Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 5, 1 May 1991 — A modern history of Kahoʻolawe [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A modern history of Kahoʻolawe

by Lehua PekeIo-Stearns, Specialist Land and Natural Resource Division Kaho'olawe has been and continues to be a plaee that remains sacred in the hearts and souls of the Hawaiian people. Its historical past, recorded in ancient chants and shown in archaelogical evidence, indicates that Kaho'olawe was inhabited for over a thousand years. Hawaiians fished, farmed and lived in coastal and interior settlements across the entire island. In ancient times it was called "Kohemalamalama o Kanaloa'" (the sacred refuge of Kanaloa, god of the oeean). Kaho'olawe wasa plaee where kahuna (priests) were trained. It is also the site of the second largest basaltic glass quarry and adze production area in the Hawaiian islands. Thousands of archaelogical sites and features reveal the island's navigational importance in early Pacific migrations, and provide a clear record of pre-contact Hawaiian history. Kaho'olawe was an island of spiritual and lifegiving force. lt has well established itself as an important part of the eight major islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, located eight miles south of the island of Maui. The island encompasses 45 square miles of varied terrain. There are hills and plateaus rising to 1500 feet, valleys, beaches, and pristine reefs. Though registered as a National Historic District in 1981, the island has been continuously bombed and shelled, primarily by the U.S. Navy since 1941 and occasionally used as a target island for foreign military forces. In December 1941 with Hawai'i under martial law after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy seized Kaho'olawe. The MePhee family, who in 1918 leased the island with H.H. Baldwin for a cattle ranch and then in 1940 subleased land to the Navy for target practice, were, along with their employees, forced by the Navy to leave the island and everything they owned behind. MePhee died two years after he filed suit against the U.S. Navy for $80,000 for assets lost. The suit lanquishes without being settled. On Feb. 23, 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower issued an order to give the Navy control of Kaho'olawe as long as it needed the island for training purposes, after whieh it was to be returned to the state. Many have forgotten the single incident that may have really sparked the public and poliheal outcry to demand an end to the bombing. In 1969 a 500-pound unexploded bomb was found in a Maalaea, Maui pasture. The Maui County Council petitioned President Richard Nixon to end military use of nearby Kaho'olawe as a target. From that initial incident in 1969 to 1975 several Hawai'i political officials and organizations expressed their concerns over the Navy's violation of environmental protection statutesand called for a halt to the bombing of Kaho'olawe by the Navy. However, the concerns fell on deaf ears, and the Navy did not respond to the demands. In 1975, Hui Alaloa (the group of the long trails) was formed to regain access to the trails, roads ānd beaches that were formerly of public domain. omee ils oeginning Hui Alaloa has consistently worked on the principle of "Aloha 'Aina." Hui Alaloa has since assumed an important supportive role in the Protect Kaho'olawe movement. The following year, on Jan. 3, 1976, nine Hawaiians of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana landed on the island to begin a long journey of protest against the bombing and desecration of the 'aina, Kaho'olawe. Their initial visit prompted the State Legislature to adopt a resolution to halt the bombing and return the island to the state. The 'Ohana filed a lawsuit in 1976, claiming that the Navy failed to comply with laws concerning religious freedom, historic preservation and environmental protection by bombing the island. The 'Ohana members and many other Hawaiians made several illegal visits to the island in the next

four years. On Jan. 30, 1977 five Hawaiians landed on Kaho'olawe, forcing the Navy to suspend target practice. They were arrested for trespassing as were several others who were to "occupy" the island over the following years. Two remained on the island to begin their 35 days on Kaho'olawe. They were Walter Ritte, Jr. and Richard Sawyer of the 'Ohana. The events from their Jan. 30, Sunday morning landing on the island up to the day they left it were well recorded in a 1978 publication authored by Ritte entitled "Na Mana'o Aloha O Kaho'olawe." It was an open book diary to their thoughts and personal feelings while they were on the island. The last entry into the diary by Ritte was dated March 5: "Kaho'olawe blesses us with a generous ua as we wait and spend our last moments on the 'Aina of Kaho'olawe." Soon after, a helicopter landed with arresting officers at hand to take the two back to Maui. But while they were occupying the island, plans were being made by other 'ohana members, George Helm, Kimo Mitchell and Billy Mitchell, to rescue them. They arrived on the island by boat to search for and rescue Ritte and Sawyer. On March 7, two days after Ritte and Sawyer had been escorted off the island and taken back to

