Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities. Native NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.  For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

 

January 12, 2005

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Wednesday, January 12, 2005

 

Akaka bill will get hearing and a vote, key senator says

 

By Frank Oliveri
Advertiser Washington Bureau

 

WASHINGTON — There will be hearings early this year and a Senate vote on federal recognition of Native Hawaiians, despite opposition to the bill by new Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz.

 

A spokeswoman for the Arizona senator said yesterday that McCain's opposition to the measure known as the Akaka bill does not conflict with a promise made last year by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and other leading Republicans to Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka that the proposed legislation would get an up-or-down vote in the Senate in 2005.

 

"There will be a committee vote," said Andrea Jones, McCain's spokeswoman.

 

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is expected to endorse the bill, which would then lead to a full vote in the Senate. The committee unanimously supported the measure last year.

 

The House easily passed the measure by voice vote last year.

 

The Akaka bill would begin the process for Native Hawaiians to be recognized by the U.S. government as an indigenous people. It would establish the beginnings of a framework for Native Hawaiian governance. That government would then be empowered to negotiate with the United States and Hawai'i over the disposition of Native Hawaiian assets.

 

McCain spoke out against the Akaka bill late last week, catching Hawai'i Democrats Inouye and Akaka by surprise, along with many in the Native Hawaiian community.

 

The clarifying comments from McCain's office came after a meeting between McCain and Inouye late Monday when the committee chairman's position was discussed. Jones would not go into specifics of the conversation between the two powerful senators. Inouye's office did not respond to several requests for comment.

 

McCain, who also chaired the Indian Affairs Committee in 1995 and 1996, has stated his opposition to the Akaka bill on other occasions. He has said he believes it was implicit when Hawai'i became a state in 1959 that Native Hawaiians would not receive the same status as American Indians.

 

Neal Milner, a political-science professor at the University of Hawai'i, said it had appeared that McCain would take issue on principle.

 

"I always thought part of the strategy was to keep this bill under the radar screen," Milner said. "You are trying to convince legislators that you think it is important, but if it becomes an issue of serious principle it might become a much more contentious issue in the Senate. This is another step in reducing the visibility."

 

The news that McCain would not use Senate rules to block the measure from reaching the full chamber was received with some relief. Akaka and Inouye both have said they have the votes needed to pass the bill, otherwise known as the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act.

 

"Good news!" said Haunani Apoliona, chairwoman of the board of trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. "Senator McCain is giving our issue the opportunity for fair debate and expression of the Congress."

 

Akaka, the bill's primary sponsor, was out of the country and could not be reached for comment yesterday.

 

Both Hawai'i senators have sought passage of the bill since 2000. But Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., used Senate rules to block the Akaka bill from a vote last year. Kyl and others in the Senate have voiced concerns that the bill would sanction race-based preferences, which they say would be unconstitutional.

 

Late last year, Inouye and Akaka secured promises from Frist, Kyl and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., then chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, that the bill would get its day on the Senate floor before Aug. 7.

 

In a brief exchange on the Senate floor on Oct. 11, Kyl and Domenici pledged their efforts to ensure that the Akaka bill "would be considered by this body."

 

In return, Inouye and Akaka promised not to push for the bill's passage as a rider on a massive spending bill late last year and also support 32 bills pending in the energy committee. Those bills from Domenici's committee passed by voice vote Oct. 10.

Already, embryonic efforts involving hundreds of Native Hawaiians are under way to determine how they would go about creating that government, Apoliona said.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is sponsoring an effort — called Kau Inoa — to register Native Hawaiians so that they may take part in the recognition process. More than 10,000 Native Hawaiians have been registered so far.

 

There are more than 400,000 Native Hawaiians living on the Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. Mainland, according to statistics from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Other Hawaiian organizations have stepped up efforts to educate Native Hawaiians about self-governance.

