Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Musings: Spiritual Preservation

The county and state already have pretty much handed over the North Shore of Kauai to the tourists, what with the proliferation of upscale vacation rentals and a ceaseless stream of visitors following the road to its congested end at Ke`e Beach.

But even that's not enough. Now the state also wants to “deface our Makana,” Bobo Ham-Young, a member of Hui O Maka`ainana O Makana, said on KKCR yesterday afternoon.

Makana. The distinctive peak that Hollywood turned into “Bali Hai,” the mountain that Hawaiians have begun climbing again, resurrecting the ancient tradition of throwing firebrands into the sea.

Remember how the state closed Kalalau Valley and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars blasting pohaku off the cliff face so rocks wouldn't fall on people? Well, that's the plan now for Makana, especially in the area above the "wet cave." Except the model is apparently closer to what they're doing along the road leading into Hanalei Valley, where the cliffside has been systematically dismantled so as to push it further away from the highway.

The spikes, everything happening in Hanalei, they want to bring it down and do it here,” Bobo said. “They want to go and do this for the safety of the tourists to prevent rocks falling down from Makana and everything and hurting the tourists.”

Who are they to come over here and deface our most sacred mountain we have over here?” he asked. “It's like one of the seven wonders of Hawaii.”

And people wonder why so many kanaka are huhu and grieving, why there's so much aggro energy on the North Shore.

Bobo said that he and some others at the meeting told the state “it's a no go,” but the state reportedly has $320,000 burning a hole in its pocket — federal money it has to spend or lose. It's unclear whether the state will “go back to the drawing board” as some residents directed.

What is significant to you, you have to protect,” Bobo said.

Earlier, Nani Rogers had called into the radio station and asked Councilman Tim Bynum why the County didn't have a cultural committee. She envisioned a panel of kanaka who could advise the county on matters of cultural importance, so as to avoid conflicts like the one over putting the Path on Wailua Beach.

It makes perfect sense — unless, of course, the county doesn't really want cultural concerns getting in the way of what it wants to do, like put the Path on the beach.

Tim said he would look into it, while noting the county does have a Historical Preservation Commission. Which is fine, except the emphasis is so often on preservation of structures (often post-contact) as opposed to spiritual preservation — protecting the landforms and places that have long been sacred to kanaka and are an integral part of the culture.

Just the other day I read an article by Pat Griffin advocating the county hire a historic preservation planner who could “create an inventory of cultural and historic sites countywide, then develop and coordinate a management plan for our heritage resources. That past is a prologue to our future. Now is the time to make its wise preservation a priority."

Ironically, Pat's husband, Tommy Noyes, is the foremost proponent pushing for the Path on Wailua Beach.

We don't need more westerners or professional planners creating management plans for Hawaiian cultural sites. We need to start consulting kanaka first, and heed their wishes when they say, with pain in their voices, tears in their eyes, that an area is sacred and should not be desecrated.

21 comments:

  1. The so called "sacredness" of any site is often just an excuse for those who are anti-development. And while I am of the belief development needs to be curtailed I am less enthusiastic about using one groups cultural issues as a basis for doing so.

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  2. Anonymous @ 9:27am
    You make a good point, the respect of sacred sights should be upheld, but if a site is deemed sacred just to oppose development or as a way to protest, then its reduces the level of respect across all sights.

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  3. Some people are clueless about the law. Before you make your comments, please be informed:

    http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/fhpl_archrsrcsprot.pdf

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  4. Birthing stone sure. Unspoiled mountainside/remote beach. Be very cautious. A stretch of sand next to a multi-lane highway uh no.

    At some point you have to respect that the sensitivities of a handful of people are not enough to bring the entire world to a halt. Especially when they are hiding their real agenda with a false flag.

    And some of the kanaka are fakirs as well. If they get hired as "community outreach" suddenly they're all gung ho for some reason.

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  5. Here is another document to inform the otherwise uniformed:

    http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/137293.pdf

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  6. Do your homework... let's be honest and call it what it is:

    " D E S E C R A T I O N ! ! ! "

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desecration

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  7. > The so called "sacredness" of any site is often just an excuse for those who are anti-development. <

    Good to see classic Western colonialism is alive and well and kickin' its kneejerk response to indigenous sensibility. Still self-servingly blind to any motive but money; still conveniently deaf to any language but commerce; still disdainfully dumb to any cultural concerns but its own.

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  8. 3:57 PM -- As if it's up to YOU to determine what is sacred to a kanaka or who is a fakir. What arrogance.

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  9. @3:57 PM... YOU are the epitomy of DISrespect! HEWA!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disrespect

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  10. Have you seen just some of the evidence that exists for the International Criminal Court? There's PLENTY! Check 'um:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgN6VVa98vY

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  11. As Wendell Berry says, “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.”

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. Using cultural issues to drive a political agenda is not uncommon. Unseemly maybe but not uncommon especially here in Hawaii. It is the politics of division that OHA and others practice trying to get themselves a bigger slice of the public pie.

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  14. @ 3.57
    Some people are clueless about the law. Before you make your comments, please be informed:
    http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/fhpl_archrsrcsprot.pdf

    Ok i've read that, am now informed!! You should probably have read this before posting, as it applys to "public lands" those held by the Federal Govt, not to State or County property. Don't just take the group message and pass it on, read and become informed yourself.


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  15. One nation -- you're right Western culture is definitely driving it's political agenda here in the Islands. You are a perfect example.

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  16. To Anony @ 9:28 AM

    If by Western culture you mean the US Constitution or the Bill of Rights then you are correct.

    Better that than some ethnocentric, quasi tribal, non inclusive, backwards looking, discord breeding belief system.

    That's why I believe is separating issues of culture from those of government as much as possible.

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  17. No, I mean the materialistic Western culture that drives the American government in its imperialistic conquests. As for "non inclusive. backwards looking, discord breeding" --- have you looked at congress lately?

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  18. Western culture is not alone in it's materialism. That being said rampant materialism without a system of checks and balances is not a good thing. Congress is a mirror image of our society and yes it is not always pretty. The business of politics rarely is in any country or society which is why when I look around despite all it's problems I find our system of government more desirable than most.

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  19. Tommy Noyes--this guy has one of the foulest temper of anyone I have met.

    Don't even know the guy, but just happened to be at Morgan Pond and asking Noyes some questions about the Lydgate Beach clean-up. Was meant to be pleasant social conversation and interest in getting involved with the clean-up. Noyes has his nose in this project, too.

    Noyes left to look for a pen to write down his number. In the meanwhile, a woman and I began conversation.

    Noyes was standing, starting to boil. Never seen anything like it in my life. Then, he began to berate me, raised his voice at me, "Do you want this phone number or not!!" Because of Noyes, I never stepped foot into any volunteer work at Lydgate Beach Park. Went else where.

    No kidding, foul Westerner Noyes is.

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  20. Wow- Noyes is Pat Griffin's husband. That explains sooooo much.

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  21. Is Noyes double dipping while he collects money for all kinds of county and state projects? Is the bile path "his?" is it a county project or federal project to degrade the significance of Wailua? Is he just another colonist with no care for the culture or people here? Or is he an idiot who wants to ride his bike in the ocean?
    His wife signed off on the historical preservation society to desecrate one of the most historically significant places in all Hawaii. Hewa. Corruption, and a real lot of disrespect. But again and again, noyes just wants his concrete to replace the legacy of Kauai's beaches. Thomas the greedy desecrator.

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