Maui, George Helm and Kimo Mitchell disappeared while paddling a surfboard back to Maui from Kaho'olawe. It was during this time that Billy Mitchell last saw the two in waters off Kaho'olawe. A thorough search of the islands and waters was made by families, friends and the Navy, but no trace of the men was found. The cause of their deaths remains a mystery. Many Hawaiians feel a great loss over the disappearance of Helm and Mitchell and there is mueh pain and sorrow that continues today. Helm was a charismatic leader of the Kaho'olawe 'Ohana in its early years, arguing strongly for the importance of Kaho'olawe as a spiritual plaee. Before Ritte and Sawyer began their 35-day oeeupahon of Kaho'olawe, George Helm wrote in Ritte's diary. Jan. 29, 1977, . . . "The truth is there is man and there is environment. One does notsupersede the other. The breath of man is the breath of Papa (the earth). Man is merely the caretaker of the land that maintains his life and nourishes his soul. Therefore 'aina is sacred. My duty is to protect Mother Earth, who gives me life. And to give thanks with humility as well as ask for forgiveness for the arrogance and insensitivity of man . . . Call me radical for I refuse to remain idle . . . This continued disregard of our seriousness, this refusal to give credibility to the Hawai'i culture based on Aloha 'Aina, forces me to protest." The protests of George Helm and others have sparked hope around an issue that for many years seemed to be an endless battle, due to the Navy's refusal to recognize the spiritual significance of Kaho'olawe to the Hawaiian people. And to stop the bombing.

Progress has slowly been made: • August 1978 - The Navy and Governor George Ariyoshi signed a memorandum of understanding in whieh the Navy agreed to suspend bombing and allow access for environmental and archaelogical study 10 days a month, 10 months a year. • September 1979 - A federal judge ordered the Navy and 'Ohana to settle the 1976 suit by negotiating areas in whieh public access will be allowed, historical sites cleared of shells and shrapnel, and environment protected. • August 1980 - The Navy completed a fouryear, $600,000 study by nominating 171 sites for preservation, including heiaus, petroglyphs, adze quarries and fishing shrines. • December 1, 1980 - The Navy and Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana signed a consent decree recognizing the 'Ohana as steward of the island. The Navy agreed to clear bombs and shells from shoreline and to limit bombing to targets at least 300 meters from archeological sites. • 1981 - The entire island of Kaho'olawe was listed on the National Register of Historic places. • June 1988 - Maui County Council passed a resolution urging an end to hiennial bombing of Kaho'olawe by nations involved in the RIMPAC joint naval operations. • May 1990 - President Bush was briefed on the issue by Hawai'i Rep. Pat Saiki, setting off meetings with the National Security Council. • Sept. 20, 1990 - U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka introduced a bill to require the Navy to stop the bombing and to fund a study commission. On Oct. 22, 1990, Marine jets scheduled to make a bombing run on Kaho'olawe were grounded on the Mokapu runway at Kane'ohe. It was that day President Bush issued a directive to Secretary of Defense Cheney to halt all weapons delivery training on Kaho'olawe. The bombing was stopped. The Kaho'olawe Conveyance Commission held its first public hearing on the future of Kaho'olawe Apnl 9, 1990 on the island of Moloka'i. The first rounds of hearings will end May 30 on Lana'i. The Commission is mandated to present a report to Congress within two years. While the president's directive does not specify how long the bombing of Kaho'olawe will be stopped, Congress has prohibited military weapons training for two years and 120 days.

Logo of the Kaho'olawe Conveyance Commission no longer features the island in a target.