Ka Wai Ola - Nowemapa 2008

University of Hawai'i Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies faculty and students gathered in their hālau to protest state DLNR's promised Kahana Valley evictions. The audio recording is chanting by the students led by Prof. Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa. Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

DLNR: Kahana Valley evictions
won't happen this weekend

Senator says, 'this is Waiāhole-Waikāne all over again'

By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola

Thursday, 30 October 2008 -- Drawing comparisons to the 1970s struggle over land in Waiāhole-Waikāne, state Sen. Clayton Hee said today that the community has to rise up in support of six families in Kahana Valley who are teetering on the edge of eviction by the state.

"This is not going to be won by six families – it's going to be won by an island of community-minded people sensitive to local people under the gun," Hee said, surrounded by about 50 students, professors and others at a press conference today at the University of Hawai'i Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. Hee said the six families who were notified to vacate by Monday by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources have no recourse but to remain.

"Once they leave the valley, if they go south to Ka'a'awa or north to Punalu'u, they extinguish that right to a place in Kahana," said Hee (D- Kahuku, Lā'ie, Ka'a'awa, Kāne'ohe). "And that is why some of their cousins and brothers and sisters (who) moved out of Kahana don't have a legal right because they extinguished that right."

Dr. Jon Osorio, Sen. Clayton Hee, Kahana resident Lena Sollven and her mo'opuna Mika, and Dr. Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa held a press conference protesting Kahana Valley evictions. Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

At issue in the Windward O'ahu valley is whether six families who do not have leases or revocable permits to reside there should be allowed to remain. Thirty-one permits were granted in 1987 to families with ties to the valley, under a state law that expired in 1993. In exchange for the leases, the families perform 25 hours of service every month caring for the site known as Ahupua'a O Kahana State Park. But a March 2008 opinion by state Attorney General Mark Bennett said the state no longer has the authority to issue leases after 1993. The eviction would not affect all families in the valley.

In a statement issued today, DLNR Chairperson Laura Thielen said no evictions would occur this weekend. The residents were given until Monday to vacate. They received notice June 20 that they had 90 days to leave.

Thielen said she is open to meeting with the six families anytime this weekend and wouldn't be making any statements until after the two sides meet. "We are optimistic that we can make progress if we have a chance to talk directly with each other," she said in the statement in advance of today's meeting between the parties that later fell through because of illness, work and other commitments by the residents.

"We're going to stand strong. We are not moving," said Kahana Valley resident Lena Soliven, holding her month-and-a-half old mo'opuna, Mika, one of her eight family members facing eviction.

Thielen has said the evictions must occur in the best interest of the general public, whose access to the park would be threatened if it turned into a subdivision. Soliven said the people's voice were being heard loud and clear at the press conference, where supporters hoisted signs saying "Mālama Kahana," "No Kahana Evictions! Pease show mercy," and "Lingle/Aiona, why are you making more homeless? Auwe!"

"(Thielen) said she's doing this for the people of Hawai'i; this is the people of Hawai'i speaking out today," Soliven said to cheers.

The group called for Thielen's resignation and for Gov. Linda Lingle to stay the evictions. "The governor is the one who decides who runs DLNR, the governor's the one who decides if people are going to be evicted or not," said Hawaiian Studies professor Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, who lived in Kahana Valley as a child. "Gov. Lingle has the power, and we're asking her to please stop evicting Hawaiians."

Kame'eleihiwa said it was "hard-hearted" of DLNR to evict people during "the worst recession that America's ever seen in our lifetimes," as the rainy season and holidays approach, and at a time when affordable housing is lacking.

Saying the state transfers water from the valley to Waikīkī, she said the issue comes down to water. "Why shouldn't we open up that whole valley for planting taro and sweet potato and bananas?" she asked. "I'll tell you why because the state of Hawai'i wants to take the water, and if we plant taro, we'll be asking for the water."

A request for comment from Lingle was not received by this article's publication time.

Professor Jonathan Osorio asked whether the Attorney General's opinion was retribution for Hawaiians suing the state to bar it from selling ceded lands until Native Hawaiians' claims to the lands are resolved, a case that the state has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "This is not about six poor families in Kahana," Osorio said. "People are going to be evicted, and we don't think that politics is a good reason for evicting 58 men and women and children."

Hee said Senate President Colleen Hanabusa has committed to making Kahana Valley legislation part of the Democrat's centerpiece package during the upcoming legislative session. "That says to me, we will almost guarantee that the Democrats – 22 out of 25 (senators) – will put (forward) the legislation necessary to allow those qualified to be eligible for permanent tenancy in Kahana Valley," Hee said.

Similar bills – that would have authorized the state to negotiate new leases – have passed the Senate but failed in the House in 2006 and 2008, Hee said. But he was optimistic that the heightened attention to the residents' plight would raise awareness and sensitivity among lawmakers.

Hee said a fund to help the families has received $1,000 commitments from the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, Hawai'i State Teachers Association, the ironworkers union and Island Insurance Cos. He said he already sees widespread support for the residents through musicians that have called him to help and people dropping off food. "This doesn't surprise me because this is Waiāhole-Waikāne all over again," Hee said, referring to the 1970s land dispute in which some 93 families successfully staved off eviction when the valleys were slated for development by a private landowner. In that case, the state stepped in to buy the land and later issued leases to the residents.

Pat and Jose Royos, two of the Waiāhole residents, called for the community to unite in support for the Kahana Valley residents, as the community did during the Waiāhole-Waikāne struggle. "We feel for them because we've been through the struggle," said Pat, holding the arm of Soliven, the Kahana resident. "They belong where they're at. Where are they going to put these people? They have no place to go. You're going to put them on the beach again? No, I don't think so. And I suggest to them they should stay and remain and fight. Don't give up because they have their rights also."

For Chantrelle Wai'alae, a junior majoring in Hawaiian Studies, she joined the group to show her support for people she feels are being wronged. "I don t see why it's happening. I don't understand why (the state is) doing this," she said after the crowd dispersed. Wai'alae, who's 20, said she is Hawaiian, but that the issue transcends ethnicity. "They're doing this to people in Kahana now," she said. "It (was attempted) in Waikāne. Who's going to be next? Everyone in Hawai'i should be concerned – not just Hawaiians."