Kaho'olawe

I can read hundreds of books and listen to hundreds of people tell me about Kaho'olawe and never understand. Even after being there for a brief time, I haven't even scratched the surface of its intricate significance in the eyes of its people. I feel honored and blessed to have been permitted to visit such a unique and special place.

This project all along has been about the Hawaiian people and their relationship with Kaho'olawe. But being who I am, the sum of all my research can only be told through my eyes. My eyes are young and small. I can see, feel, try to relate, convince myself I understand, and then do my best to make some sort of judgment. All of it really reflects who I am as a person rather than anything else. This is true for everyone. This blog will conclude my summer research. In the fall I will come back to it. But after this I wont be adding anything more for some time. I think the best way to conclude this research is to tell of my own experience on island.

There were so many experiences that I will never forget. It started with me sitting on the shore of a little beach squishing the sand between my toes. I looked at this sand and made the connection that it would have looked a lot like the soft, clean sand of Makena if it weren't for the decades of erosion that caused the topsoil to bleed into the ocean every time the rain fell. This was depressing and instilled a feeling of loss and hopelessness in me.

What I noticed about Kaho'olawe is that it seemed to magnify every emotion in every person. There was sadness, love, joy, and peace. There was also bitterness and un-forgiveness. I felt it wherever I went, hanging on whoever I was around. This was a bit overwhelming at times.

But after sometime, something strong and true overcame any imbalance of emotion that I may have felt. And that was a sense of love and responsibility as a family that the people brought. They cared so deeply for the place as well as the people. All 61 of us were connected through this strong sense of Ohana. It was amazing to see these people passionately reach out to one another and to the land. As I walked along the shore I saw a young woman fast asleep laying on the sand, embracing it as if it were her child. I saw a baby cover herself in the thick red dirt like a blanket. These people love Kaho'olawe as they do their family members. There is no distinction between auntie, uncle, tuttu and the land. They are all connected. And they all have a responsibility to one another that runs deeper and stronger than life as we know it.

The Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana's strategy to healing and restoring the land seems to be to love it as if it were an injured child. When someone is ill, the worst thing you can do is isolate them. Being alone and sick can cause one to fall deeper into despair. Instead, if you reach out to the person, cook them dinner, clean their house, and care for them in every way that is needed, they will feel loved and will be more likely to become well. So too is what the PKO is doing for Kaho'olawe. They are bringing their children, sharing meals, talking story together, all the while including Kaho'olawe. They are bringing life with every access. Seeing this made me realize how imperative it is to strive to reconcile ourselves, no matter who we are or what we are, to the earth. This after all is what God has asked us to do since the beginning.

For The PKO, this relationship is very limited. They are only allowed maybe six days a month to be with the island. It makes it difficult to commit to too much. Hopefully somehow there will be more families and more time to spend on island in the future. I was told that if you look at Kaho'olawe on a map it is the shape of a male fetus, laying there naked in the ocean. Molokini is its umbilical cord, and Maui is its mother. Native Hawaiians are reaching out to this child to care for it and keep it alive.

This was a very impacting experience that I will remember. This is only my view. Being on island and speaking to different people has showed to me that there is still so much hurt and pain attached to the abuse of Kaho'olawe and its people. I believe it is important to recognize and value this pain. But more importantly we must love and nurture the land so that we can receive mutual blessings. In this we honor each other as well as the Creator.