 

On Monday, the Interior Department began advertising for a program analyst to staff the federal office of Native Hawaiian Relations within the U.S. Interior Department. The office — approved by the Senate last year — is expected to oversee the legal relationship between Native Hawaiians and the U.S. government. The move is an important first step in the recognition process

 

 

 

 

 

Native Hawaiian, American Indian & Alaska Native Technology Initiative Expands to Waimanalo

 

Honolulu, HI – Seven new employees start work at a new Technology Center located in Waimanalo this month.  The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) and its enterprise company Hawaiian Homestead Technology expanded their operations adding 7 new jobs on Oahu, resulting in a total of 17 positions statewide in rural communities on 2 islands.  CNHA joined a coalition of 9 American Indian and Alaska Native tribes in 2002 to create technology companies around the nation to convert maintenance manuals to high quality digital formats.  Less than a year later, the first technology center opened in Anahola, Kauai, followed by the second technology center opening in Waimanalo a couple of months ago.

 

“CNHA incorporated Hawaiian Homestead Technology to create technology related, living-wage jobs directly inside Hawaiian Homestead communities throughout the state of Hawaii” said HHT President Ray Soon and Chairman of the Board of CNHA.  “It’s extremely gratifying to be expanding and hiring staff at our second site in Waimanalo”.

 

HHT is an enterprise company wholly owned by CNHA, a nonprofit.  As a result, 100% of any profits from HHT’s operations are directed back into the community development initiatives of the nonprofit.  HHT’s primary technology niche is to convert into electronic form paper documents from corporate and government clients that need maintenance manuals or other documents digitized for storage or increased use in the field.  Completed projects include the conversion of an engine manual for Delta Airlines as well as maintenance manuals for vehicles for the Army and Air Force.  HHT is also capable of converting engineering/architectural diagrams and maps from paper into electronic format.

 

Indian tribal partners are located across the United States and include among others, the Zuni Pueblo people of New Mexico, the Tlingit people from Alaska, the Choctaw from Oklahoma and the Arikara from North Dakota.  A total of $65 million in contracts have been awarded to the 10 members of the Native Hawaiian, American Indian and Alaska Native firms nationwide.

 

Soon elaborated, “Through our partnership with Indian nations from around the country and national industry leaders in the field of conversion software, HHT has been able to ramp up in a relatively short amount of time.  Locally, we partner with community associations that want to create jobs inside their communities for their residents.  The local support by private and public sector partners has been tremendous.”

 

American Savings Bank has been a key supporter, along with Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation.  From the public sector, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Kauai Community College have provided training funds that enable HHT employees to increase computer skills needed to perform document conversion tasks that meet the high standards of HHT’s clients. 

 

“We have challenged our employees to learn a technical trade quickly and excel in production quality. Our staff in Anahola went from little computer experience to the ability to work with complex SGML documents,” said Olin Lagon, HHT General Manager.  Lagon added that “now, we are challenging our Waimanalo staff to quickly learn and excel at Computer Aided Drafting conversions. Like our Anahola launch, it will not be easy but we are confident of similar positive results as we have found so much raw talent in and around Hawaiian Home Lands.”

 

Employees are trained on the job for at least three months, from the very basic of computer skills to the complexity of Computer Aid Drafting techniques necessary to perform and deliver high quality products to our clients.  Lagon trained the first team of employees at HHT’s Anahola site and will begin on-the-job training with the new Waimanalo team of 7 employees in the next couple of weeks.

 

For more information, please visit www.hhtech.net and www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, January 8, 2005

Graves protection panel to meet

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

A federal panel will take up various conflicts over Native Hawaiian burial artifacts — including a hotly contested reburial of objects in a Kawaihae cave — at meetings set for March 13-15 at the East-West Center.

The panel, officially known as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee, will convene at 1 p.m. March 13 at the Hawai'i Imin International Conference Center, 1777 East-West Road.

The meetings will resume at 8:30 a.m. March 14 and 15, with sessions expected to adjourn about 5 p.m. each day.

The Kawaihae case, in which 83 objects formerly in the Bishop Museum collection were reburied nearly five years ago in a sealed cave, probably is the most high-profile case to be discussed. But other conflicts involving the museum, including the proposed "repatriation" of cultural objects to Moloka'i, also will be on the table.

The committee will hear public comments on other issues, including nominees for a seventh committee member.

Anyone wishing to schedule a presentation before the committee must submit a written request with an abstract of the presentation and contact information. Individuals also may submit written statements for consideration by the Review Committee during the meeting.

