#iwi kupuna

[freehawaii]

HAWAIIAN ANCESTRAL BONES AT RISK ON MAUI

Hawaii News Now - April 5, 2023

Tensions surrounding the planned expansion of a luxury hotel on Maui are rising. The Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, has been wanting to expand for years. But protectors of ancestral bones, or iwi kupuna, say enough already. “I feel I was really called to do this. Like I was tapped on the shoulder and said, ‘come and help,’” said Clare Apana, head of Malama Kakanilua. Apana, along with Hooponopono o Makena president Ashford Kaleolani DeLima, are committed to protecting iwi kupuna on Maui. DeLima’s ancestors are from South Maui, where the Grand Wailea is located. “You feel this wind? This wind is gentle. That’s because my kupuna knows that I’m here speaking about them and trying to tell the truth,” DeLima said. DeLima, Apana and others say the Grand Wailea was built on sacred burial grounds. They are against the resort’s plan for expansion and renovations. “This is one of the areas where you find concentrations of burials. You don’t find this on any other property. You may find burials … but you don’t find burials in the concentrations that are on this property,” Apana said. The Grand Wailea wants to add 137 guest rooms, enhance its landscaping, pool amenities and restaurant facilities and improve its infrastructure. Maui Planning Department recommended approving the project with conditions in 2019. But last month, a Maui Planning Commission’s appointed hearing officer recommended that the Grand Wailea’s permits be denied until they can make “adjustments in the areas of traditional and customary native Hawaiian practices, traffic and water.” The permits are needed to complete the expansion. The resort says the project scope was reduced by nearly 40% to reflect community feedback and avoid ground disturbance in areas of archaeological or cultural sensitivity. “The hearing officer’s report was a welcome confirmation of Grand Wailea’s enhancement plans and commitment to being a good steward,” said William Meheula, counsel for the resort. “We agree with almost all of the recommendations, including that the project’s archaeological inventory surveys and monitoring plans that were approved by the state met the legal requirements, and have submitted a response largely supporting the report and demonstrating the project has satisfied the necessary conditions to proceed if approved by the Maui Planning Commission.” The hotel says its commitment to giving back is reflected in the more than $5 million donated to nonprofits over the last seven years. The resort’s managing director added that the hotel employs more than 1,200 people, and that the expansion will create hundreds more jobs. Apana and DeLima said all they want is respect. “The right thing to do is malama the iwi,” DeLima said. “Show respect and not only make money....”

[deadmotelsusa]

Opened in 1953, the Coco Palms Resort originally had 24 rooms and 5 employees. It expanded through the 60s and 70s, and became a popular spot for weddings. The movie Blue Hawaii, starring Elvis Presley, was filmed here.

In 1992, the Coco Palms was badly damaged by Hurricane Iniki and closed permanently. The abandoned complex has gradually been destroyed by vandalism, natural forces, and fires.

Currently, developers are trying to build a new 350-room hotel on the site. Multiple community groups have been opposed to the plan, arguing that the land has historical significance. The property used to be home to ancient Hawaiian royals, sacred heiau (temples), loko i‘a (fishponds) and iwi kupuna (ancestral remains). Source: 1, 2, 3, 4 + 5

[mudaship39]

Heart of Dragon Fire, Soul of Phoenix Flame, & Ocean Blood of Sea Fairy 

Chapter 14: Verse:

A Monster:

I know what it is like to have nightmares

My nightmares are very real

They are sometimes not of a boogeyman, a creature or a beast, or of the shadows of darkness 

My nightmares are very real 

My nightmares are of a monster 

A monster that is colonialism, imperialism, neocolonialism, & occupation

A monster that is cultural genocide and inter-generational trauma   

A monster that mocks me by showing everything colonizers and imperialists robbed from me 

A shadow in the darkness robbing me of language, culture, traditions, customs, & spirituality 

A monster that is my demons and my phantoms 

A monster that shows me as displaced Indigenous Pasifika diaspora 

A monster that shows me alone disconnected from my cultural identity

A monster that shows me alone in my journey of self love, healing, & acceptance

A monster that shows me never finding bonds, links, & connections

A monster that shows me never having community

A monster that shows the Indigenous community never claiming me and me never claiming the Indigenous community 

A monster that shows me as a spouse with my person of color & or Indigenous future partner or partners with me as a parent holding our child in my arms and I weep

