Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 4, 1 April 2007 — PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA

The Northwestern Hawaiian lslands Marine National Monument receives its Hawaiian name

By Derek Ferrar | Public lnfurmatiun Specialist When it eame down to it, first lady Laura Bush got through her unveiling of the new Hawaiian name for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument - Papahānaumokuākea - with passing marks for pronunciation, although admittedly with a few misplaced vowel stresses and a decidedly Texan twang. The pressure had definitely been on Mrs. Bush, with seemingly everybody in town - from the morning radio duo Perry and Price to Gov. Linda Lingle in her introductory remarks - speculating on how the first lady would get through pronouncing the Hawaiian name, whieh refers both to the procreative power of Mother Earth and broad expanses of space, at a ceremony at Washington Plaee on March 2. But Bush cleared the air by getting her linguistic stumbling out of the way early, beginning her remarks by thanking "Governor Ling-will." "And that's not even Hawaiian," she joked after her slip-up elicited a peal of laughter from the audience. The ceremony, whieh included oli and hula in addition to speeches by various dignitaries, fulfilled a promise President Bush made last lune, when he proclaimed the creation of the monument. "When President Bush established the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Nahonal Monument, he assured that the atolls' cultural signifieanee would be reflected in a Native Hawaiian name," Mrs. Bush said. "Today, I'm delighted to announee that the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands will be named the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Nahonal Monument. The name was adopted after consultation with Native Hawaiian elders, and it suggests the abundance and timelessness of life on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Most important, the name reminds us of our responsibility to care for the archipelago." When he proclaimed the designation of the monument on lune 15, the president in one fell swoop established the nation's largest protected area and the world's largest oeean refuge at nearly 140,000 square miles - larger than many U.S. states. The process of giving the preserve a Hawaiian name evolved out of the efforts of a cultural working group that began meeting when the Northwestern Islands were in the process of receiving designation as a marine sanctuary, before the president pre-empted that process by declaring the monument. (In general, monument status provides a higher level of protection than sanctuary status, and, unlike sanctuary designation, it is at the sole discretion of the president instead of requiring a lengthy puhlie process.) Made up of scholars, teachers, eultural practitioners, coimnunity activists and resource managers, the eultural working group invited two distinguished members of the Hawaiian community to put forth names for eonsideration - Unele Buzzy Agard, a wellknown coimnunity leader and longtime fishennan in the Northwestern Islands, and Kumu Hula Pua Kanahele, who in recent years has been a driving force behind the"revival of cultural access trips to the islands in partnership with the voyaging eanoe Hōkūle'a. The names suggested by Agard and Kanahele were brought to the working group in September, along with other names offered by representatives of the University of Hawai'i's Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies and the Department of Interior' s Office of Hawaiian Relations. At a meeting on lan. 4, the group selected 1 A Papahānaumokuākea as the jnonument's Hawaiian name.

A name to unite the arehipelago According to a statement distributed by the governor's office, the name "comes from an ancient Hawaiian tradition concerning the genealogy and fonnation of the Hawaiian Islands.

Papahānaumoku (who is personified in the earth) and Wākea (who is personified in the expansive sky) are two of the most recognized Native Hawaiian ancestors. Their union resulted in the creation or 'birthing' of the entire Hawaiian archipelago. "'Papa," whieh means 'foundation earth,' provides the imagery of the numerous low flat islands that stretch across the oeean into the northwest. 'Ākea' provides the imagery of the 'expanse of space' ... The preservation of these names together, as Papahānaumokuākea, strengthens Hawai'i's cultural foundation and grounds Native Hawaiians to an important part of their historical past." In herremarks at the naming ceremony, Kanahele said, "It is my privilege today to weleome Papahānaumokuākea, the northwestern part of the archipelago, into the consciousness of the lower half of the archipelago so the name will live through all of us; it will always be on the tongue as part of a household word, so it's never an out-of-sight, out-of-mind kind of thing again. "The Northwest Hawaiian islands are our kūpuna; they are the ancestors of these islands down here, and 'we honor them as we do our own grandparents and great-grandparents. The name Papahānaumokuākea confers upon these islands a very feminine spiritual

strength that is very profound and very nurturing. It is the spiritual inspiration that supports our physical world."