Requests and statements may be mailed to: Designated Federal Officer, NAGPRA Review Committee, National Park Service, 1849 C St. NW (2253), Washington, DC 20240. Anything sent by commercial delivery service should be addressed to the National Park Service, 1201 Eye St. NW, 8th floor, Washington, DC 20005.

Because increased security in the Washington area may delay mail delivery, copies also should be faxed to (202) 371-5197.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Sunday, January 9, 2005

Legislative vacancy to be filled by Feb. 7

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Gov. Linda Lingle said she will appoint a successor to state Rep. Sol Kaho'ohalahala by Feb. 7 following a process designed to be "inclusive and transparent."

Kaho'ohalahala, a Democrat who won re-election to the 13th District seat (E. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i) in November, resigned Thursday to become executive director of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission.

The vacancy is the first since Lingle took office at the end of 2002.

When Randall Iwase resigned from the state Senate in 2000, then-Gov. Ben Cayetano replaced him with then-Rep. Ron Menor, and picked Charlotte Nekota, Iwase's aide, to take over for Menor in the House.

The Republican Lingle, by law, must appoint another Democrat.

The resumés are to be reviewed by a preliminary screening panel consisting of former Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana, who is now chairman of the Maui County Democratic Party; Sen. Rosalyn Baker, D-5th (W. Maui, S. Maui); state Labor Director Nelson Befitel, a Moloka'i native; Shay Chan Hodges, chairwoman of the Democratic Party's 13th House District; state Budget Director Georgina Kawamura, a Lana'i native; and George Kaya, the governor's Maui liaison.

Panel members will review the resumés and select up to six names each to submit to Lingle by Jan. 24. A three-member panel will then interview the candidates and pick three finalists to submit to the governor by Jan. 31.

The three interviewers will be Bob Awana, Lingle's chief of staff; Sen. Les Ihara, D-9th (Kapahulu, Kaimuki, Palolo); and Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser.

Lingle then will make a selection by Feb. 7.

Hodges has submitted a list of nine names that were selected by precinct officers and other community leaders in the district. Kaho'ohalahala has also recommended a successor.

Hodges said she was pleased with the governor's commitment to an open process, but wants to work with others involved in the process to speed things up. "We would like our representative to start as soon as possible," she said.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.

 

 

Want the job?

Gov. Lingle is urging those interested in replacing Sol Kaho'ohalahala as the state representative for the 13th House District to apply. The district includes East Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i.

Submit a resume of no more than two pages along with a one-page cover letter explaining your reason for seeking the job and giving your qualifications. Résumé’s must be submitted by the end of business on Jan. 19. An applicant for the two-year seat must be a U.S. citizen, a qualified voter of the 13th House District, at least 18 years old, a member of the Democratic Party and a resident of Hawai'i for at least the past three years.

Send the cover letter and resume to Office of the Governor, Hawai'i State Capitol, Honolulu, HI 96813. The e-mail address is Governor_Lingle@hawaii.gov. The fax is 586-0006.

For information, call 586-0034 (O'ahu); 984-2400, Ext. 60034 (Maui); (800) 468-4644 (Lana'i and Moloka'i); 974-4000, Ext. 60034 (Big Island); and 274-3141, Ext. 60034 (Kaua'i).

 

 

 

 

The Agua Fund donates $5,000 to support CNHA’s Hawaiian Way Fund

 

Honolulu, HI – In a show of support for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s (CNHA) Hawaiian Way Fund, the Agua Fund recently presented CNHA with a $5,000 donation.

 

“CNHA is deeply grateful for the Agua Fund’s support and commitment to Hawaiian communities.  Donors like the Agua Fund inspire us in our work to support and strengthen nonprofit organizations doing amazing work in every area of community development,” said Brandi Lau, vice president.

 

CNHA’s Hawaiian Way Fund directs resources to the Annual Native Hawaiian Conference and to community based organizations that focus on cultural knowledge, values and practices in the delivery of education, affordable housing, healthcare, environment and economic development.

 

The Agua Fund is a family foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The mission of the Fund is to improve the quality of life through support of work to protect the natural environment and to help the poor, disadvantaged, and underserved.

 

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is a national, member-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting community development in Native communities.  For more information, please call 808.521.5011 (toll free at 800.709.2642) or visit www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, January 7, 2005


Haleakala tops list of sites for new $161M telescope

 

By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU » The summit at Haleakala is a step closer to housing a $161 million solar telescope.