I cry because I don’t know how to teach my own future children how to speak, read, or write French, Chinese, or Tahitian 

A monster that shows me as a young adult crying myself to sleep because I don’t know how to speak Tahitian to pray to my gods and goddesses

A monster that shows me never being able to go to Tahiti even before I die

I can’t go because I am so poor as a low income displaced stateside Polynesian Indigenous Pasifika person of color diaspora 

A monster that shows me in the future as a parent with my future Indigenous or person of color partner or partners crying

A monster that shows me crying because I don’t know how to teach my own future children my own culture, customs, traditions, language, & spirituality 

A monster that shows me never finding my whanau or family

A monster that shows me never finding my hapau or clan

A monster that shows me never finding my iwi or nation

A monster that shows me never finding my sacred mountain or male ancestor

A monster that shows me never finding my sacred river or female ancestor

A monster that shows me never becoming a storykeeper, orator & storyteller

A monster that shows me never choosing to become a maohi or raerae elder and healer

A monster that shows me never upholding the kuleana or duty and responsibility of my kupuna or elders 

That monster says that my grandmother never loved me, my mother, & my brother

That is why she abandoned your mother

She doesn't love you or your brother because you are unlovable 

That monster says that my whanau, hapua, or iwi will never love me

So I cry because I believe that monster 

My ancestors says do not listen to that demon 

That dares to have the nerve to say that your whanau, hapua, & iwi do not care about you

My ancestors, the sky father, the earth mother, & the ocean mother

Your whanau, hapua, & iwi have been searching for you

Across land and sea for a very long time our child 

They are lost without you 

As you were supposed to be their mahu or maohi or raerae elder and healer 

They are lost without you 

As you were supposed to be their storykeeper, orator, & storyteller 

You were supposed to be their culture keeper, language keeper, & storykeeper 

That was your destiny since antiquity but it was altered by cultural genocide 

That was your providence since time immemorial 

But you were stolen from the earth, the ocean, & the sky 

As a displaced stateside disconnected diaspora 

Your sacred mountain or male ancestor 

Your sacred river or female ancestor

Have been talking about you to them 

Your family, your clan, & your nation for a long time

Ever since you were first stolen from the earth, the ocean, & the sky

A long time ago as a displaced stateside disconnected diaspora

My elders or kupuna banish the monster away back into the shadows and darkness

My ancestors the earth mother, the sky father, and the ocean mother

How long and for how much have I cried because I could not understand their earth voice?

How long and for how much have I wept because I could not comprehend their ocean song? 

I think forever since before I was even born 

But how do you mourn something you have never known? 

How do you grieve the phantom pain 

Of loss of culture, loss of spirituality, loss of language, loss of traditions, & loss of customs? 

How do you fucking lament something stolen from you a long time ago by cultural genocide?!

I fucking ask you how! 

Tell me 

How do you move on from that! 

I fall and drop to my knees 

I burst into tears as I cry

I cry until my eyes are bloodshot red 

With sea fairy tears of cosmic ocean water

I weep flame phoenix tears and fire dragon tears 

I sit there and I grieve everything that being a displaced state side disconnected diaspora has ever stolen from me 

I sit there and I mourn everything that cultural genocide has ever robbed from me

I sit there and I lament everything trauma and abuse has ever took from me 

I don’t know how to be a maohi or raerae elder and healer

I don’t know how to be a language keeper, culture keeper, & storykeeper 

I don’t know how to be a storykeeper, orator, & storyteller anymore

You don’t understand how much I grieve and mourn 

You don’t understand my rage and fury 

You don’t understand my sorrow and torment 

You don’t understand my pain and anguish

You don’t understand my hatred and loathing 

I grieve and mourn 

Language and spirituality 

Customs and culture 

Traditions and values 

There is this vast hollowness and emptiness in my heart, aura, soul 

Grieving everything cultural genocide, trauma and abuse, and displacement 

Has taken from me, stolen from me, & robbed from me

My ancestors they understand my grief and mourning

My gods and goddesses they understand my rage, my loathing, my sorrow, & my anguish 

They understand the grief in my silence 

I grieve the loss of culture, language, spirituality, & customs

I mourn the loss of connections, links, & bonds

I lament the loss of community of family or whanau, clan or hapau, & nation or iwi