Vulnerable wildlife A birdwatching enthusiast, the first lady spent the night before the naming

announcement at Midway Atoll, whieh is scheduled to heeome the only part of the Papahānaumokuākea Monument that the general puhlie will be allowed to visit. "Right now, the Laysan albatross have nested," Mrs. Bush said of her experience at Midway, "and there are millions of little chicks everywhere. Everywhere you step you have to watch to make sure you don't step on one of these vulnerable little chicks. They have no natural predators. They nest right on the ground .... These precious little chicks have really served to remind all of us how vulnerable life is everywhere, but especially on these sacred islands. "Unfortunately, I also saw the marine

debris that threatens these albatross and ot are there. This debris f the birds' stomachs, f of birds every year . where have a responsi stewards of our enviri the trash we throw in o gutter ean devastate ra world away." Developing a managt The name announe officials from the fe agencies charged wi See PAPAHĀNAUMOKI

:he existence of her animals that inds its way into illing thousands . People everyiility to be good )nment, because ur neighborhood re wildlife half a ment plan ement eame as deral and state th oversight of IĀKEA on page 22

| ^ /yToday, l'm delighted to announee that the Northwestern Hawaiian lslands will be named the Papahōnaumokuōkea Marine National Monument. The name was adopted after consultation with Native Hawaiian elders, and it suggests the abundance and timelessness of life on the Northwestern Hawaiian lslands. Most important, the name reminds us of our responsibility to care for the archipelago/' — First lady Laura Bush

— - — — — i Background: Hawaiian green seo turtles bosk on Tern lslond, French Frigote Shoals. Photo: Panilall Kosaki/N0M. Inset (clockwise from left): Mosked boobies percb on marine debris, photo:Andy Collins/NOM; Large predators, like tbese Galapagos sharks are abundant in tbe NWHI, photo: kmes Watt, Hawaii photo: lames Watt.

PAPAHĀNAUMOKIIĀKEA

CūntinuEd fram page 12 the monument are in the proeess of developing a unified management plan for the region. A draft plan and assoeiated environmental assessment is expeeted to be distributed for publie review and eomment early in 2008. In the meanhme, the management partners have instituted a "rolling implementation" strategy for proteetion of the monument's preeious natural and eultural resourees, with President Bush's proposed budget for the next fiseal year ineluding a total of nearly $11 million for management and enforeement aetivities. Under the provisions of the monument proelamation, aeeess to the area is tightly eontrolled, with all eotmnereial fishing to be phased out within five years.

However, aeeess via a permit is allowed for edueational and researeh aetivities, along with Native Hawaiian eultural praetiees, defined as "aetivities eondueted for the purposes of perpetuating traditional knowledge, earing for and proteeting the environment, and strengthening eultural and spiritual eonneetions to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that have demonstrable benefits to the Native Hawaiian eommunity." Sueh praetiees inelude subsistenee fishing, but only for eonsumption within the monument itself; no eateh is allowed to be taken out. Midway access Also in the works is the development of a plan to allow lim-

ited visitor access to Midway, the famed site of a pivotal World War II naval battle. Under a Draft Interim Visitors Services Plan for Midway that was released in December, visits to the island could begin as early as this year. The plan limits access to no more than 30 overnight visitors at a time and no more than 50 later on, with all visits limited to the albatross nesting season from November through Iuly - a major attraction for bird enthusiasts. Approved visitor activities would include guided wildlife observation, snorkeling and kayak tours, along with conunemorations of the battle, while hunting and fishing would be prohibited. And the tours are not likely to be eheap - charter airfare to the atoll alone is expected to run around $2,000, plus an additional $230 per day for lodging in former military officers' quarters, meals and entrance fees.

World Heritage Status On another front, state and federal officials are also working towards getting the Papahānaumokuākea monument placed on a list for possible World Heritage Status site nominahon in 2009. If approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the monument would join such World Heritage sites as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China as international treasures considered to be "of outstanding value to humanity." "Home to the endangered monk seal, green sea turtle and other species found nowhere else in the world, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is a special plaee worthy of the highest levels of protection," Lingle said at the naming ceremony. "We are committed to leaving this legacy for future generations."