The board of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy recommended Haleakala yesterday as the site for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope ahead of 70 other proposed sites around the world. The recommendation goes to the National Science Foundation for further review and potential funding.

"It's a big step," said Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, director of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. Institute officials are calling the proposed project "the greatest advance in ground-based solar telescope capabilities since Galileo."

At 4 meters in diameter, the telescope would be "the world's largest and most capable solar telescope," according to scientists.

Under the proposal, the solar telescope would serve as a solar "magnetometer," capable of measuring solar magnetic fields, with the goal of predicting changes in the sun.

The solar telescope could help to understand solar flares that can affect electrical power distribution, cell phones and satellites, according to the solar telescope project's principal investigator, the National Solar Observatory.

Observatory director Stephen Keil said astronomers have ranked the project "very high" in funding priority.

Keil said solar flares cause an estimated half a billion dollars in damage a year to satellites and communications, and predicting them would enable scientists and technicians to raise shields to protect sensitive equipment.

Haleakala was chosen from a field of 70 competing sites around the world.

The "clean air" at the 10,000-foot summit was cited in the selection process.

Kudritzki said there are two to three sites at the summit that might be selected for the telescope. The process for selecting the site requires an environmental impact statement, including a review of the telescope's effect on the environment and culture.

Native Hawaiian cultural specialist Charles Maxwell Sr., who has been critical of the visual impact of observatories on Haleakala, said those involved in the solar project need to be sensitive to native culture.

He said every effort must be made to minimize its visual impact on Haleakala. Its builders, he said, should attend "sense of place" training.

"It is of utmost importance that this project or any project on Haleakala follow the Hawaiian cultural protocol," he said.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Lease conversion supporters hope to pursue pending cases

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The city's mandatory condominium leasehold conversion law likely will be repealed this month, but supporters of the law are making a last-ditch effort to allow pending conversions to continue.

The issue faces a key vote tomorrow by the City Council's executive matters committee, and a final vote by the full council could be taken on Jan. 26.

The controversial 1991 law, known as Chapter 38, lets the city force landowners to sell to qualified condominium owners the fee interest in the leased land under their units.

Dozens of people have packed City Hall hearings to argue their positions over the past five months, but it appears that Chapter 38 is doomed.

The council voted 6-3 last November in favor of the bill that would repeal Chapter 38, and final approval would require only five votes.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann has indicated that he will sign the bill.

That has led supporters of the law to seek exemptions that would allow pending conversions to take place if the law is repealed.

"I'm a realist, and we saw the votes," said Jane Sugimura, acting president of the Hale Coalition, a group that supports condominium conversion. "But for those people who have started the process, they should be allowed to complete it."

The law is popular with many people who want full ownership of the condos they live in, but is staunchly opposed by some landowners, including Kamehameha Schools and the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.

 

 

 

 

LATEST NEWS

5:21 AM HST Tuesday

 

Council on Revenues sees clear economic skies

 

Pacific Business News

Halfway through the 2005 fiscal year, the Hawaii Legislature and Gov. Linda Lingle have been told that the economy is healthy and they may continue to rely on $3.45 billion in state tax revenue.

The Council on Revenues, a board of economists who make quarterly predictions about what tax revenues the state government can count on, briefed officials Monday on the fiscal year running through the end of June.

The council sees 6.4 percent personal income growth, 6.6 percent growth in visitor arrivals and 9.9 percent growth in construction. It predicts consumer price inflation for the fiscal year of 3.1 percent.

The economists said the construction sector of the economy is likely to remain healthy for years because a big part of the expansion comes from years-long military contracts.

The tourism sector, they said, has more potential to flatten out because the state is getting fairly close to capacity and would have to rely for future growth more on heightened visitor spending than on heightened numbers of visitors.

The current members of the Council on Revenues are Chairman Michael Sklarz, Vice Chairman Rick von Gnechten, Carl Bonham, Vito Galati, Pearl Imada Iboshi, Ernest Nishizaki and Jack Suyderhoud.

Bonham co-leads the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, while Imada Iboshi is Gov. Lingle's chief economic advisor.