The darkness of cultural genocide has taken alot from me 

The obscurity of being displaced, being disconnected, & being diaspora has taken a lot from me

The shadows of colonialism, imperialism, neocolonialism, & occupation have taken a lot from me

So I let out a silent phoenix scream and hushed dragon roar that is deafening and thunderous to my na kupuna 

My ancestors hug me in their arms as I cry in their arms 

[mauitime]

Sand Mining Moratorium Extended After Public Outcry Last week, the Moratorium on Sand Mining of Central Maui Inland Sand expired. The moratorium was signed into law as an ordinance in January of this year to give the county time to assess the sand, which holds immeasurable value as a known burial ground and resting place of Native Hawaiian iwi kupuna (ancestral bones), as well as a non-renewable natural resource.

[malialaka]

#Sharealoha @freehawaii_independence AT LAST - AFTER A DECADE A PLAN TO PROTECT IWI KUPUNA AT KAWAIAHA`O CHURCH - FreeHawaii.Info #IwiKupuna #KawaiahaoChurch #FreeHawaii #HawaiianKingdom Honolulu Star-Advertiser - June 9, 2022 It’s been over a decade since hundreds of Native Hawaiian burials were unearthed during a construction project at Kawaiaha‘o Church, setting off a storm of controversy and legal dispute that went all the way to the Hawaii Supreme Court. On Wednesday the fate of those skeletal remains was finally determined by the Oahu Island Burial Council, which approved a plan to allow interment of iwi kupuna as close as possible to their original burial places at Honolulu’s oldest church. When the council approved the Kawaiaha‘o Joint Burial Treatment Plan on a 5-0 vote, the crowd filling the state Department of Land and Natural Resources board room broke into applause. Afterward, hugs and tears were seen in the breezeway outside the board room. “Indescribable joy and relief” is how Edward Hale­aloha Ayau described his feelings. Ayau is a burial and iwi kupuna repatriation expert who has been helping to work toward a resolution of the dispute for years. “It took so long,” he said. Following the vote, the descendants walked down Punchbowl Street to the historic church, where they prayed with Kahu Kenneth Makuakane and then paid their respects to the remains of their ancestors, which have been stored in the Mark A. Robinson Chapel beneath the main sanctuary since the bones were unearthed more than 10 years ago. Among the descendants were council members Mana Caceres of Ewa and Diane Fitzsimmons of Waialua, each of whom recused themselves from Wednesday’s vote and then excused themselves from the rest of the meeting to join the procession to Kawaiaha‘o. Council member Brickwood Galuteria, a member of the Kawaiaha‘o congregation, also recused himself from the vote. The approved burial plan, jointly written and supported by the church and the majority of recognized descendants, affects the remains of more than 600 individuals. “The hard work starts now,” Suzanne Boatman, chairwoman of the Kawaiaha‘o board of trustees, said outside of the church. https://www.instagram.com/p/CenN1ZjrM1BGYik6Fb1mchCanLeX5sT7_ALBuU0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[newsalertspecial]

Germany and Austria repatriate 19th-century ancestral human remains to Hawaii

Germany and Austria repatriate 19th-century ancestral human remains to Hawaii

Human remains from five institutions in Germany and Austria have been handed over to Hawaiian officials. The 19th-century bones of 58 people — known as “iwi kupuna” — will now be repatriated to the US state after official ceremonies. The skeletons had originally been “stolen” and collected by German naturalist Hermann Otto Finsch around 1880 during a voyage to the South Pacific. The remains were…

[emergencymanagementnews]

Climate change is threatening iwi kupuna from mauka to makai. Experts say the tools exist to come up with a solution but it will require political will.

[6isdead]

Travassa Hāna digging up ‘iwi kupuna, the bones of our ancestors. Ancient Hawaiian villages and burials from the 12th and 13th century are known to have been studied and found along the coast where Travassa has chosen ignore community concerns in place of building bathrooms catering only to their guests while desecrating our ancestors.

[sacredmaunakea]

“The question is what are the proper values to be applied? The values of the kupuna who originally placed this moepu with the iwi? Or the values of our generation, which has no connection except in a modern (monetary, artistic, etc.) way. Considering that these items were sacred objects to the people who created them and imparted special powers to protect the iwi and spirits of the individuals that they were meant for, the moepu had no value to anyone else. For some of us who have been touched spiritually by the moepu, it has an everlasting value because of the fact that by replacing the moepu with the iwi, we are insured that their moepu is protecting the eternal journeys of the souls of Na kupuna.”

