson and Hawaiian Civic Club leader Leimomi Khan.

Mākua Military Reservation critic William Ailā was not invited on the tour and neither were any other members of Hui Mālama O Mākua or Mālama Mākua. “I am disappointed that the people in the trenches working on the restoration of the valley were not there to give some historical context,” said Ailā. “As cultural practitioners, our access to the valley has been limited to about 20 percent of what it used to be,” he added, explaining that a new Pentagon policy prevents people from going anywhere in the valley where ground has been checked to a depth of 12 inches for unexploded ordnance. “They say it is about liability, but I am willing to sign a waiver. There’s an ongoing problem of access and just another reason to look forward to the promised return of Mākua to the community.”

The training site that is bordered by the ridge of the Wai’anae Coast mountains and continuous white sand beaches was once renowned as Hawai’i’s breadbasket, Ailā said, adding that “more than 100 years ago, Mākua had a reputation on the U.S. continent for supplying the sweetest melons, abundant sweet potatoes and mountain apple.”

Kahu Kaleo Patterson, who took the Chinook helicopter ride into the valley last month, said the Army guides had “a lot of good things to say about wanting to reach out the community. “I would say it’s important to take the military up on its offer and reach back. Request the education (about their environmental work) they say they want to offer. Go see for yourself and don’t just jump on one side, based on what you hear second-hand.”

Patterson said that at the end of the tour he found himself standing next to Col. Margotta at on a high ridge overlooking the expansive ocean bay. “I told him that so many of our island families have buried loved ones or scattered their ashes out there. We’ve honored our loved ones by floating leis on the waves out there,” he said. “This is a reminder that this valley is not just filled with cultural resources and endangered species. It is very sacred and activity that takes place here should take this into consideration. If this place is eventually restored as an ahupua’a, it could have importance to all the world.”

“It’s too bad there is no section in that EIS that talks about spiritual impacts,” Patterson said.