 

 

 

 

Microsoft, Fannie Mae make big deposits to Native banks

 

Posted:  January 12, 2005

 

by:  Mark Fogarty/Today correspondent

 

NEW YORK - Two major U.S. corporations have made big deposits into American Indian-owned banks.

Tech giant Microsoft Corp. has deposited $1 million into Native American Bank, Denver, while the big mortgage agency Fannie Mae has invested $1.5 million in a certificate of deposit with Bank2, Oklahoma City, owned by the Chickasaw Nation.

Having the deposits will allow the two tribally-owned community banks to make more loans.

Microsoft, based in Seattle, made its deposit as part of its Minority Investment Program, as well as to partner with tribes who may find benefit in its technology. ''Microsoft's technology and related work fits many tribes as a vehicle for their economic development,'' the company said.

The company's low-interest CD ''will significantly enhance our ability to offer loans to our Indian customers at competitive rates,'' said John Beirise, president and chief executive of NAB, whose principal banking office is in Browning, Mont. The bank was started by a coalition of 21 tribes and Alaska Native corporations.

Microsoft's foundation has engaged in a big project to bring computers to tribes in the American Southwest.

Meanwhile, Washington, D.C.-based Fannie Mae will use a program that allows special purpose CDs to be guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at amounts above its $100,000 ceiling.

Its $1.5 million deposit was made under the CDARS (Certificate of Deposit Account Registry) program, and marks the first time the agency has used this program.

The investment ''will support affordable housing efforts and help with Bank2's outreach to Native American and other minority and underserved families throughout the United States,'' according to Fannie Mae.

Bank2 Chief Executive Ross Hill said the deposit ''will increase our capacity to reach the 38,000 home buyers in Indian country.'' Hill was apparently referring to a Department of Housing and Urban Development estimate of how many Indian families (including ones that would move back to reservations) would be eligible for home loans if they were available on reservations.

Bank2 is a $60 million bank that was bought by the Chickasaw Nation in 2000. It is the first tribally-owned bank to become a Fannie Mae-approved lender, meaning that Fannie Mae will buy mortgages from it, increasing the amount of money Bank2 has to make more loans.

Last year, it began to offer the HUD 184 guaranteed American Indian mortgages, and says that already it is one of the top lenders in the 184 program.

Interestingly, the nation itself has a mortgage program, Chuka Chukmasi (Beautiful Home) which it offers to Chickasaw tribal members anywhere in the country. The tribe runs the program in partnership with Fannie Mae, San Francisco-based PMI Mortgage Insurance and First Mortgage of Oklahoma City.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Friday, January 7, 2005

Cruises' economic role in Hawai'i grows

Advertiser Staff

The state's cruise industry contributed $293.7 million to Hawai'i's gross state product in 2003 and $286.3 million in 2002, according to a state report released yesterday.

When also considering the increased spending by households with cruise industry employees, the industry's overall contribution increased to $390.5 million for 2003 and $381.1 million for 2002, according to the 2002 and 2003 Hawaii Cruise Impact Study by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

"We are pleased by the growing contribution from the cruise industry to our state's economy," said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert. "Looking forward, we can expect to see continued increases in the number of cruise ships to our islands, which will help diversify our tourism base and provide yet another reason for visitors to come to Hawai'i."

Only foreign-flagged ships, including those based in Hawai'i, visited Hawai'i during the two years covered in the study. NCL America's Pride of Aloha, which flies the U.S. flag, began sailing the islands last July. NCL's U.S.-flagged Pride of America and Pride of Hawai'i are scheduled to be delivered in June and in summer 2006, respectively.

The state study concluded that Hawai'i's cruise industry generated $108.1 million and $110.4 million in earnings, and created 4,547 jobs and 4,582 jobs in 2002 and 2003, respectively. About $37.4 million in state and county taxes were generated in 2002 and $38.2 million in 2003.

Details of the report are at www2.hawaii.gov/dbedt/latest.

 

 

 

 

LATEST NEWS

2:44 PM HST Friday

 

Governor seeks board volunteers

Gov. Linda Lingle is encouraging Hawaii residents to apply to serve on state boards and commissions.

There are 377 vacancies on 123 different boards and commissions.