[punalavaflow]

Iwi discovered in lava tube at Lono Kona project

Iwi kupuna, or human remains, were discovered in a lava tube broken into by contractors digging sewer lines for the Lono Kona project in a neighborhood residents call “Hamburger Hill.”

Environmental Management Director Bill Kucharski said the remains have been removed by archaeologists and relocated. Cesspool waste was also found in that lava tube as well as another one nearby, he said.

“There were some remains and the burial council has come in and dealt with that,” Kucharski said Thursday.

Kucharski said the discovery shouldn’t affect the timeline or the cost of construction of the project. He said the contractor, Nan Inc., switched to a different part of the project while the iwi were taken care of.

“We just went around it,” Kucharski said. “It’s all covered and protected and secured.”

Kona Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas said she hasn’t heard any concerns expressed by constituents, but she’s been assured that the iwi have been handled in a respectful manner.

“They have called in the proper authorities and the burial council,” Villegas said. “They will look at the most proper and pono way to do it.”

Archaeological work and environmental surveys were completed prior to construction. Kucharski said the discovery of iwi isn’t unusual during construction projects and procedures are in place to handle it.

“It’s sort of a normal construction issue,” he said. “Most are reasonably expected.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency outlawed large-capacity cesspools in 1999 and federal funds have been available to help toward that initiative in the years since.

The Lono Kona project will connect 145 assessment units, or the equivalent of 268 single-family homes, across 110 lots to a sewer system. The units are currently serviced by cesspools, all of which the state has mandated be closed by 2050. The substantial completion date is projected for September.

Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com. from Hawaii News – Hawaii Tribune-Herald http://bit.ly/2EMYI6J

[freehawaii]

TOMORROW ON O`AHU - HELP PROTECT HAWAIIAN ANCESTRAL BONES

[mudaship39]

Heart of Dragon Fire, Soul of Phoenix Flame, & Ocean Blood of Sea Fairy 

Chapter 7: Verse:

A Sky Father’s Rage, Wrath, Hatred, & Fury:

With my spoken word poetry and with my music I always sang 

With my earth voice and with my ocean song

I can't really sing not really 

But when I wrote poetry and when I wrote music as a storykeeper, orator, & a storyteller

It is the closest thing I can do to be close to my ancestors who were actors, singers, dancers, playwrights, & poets  

From my European French and Polynesian Tahitian Indigenous Pasifika mother’s adoptive Vietnamese parents

I am a regent of an ancient and powerful family

A family of a thousand generations of soldiers and warriors or kekoa that defended my nation’s monarchy 

We were a family whose noble and proud tradition was being the wardens, guardians, & sentinels of kings and queens

That was our kuleana or responsibility and duty passed down from our kupuna or elders 

We had the hearts, spirits, & souls of warriors or kekoa and soldiers 

That is why I have the chosen Polynesian Indigenous Pasifika middle name of Aitonui

My older brother upheld that noble and proud legacy as a U.S marine 

From my Southeast Asian Vietnamese and Chinese father

I am scion of an ancient and powerful family 

A family of a thousand generations of artists, actors, dancers, singers, poets, & playwrights 

A house who upheld a noble and proud tradition and legacy of being storykeepers, orators, & storytellers

I carried on that inheritance and heritage as I built my own legacy and bequest as a storykeeper, writer, orator. artist, & storyteller 

Passing on the stories, legends, and songs of my people, my clan or hapau, my nation or iwi, my elders or kupuna, & my ancestors or na kupuna, & my family or whanau 

To pass it on to the next generation as an storykeeper, orator, & storyteller 

I took pride to be an orator, storykeeper, & storyteller 

Preserving my people’s folklore, my family’s stories, & my ancestor’s songs to memory 

Upholding my family’s kuleana or responsibility that was passed down from my kupuna or elder

And carving it into stone, granite, rock, & even diamonds

Immortalizing it forever in books, films, songs, & spoken word poetry as an artist and writer

That is why I have the chosen Polynesian Indigenous Pasifika first name of No’eau

The ancestors they say that I as their descendant that I used to always sing with a song of flame as an orator

The ancestors they say that I used to always speak with a voice of fire as a storykeeper and storyteller

