2015-10-22 Leeward Exh A (SMA 15-060)

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they did still connect to us in this modern day and time; it’s just not something of the past but it is currently something that is very much of our present day and of our future. And it’s in the sense that for me in the sense of a voyaging canoe that everyone who comes to our canoe is welcomed, but it is also in the sense that everyone who comes to our canoe comes to the canoe in a certain direction, that they come to the canoe so that they can understand the importance of what they are standing upon. So in the sense that when they leave, they have a greater appreciation for what the canoe is connected to not just to our past, not just to stories, but how currently it is involved within our community and, as stated before, throughout the world right now where our canoes are traveling. It’s also in the sense that this site can continue to do the same thing for those who will enter into the grounds and directed in a way that through education they can also understand the importance of the area and appreciate it, understand that they can be a part of the growth and of the continued understanding of the greatness of our culture and our society. So it’s really in the sense that we continue to add our support to Kamehameha Schools and the project that they have. Mahalo nui. UNGER: Mahalo. You may be seated. Craig Akina, Dale Fergerstrom, Milton Bertelmann. Please state your name and where you reside. Go ahead, Dale. FERGERSTROM: I’m Dale Fergerstrom. I live in Ahupua‘a of Kalamakumu in the area of Captain Cook. I’m here on behalf of the Nakoa Foundation, which is a very small non-profit that runs a ththth one-year educational program that kids come and stay with us for a year, involving 7, 8 and 9 graders, and our focus is on the single outrigger sailing canoes. We have 20- to 28-foot sailing canoes and we, Kamehameha Schools has allowed us to use two sites: one at Kailiilinehe, which is the small beach park at the head of Keauhou Bay, and at Kahalu‘u where the project is now proposed for. We launch our canoes out of Kailiilinehe. And what we have found just for within the last, I mean, proud of our program, what we found was a lot of times because there is unrestricted access to Kailiilinehe, many of our activities have been interrupted; within the last month we’ve had an intoxicated man come up and solicit money from our students; we’ve had a confused visitor walk right through our discussion circle, asking directions to go to Fairwinds. But when we go to Kahalu‘u where we repair and maintain our canoes and do more of our cultural training with our kids, we do not have those interruptions, we do not have those issues. So I believe that having the type of, and right now there is public access, right now, it’s controlled but it is protected at Kahalu‘u. And what we really appreciate about the Kahalu‘u site is that we can do our cultural things without being spectacle or inconvenience to the public. And we can do our stuff without being interrupted by, not mean people, just people who don’t understand what we are trying to accomplish. So I really hope that you folks approve this project because it gives our type of program a place to be and there is not too many places where we can do that with what we are doing. Thank you very much. UNGER: Mahalo. M. BERTELMANN: My name is Milton Bertelmann. I’m from Waimea, Kawaihae area. I am here today to stand in support of this project. I am from the organization Na Kālai Wa‘a, which is the voyaging canoe Makali‘i. And onboard we provide, try to provide another alternate dimension to cultural education and that is voyaging and using this very kind of lost art brought back to life of celestial navigation, is to go without instruments. Very fortunate to say that I’m a student of a great master who is by now he passed away; he was with us for a long time, and most of us, all of us probably know who he is, Mau Piailug, and meeting this man really, really changed our views about 8 EXHIBIT A