The boards and commissions are designed to gather input from a broad cross section of Hawaii residents, including experts and professionals in specific fields. The governor oversees 137 boards and commissions established by the state constitution, state statutes or executive orders. Members serve on a voluntary basis -- without pay -- and terms range from two to six years.

Lingle and her department heads consult regularly with board and commission members on legislation, administrative rules, policies and other matters.

To view a full list of boards and commissions and to download an application, visit the governor's Web site at www.hawaii.gov/gov/team/boardscommissions.html.

The list and applications are also available at the governor's and lieutenant governor's offices at the Hawaii State Capitol, fifth floor, or at the neighbor island liaison offices on Maui, Kauai, West Hawaii and East Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Tuesday, January 11, 2005

 

Case's latest round of talk-story sessions slated to begin Jan. 29

 

By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, will begin a new round of statewide "talk story" sessions this month in Leeward O'ahu, updating his constituents on issues before Congress and listening to their concerns.

Case said the federal deficit and the war in Iraq are among the issues topping the national agenda, while transportation/

traffic, affordable housing, and federal recognition of Hawaiians are issues that need to be addressed on the local level.

Cynthia Rezentes, chairwoman of the Wai'anae Neighborhood Board, said people do appreciate seeing their congressman in person.

"I think it does good for him to do this, and there are some people in the community that do attend them and put credence by it," Rezentes said. "They like the fact that he is coming out and providing that opportunity."

Case represents the 2nd Congressional District, which includes rural O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands. During his first term in office, he held 80 talk-story sessions on every major island, including in the remote towns of Hana and Kalaupapa.

"These talk stories are the projection of my congressional office out into the communities I represent," Case said. "Washington (D.C.) is 5,000 miles away physically and light years away mentally. Even my downtown Honolulu state office is too far away from the communities that I represent."

Case said anywhere from four to hundreds of people attend the events, which are not scripted and allow residents to ask him about whatever is on their minds.

Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com

U.S. Rep. Ed Case's schedule for talk-story sessions on O'ahu:

Jan. 29

• Wai'anae — Wai'anae Neighborhood Community Center, 85-670 Farrington Highway, 9-10 a.m.

• Nanakuli — Nanaikapono Elementary School cafeteria, 89-195 Farrington Highway, 11 a.m.-noon.

• Kapolei — Kapolei Elementary School cafeteria, 91-1119 Kama'aha Loop, 1-2 p.m.

• Village Park/Royal Kunia — Kalei'opu'u Elementary School cafeteria, 94-665 Ka'aholo Street, 3-4 p.m.

Feb. 12

• Kane'ohe — Castle High School cafeteria, 45-386 Kane'ohe Bay Drive, 9-10 a.m.

• Kailua — Kailua Elementary School cafeteria, 315 Ku'ulei Rd., 11 a.m.-noon.

• Waimanalo — Waimanalo Public & School Library, 41-1320 Kalaniana'ole Highway, 1-2 p.m.

Feb. 19

• Hau'ula — Hau'ula Elementary School Cafeteria, 54-046 Kamehameha Highway, 9-10 a.m.

• Kahuku — Kahuku Village Association Community Center, 56-576 Kamehameha Highway, 11 a.m.-noon.

• Hale'iwa — Hale'iwa Elementary School Cafeteria, 66-505 Hale'iwa Rd., 1:30-2:30 p.m.

• Wahiawa — Wahiawa Recreation Center, 1139 Kilani Ave., 3:30-4:30 p.m.

For more information visit Case's Web site at www.house.gov/case, or call Kaua'i/Ni'ihau 245-1951; O'ahu 541-1986; Moloka'i 552-0160; Lana'i 565-7199; Maui 242-1818; Hawai'i 935-3756.

 

 

 

 

Kawananakoa a force in the dispute over Hawaiian artifacts

 

By Sally Apgar
sapgar@starbulletin.com

 

January 10, 2005

Abigail Kawananakoa, a wealthy heiress and descendent of King Kalakaua, could live in blissful seclusion working her California ranch and raising more champion quarter horses while indulging her taste for pet philanthropic projects.

Instead, Kawananakoa, at the age of 78, is stepping into a big fight.

Kawananakoa is throwing her wealth and support behind those who believe that native Hawaiian artifacts should not rot in caves, but should be protected in climate-controlled museums so that future generations can learn about their heritage.