But from that day on after climbing down from that building 

But from that day after deciding not to buy that gun and pulling the trigger 

But from that day after putting that knife back 

My ancestors knew something was different and that something was very wrong

Me as their descendant I was never quiet 

Me as their heir I was never silent

I used to always speak with my earth, ocean, & sky mind

I used to always sing with my flame phoenix soul of the heavens

I used to always whisper with my sea fairy aura of the cosmos

I used to always scream and roar with my fire dragon heart of the stars

My ancestors they knew that something was very wrong

Something inside me broke that day

I didn’t just feel sorrow and torment 

I didn’t just feel anguish and misery 

I felt hatred and loathing 

I felt rage and fury 

I grieved and mourned something I lost forever that day

I didn’t die physically that day 

But a part of me died mentally, emotionally, & spiritually 

I buried myself as a native of color

I buried myself as a disabled native 

I buried myself as a queer and trans native third gender person of color 

They grieved and mourned each time 

A parent should not have to grieve their child 

An ancestor should not have to mourn their descendant 

My gods and goddesses grieved and mourned the death of a part of my mind, my heart, & my soul 

I still remember the sound of their howl, their wail, their scream, & their roar when they finally realized what was wrong 

My terrestrial and worldly earth mind, my celestial and stellar dragon heart, & my divine and heavenly phoenix soul were in so much pain, distress, misery, & agony

The rage, fury, anger, loathing, wrath, & hatred of the sea fairy, the flame phoenix, & the fire dragon 

early burned and incinerated the skies, the heavens, the moons, the planets, & the stars

The sorrow, anguish, mourning, grief, & torment of the earth, the ocean, & the sky 

Nearly drowned and shook the earth, the mountains, & the seas

Because on that day, all of my ancestors, she the ocean, he the earth, & he the sky, he the dragon, she the sea fairy, she the flame phoenix, & he the fire dragon 

They all learned that silence can be deafening and that even the quiet itself can be thunderous! 

Because from that day on because of their abuse and my trauma! 

That gave me my mental illnesses of chronic: depression, anxiety, panic attacks, & PTSD! 

Caused by what they did to me and what they said to me! 

From that day forth

I refused to speak as a storyteller with my earth voice!

I refused to sing as an orator with my ocean song! 

What they fucking did to me took away my voice of fire!

What they fucking said to me stole away my song of flame! 

Something that was given to me by my ancestors themselves as a gift and as a present!

To continue my kuleana or proud responsibility and noble obligation of my kupuna or elders of an ancient and powerful house!

Who carried on a noble and proud tradition of a thousand generations of playwrights, singers, dancers, actors, & poets! 

Ever since the origin of my Southeast Asian family on the side of my Vietnamese and Chinese father!   

The earth mother, the ocean mother, & the sky father long ago, they gave me a gift my ocean song as an orator! 

The dragon, the fairy, & the phoenix long ago, they gave me a present my earth voice as a storykeeper and storyteller!

I used to always speak as a spoken word poet with my voice of fire

I used to always sing as a songwriter with my song of flame

To continue the legacy, heritage, bequest, & birthright

Of my ancestors or na kupuna, my elders or kupuna, my whanau or family, my hapau or clan, & my iwi or nation as a storykeeper, orator, & storyteller 

He the earth, he the sky, & she ocean they all say they long and they wish to once again hear my ocean song

She the fairy, she the phoenix, & he the dragon they all say they yearn and they desire to once again hear my earth voice

They plead, they appeal, they beg, & they implore for me

To once again speak with my earth voice 

To once again sing with my ocean song

To sing and speak as a storykeeper, orator, & storyteller 

With my voice of fire and my song of flame

To once again hear my earth voice and hear my ocean song

Their son

Their daughter

Their nonbinary child

Their maohi raerae child 

They tell me to speak

They tell me to sing 

They tell me to whisper 

They tell me to scream

They tell me to roar

They say that I am a war dance of defiance

They say that I am a love song of resilience

They say that I am a battle cry of resistance

They say you, our child born of fire, flame, & water are a war dance!

A war dance that can frighten, discourage, & terrorize an enemy army of even a million strong!

A war dance that can motivate, reinforce, & heal an exhausted and disheartened army of a couple hundred thousand strong!

They say that you, our child with a body made of earth, ocean, & sky are a battle cry!

