Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of Dan Arakawa The Hale Hālāwai, a meeting house built by PKO members and UH ethnic studies studies, will establish the symbolic reclaiming of Kaho‘olawe by its hosts.

Editor's Note: Kaho‘olawe, the smallest Hawaiian Island, is a former Navy bomb-testing site. No permanent residents live on Kaho‘olawe, and there is very limited public access to the island. Ka Leo contributing reporter Blane Benevedes visited Kaho‘olawe in October with a University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa ethnic studies class to experience the uniqueness of the island and learn about the Hawaiian concept of mālama ‘āina, "to care for the land." This is the second installment in a two-part series about the trip. Part one ran in Wednesday's edition. Kaho'olawe: An awakening of aloha, Nov 28

Condition Orange

"LIMITS OF TIER II (SUBSURFACE) UXO CLEARANCE. NO DIGGING PAST THIS POINT," reads many of the signs lining every trail on Kaho‘olawe. These bright orange poles stick out like sore thumbs through the wounded ‘āina, reminding visitors and hosts alike of the island's battered past.

But the signs are not just remnants of a by-gone era; their importance is as applicable today as it was when the clean-up project began in 1994. They serve as the first line of defense to untrained visitors to the island.

Signs posted on the poles face the safe areas on Kahao‘olawe. If a hiker doesn't see the signs, one wrong step could be fatal.

"Anything can be ordinance," said Ikaika Suarez, the Protect Kaho‘olawe Organization group leader.

There was never really much time for the visitors to let their guards down on Kaho‘olawe, especially during some of their most vulnerable moments, like picking the right bush to duck behind for bathroom use when they were away from base camp.

"It could be the ordinance bush," joked Craig Neff, a senior PKO official. "When you're dropping bombs, it's dropping bombs back." What may appear to be a common piece of rubbish may also be deadly. The PKO constantly reminds visitors that "if you didn't drop it, don't pick it up." But when on a conservation mission, the notion of disciplining one's self to not pick up trash, while the best bet on Kaho‘olawe, seemed like a paradox at times.

When the zodiac got as close as it could to the island, Uncle Maka cut the engine while various kua stood in the water and held the boat in place. Most of the first boat entered the water, swam toward shore, and formed two lines linking those in the boat to those on shore. Those remaining on board tossed the group's luggage overboard, which had been stuffed into multi-layered contractor rubbish bags for water resistance.

When all the luggage made it to the shoreline, Stan Silva, a university student, summed up the experience: "My friend told me about this but I wasn't going to go, because of the money. But he said that it would be the best hundred bucks I'd ever spend and so far it has been." Silva was only five minutes into his trip.

But that didn't mean he wasn't tired. He said, "I feel beat-up, like a train's run over me."

By about 7 a.m., the first boat had two more boats to unload before setting up camp. By the time most students were ready to take a nap, their day had only just begun.

The next two boats brought a wider variety of people to Kaho‘olawe: more kua, Hawaiian language school children from Kula Kaiapuni o Kalama on Maui, chaperones, high school kids from Lahainaluna and the rest of Mānoa's ethnic studies class.

Every time the contents of the boat were unloaded, those on shore gathered together, introductions ensued (some of them for the third time) and chants were offered. To some, these moments solidified the early relationships of the 60 in attendance. Mar shared his own take on the unique social climate of Kaho'olawe.

'A Primal Sense of Aloha'

Referring to the visitors, he said, "I see them awaken a primal sense of aloha, that genuine love for your neighbor. Not even in the pinch, you love them no matter what happens. It extends to strangers."

For the next three days, the group worked, laughed, and shared a chain reaction of close-felt experiences. Some helped thatch the PKO's hale hālāwai, a meeting house that when completed will establish the symbolic reclaiming of Kaho‘olawe by its hosts. Some built a trail. Others replaced a 33,000-gallon water tank liner.

Most visited some of the island's most historic sites, including house sites, petroglyph sites, Honokanai‘a Bay and the "Navigator's Chair," a site constructed to teach the Hawaiian tradition of non-instrumental navigation. And before they knew it, it was time to clean up camp and head for home.

While taking home their separate experiences, they all transferred a deepened sense of aloha into the ‘āina. Most came to Kaho‘olawe to heal a place battered by bombshells only to be rejuvenated by the island itself. And, like the sun, warm and central, Kaho‘olawe will continue to pull them and their memories back for years to come.

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