Her opposition believes, just as fiercely, that ancestors meant for these items to be buried with them in caves.

Observers say her entry is significant because she has the wealth and tenacity to finance a fight over the disposition of priceless artifacts that could end up as costly court battles.

For the past 15 years, one native Hawaiian organization, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei, has dominated the repatriations of human remains and artifacts. Hui Malama has had political backing reaching up to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and supporters that include the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp.

To date, claimants who have disagreed with Hui Malama have had few resources.

But now, Kawananakoa has stepped in.

To position herself, Kawananakoa formed Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa in November as a native Hawaiian organization defined under the 1990 Native American Graves and Repatriation Act.

Congress passed NAGPRA to create a process for native Americans and native Hawaiians to repatriate human remains and certain treasured artifacts from museums. Kawananakoa recently submitted Senate testimony criticizing aspects of the law she feels need to be retooled.

Kawananakoa's group includes her close advisers Rubellite Johnson and Edith McKinzie. Johnson, a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii, is a renowned scholar of Hawaiian culture, language and history. McKinzie, a kumu hula, is an expert in Hawaiian genealogy who authored the two-volume "Hawaiian Genealogies," considered among the most authoritative texts on the subject.

Recently, Kawananakoa's group has staked claims with the Bishop Museum for several artifacts found on Molokai. Hui Malama is also competing for the items. Kawananakoa's group is expected to make more similar claims.

Kawananakoa's group is also backing La'akea Suganuma, a practitioner of ancient Hawaiian martial arts, in his fight over 83 artifacts, once part of the Bishop Museum's collection, that Hui Malama reinterred in Kawaihae Cave on the Big Island in 2002.

"It's crucial that she has entered this fight," Suganuma said. "She has a strong sense of duty and obligation for the preservation of our culture for future generations."

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, January 8, 2005

 

Coral dating tells story of Maui kingdom's rise

 

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

Scientists have used coral dating, a technique new to archaeology, to determine than many major Hawaiian temples on Maui were built within a 30-year span.

The period, from the late 1500s to early 1600s, appears to coincide with the rule of Pi'ilani, the first chief to bring Maui under unified rule. Archaeologist Patrick Kirch said it suggests that Pi'ilani may have promoted temple construction as a way of solidifying his authority.

He said he now hopes to expand the coral dating technique to other islands and to the South Pacific.

"I think you could use it ... to solve numerous chronology problems" in archaeology, he said.

Kirch is an anthropology professor at the University of California at Berkeley who has worked extensively in Hawai'i, notably in the Kahikinui region of Maui.

He said he had noted that many Hawaiian stone temples, or heiau, had pieces of coral inside their walls. And the corals were unworn, suggesting they had been collected live and perhaps used as offerings.

A traditional tool used in archaeological dating is carbon-14 analysis of pieces of wood found at dig sites. But Kirch said the carbon-14 technique for dating wood is unreliable for dates within the past few hundred years. He sought out fellow scientist Warren Sharp of the Berkeley Geochronology Center, who has been using radioactivity dating techniques on fossil coral reefs.

The system, briefly, is this: Corals take up uranium from ocean water. Uranium degrades at a known rate into thorium, and the ratio of isotopes of uranium to isotopes of thorium provides a means for determining the age of the coral.

Few archaeologists have experience with the technique, but they are hopeful about it.

"If the uranium-thorium thing does work out, it could be very useful," said Tom Dye, of the archaeology firm T.S. Dye and Colleagues. "I have been experimenting with other techniques using carbon-14 dating that may be able to bring the range of variability way down, but they are very expensive."

When corals from seven heiau at Kahikinui on Maui and one heiau at Kawela on Moloka'i were dated, the youngest lobes of the corals turned out to have remarkably similar ages.

The temples included upland agricultural heiau, coastal fishing shrines and other forms. But another clue to consistent origin is that the architecture of all the temples was very similar, he said — "not as if they were built by one family here and another family there," but as if a consistent design had been dictated by an overall authority.

Kirch said the Big Island chief Umi-a-Liloa had islandwide control of Hawai'i island about the same time, and he would like to expand the coral dating to temples there, to see if there are similar findings. He said that corals are also found in Tahitian temples, called marae, and could be useful for dating them.