A battle cry that can quake the earth, tremble the oceans, & shake the skies themselves of this planet!

A battle cry that can move the planets, the moons, & the stars in the universe itself!

They say that you, our child with a celestial and stellar dragon heart, a divine and heavenly phoenix soul, & a cosmic and ancient fairy aura are a love song!

A love song that can stir people's hearts, rouse people’s souls, & inspire people’s minds!

A love song that can move mountains, not just people!

You are a storykeeper, you are an orator, & you are a storyteller 

So our heir and our successor we ask you to please speak and sing with your earth voice and your ocean song! 

With your present of fire and your gift of flame that we your kupuna and elders gave you a long time ago to uphold your family and clans kuleana

They just want to hear my earth voice...

They just want to hear my ocean song...

I know that it will make them so happy and so joyful 

To once again hear my voice of fire…

To once again hear my song of flame...

But I tell them the truth as I burst into sea fairy ocean tears 

I cry as I weep dragon tears of fire and cry phoenix tears of flame

I say that I am sorry but I don’t know how to speak anymore 

I say that I am sorry but I don’t know how to sing anymore

I cannot speak as a storyteller 

I cannot sing as an orator

I cannot whisper as a storykeeper 

They took that away from me as a storykeeper, orator, & storyteller 

When they took away my voice of fire 

When they stole away my song of flame

I still remember my ancestors bursting into tears 

The sound of their howl  

The echo of their wail 

When I said that to them

My terrestrial and worldly earth, sky, & ocean mind was broken with pain and distress and it could not speak

My cosmic and primordial sea fairy ocean veins of outer space was withered away with anguish and agony and it could not whisper

My divine and heavenly flame phoenix soul of the heavens was hurt with ache of grief and misery and it could not sing

My celestial and stellar fire dragon heart was is in shattered pieces with torment and suffering 

That even it could not scream and even it could not roar

My ancestors or na kupuna

The sky father

The earth mother 

The ocean mother

Says to me that 

There is trauma in grief

There is grief in silence

To speak is defiance

To sing is resilience 

There’s power in silence

There’s power in a voice

There’s power in a song

[mauitime]

Ho’olaulea Owa at Maui Lani Shopping Center

Ho’olaulea Owa at Maui Lani Shopping Center

The Ho’olaulea Owawill happen at Maui Lani Shopping Center from Friday, August 17th and Saturday, August 18th. Hui Pono Ike Kanawai and Malama Kakanilua will present their 6th annual ho’olaulea in Central Maui. Their goal is to bring recognition to the iwi kupuna that are buried in the Pu’uone sand hills. The event will include many speakers, representatives, activists, community members,…

[kumuhina]

Protests Target Development, GMOs, Protection of Iwi

by Sarah Zoellick for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

With swooping, rhythmic motions, hundreds of men, women, teenagers and preschoolers pounded taro into roughly 1,000 pounds of poi Wednesday at the state Capitol as part of a protest that drew hundreds of residents hoping to have their voices heard on the opening day of the legislative session.

They dipped their fingers in water and sprinkled moisture on the poi — balling it up and spreading it with the pounder; scraping it up and slapping it down — while activists spoke of Hawaiian sovereignty, Hawaiian-immersion charter school independence and financial support, the prevalence and possible danger of genetically modified organisms, the need for government transparency, and a repeal of the highly contested Public Land and Development Corp.

Four-year-old Kea McIntosh, a preschooler at Punana Leo o Manoa, said his favorite part about the pounding taro was "smashing it."

"I'm doing poi," he said proudly. "I'm going to make it like poi."

Most of the protesters marched from the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus. They arrived thrusting anti-GMO signs above their heads, yelling "a‘ole GMO" in unison, and transitioned into loud, rhythmic Hawaiian chanting as they approached the Capitol steps and nearly filled the courtyard.

Other signs read "Don't disrupt the bones, what if it was your own?," "When in doubt, don't dig it out," and "Save our kids, save our food, no GMOs."

"This is Hawaii, our land, and we have to teach respect for it and love our land, so it kind of just opened my eyes to come and support the label GMO or no GMOs (movement)," said 18-year-old UH-Manoa student Roslyn Dayton as she pounded poi.