In an article in the journal Science, Kirch and Sharp said that temples functioned as mechanisms for the control of the production of food, and that they may provide clues to the transition of early Hawaiian culture from a decentralized series of chiefdoms to large-scale governments with central control.

"The rate at which these changes took place has been uncertain," the scientists wrote.

Their work suggests that it happened very quickly.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Sunday, January 9, 2005

Groups aim to restore culture, stone by stone

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

KIHEI, Maui — Legend says it took a single night for Menehune to build the Ko'ie'ie fishpond along the South Maui shoreline.

After years of neglect and deterioration from natural forces, it's taking quite a bit longer for humans to rebuild it. But in the process, they also are rebuilding a part of Maui's cultural heritage.

The 3-acre fishpond was built more than 500 years ago and was traditionally used as a food resource for the ruling class, or ali'i. It is best known nowadays as Kalepolepo Beach Park, a popular picnic spot and family swimming area whose calm and shallow waters are protected by the remains of the fishpond's rock walls, or kuapa.

"People for many years never realized what this was," said Allen Tom of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, whose headquarters look out onto the fishpond. The sanctuary is assisting with the Ko'ie'ie project by providing a portion of the $250,000 cost and other support.

Initial interest in restoring Ko'ie'ie — which means "rapid current" in Hawaiian — was sparked by a small group of residents at the neighboring Menehune Shores condominium. In 1996, the condo residents joined with Native Hawaiians and others to form the nonprofit 'Ao'ao O Na Loko I'a O Maui (Association of the Fishponds of Maui) to launch a formal effort to rebuild the site.

The group began fund raising and planning for the reconstruction work, consulting with Walter Ritte Jr., who is involved in fishpond restoration projects on Moloka'i. The association also was instrumental in getting Ko'ie'ie listed on the state and national registers of historic places.

Allen said the whale sanctuary center took an interest in the fishpond when one visitor after another seemed more interested in asking questions about the rock wall remnants than humpback whales. The sanctuary posted signage about Ko'ie'ie and has become a partner in the restoration project.

At one time there were an estimated 400 fishponds throughout Hawai'i, with a large concentration of them at Waikiki. Hawaiians reportedly used the ponds, or loko, to trap and store fish, rather than as fish breeding pens.

The fishponds were made of kuapa and a makaha, or sluice gate. The rocks were placed so that they interlocked with one another, and smaller rocks and pebbles were wedged into the gaps for further stability.

The makaha was made of pieces of wood lashed together, with vertical spaces between the slats that allowed small fish to swim freely in and out of the pond but retained the larger fish.

Ko'ie'ie is part of a string of four fishponds and is the best preserved in Kihei. Historical accounts note that repairs to the fishpond were undertaken during the reign of several chiefs, including Kamehameha the Great. In the 1840s, Ho'apili used labor from a penal colony on Kaho'olawe to restore the pond.

It is thought that sometime during these repairs the ancient name of Ko'ie'ie was changed to Kalepolepo ("the dirt") because of all the dust stirred into the air by the thousands of people lined up to pass stones from the uplands to the shore.

In October, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved 'Ao'ao O Na Loko I'a O Maui's application to lease the state-owned fishpond, clearing the way for reconstruction work to begin.

Association president Kimokeo Kapahulehua said it will take about two years to finish the project, using volunteer help. The 1,100-foot-long kuapa that runs parallel to the beach and the shorter side walls will be rebuilt by hand, with no mechanical methods used for dredging or moving the heavy rocks. Kapahulehua said no new rocks will be brought in to complete the kuapa, which will be stacked about 6 feet high to withstand the highest tides of the year.

"Each rock we use has a shared mana (spiritual power) with the ancient Hawaiians," he said.

Because Kalepolepo is a longstanding public beach park, the site will not be completely restored for sole use as a fishpond. It will remain a recreational area enjoyed by beachcombers, sunbathers, swimmers and fishermen.

The fishpond association, based at the sanctuary headquarters, has been running educational programs for school and community groups, and has even grander programs planned, once the rebuilding work is done, that blend science and Hawaiian culture.

Reach Christie Wilson at (808) 244-4880 or cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

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