Jamaica Osorio, a 22-year-old New York University graduate student from Hawaii, recited a poem that she wrote in high school in 2008 titled "Kaulana na pua," or "Famous are the Flowers," about the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. She said that for her, the protest meant acknowledging those events that occurred 120 years ago today.

"It's pretty special that so many people have showed up today to either talk about GMO or (from) the charter schools to talk about independence, because today (Wednesday) and tomorrow are pretty much the most important days of Hawaiian history and the future of our people," Osorio said.

The protest also featured singing from Halau Lokahi Charter School students, songs written and performed by a GMO opponent and a hula performed by Hakipuu Learning Center students facing the Queen Liliuokalani statue.

Gary Hooser, a Kauai County councilman and former director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control, spoke to the audience in support of a repeal of the PLDC, which he said "allows for the development of public lands anywhere in the state."

"Public lands: that means our beaches, our parks, our mountains," he told the crowd. "Are we going to let them do that?"

Hooser then led the group to chant "Repeal" and "Label," referring to GMO products. He said after his speech that he is hopeful the PLDC will be repealed this session.

Internationally known GMO protester Vandana Shiva of India called for the abolishment of GMO products. She traveled to Hawaii to speak about food justice at the protest and other events this week.

"The human work and the human mind has been made to look primitive, and the primitive mind of violence and war has been made to look as our future," Shiva told the crowd. "We do not accept it."

She said later, "Gardening is our future; not GMOs. Freedom is our future; not seed slavery."

Alicia Maluafiti, executive director of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, said she does not support GMO-labeling legislation because it would increase food costs by up to 40 percent. GMO opponents, she said, are "a group of people that have a religious and philosophical opposition to this technology."

"We're farmers, so we're really down here to support a lot of the agricultural priorities," she said. "Food security is everyone's business, and we want to make sure that we have enough affordable food for the people here in Hawaii so we're going to be down here supporting land issues, labor, water, irrigation, infrastructure … You want to address food, you need to address the needs of the farmers."

[freehawaii]

JUNE FREE HAWAII NEWS - WHY OHA DROPPED NATION BUILDING

Also Legal Action To Stop A Second Wave Pool, The Cultural Cost Of Name-Stripping, Hawaiian Progress At The UN & “Pacific Way” - A New Movement

The June “Free Hawaii News” show reveals details regarding why the Office Of Hawaiian Affairs has dropped its nation-building efforts. “For years the Office of Hawaiian Affairs attempted to sell its phony nation-building plan via federal recognition to Hawaiians,” states Free Hawaii News co-host Leon Siu. “In the process, OHA wasted many millions of Hawaiian beneficiary dollars. We hear from OHA Trustee Mililani Trask who explains who was behind it, why it failed and if a day of reckoning is coming.” The June Free Hawaii News also airs an important segment on the practice of name-stripping  - changing the original Hawaiian names of places to english names. “Name-stripping is an insidious practice everywhere colonialism and illegal occupations of countries occur,” remarked Free Hawaii News co-host Hinaleimoana Wong. “Itʻs a simple way to make native peoples strangers in their own homeland and in Hawai`is case force kanaka maoli to identify themselves the way the US dictates. We explain exactly how name-stripping has sown its deliberate confusion in Hawai`i.” Our June show also includes Kumu Hinaʻs Mana`o, an update on progress for Hawaii at the United Nations as well as a report on the “Pacific Way,” a new movement gaining steam throughout Oceania. Brought to you by the Koani Foundation, Free Hawaii News airs the first Friday evening of every month on channel 53 of `Ōlelo Television on O`ahu at 6 PM and on all neighbor islands. Check local listings for times. The purpose of the show is to present Hawaiian or kanaka maoli perspectives on a broad range of topics and issues affecting the Hawaiian Islands, the Pacific and the world. The hosts of “Free Hawaii News” are Hinaleimoana Wong and Leon Kaulahao Siu. Hinaleimoana Wong is a kumu hula, filmmaker, cultural activist, Hawaiian language speaker, preservationist and community leader. She has served as a member of the O`ahu Island Burial Council. Leon Siu has for many years served as Foreign Minister of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He is active in that role at the United Nations in both New York City and Geneva, Switzerland. Besides being a diplomat, he is also an award-winning musician, composer and political analyst. “Free Hawaii News” is online at FreeHawaiiNews.com, Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites.

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PROTECTING IWI KŪPUNA ON MOLOKAI